IDSA Comments

Pakistan is getting ready for the next elections amid many uncertainties. Musharraf is caught between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid-e-Azam) [PML-Q]. Benazir is back in Pakistan without any express assurance that she would have a third term as Prime Minister. Chaudhury Shujaat Hussain is undecided about Musharraf’s reconciliation proposals and is hobnobbing with Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) [PML-N]. Within the PPP, Benazir is soft on Musharraf while veteran party leader Aitzaz Ahsan is baying for the General’s blood.

• Ashok K. Behuria |
• October 30, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Pakistan has at present a great many internal and external troubles to cater for. Islamabad is still feeling the after-effects of the Lal Masjid operation, while simultaneously fighting a seemingly uphill battle to rein in support for militancy within the political, defence, and intelligence establishments. In addition, Islamabad is struggling to keep a lid on the instability that plagues its western border regions.

• Ryan Clarke |
• October 26, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

The United Jehad Council (UJC) – an umbrella organisation of 13 Kashmiri militant groups and five non-Kashmiri terrorist groups with observer status – signed a declaration on October 16 banning the use, production or trade of victim-activated anti-personnel mines as prohibited under the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

• Satinder K. Saini |
• October 24, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

China's demand for the removal of two Indian Army bunkers from its outpost at Batang La near the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction in August 2007 can be seen from two angles. Firstly, the entire episode can be dismissed as a case of highhandedness of a few Chinese border officials who entered Indian territory inadvertently and came face to face with these Indian bunkers. Oblivious of where their actual position on the ground is, these officials then raised objections about the bunkers.

• Pushpita Das |
• October 19, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Myanmar has been in the eye of the storm in recent months. In August, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the Myanmarese military regime led by Than Shwe is known, arbitrarily increased the fuel prices from US $1.18 to $1.96 per gallon. This sudden decision caught the country's impoverished people by surprise, who subsequently began a massive non-violent protest. Similar mass protests had taken place in 1988 against the military regime's removal of bank notes from circulation resulting in loss of savings for the common people.

• Namrata Goswami |
• October 19, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

On September 16, 2007, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced the completion of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, adding that it was "sealed by the UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)". On September 20, Reza Aqazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, in reference to his talks with Sergei Kiriyenko, the director of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said that they "discussed the pending issues of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant".

• M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi |
• October 19, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Since the launch of its July 2006 military offensive on Maavilaru, the Mahinda Rajapaksa government has made remarkable advances in almost all aspects of establishing its control over the Eastern province. This is largely thanks to the military inputs provided by the Karuna faction as well as technical, financial and military assistance provided by the international community. The ascendance of the security forces has indeed given much confidence to the Sri Lankan government in militarily engaging the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

• M. Mayilvaganan |
• October 18, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Bangladesh faces a shortage of electric power and is planning to meet the shortfall by setting up nuclear power plants. Significantly, this development has occurred at a time when the country is being ruled by a caretaker government with the backing of the military. The military in Bangladesh is trying to carve out a permanent place for itself in governance by creating a National Security Council.

• Anand Kumar |
• October 17, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

The Communist Party of China (CPC) will convene its 17th National Congress from October 15. The "highest decision-making body" of the CPC, the party congress is mandated to convene every five years. The 17th Party Congress assumes importance as its pronouncements and anticipated leadership shuffles would indicate the direction of state policy in the coming years. Reports in the state controlled media have referred to the 17th Party Congress 'electing' a fresh CPC Central Committee as well as a Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

• Raviprasad Narayanan |
• October 15, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

A new trend in terrorism has emerged in India involving the targeting of places of worship. Fifteen such incidents have occurred across the country between 2000 and 2007, resulting in the deaths of about 130 people and injury to several hundreds more. The October 11, 2007 terrorist bombing of the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer in Rajasthan is the latest incident in this pattern. Initial reports suggested that at least two worshippers died in the attack while some 20 others were wounded.

