Strategic Regions
India
South Asia has the potential to become a geopolitical and economic power, despite suffering from corruption, terrorism, poverty, poor infrastructure, insufficient healthcare, and major socio-economic inequalities. ++ The region is reaching a …More
India now has the chance to improve its relationship with Pakistan. ++ Pakistan is showing a new inclination to work with India. ++ Pakistani President Zardari recently made a successful visit to India ++ India should use this moment …More
India has economic and domestic reasons for its ties with Iran. ++ India cannot simply give up Iranian oil: many Indian refineries are made for processing Iranian crude. ++ India has substantial trade with Iran beyond oil. ++ Iran …More
There is a subtle shift in the long held dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. ++ In public and private there is a growing view that Kashmir should take a back seat in favor of solving Pakistan’s domestic problems. ++ …More
Rodnie J. Allison: India is finding increased leverage in the procurement of weapons systems from Western (specifically European) countries. This development could help deepen cooperation between India and the West. Case in point: India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition. …More
A New Delhi based think tank has studied the term “strategic partnership” through India’s agreements. ++ India has signed over a dozen partnership agreements in the last decade ++ The Russia-India partnership was rated the most …More
India must avoid defining its foreign policy in terms of the emerging US narrative of “containing” or “balancing” China. ++ India could gain independent strategic influence in the region particularly vis-a-vis Iran, a major energy …More
Cody William Punter: This paper traces the development of the Naxalite movement in India from independence until the present, where it is now considered India’s single largest security threat. …More
New Delhi is becoming increasingly nervous about the close ties between Pakistan and China. ++ “Those in India who tend to view relations with Beijing as a zero-sum game with Islamabad” are concerned about joint …More
Pakistan may play an essential role in fighting the war on terror, but the country is mired in its own battle on its western borders. ++ Both India and Pakistan must address some of these issues when peace talks resume in …More
Kerley Tolpolar: The westernized classes targeted by Mumbai’s attackers and the part played by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, and its backers in Pakistan, gave rise to voices calling for India to reconsider its non-aligned mentality and join in the global fight against the jihadist movement. …More
Manasi Kulkarni-Kakatkar: India’s nuclear relations with world’s big powers have caused a great deal of friction. Next month’s Nuclear Security Summit is a chance for India to show its commitment to non-proliferation and to be a leader of setting up mechanisms for securing nuclear materials. …More
The gap between China and India continues to grow, despite the tendency to group the emerging countries together. ++ China’s GDP is four times that of India and will likely double over the next 30 years. ++ By 2040 Chinese GDP is …More
Neighbours witness a very positive context in spite of a 40 years old past of stormy relations between India and Bangledesh. ++ Timing eventually made both sides meet on an common ground for reinforced dialog. ++ Trade and border security issues …More
The U.S. government has all but ignored the conflict in Kashmir and espoused a “hands off” approach on the issue. However, pressure to engage is increasing. After all, a resolution of the Kashmir conflict, which pits two nuclear powers against one …More
The New Delhi-Moscow relationship has reached a high with the signing of a nuclear agreement “essentially [enabling] India to start positioning its civilian nuclear sectors as a buyer’s market.” ++ Companies in the West should lobby their …More
Whilst Obama has been busy developing strong relationships with China and Russia, India, seems to have been lost out of focus. ++ The Obama administration’s focus on South Asia, has led to a disproportionate reliance on Pakistan. ++ Whilst …More
Shakti Prasad Srichandan: Both the EU and India regard each other as natural partners but key interests differ. The EU’s expansion with further economic integration and India’s emergence as a global economic heavyweight have created a space for a mutually beneficial partnership that is almost complete. …More
The US and India should increase their defence partnership to offset the rise of China and secure further nuclear technology for New Delhi. ++ During a successful visit, Secretary Clinton left the capital to embrace India’s “societal linkages” …More
Shakti Prasad Srichandan: The signing of a nuclear deal between India and the US comes as Delhi is emerging as a factor in the global balance of power with a new approach to foreign relations. The task of leading the region towards modernization falls on India and this will have a direct impact on global security. …More
