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The private sector can best fill the skilling gap. The information technology industry did this to grow and continues to do. Old economy companies in steel, cement, chemicals, engineering and construction are less willing to fund this public good. They complain that trained employees leave for better opportunities and skilling becomes a never-ending drain on company resources.

The state of Manipur has been steeped in violent conflicts between ethnic groups for decades. The latest, ongoing strife between the Kukis and the Meiteis that erupted in early May has exposed the failure of state forces to contain the violence, even as it reflects the deep-rooted hostility between the two ethnic groups. This brief attempts to engage with the multifaceted, historical ethnic conflict between the Kukis and the Meiteis of Manipur. I

Corruption is a subject of intense debate, discussion and guesswork in India. Even as estimates have been made about the extent of corruption in India, the real magnitude might be far bigger than all the reports have suggested so far. This brief discusses the current state of corruption in India and recommends measures and policy reforms. Data used in the brief are from both primary sources such as the income-tax department, as well as media repo

This brief discusses the status of Gorkhas who have joined the Russian Army and the Wagner Group as civilians, combatants, and mercenaries. Would Gorkhas, who otherwise constitute part of the regular armed forces in the United Kingdom and India, enjoy the same status if they join an ongoing conflict without entering into any bilateral agreement between the states? If not, what will the Gorkhas' status be under the prevailing international law reg

Tunisia, Eygpt, Syria?events may seem to be following a pattern but the changing dynamics in West Asia point to far more complex political and strategic games being played: The US role, Saudi phobia, Israeli and Iranian intrigues. Oil. And, to top it all, the Shia-Sunni face-off. Is Turkey being lured in as a possible Joker in the pack? Welcome to another Great Game.

Trump phenomenon will play out in the world with uncertaintyonly going to grow in years to come as democracies take recourse to rising tides of nationalism

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to be complimented for her candour. Her press conference in Moscow with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unavoidably focussed on Iran's nuclear plans and Mr. Lavrov said Iran had the right under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) to the nuclear fuel cycle. Dr. Rice said, "this is not a question of rights but whether or not the fuel cycle can be trusted in Iran."

India’s desire to play a more significant role in global governance should not cause anxiety in the United States. While India won’t promote every U.S. priority, it won’t jeopardize U.S. core interests.

Established in 1995, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement System (DSS) is used to resolve trade-related disputes between WTO member states. It has received over 500 complaints since its inception, and utilises both political negotiation and adjudication for dispute resolution. Today the DSS faces an unprecedented crisis due to US obstruction, which may render the system effectively dysfunctional by late 2019. It is likely tha

Xi seems to have overplayed his hand, leading to a significant realignment, resulting in a pushback at a time when his governance style has come under scrutiny

The defence budget is shrinking. The CDS can play a key role in ensuring the most efficient use of resources

The Cobrapost Paytm story highlights, perhaps more importantly, the inadequacy of the legal system in place when requesting data from online companies that collect vast quantities of information about their users.

The Government of India is reported to have advised a short postponement of the departure of the Indian cricket team to Bangladesh to play in some matches against the Bangladesh team at Dhaka and Chittagong following the receipt at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka of a fax message purported to have been signed by an organisation called Harkat-ul-Jihad warning of dire consequences if the team went ahead with the visit.

India should be pleased that US President Barrack Obama acknowledged India as a global player, and an equal partner in dealing with crucial issues not only in Asia, but also in the world.

Cyber insecurity is now a global risk no different from the warming climate or forced displacement. Is such insecurity a business risk or a "public bad"?

His arrival created controversy and so did his departure. For nothing was becoming either about Porter Goss¿s arrival at Langley to replace George Tenet, or about his departure on May 5. He was brought in to head a sullen and demoralised force and when he was unceremoniously dropped, the CIA was a much-diminished organisation.

