The historical shifts in the region and domestic political developments will have a significant impact on India’s external environment. With huge stakes in the region such as energy, trade and safety of Indian citizens in the region, it has become important for India to carefully watch developments taking place in its ‘extended neighbourhood.’ These and other related issues are being focused upon by the scholars at the Centre. The Centre continues to hold regular bilateral dialogues with some leading think tanks in West Asia thus facilitating exchange of ideas and perspectives.
Current projects being pursued in the Centre are:
No posts of Books and Monograph.
No posts of Jounral.
It is early days to speculate on the likely outcome and possible trajectory in Saudi-Israeli engagement, but Eshki’s visit has so far been the clearest indication of Saudi willingness to engage with the Jewish state.
Erdogan and Gulen were allies until 2013 when a corruption scandal erupted and Gulen’s followers in the judiciary and police investigated ministers and officials close to Erdogan.
One cannot say that Chilcot has come up with any startling or original insight. But it is useful to have solid documentary evidence in a consolidated form for the conclusions generally accepted.
The June 28 attack on Ataturk airport, as also the Zaventem attack in Brussels, have highlighted the security lacunae in all airports, which do not monitor the arrival terminals.
The military campaigns waged during the war and the political arrangements entered into immediately thereafter created the Arab world as it exists today as well as the problems it continues to confront.
Modi visiting Jerusalem would be a re-affirmation of India’s diplomatic ability to pursue multiple national interests by manoeuvring between countries who have difficult or non-existent relationships among themselves but who share important relationships with India.
This is an appropriate time to engage Iran, take the relationship forward and concretise many pending projects on connectivity and energy cooperation.
For Yemen, known in antiquity as Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia), there is much sorrow in store as of now. The Romans used to contrast Arabia Felix with Arabia Deserta.
When can we expect to see Libya having a single government and starting the daunting journey towards democracy?
Settler entrenchment has reached a point where no peaceful assimilation of the entire West Bank into a compact territory of a future Palestine state and a harmonious division of Jerusalem city linked to this entity may be possible.
Despite political differences over regional issues, India and Saudi Arabia are intensifying cooperation on issues of mutual interest such as terrorism, piracy, security cooperation, and intelligence sharing.
The only effective way to stop the flow of refugees is for Turkey to confiscate all boats or use brute force to prevent Syrians from going to the coast.
The Munich deal, abortive though it is, proves that Russia, by engaging militarily in a substantive manner, has placed itself at a decidedly advantageous place at the negotiating table as compared to the United States.
Syria’s plight is likely to get worse before it gets better. More Syrians will be killed and the powers that be do not care.
It will be wrong to conclude that Egypt will remain unfree for too long. Did Napoleon’s accession to power put an end to the French Revolution?
It is too early for India to get involved in any regional security arrangement as it would have to answer two basic questions; security for whom? And against whom? Most regimes feel threatened internally and any involvement would entail India taking sides between rival factions.
The lifting of sanctions against Iran relating to its nuclear activities marks an important turning point for Iran, the region, the United States, and the rest of the world.
Unless addressed, the escalation of tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia can have serious adverse consequences for regional stability and peace and also for ongoing efforts to bring to an end the war in Yemen and the wars in Syria.
When each dictator fell, there was hope that the country might move towards democracy even if the route might prove to be long and difficult. That hope has proved to be a mirage, except in Tunisia.
The sustenance of the TAPI project would be contingent upon each side’s ability to accommodate the concerns of different stakeholders in the project. Only time will tell if the projects’ stakeholders can demonstrate such an attitude.
