IDSA Comments

Bangladesh: Hacking Free Thinking to Death

Bangladesh is slowly and surely moving towards a perilous future that threatens the foundational values on which the liberation war was fought and the state founded.

India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Effort in Nepal

There is widespread commitment in India for Nepal’s reconstruction. India’s provision of reconstruction assistance to Nepal must be worked out as a long term strategy.

Modi in China: Shift the Discourse

In today’s India, the narrow nationalism, if not paranoia, built on the burden of 1962 seems only artificial. But, can Modi and Xi move beyond this burden and change the bilateral discourse? Modi needs to be metaphysical not just pragmatic.

P. Stobdan
May 14, 2015
IDSA Comments

Camp David Summit: An opportunity to build consensus

While the Iran nuclear agreement will be the primary agenda of the summit, there are expectations that other regional issues will also be raised: the campaign against the Islamic State, removal of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, the ongoing war in Yemen and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

India and Mongolia: Modi on Ashoka’s Path

Nehru fought for Mongolia’s status at the United Nation. Today, Modi’s India has greater economic strength to nurture the relationship with Mongolia.

P. Stobdan
May 13, 2015
IDSA Comments

Modi’s China Visit – Allaying Maritime Misgivings

For better operational cooperation, India and China need to go beyond rudimentary agreements on combating piracy and crime in the Western Indian Ocean. They need to work out an acceptable framework for functional collaboration and create positive momentum in favour of greater strategic interaction.

Defence Manufacturing: In Search of a Composite Policy Framework

It is time the MoD considered creating structures and organizations that are not an intrinsic part of the ministerial set up to implement the production and procurement policies once these are formulated by the ministry.

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor and India

India has to take a call on whether it would like to be a party to the CPEC, sit on the fence, or convey its concerns more emphatically in a bid to discourage China.

Implications of the Taliban’s 2015 Spring Offensive

Shifting the centre of gravity of fighting from their traditional strongholds in the South to the northern parts of Afghanistan in this operation is indicative of the Taliban’s shift in focus to other regions that are also in the al Qaeda’s radar.

Bangladesh: Mayoral Elections unable to resolve Political Deadlock

Confrontational politics is not new in Bangladesh. But it seems to have intensified in the last few months, especially after the unofficial main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), decided to launch protests on the first anniversary of the 2014 parliamentary elections in order to force the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government to step down. The BNP considers the January 5, 2014 parliamentary elections as illegal and hence the government in power as illegitimate.