Call it a game of good-cop-and-bad-cop being played out by President Musharaff and Prime Minister Jamali, yet Pakistan¿s willingness to ¿keep aside¿ the UN resolution on plebiscite in Kashmir should come as a welcome turn, if not relief, for India, and all those hoping for permanent peace in South Asia.

In recent years, India has become a hot investment destination for Chinese companies. While Chinese investments in India have come under greater scrutiny following the 2020 Galwan incident, this has done little to reverse Chinese enterprises’ strong appetite for the Indian market. At the same time, Beijing is increasingly concerned that in their rush to capitalise on the Indian market, Chinese companies are embracing the ‘Make in India’ pol

Situated in the northwest part of Pakistan, along the Afghanistan border, the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas or FATA is one of the most dangerous places in the world and has been the home-base for jihad and terrorism in South Asia. Governed by colonial era laws, and damaged by militancy and military operations, FATA residents remain second-class citizens, treated differently from the rest of Pakistan. This paper looks at the government’s

The Bay of Bengal region links South Asia and Southeast Asia, with the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) serving as a platform of trans-border cooperation. The BIMSTEC’s prime assets are the historical and cultural links between the nations, and their spirit of community. However, the lack of both a robust decision-making mechanism and a set of common rules have slowed down the growth of th

In an effort to facilitate the digitisation of the country’s healthcare systems, India released a National Digital Health Blueprint in January 2020, which provides a detailed framework for a “Federated National Health Information System.” This brief makes a case for expanding the scope of the blueprint to include digital therapeutics, digital diagnostics, and telemedicine. It proposes a “National Digital Health Blueprint 2.0,” with dive

India’s hill cities are unique poles of development. While they have managed to record some degree of economic growth, increasing urban population and unfavourable topography have also made such growth haphazard and unsustainable. In turn, this has threatened the quality of the built environment and of urban life in these cities. This report studies the case of the hill city of Aizawl, the administrative capital of Mizoram, which is part of the

Digital spaces are becoming increasingly vital for public deliberation on issues of shared interest, including during electoral campaigns. This brief examines the types of discourse on social media platforms that electoral candidates engage in. It studies the content of the online campaigns and their potential impact on voter education, and recommends countermeasures against the threat of uninformed and unethical online narratives that only

Policy clarity is needed to deal with the idea of a weapons system that surrenders life-and-death decisions to machines. ICRC is an independent humanitarian organisation set up in 1863, that has been playing an active part in discussions around the subject of AWS

The application of emerging technologies will play a key role in the performance of India’s armed forces. All three services understand the significance of these technological innovations in modern warfare, although their development has been uneven across the branches. This analysis provides an overview of how far the three services of the Indian armed forces have gone in integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), cyber technology, and

India-Russia relations have gone through a number of phases since their formal establishment in April 1947. Despite repeated projections of its decline following the end of the Cold War, India and Russia’s strategic partnership has persisted, and indeed in some areas has deepened. This brief argues that this could only mean that there is plausible geopolitical logic for both countries to persevere in strengthening their ties. It gives a histori

The cornerstone of any Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) programme, especially for global targets such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its successor, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is quality, comprehensive and real-time data. Without such data, M&E processes and operations are neither reliable nor relevant. This rule applies, for example, to targets related to nutrition and hunger-without effective nutrition monit

‘Bizarre’ has become the new byword in Washington under Trump

Under President Trump, the United States seems to adopting an unprecedented antagonistic stance against the institutions, commitments, and unpronounced precedents alike, of the liberal world order that the US itself put in place in the aftermath of the Second World War.

The US's plan of reducing troop strengths abroad would be counter balanced by the new kinds of deployments. The trend now is towards intelligence weapons systems with precise missions that are network centric, capable of swift decision and superior performance in all echelons with fewer casualties.

Turkey, which played a role in raising the stakes in Syria and now lowering it, deserves a close look. A mildly Islamised democratic Turkey ruled by its most charismatic Prime Minister ever, Tayyep Erdogan, was incorporated in the management of what had at one stage acquired the label of Arab Spring.

