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Given its location and its capabilities, Seychelles is well-placed to mitigate sea-borne challenges by cooperating with major players.

Observer Research Foundation and ORF Chennai-based business magazine Industrial Economist organised a one-day seminar on 23 July 2007 titled SEZs - Prospects & Challenges.

The ongoing global energy crisis has highlighted countries’ vulnerabilities to energy shocks due to an overdependence on fossil fuels. Clean energy sources are an ideal option for states looking to hedge against the risks associated with fossil fuels. Moreover, recent technological advances and falling costs have placed renewables at the centre of the global energy landscape. Developing countries are now on the cusp of a histori

Technology has as much potential to exacerbate as it does to mitigate the risks of terrorism. What takes place in the digital space is merely symptoma

China has used Colombo’s compulsion to deliver a strong message to India and the world—regardless of its assistance, Beijing still holds significa

India is developing appropriate capabilities to tackle the new and emerging space security challenges in outer space.

Where China and India indicate conspicuous commonalities, aim for similar objectives and reflect identical challenges — exploring Sino-Indian partne

India’s robust economy has tremendous potential. But for sustained economic growth, it needs direct access to the Eurasian markets, backed by reliable, resilient, and diversified supply chains. Indeed, enhanced connectivity with Central Asia and the wider Eurasia is essential to promote regional stability and unlock economic opportunities for all countries in the region. This paper analyses the status of the key connectivity projects in the reg

Over four billion people do not have access to Internet; that makes a huge two-thirds of the global population. In India, around four of every five people lack this basic resource. Various access technologies are being developed in different parts of the world to bridge the digital divide. Amongst these technologies, the emergence of small satellites carries immense promise. These satellites are used for applications ranging from remote sensing t

Our future as a country depends upon the route we take towards growth and, at the same time, how we resolve our environmental challenges.

Urban inequality is a blight experienced by many cities, even in the developed world.In developing countries like India, these social and economic inequalities become even morepronounced, with living conditions in certain populations crossing the line to the abysmal. Inthese cities, agencies responsible for addressing welfare concerns are unable to do so, as theythemselves grapple with a host of challenges. This paper argues that any positive tra

China uses history in imaginative fashion. This aspect is evident in Chinese expansionism over land and sea. Therefore, the challenge is often to locate South Asia within the broader configurations of land and sea, says Prof. Rila Mukherjee, Head of History of the Hyderabad University.

Assembly elections and the challenges before the Indian National Congress, developments in Maldives — and other news from South Asia.

To address the challenges posed by existing credit rating agencies and their biases against the Global South, particularly India, several operational

Global data governance is at a crossroads—intensely contested by nations and industry players seeking to shape rules of the road to benefit their strategic interests. India has placed itself at the heart of the battle, its foreign policy vision fuelled by the principle of ‘data sovereignty’—a broad notion that supports the assertion of sovereign writ over data generated by citizens within a country’s physical boundaries. While this visi

The space domain has changed in significant ways in the last two decades, not only because of a multitude of new players but also the increasing incap

India’s resilient economy has rebounded from pandemic-induced negative growth, making it a shining prospect in the gloomy global arena

As two democracies, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka share many development needs and challenges — this underpin their growing ties.

The two countries are holding talks for India to reschedule Sri Lanka’s $900 million India debt.

Sri Lanka’s quest for right-sizing the military and building a well-equipped force for future challenges offers opportunities for India to further e

The central challenge in DAMH is the misalignment between the goals of recipients and the priorities of donors

The ongoing challenge for the Indian and US governments is to define what exactly the "strategic relationship" is in form and function, in which context a defence relationship will mature.

India’s defence model faces challenges despite the positive trends generated by ‘Make in India’

India and Japan’s economic vision is that of an ‘Asia and Africa Growth Corridor’ (AAGC) empowering states to peacefully counter and constrain Chinese revisionism. However, a stable AAGC will depend on enhanced security cooperation and the current rules-based order upheld by the US-led security framework. While current Indian and Japanese engagements in Asia are conducive to successful cooperation, weaker economic and military engagements w

Institutional collaborations and joint ventures between India and Israel can help address India’s water and food security challenges

The political mess in Nepal presents a very difficult challenge for India. Nepal is geo-politically too sensitive for India to detach itself from developments there. We have to be ever watchful of the inroads China makes.

This return to business as usual is reflective of the wariness on both sides to escalate the crisis further and prevent it from metastasising into a new front of conflict.

While India is looking to the UN to manage the cyber challenges, America and China are exploring bilateral solutions that could eventually be imposed on the rest of the world. That is very similar to what happened in the nuclear arena five decades ago.