Lekshmi Rajasekharan Nair: Although financial liberalization can enhance the efficiency of channeling saved resources into productive use, it is also possible that it leads to a sharp decline in saving ratios in industrial and developing countries. In India this phenomenon resulted in a significantly lower household saving rate. …More
Despite being the largest elections ever held, involving more than 700 million voters, India’s
new government will “consist mostly of politicians unfit to hold ministerial office.” ++ Most of India’s political parties are led by …More
Despite Islamist insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan preoccupying Washington, the solution to the Obama administration’s so-called “AfPak” problem runs through India. ++ That Pakistan has nearly 100 nuclear weapons and is so …More
Shashi Tharoor: India seems to be immune from the global economic recession. The November terrorist attacks against the commercial capital did not hinder the country’s speedy growth rate and the prompt return of investors and Foreign Direct Investments. …More
Colette Grace Mazzucelli: The Mumbai attacks have been described as India’s 9/11, but this analogy is not accurate. Terrorism is one dimension of a larger challenge that India must now confront: the erosion of the pluralist and secular traditions of the country’s founders. …More
According to a recent study from the World Bank, a bottom up approach to policies to deal with poverty would be more effective. ++ Accordingly, the provision of individual motives — like finding a job, investing in business, accumulating assets …More
India’s reliance on Russia for defense equipment is largely ineffective and increasingly dangerous. ++ The entire Russian fleet of MiG-29 is seen to suffer structural defects and adds to the fact that “Russia’s defense …More
The Supreme Court of Pakistan declared ex-Prime Minister Sharif unfit to rule due to having fought a military coup in 1999. ++ He tried to prevent the return of Gen. Musharraf, who succeeded in the coup and instituted the court …More
“Slumdog Millionaire” won eight Oscars on Sunday night but its greatest success is raising awareness about the poverty and disease which characterize Mumbai slums and kill faster than AIDS. ++ In recent years community projects …More
It took Indian courts thirteen years to charge former Union minister Ram with corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and his current appeal to the Highest Court will probably mean that he will not be …More
Pres. Bush has always been relatively popular in India, this is mainly due to his revitalization of the US-India alliance which has a nuclear deal at its core. ++ New Delhi would have preferred a Republican successor to Mr Bush, fearing that a …More
Following the Mumbai attacks, Indian democracy has come to depend on Indian domestic policy; at no cost should the Indian state encroach upon civil liberties. ++ Rather, India should focus its policies on combating poverty …More
The annual Science Congress 2009 has taken place in India, following a tradition which started in 1967 and projected technology as the means through which to achieve greater ‘’social, gender and economic equality.” ++ Indeed, in the …More
India’s corporate image is at stake as the truth behind the Satyam scam has yet to be uncovered. ++ Ramalingas Raju’s arrest is “only the start of a long process of dispensing retributive justice.” ++ Satyam was already under scrutiny for a failed …More
A few months after the Mumbai terrorist attacks and in a climate of growing suspicion that Pakistani groups are responsible, India is still uncertain of how to respond. ++ The ramifications of the military option could stretch from a negative …More
The terrorist attacks in Mumbai were also directed at Pakistan’s democratic government, which is trying to advance the peace process with India. ++ Accusing Pakistan of complicity is wrong. ++ Pakistan is willing to take action against …More
The Mumbai attacks were nothing new, but they struck a people that were starting to feel secure. ++ “Confidence in the political system is at a low.” ++ “The middle class is accustomed to overlooking the fault lines in …More
New Delhi has been warning the world of terrorist threats emanating from Pakistan, and now the world is listening. ++ “Stabilizing Pakistan means genuinely democratizing its polity and helping its economy grow back to a sustainable level of …More
India has recently suffered dozens of terrorist attacks with thousands perishing, but is it enough to send her over the “red line?” ++ The latest attack, brazen as it was, shows the weakness of al-Qaeda inspired …More
Egyptian President Mubarak has made the first official state visit of Egypt to India in a quarter century. ++ Mubarak came with his Foreign Minister and his ministers of Trade and Communications. ++ “The two countries pledged to …More
Indian elites are showing insecurity over India’s role with relation to Washington. ++ That Obama is courting Islamabad for support in Afghanistan shouldn’t be cause for worry. ++ The lack of criticism of US military …More
