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Tehran is using the opportunity to send a strategic message to other powers in the region and beyond.

India must continue to remain politically engaged with Tehran despite its partnership plan with China

On 6 November 2003, US President George W. Bush made an 'excellent¿ and ¿noble¿1 speech (much acclaimed by analysts and the media) at the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, whereby he launched a new ¿forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East'.

While the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 are on track and when Iran is conceding most of the demands, why should there be an explosion in a crucial Iranian nuclear site, that too a missiles and munitions centre -- Parchin.

Senator John Kerry has been at pains to convince his Iranian counterpart that the Congressional act of voting on April 14 to appropriate to itself the power to reject the final deal is merely symbolic and President Obama can easily over-ride these hurdles. But what it reveals is an ugly side of the Congressmen who still live in a world of 'sanctioning' the rest.

Being a pragmatist, Iranian President Rouhani simply accepted the reality and made a deal, that ensured Iran's respect and dignity and gave relief to his people. His next 100 days will be equally crucial and that may bring about tectonic changes in the region.

A significant thaw is happening in the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Once Saudi Arabia decides to mend its ties with Iran, the US should hardly have any reason to go on punishing Iran. In this scenario, it seems the resolution of Iran's nuclear negotiations is not far off.

The SCO has so far not been a major factor in discussions about Afghanistan's stabilization. But there is a good possibility that Afghanistan will obtain observer status in the SCO. Given the differing agendas of the SCO and the US/NATO, Afghanistan's embrace of the SCO could greatly complicate reconstruction efforts.

I read with great interest your article titled "THE COMING WARS: What the Pentagon can now do in secret" carried by the "New Yorker" in its issue dated January 24, 2005, which is already on sale. The article is about US preparations for a possible covert operation against Iran's suspected military nuclear installations set up with Pakistani complicity.

In a prescient view, when the region and the world were still sizing up the Iranian President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a Xinhua despatch from Teheran featured by People's Daily in early August reported: "The successful play of the class card and religion card at a critical juncture has brought an unknown mayor to the office of the president.

There is no doubt that Iranian security policy is now bent on laying out on the table and publicising its entire gamut of strategic and tactical playing cards for all to see

Now, a lot depends on how the fourth Vienna meeting between Iran and the P5+1 goes and whether or not Iran is able to complete the set of actions it has agreed to under the Framework for Cooperation with the IAEA by the May 15 deadline.

The recently concluded fourth Vienna meeting, between Iran and P5+1, has revealed that Iran and the international community will have to cross the major hurdles for the successful conclusion of a comprehensive nuclear deal.

The unexpected good showing of the conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Mayor of Tehran, in the first round of the Iranian Presidental elections held on June 17, 2005, and his emergence in the No.2 position with 19.5 per cent of the valid votes polled as against 21 per cent for the favourite Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani throws open the possibility that in the second

Last week the curtains came down on the 21st century's first unjust war - the US involvement in Iraq. But worse may follow after the American pullout. The implications for India of further turmoil in the Persian Gulf, particularly Iraq are enormous.

Police and Army are perceived to be low . The mercenaries of the Iraqi members of the governing council such as Ahmed Chalabi are better paid. The staff of the Iraqi Police and Army were till recently not entitled to the war hazard allowance. A proposal to grant that allowance even to them was under consideration.

The old colonial borders drawn in the Middle East appear headed for a major overhaul and the fresh re-drawing of the map will set out tremors far beyond the region.

A fragile peace process between the Turkish state and the outlawed Kurdistan Worker?s Party (PKK) resulted in the first signs of retreat of PKK rebels as they make their way to Iraq?s Kurdish region.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq in March-April 2003 by a 'Coalition of the Willing' led by the United States was the second part of the response to the outrage conducted by a non-state actor on September 11, 2001. This was perceived in Washington as a gift from history, an opportunity to reshape a region of crucial relevance to the politics and economics of the western world. The impulse for drastic action was greater because notwithstanding

Nineteen US troops and three others were reportedly killed on December 21, 2004, in an attack on an improvised dining hall of an American military base at Mosul in northern Iraq. An organisation called Jaish Ansar al-Sunnah (JAAS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

India's own satellite-based navigation system, similar to the well-known American Global Positioning System (GPS), is being readied. The first satellite of the seven satellite constellation is scheduled to be launched on July 1 from Sriharikota.

The Mumbai blasts were an act of war against the Indian state; it would be naïve to term it as anything else. It was an act of terror to kill as many Indians as possible. It was an act enabled, to a large measure, by a growing perception among the terrorist groups, especially those operating from Pakistan, that the Indian state was soft and indolent.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trip to America will show if there is any political energy left in the UPA government for purposeful international engagement. If the answer is in the negative, the rest of the world will simply wait for stronger leadership to re-emerge in Delhi. India might pay a price for the wasted moments, but the ruling party may not much care, having grown rather comfortable with a do-nothing foreign policy.

The wide ramparts of Delhi’s historic Red Fort have set the stage for prime ministers to grandstand every year since 1947.

Polarisation over Kashmir and Jadhav, and the rise of rhetoric in India and Pakistan, only serves to feed into the narrative of aggressive nationalism that’s taken centre stage in India’s political discourse.

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like . This 35-year old rock hymn from "Queen" might evolve to the protest song of those cyclists in Kolkata who were recently banned to use their own means of transport in any of the city's 174 busiest streets.

In countering India’s efforts to dominate South Asian waters, China may be seeking a grand bargain: allow each side control over their respective littorals – the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea – and the maintenance of respective constabulary presences

While India’s diplomatic and political outreach with West Asia has been a success story over the past decade, the geopolitics of technology has the potential to offer a challenge.

Beijing’s latest gambit is the release of a media report on the development of cruise missiles with artificial intelligence and autonomous capabilities.

Many see China to be practicing a new form of imperialism in Africa as it imports primary goods from Africa and exports manufacturing goods to Africa, without transferring skills to the continent. And China-Africa ties are not free from challenges. There is also immense potential.

In August, a Chinese daily reported that China’s aerospace industry was developing tactical missiles with inbuilt intelligence.

Developing countries owe Beijing a lot more money than is commonly realized. This is how empires start.

China's aggressive postures in the disputed South China Sea regions have not only increased the unease and apprehensions of the affected countries but have also drawn it to the US strategic trap, placing China in a no-win situation.

At a major conference on foreign affairs in Beijing recently, President Xi Jinping called on his colleagues to create a "more enabling environment" for China's development, seeking to distance China from its brash and assertive posture.

The unilateral tariff imposition by the United States on various countries has started a trade war that threatens to adversely affect the world’s major economies. This paper finds that no country, including the US itself, is likely to benefit from a tariff war. In India, some analysts had expected that the country’s export penetration in the US and elsewhere will increase, as China loses out. An analysis of trade data, however, shows that whi

Policy reforms in the field of taxation in the commodity futures market is of critical significance as various taxes and levies are a significant component in the overall cost of transaction.

Lab-grown meats are new, and the health outcome is still unknown. Most consumers prefer natural products and reject foods derived from unnatural sources.

There is at least a temporary decoupling of consumption and GDP, with investment picking up pace and acquiring a greater share of domestic output

We cannot overlook the fact that the country's courts continue to be the objects of terrorist attacks while looking at the 'disciplining' of a police constable in public view, for neglecting the checking duty at a New Delhi court.