Sweden’s 2023 presidency comes at a critical juncture as Europe confronts several challenges

As the biotechnology industry evolves, integrating synthetic data and model-based reasoning will remain crucial for addressing complex biological chal

Currently, India’s aircraft and aircraft equipment demands rely heavily on foreign lessors. Such over-reliance presents various challenges that need

The findings of Working Group-III (WG-III) of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly highlight the global failure to scale-up mitigation actions to achieve the Paris Climate targets. Immediate and unprecedented action will now be needed to avoid catastrophic global warming in this century. The WG-III report details some of the policy actions needed at the global level to enable a sustai

As part of the 'Maritime Security Programme (MSP) which was launched by the then Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash on 19th May 2006 at ORF Chennai, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), ORF Chennai Chapter conducted a day long seminar on "Tamil Nadu Coastal Development and Security: Challenges and Responses" on 5th May 2007.

It is clear that the reform that began by addressing tax challenges from digitalisation is now one of taxing MNEs better

The world is facing a climate-change challenge that requires nothing short of atechnological revolution to address. Yet the current patterns of technology development anddiffusions are not transformative enough; nor are they happening at a pace, rapid enough.Actions at multiple levels engaging different actors are needed to reduce emissions whilemeeting the developmental needs of the global south. This paper summarises the mostinnovative ideas s

Andhra Pradesh is in a state of huge flux today. Apart from challenges like Naxalism, the Telangana issue has intensified the turbulent political atmosphere. The recent submission of Justice B N Srikrishna Committee Report has brought back the question of reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh onto national headlines.

Today, global geopolitical challenges are giving more space for terror and extremist groups. Thus adequate counterterrorism measures need to be adopte

Navigating the delicate balance between its association with the US and China amidst their ongoing global geopolitical competition presents a signific

Interventions by the military-royalists continue to impede Pita Limjaroenrat’s bid to become the next PM, thus posing serious challenges to Thailand

The number of malnourished children in India has increased significantly between the time of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015-16) and the fifth round (2019-2020), and the progress in the first half of the decade has been reversed. This paper tells the story of the Northeast region of India, where malnutrition is worse than the country average. It examines the policy landscape in the region, evaluates current programmes and initiat

The 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2022 and the subsequent leadership reshuffle gave a new mandate to a ruling elite that will sit at the helm till 2027. It happened at a time when the CPC is facing strong headwinds, among them a tech war with the United States (US) and a downturn in the domestic economy as a result of President Xi Jinping’s ‘zero-COVID-19’ policy. The CPC saw the protests that ensued a

Unlike in other regions of the world, the value of intra-Africa trade has remained low over the years. Moreover, Africa accounts for just 2 percent of global trade. In 2021, African countries launched the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create a single African market for the free movement of goods, services, labour, and capital, and increase intra-African trade. AfCFTA may be able to provide Indian firms and in

This paper analyses the domestic compulsions in Australia, India, Japan and the US that are influencing their positions on the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). The paper notes that as the four countries are becoming increasingly aware of the risks posed by China’s rise over the last few years, they have sought to converge to the Quad. For Australia, the concerns are over trade dependency on China, and China’s sharp power projection and

This brief looks at the growing strategic significance of the Bay of Bengal within the emerging and increasingly contested geography of the Indo-Pacific. In three parts, the brief outlines the historic evolution of the littoral, examines the implications of its strategic location at the heart of the Indo-Pacific, and ponders the unfolding challenges to regionalism in the Bay of Bengal. It concludes with a call on India to intensify its efforts to

The old arms control model was a product of a bipolar world. The real challenge is creating a new model to deal with rising nuclear risks in a multipolar world

Although Biden has invoked Trump’s Indo-Pacific construct to promise continuity on US-India ties, the US Congress’ shift to a reformist — from i

The big challenge before BIMSTEC is to muster public support for the regional forum.

Connectivity facilitates economic growth, social development, and people-to-people interactions. Recognising the imperative of connectivity in regional engagement, the Bay of Bengal Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in 1997 declared ‘transport and communication’ as one of its sectors of cooperation. In 2018, BIMSTEC drew up its Master Plan for Transport Connectivity, and subsequently updated the plan at the fifth BIM

The Seychelles’ geographical advantages have given it economic gains from its main Blue Economy (BE) sectors—fisheries and tourism. However, overexploitation and unsustainable management practices have placed undue pressure on these resources. In 2018, the country conceived a sustainable ocean-based development pathway—the Seychelles’ Blue Economy Strategic Framework and Roadmap. Various socio-economic and environmental challenges threate