India launched a space probe to the moon, proving that it is on its path to becoming an influential scientific power. ++ India’s progress is the result of “paring back state suffocation of its economy.” ++ By 2014 about two …More
The US Congress has approved a deal that offers India access to American nuclear fuel and technology in exchange for safeguards on India’s nuclear program.++ India considers the US the key to great power status. ++ The US …More
Currently, the US is reeling from the “Palin Effect.” ++ The overall demoralization and financial crises damage the collective identity of Americans and that is why voters need to hear that their country is still ‘exceptional’. ++ Fortunately, …More
The impact of the current financial crisis on India will be minimal. ++ Indian institutions, such as ICICI Bank, have relatively little exposure to Wall Street, and due to a good regulatory system, should escape fairly unscathed. ++ However, …More
India and the US are celebrating their new nuclear deal this week. ++ Critics fear an unraveling of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. ++ Notwithstanding, India will be one of the great world powers and there is an unfortunate, yet …More
The domestic political culture in India determines whether India will work out in its new role as a nuclear power. ++ So far, suspicion and accusation among the politicians hindered India’s democratic institutions to produce a coherent …More
Washington and New Delhi are guilty of overselling the US-India nuclear deal. ++ The pact will not play as big of a role in bolstering US-India ties and boosting both economies as politicians want people to believe. ++ On the …More
In order to achieve at least one of its foreign policy goals, the Bush administration insisted on the international approval of the nuclear deal with India. ++ The world can sell nuclear fuel to India; however, the action was …More
The former colony India is now confronted with separatists who call for an independent Kashmir. ++ India’s governance of the region was dreadful at times, but it is still a legitimate democracy. ++ Nobody should oppose an independent …More
Because India has not signed the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), some oppose the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and their plan to waive the ban on its nuclear commerce. ++ But India has committed itself to fully cooperate with the IAEA and, if it …More
Sharif and Zardari, who lead the governing coalition, use President Musharraf’s impeachment to portray themselves as representatives of democracy, but in truth, neither of them were elected. ++ They head the two most corrupt …More
India is depicted in the media as “a squeaky-clean ally of the United States” and no inconvenient truths are allowed to mar Indian democracy’s supposed success story. ++ A passive receiver of this image will surely be …More
Joseph S. Nye: If the US wants to remain powerful, strong ties to the world’s emerging powers are crucial. Improved relations between the US and India could provide the basis for China’s international integration. …More
India just had its first vote of confidence because the government’s communist allies withdrew their support over the civilian nuclear deal, arguing that the pact made India a pawn of the US. ++ Prime Minister Singh’s Congress …More
Even though India hasn’t signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and has not permitted inspections of its nuclear plants, Bush’s administration is hastening to close a US-Indian “civilian nuclear deal.” …More
The US-India nuclear pact, declared “almost certainly dead” last month, will probably be signed by the Indian government after all. ++ The onus of getting it implemented is therefore back on the US. ++ Congress must stop pressuring …More
Ethan Christian Arrow: The rapid growth of India and China is reshaping the present international order. Representatives of these nations elucidate their intention to replicate the West’s wealth without replacing its established international order. Following such a path, without first securing democratic freedoms and institutions, will however, prove problematic. …More
India’s domestic political squabbles are hindering its nuclear program with the US. ++ Afraid that scrupulous international monitoring would undermine India’s traditionally independent foreign policy, the …More
Coercive diplomacy is America’s only remaining option as its influence declines in the Middle East. ++ Especially in the case of an Obama presidency, this “changed constellation” in the region calls for India to readjust …More
As Bush’s term ends, the president can look back on a solid Asia legacy. ++ He successfully used India to balance China. ++ India is the world’s largest democracy, 80,000 Indian students study in the US, and trade between India and …More
The Western coupling of China and India as rising powers overlooks drastic differences between the two countries. ++ China began liberalization first, and its growth has put it “in a totally different economic league from India.” ++ Yet despite …More