• T. Khurshchev Singh , M. Amarjeet Singh |
• October 15, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

"We fired an operationally configured interceptor out of a silo at Vandenberg Air Force base, and it flew out, and was successful in intercepting the target." - Lt. Gen. Henry Obering

• A. Vinod Kumar |
• October 12, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Will China veto the India-specific waiver at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)? While various news sources have recently reported that China will not actively oppose the Indo-US deal at the NSG, its approach to the issue so far has generated doubts and debate.

• Jagannath P. Panda |
• October 10, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

The Indian media recently carried reports of angry protestors at Attari, smashing into pulp tomato cartons from trucks on their way to Pakistan. The protestors were porters who had till now been engaged in trans-shipment of goods and commodities as head loads across the border, since loaded vehicles were not allowed to cross over. The significance of this maiden movement of loaded trucks across the border was lost in the sympathy generated for the porters who could become redundant at the border check point and thus lose their means of livelihood.

• Satinder K. Saini |
• October 10, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Manipur has the dubious distinction of having the maximum numbers of bandhs, which adversely affect its economy and inconvenience the people. Though directed against the state, these bandhs underscore the deepening polarization of society and polity there. With about two dozens militant groups, Manipur is one of the most volatile states in India.

• M. Amarjeet Singh |
• October 05, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Thomas Friedman noted that "the price of oil and pace of freedom always move in opposite directions." This trend, which he cited in the case of Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, can be equally applied to Myanmar as well. Though pro-democratic forces have been active in Myanmar earlier as well, the public display of dissent in recent days is unprecedented and demonstrates the increasing disenchantment against almost two decades of military rule. Since the junta came to power, economic conditions have deteriorated and poverty has increased.

• J Nandakumar |
• October 04, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

In the midst of the domestic hullabaloo surrounding the nuclear deal in India, the United States convened a special meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on September 20, 2007 at Vienna on the sidelines of the IAEA Annual General Conference to brief members on the deal. The NSG derives its important position in international civil nuclear commerce from its membership, which currently stands at forty-five and includes a majority of countries engaged in nuclear trade.

• Arun Vishwanathan |
• September 26, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

As the Ottawa treaty completes a decade this September, it has been termed a "success in progress" by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). ICBL is upbeat about its vision and mission to put in place a comprehensive ban on anti-personnel landmines. The treaty attempted to redefine the understanding of security by focusing on the consequences that the traditional meaning of security have on the lives of common men and women.

• Medha Bisht |
• September 26, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Hyderabad has been reeling under deadly terror strikes. Three months after the serial blasts at Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007, another pair of coordinated attacks rocked the city on August 25. Repeated attacks by outfits with support from foreign covert agencies have made Hyderabad an epicentre of terrorist operations in India. The twin blasts on August 25 and the subsequent recovery of unexploded bombs from different places pointed to a security lapse as well as a delayed government response to demands for beefing up the city's protective measures in the aftermath of the May explosions.

• T. Khurshchev Singh |
• September 13, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

Russia's decision to resume the Soviet-era practice of sending strategic bombers on long-range flights well beyond its borders, just a few days after concluding an air exercise over the North Pole involving such aircraft, seems to suggest a willingness to challenge US intrusion into its neighbourhood and NATO's continuing eastward expansion. Some 14 strategic bombers took off from seven airfields across Russia, along with support and refuelling aircraft on August 17.

• Nivedita Das Kundu |
• August 29, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments

"I want a country where the army cannot arrest anyone without a warrant. I want our political parties to be democratic, transparent and accountable. I want fair and neutral judges. I want the right to vote. I want there to be no such thing as a legal fatwa. I want the war criminals of the 1971 genocide to be tried, condemned and jailed. I want to vote. I want a country worthy of my desh-prem. I want a country." -- Tahmima Anam, New Statesman, January 22, 2007.

• Sreeradha Datta |
• August 24, 2007 |
• IDSA Comments