COMMENTARIES
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Special Commentary
India-Syria Linkages: Yesterday and Today
VP Haran · 24 Aug, 2016 · #5113 · Commentary
Syria is a country that has been inhabited for over several thousand years. Aleppo, the commercial capital of Syria and its largest city, claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. With the destruction that has been ongoin...
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China's Second Forum on the Development of Tibet: Propaganda or Development?
Tenzin Lhadon · 23 Aug, 2016 · #5112 · Commentary
The recent 2016 Forum on the Development of Tibet, labelled as the second of its kind, was held in Lhasa in July 2016. The highly publicised forum was attended by 130 people, including politicians and journalists from around 30 countries. The ...
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J&K Focus
J&K: Communication Strategy is Key but First, Stabilise the Streets
Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain · 22 Aug, 2016 · #5111 · Commentary · Column
Recently, this author was in Singapore interacting with that city state’s marvellous intellectual and strategic institutions. The issue of J&K raised no apparent interest there but scholars were aware about the strife in the streets. I...
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The GST Bill: Benefits, Shortcomings, and Ways Forward
Prerana Priyadarshi · 18 Aug, 2016 · #5110 · Commentary
The Constitution Amendment Bill for Goods and Services Tax (GST) was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 3 August 2016. New Delhi appears committed to replace all indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the Centre and States with the GST, by Apr...
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Red Affairs
Development and Maoists
Bibhu Prasad Routray · 17 Aug, 2016 · #5109 · Commentary · Column
The killing of 23-year-old Rakesh Karu Gawde on 30 July 2016 by the cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) was the latest onslaught by the extremists on what they perceive to be a competing and overwhelming development initia...
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IPCS Discussion
Security of Bangladesh in the South Asian Context
Report · 17 Aug, 2016 · #5108 · Commentary
On 26 July 2016, for the second interaction under its Twentieth Anniversary Plenum Series, IPCS hosted Mr Moudud Ahmed, former Vice-President and former Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, for a talk on Security of Bangl...
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Looking East
Rogue NDFB Pushed to the Wall?
Wasbir Hussain · 17 Aug, 2016 · #5107 · Commentary · Column
After a two year hiatus, the Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-S) struck again on 5 August, raiding a crowded roadside market near Kokrajhar, in western Assam, killing 14 civilians and injuring at least 18 othe...
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Strategic Space
Motivating Pakistan to Prevent Cross–Border Terrorism: With a Little Help from Friends
Manpreet Sethi · 16 Aug, 2016 · #5106 · Commentary · Column
Not War, Not Peace is a recent publication from the prolific authors George Perkovich and Toby Dalton at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The book seeks to help India find ways of ‘motivating’ Pakistan to give up ...
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Regional Economy
GST: Facilitating India’s Domestic, Regional and Global Integration
Amita Batra · 16 Aug, 2016 · #5105 · Commentary · Column
After being first suggested by the Kelkar Task Force on indirect taxes over a decade ago, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is now ready to see the light of day, thus marking a major step forward in indirect tax reform in India; and thereby facil...
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The Strategist
Rewarding Thugs
Vijay Shankar · 16 Aug, 2016 · #5104 · Commentary · Column
On 12 July 2016, a long delinquent inspiration struck key members of the US Congress concerned with terrorism, non-proliferation, and trade. In concluding the hearing of the Joint Sub-Committee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on “Pakis...
