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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.

President Medvedev's recent visit to India (December 21-22) has contributed to retrieving some of the ground being lost in India-Russia ties. A perception has been growing that the relevance of Russia to India has declined in the context of the changed international situation,

Politics is no more news in Maldives. Even media commentaries these days focus on culture and other aspects even as the news columns take time off to report more on crimes like abuse of foreigners by resort employees and the like.

One of the critical issues that seem to have missed the Indian-Pakistan peace process is terrorism. Pakistan has quietly managed to keep the issue on the backburner by raising the issues of Baglihar dam and Kashmir.

Kazim Rizvi and Shravishtha Ajaykumar, Eds., Privacy in Practice: Strategies for Data Management in India, January 2025, Observer Research Foundation.

Long before Snowden, it was suggested that the best way forward was to abandon 'the Internet' and embrace multiple internets, essentially privatising networks. The splintering of the Internet is one possible consequence of viewing Internet rights through the prism of private property.

CyberSpace is a free-wheeling mind- Space at the cutting edge of innovation precisely because of the absence of sovereignty and artificial barriers. Declaring sovereignty here is as absurd as extending one's jurisdiction deep into the minds of others.

Given Donald Trump’s personality, maintaining good relations with him plays a crucial role. Addressing PM Modi as a friend, Trump also described him as a “tough negotiator”

Japanese are leaders in global technology dealing with energy efficiency and energy savings. As a result, Japan has lowest energy intensity amongst all countries. This situation was brought about in a dramatic change after the 1974 oil shock.

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking an enormous toll on health systems across the world. A growing concern is that efforts to manage the pandemic are undermining care for serious non-Covid illnesses such as cancer. In the UK and US, for example, it is estimated that delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment due to COVID-19 will lead to excess cancer deaths in the range of tens of thousands within a year. In India, where health systems are weak, it is

Millions living around the Bay of Bengal need urgent protection from climate change impacts such as sea level rise and more severe cyclones

War on terror was the rationale for the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. What was the rationale for the destruction of Libya and now persistent destabilization of Syria?

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) placed itself in a highly embarrassing situation with its decision to ban the usage of 'obscene' words in text messages. Stiff resistance from users,

New Delhi and Islamabad dominated dialogue have failed to come up with any solution to vexed issues like Kashmir. May be sub-regions like Punjab and other border provinces like Rajasthan-Sind.

Army and the intelligence agencies have always shaped the political process in Pakistan and things won't be any different after the 2007 general election ---- President Pervez Musharraf is all set for his re-election in 2007. He has already declared his intention to be re-elected by the present set of elected representatives.

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

Pressure that both sides face from the United States and the West gives their partnership new depth.

Left-wing extremists, Naxalites of the People's War Group (PWG), have traveled a long away from fielding hand-held, traditional farm tools as weapons. Their sagacity is, indeed, amazing. Perhaps, to state in a lighter vein, they would give a complex to India's defence technologists, if not put them to shame.

There are clear differences between India and the rest of the Quad, but it is also evident they are willing to work together to resolve those differences.

The latest Quad meeting underscored continued growth, but when will the four countries seriously confront the matter of direct security cooperation?

Though there are lingering differences within the group, the need to counter China’s challenge is an area of converging interest.

The Quad’s growing effort to shape international norms and rules in the Indo-Pacific is taking place in an environment fraught with multiple challenges. China’s assertive rise as well as internal differences within the group pose significant risks to the plurilateral platform’s mission of creating a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific. Focusing on the Quad’s cybersecurity cooperation, this brief examines the various internal and e

Biden hosted the Quad Leaders’ Summit, emphasizing Indo-Pacific security and cooperation, but faced criticism for vague military strategies and unclear outcomes.

No accurate estimate is as yet available on the human losses and material damage suffered by the Al Qaeda and other jihadi terrorist organisations belonging to Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF) as a result of the earthquake, which struck Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan on October 8, 2005.

As the total number of fatalities in the earthquake, which struck the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the North-west Frontier Province (NWFP) on October 8, 2005, crosses the 50,000 mark and is inexorably moving higher and higher as more and more dead bodies are recovered under the debris and more and more injured survivors are succumbing to death due to lack of medical facilities and protection against the severe cold which has already set in

Quantum computing (QC) forms one of the cornerstones of emerging technologies as we know them today. The technology has seen rapid progress over the years, but practical hurdles remain. The recent boom in Artificial Intelligence and the corresponding boost it has provided to classical algorithms also presents an additional hurdle for quantum algorithms. Countries like the United States, China, and Canada have made significant strides in QC and ha

The speed with which the ISIS initially overran an Iraqi army trained and equipped by the Americans causes some concern about the fate of similar armies trained and equipped by the Americans in the region. For instance, the Afghanistan army and its implications for India.

The Aadhar project remains complex - a herculean task. The UK government shelved its identity card project because it was untested and the technology not secure, and because of the risks to the safety and security of citizens. With India in the midst of an election, it remains to be seen what will happen when a new government is formed,

The conclusion on August 21 of the fourth round of the India-Japan strategic dialogue at Foreign Minister level provides the peg to assess the current state of India-Japan relations. These relations are headed in the right direction, but it has taken time to change their compass and the pace has been tardy.

India must convince it that using LAC as pressure tool will yield diminishing returns

The 1974 JP movement was to replace a left lurching Indira Gandhi. Hazare-Ramdev ball is being tossed up for political parties to smash it on a deft and durable Mayawati.

The cultural and economic synergies between West Bengal, North East and Bangladesh can usher in a new chapter in the relations between the latter and all of India.

Of all cases of rare diseases across the globe, around one-third occur in India. Yet, these diseases—‘rare’ because they affect a relatively small number of people—are hardly given attention in the country. With its resource constraints, India continues to lag in awareness, diagnosis, and drug development relating to such diseases, and there is inadequate medical and scientific research, too. India formulated a National Policy on Rare Dis

BIMSTEC needs to be brought down to the people from the high governmental meetings. Activate people-centric initiatives to ensure engagement and involvement of the society in projects developed under BIMSTEC. This can start by simply involving people in the borderlands and coastal areas.

As the US President is scheduled to visit India next month, there is a lesson for both sides in the 1972 Nixon-Mao summit in Beijing. While the Americans and the Chinese exchanged views on everything, the focus was firmly on the big strategic picture.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to America indicates that the India-US strategic relationship has the potential to become the defining partnership of this century

The US pivot or rebalancing is an attempt of reassurance to its friends and allies in the context of the emerging dynamics in the Asia Pacific region. While China is a major factor in the US pivot strategy, it is only a part of the story.

Considering India's economic standing, a $2.9 billion loan for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge of Bangladesh would not have been a difficult proposition. If India finds this option too difficult, there are many other alternatives for India to help Bangladesh.

Carter's commitment to deepening defence cooperation with India and Parrikar's determination to recast India's defence structures set the stage for a rebooting of the India-US strategic partnership.

The Observer Research Foundation's programme on Defence Procurement Reforms, following a seminar organised in May, 2012, has now moved to the second stage of identifying initiatives that can be taken in the executive and legislative branches. This Paper presents practical recommendations to improve capacities and decision-making methodologies in India's arms procurement system.