One Year After Terrorism: Sri Lanka Needs to Demilitarise Reconstruction and Development for Sustainable Peace On April 12, 2010 the majority of citizens of the island of Sri Lanka's two main linguistic communities celebrated the Sinhala and Tamil new year and the categorical end of war and terrorism with considerable optimism, despite the lack of a clear political solution to the ‘ethnic conflict’. The new year celebrations, the first since the end of the state's 30 year war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), were in the wake of recently concluded parliamentary elections that returned the ruling party to power. Darini Rajasingham Senanayake September 2010 Strategic Analysis
Af-Pak and India’s Options in Afghanistan By offering to augment its $1.3 billion assistance to Afghanistan, India has sent out a clear signal that it remains a player in the beleaguered nation's reconstruction process. India will not be deterred by the efforts of Pakistan and a section of the world community to isolate it. The offer was made during President Hamid Karzai's brief visit to New Delhi, on April 26–27, 2010. The timing was significant. Karzai was flying further east to Thimphu, Bhutan, to attend the 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The Indian prime minister, Dr. Mahendra Ved September 2010 Strategic Analysis
Sixty Years of India–China Relations Sixty years for a human being may mean looking back, 1 taking stock of things and preparing to retire from active life. But for a nation it means more than just looking back to the path traversed. It involves looking to the future with confidence. Sixty years of India–China relations raises the significant question whether the two Asian giants could look to their bilateral relations with confidence. Abanti Bhattacharya September 2010 Strategic Analysis
SAARC at Twenty-Five: An Incredible Idea Still in Its Infancy The SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit is often described as being a mere photo opportunity for south Asian leaders who should actually be using the comatose organisation to reinvent regional cooperation in a globalised world. Such pessimism is inevitable if one takes stock of the progress that SAARC has made over the period of time. There exists a SAARC convention to deal with all issues that have a certain salience in the regional context. Smruti S. Pattanaik September 2010 Strategic Analysis
50 Years of the Indus Water Treaty: An Evaluation Rivers are more than what Samuel T. Coleridge poetically expressed in Kubla Khan: ‘meandering with mazy motion’ and falling into the ‘sunless sea’. Rivers are life-givers, carrying a mystic and sacred quality about them. That they are oft described as being ‘mighty’—the mighty Amazon; the mighty Nile; the mighty Brahamaputra; the mighty Murray; the mighty Mississippi and Missouri—is hardly mystifying. Civilizations have grown around it and flourished. In contemporary politics the salience of rivers cannot be overlooked both in terms of being drivers of cooperation and conflict. Uttam Kumar Sinha September 2010 Strategic Analysis
Kashmir: Policy in a Time of Contending Realities The coexistence of contending realities in Kashmir is a natural corollary of the transition from conflict to peace. A successful transition to peace is not only a test of Indian secularism, but also of Indian democracy. Arpita Anant August 31, 2010 IDSA Comments
The Upcoming Nalanda University The new Nalanda University now being planned to be rebuilt will soon provide momentum to the systematic study of Buddhism in India of various shades and nuances. P. K. Gautam August 31, 2010 IDSA Comments
China’s Denial of Visa to the Indian General: Not So Incomprehensible The various diplomatic rows and even the border problem are symptoms of the larger problems that exist between India and China – the competition for status, influence and power. Prashant Kumar Singh August 30, 2010 IDSA Comments
The Sochi Summit: Fresh Moves on The Grand Eurasian Chessboard At their second Summit in Sochi on August 18, 2010, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan agreed to reinforce their cooperation. The United States has supported the Russian initiative due to its own compulsions and the China factor. India needs to pursue a well considered “Eurasian Heartland” policy in the context of these developments. Smita Purushottam August 27, 2010 Issue Brief
America Leaves Iraq: A Strategic Appraisal As the latest wave of deadly bombings across Iraq vividly demonstrates, the war-torn country has a long way to go before it achieves an acceptable level of stability. Mahan Abedin August 27, 2010 IDSA Comments
