Comment & Briefs

Syria is a long-term Russian ally, before and after the demise of the Soviet Union, primarily under the presidency of the Assads, father and son, and provides the only foothold to Russia in the Middle East.

If the IS has been able to successfully recruit Indians for the war in Syria and provide technical support for their travel, it is a matter of time before they find recruits willing to employ violence in India itself.

Recent developments in India-North Korea relations make it an opportune time for India to devise a new approach for its engagement with the Korean Peninsula that will help redefine its Act East policy.

IDSA was tasked by the 7th Central Pay Commission in July 2014 to conduct a study on the “Nature, Quantum & Components of Defence Expenditure and Defence Pensions”. The study was carried out in accordance with the terms of reference provided by the Commission.

The international community should strengthen the hands of the Sheikh Hasina government. It has a proven track record of working against extremists and terrorists.

To argue that the IS carried out the attacks because it has visceral hatred for Western values is to miss the central point. IS has that hatred, but essentially 13/11 was an act of vengeance against France and others who have been bombing the IS.

Direct Indian military intervention against ISIS would depend on how the situation unfolds over the next year. As an emerging power sharing a littoral with the region, India has an important role to play in acting as a catalyst for West Asian stability.

Against the backdrop of the Paris attacks, there is a need to introspect about the effectiveness of the approaches adopted by major states to counter terrorism.

The Meghalaya High Court’s order directing the central government to consider invoking AFSPA in the Garo Hills is more like an advisory premised on a number of High Court and Supreme Court judgments.

The air crash might prod the US and its allies to seek a political accommodation with Russia on Syria, and a grand coalition might emerge against the IS. But, even such a coalition will take long to dismantle the IS, assuming it were doable.