IDSA Comments - MP-IDSA

An Elected Government in Bangladesh and India’s Options

If all things go well, Bangladesh should have an elected government in January 2009 following the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) elections. Contrary to much scepticism, the caretaker government headed by...

Sreeradha Datta |
December 23, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Imperative of Exercising Control over the ISI

The deadly terrorist attack in Mumbai is set to derail India-Pakistan bilateral relations. With all the evidence pointing towards Pakistan, it has become difficult to advocate that India must go...

Smruti S. Pattanaik |
December 11, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Mumbai Attacks and the Need for Enhanced India-US Defence Cooperation

The staggered attacks on Mumbai across seven places were extremely demanding on time and resources required for counter operations. The attacks have also amply demonstrated that there is no scope...

Arvind Dutta |
December 11, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Lessons from the 9/11 Commission

The unprecedented scale of the terror attacks in Mumbai and the fact that citizens from more than 20-plus countries were killed or injured in the attacks have evoked an international...

Cherian Samuel |
December 10, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The Pakistan Link to the Mumbai Terror Attacks

Investigations into the attacks in Mumbai and subsequent developments point to the role of the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) as the key player that orchestrated the well coordinated attacks. The...

Shanthie Mariet D'Souza |
December 05, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Fishing in Troubled Waters

Investigations into the Mumbai attacks have revealed that the terrorists came in from the sea. It has been reported that in the course of their journey from Karachi they had...

Pushpita Das |
December 05, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Mumbai Attacks: A Deadly “Performance”

For 62 hours, from the night of November 26 to the morning of November 29, the city of Mumbai was held hostage to terror attacks. A significant element in these...

Namrata Goswami |
December 05, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

China and the Global Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis which had been brewing for some time began to unfold in the middle of 2008. Stock markets around the world have nosedived, large financial institutions have...

Gunjan Singh |
December 04, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The Need to Refine India’s Response to Terrorist Incidents

The November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai which left more than 170 people killed and close to 300 injured did not conform to the pattern to which Indian security agencies...

Satinder K. Saini |
December 03, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The Post 26/11 Regional Strategic Predicament

Evidence gathered in the aftermath of by far the most deadly terrorist attack in Mumbai indicates conclusively that the attack was planned by the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba. The attack on...

Ali Ahmed |
December 03, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Violence in Pakistan: Trend Analysis, October 2008

The number of violent incidents in Pakistan increased from 309 in September 2008 to 346 in October 2008. Yet, casualty figures decreased from 1342 to 1081.1 This shows that Pakistan’s...

Indian PM’s Visit to Oman and Qatar

During his November 2008 visit to Oman and Qatar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed two memoranda of understanding with Oman and three with Qatar. The MOUs with Qatar were on...

Zakir Hussain |
December 02, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Oil Politics in the Bay of Bengal

Hydrocarbon rich Bay of Bengal seems to be emerging as another centre of oil politics. This was recently manifested by a standoff between Myanmar and Bangladesh, when Dhaka sent three...

Anand Kumar |
November 27, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Obama and the Special Envoy to Kashmir

The dust might have settled on the US Elections with Barack Obama ensuring a place in history as the first African American President to occupy the White House. The moot...

Cherian Samuel |
November 24, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The Gorshkov Deal: Beyond Economic Considerations

It has been reported that Russia has demanded US $3.5 billion from India for the aircraft carrier, Gorshkov, which is currently undergoing repairs. This is the second time that Russia...

N. Neihsial |
November 21, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

China’s Scary Challenges to India

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's recent outburst that China poses a security challenge indicates a dangerous ambiguity in India’s China policy. The fact that Mukherjee has aired such a view...

P. Stobdan |
November 18, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Kashmir has nothing to do with stability in Afghanistan

The contention that stability in Afghanistan is linked to the resolution of the Kashmir issue is fallacious. It only serves the interests of a particular interest group, which has consistently...

Smruti S. Pattanaik |
November 18, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Talking Peace Across the Taiwan Straits

If current developments are any indicator, the long road to economic integration on either side of the Taiwan Straits has commenced. In a first of its kind, a sixty member...

Raviprasad Narayanan |
November 14, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The October 30 Terrorist Attacks in Assam

The year 2008 has seen terrorist attacks in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Agartala, Imphal, and now Assam. The month of October alone witnessed terrorist attacks in Tripura and Manipur,...

Namrata Goswami , Dilip Gogoi |
November 14, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Kerala’s Emergence as a Terror Hub: Repeated Warnings Ignored

In August 2006, IDSA published a web commentary titled “Is Kerala emerging as India’s new terror hub?” The events of the past few months, especially the shocking revelation of militants...

A. Vinod Kumar |
November 11, 2008 |
IDSA Comments