In the past few years, Twitter has served as a versatile form of political public square for domestic and world affairs. The use of Twitter, largely propelled by the prominence of social media in the current environment for the discharge of diplomatic functions, has become an integral part of contemporary international relations. Indeed, Twitter has created its own form of diplomacy by incorporating itself to augment traditional diplomatic functi

India and the United States (US) are realigning their respective foreign policies to prioritise stronger ties in counterterrorism cooperation. However, challenges arise from differing national security perspectives, particularly regarding regional threats posed by entities like Pakistan and Afghanistan. Following massive terrorist attacks, this collaboration has intensified, encompassing various activities that include intelligence sharing and jo

Not only is Indian economy sliding, but liberal democratic foundations of the Indian Republic are withering away.

In September 2024, the Second UN High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) marked a critical juncture in global health governance. This report examines the key commitments and implementation challenges emerging from the meeting’s Political Declaration. While the declaration sets ambitious targets—such as reducing AMR-related deaths by 10 percent by 2030 and establishing US$100 million in sustainable funding—massive gaps remain. T

The crunch would come if the Americans decide to press for Pakistan to be placed on the black-list

Japan-Thailand relations are understated, yet dynamic and continuing to evolve. The two have worked towards fortifying their ties across various sectors, including defence, investments, and energy, undergirded by a mutual commitment to regional stability and economic prosperity. A paramount interest is navigating the geopolitical complexities of the times, amid growing external threats that necessitate deeper security cooperation comprising bilat

Last month, the security forces of Bangladesh unearthed the existence of a new terrorist group called Ansar Ullah Bangla. The discovery of this group surprised many since the country for a few years has been having an active counter-terror operation in place.

In recent years, China has been playing a proactive and assertive role in neighbouring Myanmar’s internal conflicts, most of them driven by tensions between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups. Current scholarly studies examine the factors responsible for China’s increased role, identifying, amongst them, Beijing’s concerns on border stability and nationalist pressure from within. These analyses, however, neglect to delve into the

A pandemic of the viral disease COVID-19 has reached millions of people around the world with significant rates of mortality. With no specific treatments or vaccines in the immediate horizon, limiting contact with infected persons, the use of masks, and hand hygiene offer the only mitigation for now. This has led most countries to adopt severe isolation measures, which have in turn caused disruption of economic activity and increased unemployment

The United States (US) has revoked India’s benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and imposed Section 232 tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium. In response, India announced retaliatory tariffs. This brief probes the ongoing trade tensions between India and the US, despite a reduction in the trade deficit. It discusses the heightened influence of the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) and outlines its apprehensions

The United States (US) has revoked India’s benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and imposed Section 232 tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium. In response, India announced retaliatory tariffs. This brief probes the ongoing trade tensions between India and the US, despite a reduction in the trade deficit. It discusses the heightened influence of the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) and outlines its apprehensions

The popular uprising against the Assad regime in 2011, which gradually evolved into a civil conflict, has been one of contemporary history’s greatest tragedies. The conflict has claimed more than 400,000 lives; over six million Syrians have been internally displaced. India has not joined the call for an end to the Assad-led Baath Party rule over Syria. While this position may not hold much weight on its own, it strengthens with the consolidated

Food insecurity and mental health issues are linked in a syndemic relationship, where their interplay exacerbates negative outcomes, particularly among vulnerable populations. Chronic food insecurity contributes to psychological distress and depression, creating a self-perpetuating cycle that hinders access to adequate nutrition and undermines mental well-being. This bidirectional dynamic is further influenced by socio-economic disparities, gende

Various explanations have been proffered for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s renewed emphasis on ideology. The popular narratives attribute it to either Xi’s power ambitions, or a reaction rooted in his personal trauma during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Meanwhile, an alternative discourse projects the rise of ideology politics as a response to a possible legitimacy crisis facing the Communist Party of China (CPC). This paper weighs i