COMMENTARIES
  • Civilian Nuclear Power Cooperation: The French Connection
       ·   15 Feb, 2006    ·    #1940    ·    Commentary    
    The Indo-French civilian nuclear cooperation is back on the skids. With roughly a week to go before President Jacque Chirac's visit to India, it seems the "strategic partnership" (partenariat stratégique) has hit a few roadb...
  • Interpreting China's Grand Strategy at Gwadar
    Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy    ·   14 Feb, 2006    ·    #1939    ·    Commentary    
    China is flexing its muscles to enhance its influence in South Asia. Triggered by a roaring economy, propelled by swelling confidence and funded by chequebook diplomacy, China is projecting its new might across the sub-continent through its stra...
  • US and South Asia
       ·   12 Feb, 2006    ·    #1938    ·    Commentary    
    Speaker: Dennis Kux, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC Ambassador Dennis Kux How does the world look from Washington? The view is a troubled one. The US has come a long way since 2003 when the US administration won the first bat...
  • FDI in Retail: A Rebuttal
    Surabhi Sharma    ·   10 Feb, 2006    ·    #1937    ·    Commentary    
    This essay is in response to the article titled "FDI in Retail" written by R Ramasubramanian and published earlier on the website. First, any argument against allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail needs to consider the fol...
  • Strait Talk in Malacca
    Amit Kumar    ·   06 Feb, 2006    ·    #1936    ·    Commentary    
    After years of reluctance, India is now preparing to initiate a new multilateral security arrangement along the strategic Malacca Straits. Unlike its traditional focus on bilateral channels, India has now significantly shifted focus to multilate...
  • FDI in Retail: Survival of The Fittest or Revival of The Caveat?
    R Ramasubramanian    ·   05 Feb, 2006    ·    #1935    ·    Commentary    
    The news is unclear, but India's policy decision to open single-brand retailing to 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) has initiated yet another sensitive debate. US ambassador David Mulford's remarks on favoring FDI in retail ha...
  • AQ Khan Network: Alive & Still Working
       ·   25 Jan, 2006    ·    #1934    ·    Commentary    
    Those who believe that the nuclear black market chain run by Dr AQ Khan has been shut down could be in for greater shocks in the future. First, it will be folly to believe that Dr AQ Khan was alone in his venture of buying and selling nuclear te...
  • India's
    Ashok Sharma    ·   25 Jan, 2006    ·    #1933    ·    Commentary    
    India, with 8 per cent of economic growth rate and a strong military infrastructure and nuclear weapons capability, is poised to become a key player in the emerging global order. But little attention is being paid to India's "soft power...
  • SLMM: Challenges to Ceasefire Monitoring in Sri Lanka
    N Manoharan    ·   25 Jan, 2006    ·    #1932    ·    Commentary    
    Sri Lankan refugees trickling into Indian coasts denote that all is not well in the island. Despite the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) and a Monitoring Mission to oversee it, violence has escalated to significant proportions, especially after the LTT...
  • Sixth Review Conference of the BWC: Looking Ahead
    KS Manjunath    ·   20 Jan, 2006    ·    #1931    ·    Commentary    
    The countdown to the Sixth Review Conference (RevCon) of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) has begun. The state parties met on 5-9 December 2005, which culminated the annual meetings of the state parties that had specifically discussed nat...
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