Bringing India-Nepal ties back on track The Prachanda regime’s success in bringing India-Nepal ties back on track will greatly depend on his domestic performance; that is where the goodwill which can give him political heft lies. Rajesh Singh | September 05, 2016 | IDSA Comments
Visit of Myanmar President Upgrades Bilateral Ties The message President Kyaw took back from New Delhi is that India stands ready to support Myanmar in every possible way on its march to security, reconciliation and prosperity. Ashok Sajjanhar | September 02, 2016 | IDSA Comments
Turkmenistan needs to revisit its gas policy TAPI has the potential to be a game changer for Turkmenistan. To boost confidence among potential investors, Turkmenistan needs to adopt best global practices in its gas sector. Sanket Sudhir Kulkarni | September 02, 2016 | IDSA Comments
Naga ‘Framework Agreement’ and Its Aftermath Differing perceptions among the various stakeholders has emerged because the contents of the framework agreement are not in the public domain. Pradeep Singh Chhonkar | September 01, 2016 | IDSA Comments
Flimsy Reading of History Fails to Predict Tibet’s Future Prof P. Stobdan (Senior Fellow, IDSA)’s reading of history fails to predict Tibet’s future from the beginning. The Dalai Lama has informed the Tibetan people about his thinking on the succession issue since as early as 1969. Later on September 24, 2011, the Dalai Lama took a definite position on the succession issue, where the Dalai Lama made it very clear that the decision to continue or not continue with the institution of the Dalai Lama lies with the Tibetan people. The real reason for ‘Younghusband’s visit’ to Tibet was not to lay a telegraph line. Tenzin Tsultrim | September 2016 | Strategic Analysis
Identity, contestation and development in Northeast India by Komol Singha and M. Amarjeet Singh Inhabited by numerous tribes and sub-tribes with fierce clan loyalties, the north-east of India has been plagued by identity-inspired insurgencies since independence. The first of these insurgencies was that of the Naga National Council (NNC) in the mid-1950s. Subsequent decades saw the outbreak of other, similar, insurgencies among the Meiteis, Mizos, Assamese and Boroks. Pushpita Das | September 2016 | Strategic Analysis
Andean Cosmovision and Diplomacy for Life The concept of ‘Vivir Bien´ or ´Good Life’ has emerged in Bolivia’s political, policy and diplomatic discourse after the ascension to power of Evo Morales in December 2005, the first person of indigenous ethnicity to be President of Bolivia. In South Asia and other parts of the world much is known about Bhutan’s Index of Happiness, but little is heard about ‘Vivir Bien’ or ‘Good Life’, the ideology of Life, Politics and Diplomacy emanating from Bolivia, in the heart of Latin America. Sandeep Chakravorty | September 2016 | Strategic Analysis
Australia and India in Asia: When ‘Look West’ Meets Act East The recent Australian decision to extend civilian nuclear cooperation to India, overriding its own long-term principled position, is no ordinary development. Taking that as a starting point, this article seeks to set out the context and rationale for an all-round and long-term closer relationship between the two countries. Vishal Ranjan | September 2016 | Strategic Analysis
India’s Decision Making on Cross-Border Natural Gas Pipelines (1989–2012) In the last two decades, cross-border gas pipelines have become an integral part of discourse on India’s energy security. Successive reports from the government and the private sector have envisaged an important role for cross-border gas pipeline projects in India. After engaging in negotiations for several years, the Indian Government finally joined the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) gas pipeline over the Iran–Pakistan–India pipeline (IPI) and the Myanmar–Bangladesh–India pipeline (MBI). Sanket Sudhir Kulkarni | September 2016 | Strategic Analysis
Assessing India’s Rise and the Road Ahead This article analyses India’s economic, military and political rise in the international state system. It concludes that India is on the rise in all three power dimensions, underpinned by a larger share of global GDP. However, it also identifies the constraints on the way. On matters concerning its economy, India lags behind in industrial prowess, innovation, socio-economic development and financial strength. While modernising its defence capabilities, it faces obstacles due to budget issues, institutional constraints and a weak defence industry. Samuel Bergenwall | September 2016 | Strategic Analysis
