IDSA Comments - MP-IDSA

The EU Ban on the LTTE

The European Union finally decided to add the LTTE to its list of terrorist organisations on May 29. The Tigers would have seen the ban coming, when on May 17...

The Bhutto-Sharif Charter of Democracy

Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif signed the Charter of Democracy in London on May 15. This is a politically significant step as it signals the coming together of two important...

Aceh: The Road Ahead

The Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) formally launched its political party on May 23, 2006 at Banda Aceh. It has also appointed two independent candidates for the gubernatorial...

Pankaj K Jha |
May 29, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Darfur Peace: A Distant Dream

After weeks of intense negotiations and international pressure, the Sudanese government and a faction of the main rebel group (SLA) signed a peace deal on May 5, which aims to...

Nivedita Ray |
May 25, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Time to Samba

Samba is a traditional Brazilian dance. No one form actually defines the samba; it is a set of different rhythmical dance forms. To me what India and Brazil are attempting...

Vaishali Basu |
May 25, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Bangladesh and the TATA Investment: Playing Politics with Economics

The TATA investment of US$3 billion in Bangladesh, by far the largest foreign investment in the country, has run into rough weather over the pricing of gas. Dhaka rejected Tata's...

Hu’s Foreign Visits: Emerging “Beijing Consensus”

Hu Jintao's recent foreign visits are integral to China's foreign policy strategy of building partnerships around the world. As part of this strategy the Chinese President visited the United States,...

Indonesia’s Papuan Problem

Indonesia and Australia have been at diplomatic loggerheads on the issue of granting political asylum to 42 Papuan refugees who sailed into Australia's Cape York Peninsula in January 2006. While...

Pankaj K Jha |
May 09, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Hu Jintao’s Visit to the United States: Uneasy Partnership

During his four-day visit to the United States from April 18 to 21, 2006, President of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Hu Jintao attended a dinner hosted by Microsoft...

India’s Role in Afghanistan: Need for Greater Engagement

The killing of Kasula Suryanarayana, an Indian telecommunications engineer working for a Bahrain based firm in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan raises important questions on the emerging challenges to India's...

Illegal Migration in Assam: A Concern for India’s National Security

Assam, a strategic border state of India, witnessed the influx of migrants since the British period from then East Bengal, now Bangladesh. The influx was largely engineered by the British,...

Namrata Goswami |
May 04, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Overfed Europe, Underpaid Russia: Beginning of a New Energy Cold War?

Russia is on the move to become an energy superpower by spreading its influence deep into Western and Eastern energy markets. Possessing the largest reserve of natural gas in the...

J Nandakumar |
May 03, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Nepal’s Political Conundrum: Emerging Challenges to Tenuous Peace

Nepal is witnessing relative political calm after the Maoists declared a three month ceasefire to facilitate a political solution to the insurgency, which has been marked by unabated violence, threatening...

Democracy Versus People’s War in Nepal

Despite the King's proclamation and the subsequent end to the 19-day anti-Monarchy protests by the seven party alliance (SPA) on April 25, 2006, Nepal is still not sure of peace...

Nihar R. Nayak |
May 03, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Numbers Do Matter

The fast breeding domestic debate on the size of the nuclear deterrent is taking place in the light of India's separation plan of nuclear facilities for civilian and military purposes....

Rajesh Kumar Mishra |
April 28, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

An Appraisal of the Indian Prime Minister’s Visit to Uzbekistan

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh concluded his two-day state visit to Uzbekistan on April 26, 2006. This was the second visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Tashkent since Uzbekistan's...

Ramakant Dwivedi |
April 28, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Import of Afghan President’s Visit to India

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's four-day state visit to India from April 9-12, 2006 was the fourth since he was appointed Chairman of the Afghan interim administration in December 2001. His...

Vishal Chandra |
April 26, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Indian Prime Minister’s Visit to Uzbekistan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is visiting Tashkent April 25-26, 2006 on a two-day state visit to Uzbekistan at the invitation of the Uzbek President, Islam Abduganievich Karimov who himself had...

Ramakant Dwivedi |
April 25, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Strategic Predominance and Open Market Access: The Twin Pillars of Russia’s Policy in the Central Asia-Caspian Sea Region

As the Russian thinking on its near abroad is crystallizing in the wake of the US withdrawal from Uzbekistan's Karshi-Khanabad airbase in late 2005, it appears that Moscow is aiming...

Jyotsna Bakshi |
April 10, 2006 |
IDSA Comments

Charles Taylor’s Arrest: A Message to the Continent

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, wanted for war crimes by the international tribunal in Sierra Leone, was arrested on Wednesday in northern Nigeria on the Cameroon border. He was deported...

Nivedita Ray |
April 04, 2006 |
IDSA Comments