IDSA Comments - MP-IDSA

Sanctions Against Iran are Futile

The United Nations Security Council imposed the third set of economic and trade sanctions against Iran on March 3, 2008 for refusing to halt its nuclear programme. Resolution 1803, sponsored...

M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi |
April 16, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

India and Africa Partnership: Opportunities and Challenges

The India-Africa Forum Summit is an indication of the coming of age of India’s relations with African countries. While India’s relations with African countries are time tested and historical, nevertheless...

Ruchita Beri |
April 08, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

India Should Revisit its Tibet Policy

The Indian government’s response to the ongoing protests in Tibet has been to merely state its “distress” about the situation and reaffirm its position that Tibet is an “internal” affair...

Abanti Bhattacharya |
April 04, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Yousuf Raza Gilani: A Tall Man with a Task of Tall Order

Yousuf Raza Gilani was nominated by Asif Ali Zardari as the PPP candidate for prime ministership on March 22, 2008. On that occasion, Zardari called upon Gilani “to accept the...

Ashok K. Behuria |
April 03, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Mizoram on the Verge of Another Mautam?

Mizoram’s bamboo groves have been bursting into flower since November 2007, causing famine-like conditions. It is not as if the locals have been caught unawares. Since the flowering occurs over...

Namrata Goswami |
April 01, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

For EU, Trade Will Trump Tibet

The streets of Lhasa have started to become quiet once again. It would be just a matter of weeks if not months before the Forbidden City once again invites tourists...

DHD (N) and UPDS Agree to Ceasefire

People living in the two hill districts of Assam – North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong –witnessed a dim ray of hope for peace on March 18, 2008, when the...

Namrata Goswami |
March 26, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Continuity and Change at the 11th National People’s Congress in China

The recently concluded 11th National People’s Congress (NPC) held in Beijing from March 5-18 was noteworthy for two significant features – administrative restructuring of the government and introduction of personnel...

Raviprasad Narayanan |
March 24, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

India’s Defence Budget 2008-09

Union Budget 2008-09 has allocated Rs. 105,600 crores for India’s Defence. Crossing the one lakh barrier for the first time, and accounting for nearly 14.1 per cent of total central...

Laxman Kumar Behera |
March 19, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

India Woos Africa

India is all set to woo Africa at the forthcoming India-Africa Summit on April 8, 2008 in New Delhi, reflecting the continent’s growing importance to Indian foreign policy in the...

Ruchita Beri |
March 19, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The Sealed Fate of the Tibetan Unrest

Ongoing protests in Tibet, coinciding with the commemoration of the 49th anniversary of the 1959 March Uprising, was not unexpected given that China is only a few months away from...

Abanti Bhattacharya |
March 19, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Protests in Tibet

Tibet has been an important and controversial issue for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since it came to power in 1949. The CCP “liberated” Tibet in 1950 and began its...

Gunjan Singh |
March 18, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Pakistan Castigated for Deficiencies in Counter Terrorist Financing Regime

In a statement on February 28, 2008, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) voiced concern about the existing deficiencies in Pakistan’s counter terrorist financing and anti-money laundering system. While acknowledging...

Satinder K. Saini |
March 17, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Trouble in the “Queen of Hills”

Peace in the picturesque town of Darjeeling and adjoining areas has been shattered for the last month by an agitation demanding a separate Gorkhaland and the removal of Subhash Ghisingh...

Pushpita Das |
March 14, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

China’s Designs on Arunachal Pradesh

The recent Chinese Foreign Ministry statement expressing ‘unhappiness’ about Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh has generated a debate in India as to whether China is serious...

Jagannath P. Panda |
March 12, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Kosovo Declares Independence, East Asia Feels the Heat

The impact of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia on February 17 is being felt on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. Apart from plunging the European Union (EU)...

Raviprasad Narayanan |
March 04, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Message on Arunachal Pradesh

Apart from launching several new development initiatives, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh served as a big boost to the morale of the Arunachalis, whose territory...

M. Amarjeet Singh |
March 04, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Naxalite Mayhem in Nayagarh

In a meticulously planned offensive, reminiscent of the February 2004 attack at Koraput in Orissa, around 360 highly trained armed cadres belonging to the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)...

Nihar R. Nayak |
February 28, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Satellite Interception: US BMD Survives the Acid Test

Rarely would a defence R&D agency get an actual operational scenario to test the capability of a military system before attaining total technological maturity. The much-maligned U.S. Missile Defence Agency...

A. Vinod Kumar |
February 26, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS): Where from…Whither-Bound?

The 2-day Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in New Delhi (February 14-15, 2008) may well turn out to be a historic event for the countries of the Indian Ocean Region...

Gurpreet S Khurana |
February 22, 2008 |
IDSA Comments