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Islamabad will deploy all political and diplomatic tools to lobby in the West. But it senses failure

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted two features of the Nepal-India economic relationship: Nepal’s ballooning trade deficit, and unrestricted cross-border movement of people of both countries. Attributing the trade deficit entirely to supply-side constraints is neither accurate nor conducive to the overall health of the relationship. This brief suggests ways towards more sustainable trade relations between India and Nepal, among them, India r

World's two major democracies are getting better at riding through the bumps

Get away from the barter system of vote bank politics. Politicians need to rise above petty politics and show they haven't got feet of Vernacular clay. This will be the first step to prove to the world that we are a mature democracy.

There are strong indicators of a regionally dominant People's Liberation Army of China attempting for an expeditionary status, says Mr. Abraham M. Denmark, Vice President of the National Bureau of Asian Research.

China, Japan and South Korea have a long way to go in their trilateral free trade agreement. The road to an agreement is going to be long and complex. However, how this trilateral venture is going to be viewed by the US is to be watched with care and interest.

PM Abe has activated Japan's Central Asian diplomacy like no other leader did before. However, he is realistic enough to understand the enormous Chinese influence in the region. Rather than seeking to supplant that influence, Abe only wants to project Japan as an important and useful partner in the Central Asian scene.

By demonetisation move, PM has enacted strong policy that has removed nearly all currency from circulation, without an immediate recourse to replenishment.

For any nation, development of infrastructure is essential to ensure growth. India has lagged on this front for some time now and the Modi government plans to give a major push to infrastructure. The government is in the process of preparing an ambitious infrastructure programme for the next 10 years.

Though India and China failed to resolve the issue of the stapled visa for those hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, there was substantial progress in other areas. The memorandum of understanding speaks about nine deals signed during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit, his sixth bilateral summit with the U.S. leader in nine years in office, will not be of great significance because the circumstances of what go into a successful summit do not exist. That has to do with the paralysis of governance in New Delhi, but equally the distemper that afflicts Washington.

Russia is considering supplying Hydrocarbons to India through pipelines and both countries have commissioned joint study groups to analyse the feasibility of the project.

While technocentric threats pose evolved security problems that need to be addressed, overhauling the police force is essential to move forward.

On March 13, 2006, the Union Home Minister announced a 14-point policy on Naxalism in the Lok Sabha as outlined in a booklet, 'Status Paper on the Naxal Problem'. In an effort to counter political criticism and allay the oft- repeated concerns of knowledgeable and informed circles,

New Delhi has enough regional ructions without another tense relationship to manage.

Russia recently witnessed the re-election of its long-serving president. A constitutionally mandated term limit suggests this would be Vladimir Putin’s last presidential term. As Russia enters a period of power transition, it is likely that a number of political actors will become relevant during this phase. This brief looks at the groups that form the opposition—those operating within the formal institutions and the major players outside it�

Rajinikanth is a brand in Tamil films. He rewrote the history of Tamil cinema — the question is if Rajinikanth as a politician would be as successful.

As the election season heats up in the US, the language of fear and name calling is rampant within parties and between parties. Instilling fears of the other candidate into the minds of voters, through campaign rhetoric and negative ads and distributed many times over by the power of new media technologies, has emerged an important feature of the campaigns.

The bilateral ties have had their share of irritants on issues initiated after the Trump administration took office.

Infrastructure investments are required to enable economic growth and provide the services required by a growing population. The infrastructure already available is threatened by climate change, damaging existing assets and reducing future productivity. Investment in new infrastructure has to increase to fill the gap; as this occurs, the operation and maintenance cost of infrastructure are also expected to rise. Furthermore, as resources are scar

The next round of bilateral summit entails a US presidential visit to India. Should Modi become Prime Minister, then he and his Govt would expect the visiting President to lend greater clarity than Ambassador Powell's meeting now would entail.

Does our political and administrative structure perceive future energy plans without the sense of sight? Here lies the biggest differentiation between 'vision and delusion'. The lessons learnt from reviewing past year have the potential to reveal the gaps in our planning, implementation and governance.

The presence of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan has been counter-productive and has only led to increase in terrorism, according to Dr. Saeed Jalili, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.

The Indian President's presence at the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II in Russia on May 9 is in part about extending New Delhi's solidarity with Moscow at a time when many Western leaders have decided not to show up in protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin's policy in Ukraine.

The February 2017 order by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for fixing the price ceiling for cardiac stents—a device that normalises blood supply to the heart—brings to fore the old debate on the influence of business in healthcare in India. In view of the increasing number of catheterisation laboratories in the country, and the rise in the use of cardiac stents, this article discusses, inter alia:  (a) the role of price

US prosecutors indicted Adani Group officials. Several countries are reviewing Adani projects. This impacts India's global image and connectivity goals. India's private sector needs to increase its role in international development. This will support India's foreign policy and strategic ambitions.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, there has been a surge in cases of online child sexual abuse and exploitation (OCSAE) in many parts of the world. This brief discusses the cases of India and Australia. It examines their efforts to combat the increased incidence of OCSAE resulting from greater use of the internet as movement was restricted in response to the pandemic. The brief focuses on India and Australia as bo

To meet the World Health Assembly target for breastfeeding, the government needs to promote breastfeeding in a big way. At the same time, it is important to create awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding, as well as initiate steps to improve breastfeeding practices.

The application of emerging technologies in humanitarian assistance has increased in recent years, and they have proven effective in delivering life-saving interventions to populations in need. In a fast-changing technological landscape, the use of such tools is only expected to increase further. At the same time, however, the use of technologies brings certain challenges, such as misuse of data and the spread of misinformation. This brie

As part of this effort, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) launched a report, Health Equity and Inclusion in Action, which seeks to examine the ways different health initiatives in six countries across Asia and Africa are exploring to address this complex problem. The report, created by the ORF in collaboration with Gilead Sciences who commissioned it, examines case studies from Bangladesh, India, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa and Vietnam to

While Moscow's core demands remain unchanged, its secondary demands have evolved. Among other things, it no longer objects to Ukraine joining the EU.