India’s slide by two places in the global competitiveness ranking from 2007 to 2008 reveals the country’s infrastructural deficiencies. ++ “The government is unable to create infrastructure needed to …More
The Indian Ocean will be a strategic bridgehead for the big players of the 21st century. This relates to the Indian sea doctrine, which has been determining India’s policies in the region since its release in 2004. China’s …More
India’s ascension as a nuclear weapon state ten years ago was a mistake. ++ Fallacious confidence in the doctrine of deterrence has had the opposite effect, encouraging reckless behavior in Kashmir and strengthening Pakistan’s …More
India’s agricultural sector remains nearly stagnant at a time when global food production faces five major challenges: population growth, changing consumption habits in emerging markets, declining agricultural production …More
In the face of turmoil in Tibet, India has found itself in a delicate position. ++ As a democracy, India has a tradition of permitting peaceful protest, yet it is also intent on improving Indo-Sino relations and continuing to expand trade with …More
India is confronted with a multitude of territorial claims from its neighbors. ++ The Asian giant is vulnerable to “the tyranny of geography.” ++ The pluralist democracy’s fragile and instable surroundings …More
Since Africa is both a source of natural resources and an outlet for manufactures, it is an area where India and China’s needs overlap. ++ China’s
two-way trade with Africa is higher, yet it has been charged with neo …More
Hans F. Bellstedt: As a modern and economically booming city, Bangalore stands for the upside of globalization and offers a possible foretaste of what India will be like in the future. Yet Bangalore’s success story is still an exception in a country that suffers from deep-set structural problems. …More
Indian state Chhattisgarh is positioned to become biodiesel hub. ++ Local jatroph nut is inedible, grows on wasteland, requires little cultivation, and produces 3x more oil per hectare than soybeans - a cheap energy …More
Nuclear weapons with their incomparable destructive capacity are the determining center of international power. ++ As technological forces are increasingly being associated with national security and success, defenders of disarmament are …More
India’s infrastructure is obstructing economic growth. Just the terrible state of the roads and the endless traffic jams cause economic losses amounting to 6 billion US dollars per year. The cities in particular …More
Despite a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in recent days, India’s priority is clearly focused on the main actors in Asia: China and the US, says Frédéric Bobin of Le Monde. A rising power itself, India is …More
Apart from hosting international sporting events in the near future, Delhi and Beijing have a lot in common at the moment, according to Narayani Ganesh of the Times of India: both face increasingly serious …More
Alarmists, especially in the US, fear that China’s and India’s combination of raw brainpower and raw ambition will threaten America’s technological leadership, while skeptics dwell on the countries’ …More
Eckart von Klaeden: India has become a new global player. The broadening and deepening of relations with Western powers such as Germany and the United States in recent years has been welcomed in Berlin and Washington. …More
Mark Brzezinski: The US has missed opportunities to make sensible progress in India and Iran. In both cases, the United States should be promoting constructive engagement rather than undercutting long-held nonproliferation doctrine. …More
Most US presidential candidates have very favorable views towards closer cooperation with India in the future, reports Joanna Klonsky of the Council on Foreign Relations. Klonsky’s findings belie the low coverage …More
As western companies pull out of the African energy sector due to domestic pressure, India and China are stepping in to take their place, reports Sushant K. Singh of Chatham House. Currently Beijing, …More
The US-India nuclear deal might be at risk, argues Sengupta in an article for the World Security Network. The countries are particularly divided over two issues:
- Granting India permission to carry …More
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced that it plans to double its diplomatic corps within the next five years, reports Jo Johnson of the Financial Times. During a decade in which India joined 13 multilateral …More
India is no longer simply the world’s “back office,” and has moved beyond its perceived role as provider of data processors and call-center workers. A study of the Boston Consulting Group and …More
Globalization has come full circle, says Deutsche Welle. 10 years ago, Germany set the tone of its economic relationship with India. German companies outsourced parts of their production to India and attempted to lure …More
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