COMMENTARIES
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The Strategist
The CPEC: Corridor to Chinese Coffers
Vijay Shankar · 28 Mar, 2017 · #5256 · Commentary · Column
Misshapen Marshall Analogy
Deceptive arguments are current that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) finds historic equivalence in the ‘Marshall Plan’. The Plan was an American Congressional Act legislated on 3 Apri...
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Manipur: Uncertainty Remains Despite End to the Economic Blockade
Nehginpao Kipgen · 28 Mar, 2017 · #5255 · Commentary
One of the major promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the recently held assembly elections in Manipur was to end the economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) within 48 hours. After taking oath as the new Chi...
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IPCS Discussion
2017 Indian Assembly Elections: How Did the States Vote?
Report · 22 Mar, 2017 · #5254 · Commentary
On 21 March 2017, IPCS hosted a discussion on the recently concluded legislative assembly elections in India. The speakers were Manoj Joshi, senior journalist, & Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF); and Ajay Vir Jakhar, ...
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2017 Indian Assembly Elections
Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand: A Clear Mandate
Prerana Priyadarshi and Sarral Sharma · 22 Mar, 2017 · #5253 · Commentary
On 11 March, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a clear mandate in the legislative assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Uttarakhand. In UP, the BJP single-handedly won 311 of 403 seats, and with allies, Apna Dal (Soneylal) and Suheldev...
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2017 Indian Assembly Elections
Punjab: Congress and Strong Regional Leaders
Niharika Tagotra · 22 Mar, 2017 · #5252 · Commentary
The Punjab state assembly election results, declared on 11 March, gave a clear mandate to the Congress. Congress secured 77 of the 117 available seats, emerging as the single largest party in this crucial border state. The Shiromani Akali Dal (S...
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2017 Indian Assembly Elections
Manipur: A Turning Point
Angshuman Choudhury · 22 Mar, 2017 · #5251 · Commentary
On 15 March, Nongthombam Biren Singh took oath as the Chief Minister (CM) of Manipur, the first from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As a political entity that had zero presence in the state till just a year ago, the BJP raked a sizeable manda...
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Dateline Colombo
Re-building Sri Lanka: An Island at a Crossroads
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera · 21 Mar, 2017 · #5250 · Commentary · Column
In 1908, MK Gandhi said, the “English have not taken India, we have given it to them.” This expression is applicable to Sri Lanka as well when one observes how some elites handed the island nation over to Britain in the optimism of a...
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Afghanistan and the Attempted Exhumation of the QCG
Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy · 21 Mar, 2017 · #5249 · Commentary
On 17 February 2017, the office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, citing mechanisms devised during the meetings of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), demanded that Pakistan take "practical measures and initiate effective counter-te...
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Regional Economy
Pakistan’s Economy: Significance of MSCI Elevation and FTSE Inclusion
Amita Batra · 20 Mar, 2017 · #5248 · Commentary · Column
Two positive developments that have been announced and will see implementation in the coming week and in the month of May augur rather well for an economy that has for long shown below average economic performance and weak macroeconomic fundamen...
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Strategic Space
Nuclear Ban Treaty Conference and Universal Nuclear Disarmament
Manpreet Sethi · 20 Mar, 2017 · #5247 · Commentary · Column
A nuclear weapons free world (NWFW) has been on the global agenda since 1945. Only, it has never been a global priority. In 2009, when the president of the militarily most powerful country talked about it in Prague, there was a brief upsurge of ...
