COMMENTARIES
  • In search of a Peace Process: The Problems of Engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan
    Aryaman Bhatnagar    ·   18 Nov, 2011    ·    #3491    ·    Commentary    
    Statements made during the recent Istanbul and SAARC conferences hint at the possibility of a peace process between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani who was entrusted with the task of negotiating with the Taliba...
  • Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant: Contested Standpoints
    Pradeepa Viswanathan    ·   18 Nov, 2011    ·    #3490    ·    Commentary    
    Agitations over the ongoing Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) and the not so recent Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project have created roadblocks for the realization of India’s civilian nuclear ambitions. After all, nuclear energy is hoped t...
  • India-Pakistan and the ‘Most Favoured Nation’: Why, why not and will it?
    Anureet Rai and Aryaman Bhatnagar    ·   18 Nov, 2011    ·    #3489    ·    Commentary    
    The status of Pakistan’s grant of ‘Most Favoured Nation’ (MFN) to India is in doubt. While the foreign ministry has given assurances that the decision would be implemented, an actual decision is yet to be taken. This raises sev...
  • Istanbul 2011: On Afghanistan
    Farhod Mirzabaev    ·   15 Nov, 2011    ·    #3488    ·    Commentary    
    Since the US and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 the international community has held numerous conferences on Afghanistan in various corners of the world and there is apparently no shortage of countries that are eager to host the next &ls...
  • Nuclear Pakistan: At Diplomacy’s Mercy
    Alankrita Sinha and Tanvi Kulkarni    ·   15 Nov, 2011    ·    #3487    ·    Commentary    
    The recent statement by Pakistan’s acting Permanent Representative Raza Bashir Tarar on the ‘Report to the IAEA’ at the 66th session of the UNGA offers valuable insight into the conduct of international diplomacy. There are two...
  • Parsing the Addu Declaration
    PR Chari    ·   14 Nov, 2011    ·    #3486    ·    Commentary    
    With atypical attention-grabbing flourish the just-concluded 17th SAARC Summit in Maldives has been described by the media as indicating that SAARC has reached a tipping point. But this has repeatedly been stated over the past three decades sinc...
  • AFSPA: The Renewed Debate
    Ali Ahmed    ·   11 Nov, 2011    ·    #3485    ·    Commentary    
    The chief minister in Kashmir has presciently identified that Kashmir is at a critical decision juncture. This involves decompression of the state in sync with the violence indicators. This would facilitate a switch from a military dominant stra...
  • China’s Space Docking Success: Strategic Implications
    Radhakrishna Rao    ·   05 Nov, 2011    ·    #3484    ·    Commentary    
    The successful accomplishment of its first ever docking exercise in outer space on 3 November was a major technological breakthrough for China, and now holds the potential to bring Beijing closer to Moscow and Washington in terms of establishing...
  • AFSPA in J&K: Why should it go?
    Firdaus Ahmed    ·   03 Nov, 2011    ·    #3483    ·    Commentary    
    Head bureaucrats of the home and defence ministries and the cabinet secretary reportedly had a pre-Diwali meeting to attend to a divergence between the two ministries that needed attention at the political level. News reports carry unconfirmed r...
  • Pakistan and the Haqqani Network
    Anindya Batabyal    ·   02 Nov, 2011    ·    #3482    ·    Commentary    
    In spite of a considerable amount of international pressure being mounted on Pakistan to act against the various terror groups that operate from within its territory, the Pakistani government, particularly the army and the ISI, is reluctant to a...
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