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Last week’s clash near Tawang is only the latest along the increasingly tense China-India border. A lack of clarity on where the border lies foments continued trouble.

Heightening great-power rivalry has impeded consensus-making in multilateral institutions. This has given rise, in recent years, to minilaterals especially in the Indo-Pacific. Even as there are criticisms that minilaterals are too informal and lacking in structures that are required for focused debates, China’s belligerence has galvanised support for, and focus within minilateral groupings in the region. Over the past year, the fallout of the

Among the most severe consequences of climate change is the global rise in average temperatures, and the resultant increase in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves. Cities are particularly vulnerable to heatwaves as their high built density absorbs and retains heat, leading to higher temperatures than the surrounding areas and causing the ‘heat island’ effect. India’s northwest region routinely experiences abnormally hot days during the

The Rohingyas are among the world’s most persecuted communities, who, until a mass exodus in 2017, mainly resided in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. In 2017, about 712,179 Rohingyas made their way to Bangladesh, taking the total number of Rohingya refugees in that country to 855,000.[1]The overcrowding caused by this influx at the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps has led the Bangladesh government to consider temporarily relocating the Rohingya refugees t

Floods are a recurrent phenomenon in many parts of India, and human and economic losses are consistently rising with increased exposure to the hazard. These losses can be significantly reduced by eliminating the encroachment on floodplains and regulating the land use within it through floodplain zoning, a widely accepted and effective non-structural policy measure. Despite its benefits, floodplain zoning has not been widely adopted in India, main

The implications of the American plans for a space weapons corps are still unclear

Despite the unprecedented growth of India’s gig economy and possible benefits to women service providers, little attention has been paid to the hurdles faced by women in pursuing gig work. Indeed, gig work has witnessed similar gendered division as has been evident in traditional work, and has not led to a direct increase in Female Labour Force Participation (FLPR) in India. This brief examines the existing literature on the problems faced by w

The Defence Minister's annual review of progress in self-reliance in defence efforts will end as a ritual unless a common minimum quantification of self-reliance efforts is arrived at. Else, we will be perpetually confused as to how self-reliant we are in defence production.

The Indo-US agenda is vast – there are issues to be clinched, points to be clarified and misunderstandings to be cleared.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented stress on India’s urban public health infrastructure, underscoring the need for urban planning to account for increased demand for health amenities during crises. This paper evaluates the city of Mumbai’s 1991 and 2034 development plans and finds inherent infrastructural inadequacies. It calls on urban-policymakers to complement development plans with robust dynamic health strategies that conside

For a navy wandering the far seas with warships with mostly empty helicopter decks, the prospect of acquiring any helicopter is of utmost importance versus the acquisition of a superfluous seaplane.

In 1990, China's GDP was roughly the same as India's and parts of its infrastructure, such as its railway system, were considered inferior. Today, China's GDP is around $9 trillion and India's is $2 trillion. The high speed train travelling at 300 kph from Shanghai to Beijing signals the extent to which China had pulled away from India.

The behind-the-scenes drama had all the ingredients of a potboiler.

Aware of the economic threat posed by the US, the Chinese president has been pushing for economic reforms.

Child-friendly cities’ is an emerging concept in the urban management sector in many countries across the globe, including India, where it complements government schemes that aim to develop India’s urban spaces as centres of human capital development, knowledge hubs, and drivers of growth and prosperity. These flagship missions include, for example, the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMR

The EU's proposed International Code of Conduct (ICoC) for space activities would not be successful if major space actors stay out of the ICoC, according to Indian PM's Special Envoy for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, Amb. Rakesh Sood. He says the ICoC was welcomed simply due to the lack of alternate initiatives.

A hard look at our politics and society suggests it may be a good idea to go by seniority alone till we become more complete ‘Indians’

Syria and Iraq are no longer just a do-and-kill struggle being enacted by extreme radical Islamists in their brutal search for a Caliphate. The Big Boys - US and Russia -- are now out in the open, the gloves are off and mind games are now being played.

Britain's former Chief Scientific Advisor and Head of the Government Office of Science, Sir David King, has said that both India and China should take a leadership role at the global platform for Climate Change.

Neighbours India and Nepal, who share an open border, have not always had the most amicable of relations, oscillating from one extreme to the other. One of their long-standing disputes is over the border area of Kalapani. This discord has the potential to disrupt the other aspects of their ties, especially in the domains of the economy and cross-border security. Further, if the two countries fail to arrive at a resolution to the disagreement, it

From Europe, India is viewed as a balancing power in terms of the economy and global harmony, according to Dr. Medgyessy, former Prime Minister of Hungary. He says India is ideologically closer to Europe and the US than the other BRICS countries.

India is faced with choices of being part of two regional blocs: BBIN and BCIM. In both blocs, India has Bangladesh as a common partner. The prime motives for being a member of the regional blocs are essentially economic, and strategically political.

India's external balance is changing fast with new equations being worked out. We need to set our house in order - refurbish our political apparatus, rebuild the crumbling state of our institutions and reorient and revamp our governance capacities.

There is a certain - surprising - amount of unease ahead of the visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to New Delhi. Why analysts and policymakers in India alike are worried, that their country could lose out on the latest developments in Afghanistan? The main reason seems that with the change of government in Kabul last year, a new sound keeps emanating from the Afghan capital.

China’s domestic debates throw light on issues behind the LAC crisis and also hold a lesson for India — to recognise and leverage its increasing strategic value to China

With trade wars and financial realignments looming, India's success in this evolving landscape will depend on its ability to balance collaboration with autonomy

The quest for a permanent seat is another challenge altogether. There is little appetite for UN reform in the international system, and there is no one big driver. Certainly, the US, without the support of which India cannot make it to the high table, has no interest in it right now.

Despite the worldwide call for a change in water management paradigm in favour of demand management and ecosystem restoration (also known as Integrated Water Resource Management), India still adheres to its archaic notions of water resource development.

The victory of a pro-China government in the Maldives offers Beijing an opportunity to restore its influence in the Indian Ocean region

Budget woes are unlikely to ease. The Chief of Defence Staff and the Army leadership are likely come under pressure to seriously think about downsizing the Army.

World Health Day: Between 2008 and 2019, only 3 per cent of all 51.6 million sterilisations done in India were vasectomies