COMMENTARIES
-
Ajmal Kasab: Battle Won; What about the War?
D Suba Chandran · 07 May, 2010 · #3119 · Commentary
The court has given the verdict on Ajmal Kasab, the lone gun man, who was captured alive during the terrorist attack in Mumbai in October 2008. The court after serious deliberation of the arguments put forward and against, and based on evidence,...
-
Impending Crisis in Nepal—II: Options for India
Padmaja Murthy · 07 May, 2010 · #3118 · Commentary
The earlier article focused on the crisis in Nepal and the likely scenarios. What are the implications for India and what options can India pursue?
During Jana Andolan II, the Maoist insurgents were the major armed group present in Nepal. Ho...
-
Impending Crisis in Nepal—I: Likely Scenarios
Padmaja Murthy · 07 May, 2010 · #3117 · Commentary
The 28 May 2010 deadline for drafting the constitution is fast approaching and there is a fear that it will not be completed in time. Nepal has already entered another uncertain period with the indefinite general strike imposed since 1 May 2010 ...
-
The ASEM Dialogue: Opportunities for Southeast Asia?
Tuli Sinha · 06 May, 2010 · #3116 · Commentary
Indonesia’s participation in the sixth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) interfaith dialog held in Madrid, Spain from 7-9 April, themed as "Consolidation of Religious Freedom and of Mutual Knowledge of Societies through Inter-religious and I...
-
India-Myanmar-Thailand Highway
Tanvi Pate · 06 May, 2010 · #3115 · Commentary
The Trilateral Highway project is an ambitious undertaking which was initially launched under the vestiges of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) and later incorporated into the transport sector of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Tech...
-
Vietnam: Exploited or Empowered?
Harnit Kaur Kang · 06 May, 2010 · #3114 · Commentary
The past decade has seen Vietnam transform into a focal point for major Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) from Asia, the EU and USA. The problem however, is that as with many Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs), Vietnam’s trade li...
-
US and Kopassus Training: Strategic and Legal Aspects
Chloe Choquier · 05 May, 2010 · #3113 · Commentary
Kopassus commander Major General Lodewijk Paulus and several high-ranking Indonesian officers recently visited Washington DC to discuss lifting the ban on US training for the elite army special forces – the Komando Pasukan Khusus, known as...
-
Counter-Terrorism in Indonesia: The Price of Success
Chloe Choquier · 05 May, 2010 · #3112 · Commentary
On 22 February 2010, a series of Indonesian police operations led to the discovery of an alleged militant training camp in the Jalin Forest of the province of Aceh. The operations revealed the existence of a previously unknown group calling itse...
-
A Moment of Hope or Despair in Pakistan?
Prof. Satish Kumar · 04 May, 2010 · #3111 · Commentary
The adoption of the 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill by Pakistan’s Parliament and its assent by President Asif Ali Zardari on 19 April 2010 is an event whose importance cannot be minimized. Its significance emanates not merely from the f...
-
Sri Lanka: Why Sustain the ‘State of Exception’?
N Manoharan · 04 May, 2010 · #3110 · Commentary
Despite the formal end of ethnic war, an island-wide Emergency continues in Sri Lanka. Since August 2005, when the Emergency was re-imposed in the wake of the assassination of the then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamer, the Sri Lankan Parliam...
