Issue Brief

US–Pakistan relations have witnessed upheavals in the past; the US’ exit from Afghanistan is the latest in the series of inflection points in their relationship. However, irrespective of the escalatory war of words sometimes, the nature of US–Pakistan relationship of convenience is likely to keep them strategically aligned in the future as well.

• Priyanka Singh |
• September 17, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

Neither Russia and China nor the Central Asian countries have a clear strategy on how to handle the rapidly changing canvas in Afghanistan. An ambivalent waiting game tied by slow calibrated response has become the sine qua non strategy for the stakeholders in Afghanistan.

• Deepak Kumar |
• September 08, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

Mired in controversies, the 2021 elections in the so-called Azad Jammu and Kashmir were heavily tilted towards the Kashmir issue, which overpowered all other issues including those concerning immediate local needs and the extant development lag.

• Priyanka Singh |
• September 06, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

Beijing’s stance on Afghanistan’s political crisis and its approach towards the Taliban regime is a critical variable that will shape the geometrics of the China–Taliban–Pakistan nexus versus India and the West.

• Jagannath P. Panda |
• September 03, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

India and GCC share convergence of ideas and interests along with the political will to collaborate in the hydrogen energy sector. There is a need to provide impetus to the public and private partnerships in this sector as it has a strong potential for growth in future.

• Lakshmi Priya |
• August 27, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The Digital Silk Road can give China the power to shape global digital governance norms in its favour and the political, economic and strategic tools to be a technological hegemon, posing enormous challenges to emerging economies like India.

• Jagannath P. Panda |
• August 24, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

Envisioned as a sustainable alternative to China’s BRI, US-led Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative seeks to narrow down infrastructure deficit in the developing world. However, with their several distinct areas of focus, BRI & B3W can possibly share both complementary & competitive equations.

• Jagannath P. Panda |
• August 09, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The inter-state border disputes in the Northeast have persisted for long. Efforts need to be redoubled to find a political solution, mediated by the Union government, which is binding on all the states concerned in the Northeast.

• Pushpita Das |
• July 29, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The drawbacks of over-reliance on China as a single manufacturing source has led to countries adopting “China Plus One” strategy to diversify supply networks. Whether Supply Chain Resilience Initiative by India-Japan-Australia can assist in partial decoupling from China is yet to be seen.

• Jagannath P. Panda |
• July 26, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The dark web has turned into a hot bed of illegal transactions, posing a threat to the cyberspace across multiple dimensions.

• Debopama Bhattacharya |
• July 23, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The vaccine inequity is not only morally indefensible but clinically counter-productive. Allowing most of the world’s population to go unvaccinated will only spawn new virus mutations. Preventing this humanitarian catastrophe requires removing barriers – such as TRIPS – to vaccine production and its equitable distribution.

• Rajeesh Kumar |
• July 12, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The CCP has invested heavily in telling “China’s Story Well” by amplifying its discourse power. However, looking at China’s discourse politics from an absolutely narrow propaganda lens would be a folly, for the stakes for India are much higher, more nuanced and across multiple domains.

• Shruti Pandalai |
• July 08, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

Xi’s rousing words at CCP’s centenary celebrations have reaffirmed China’s intentions to make every effort in actualising its domestic goals and global ambitions—without holding much regard for the rules-based order.

• Jagannath P. Panda |
• July 07, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The attack on Mohamed Nasheed has exposed Maldives’ vulnerability to acts of terrorism. The biggest test for President Solih is to overcome the challenges to tackling national security threats and address the concerns of the liberal Maldivians.

• Gulbin Sultana |
• July 01, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe’s visit to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka highlights Beijing’s deepening security engagement with South Asian countries.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik |
• June 02, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The attack on former Maldivian President and current Speaker of the Majlis, Mohammad Nasheed, on May 6, 2021 has brought to attention the country’s tenuous political stability, compounded by the problem of Islamist radicalisation.

• Adil Rasheed |
• May 20, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The ban imposed on the Tehrik Labaik Pakistan (TLP) by the Pakistan government will not defang the religious radicalism that forms its core strength.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik |
• May 04, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

The growing ties between China and Iran can have challenges for India’s relations with Iran and interests in the Persian Gulf region. Nonetheless, it is unlikely to seriously affect India-Iran bilateral ties that remain robust and have withstood challenges earlier.

• Md. Muddassir Quamar , Lakshmi Priya |
• April 30, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

If India-Pakistan dialogue does resume, India is unlikely to return to the Manmohan-Musharraf framework of negotiations because of the Modi government’s commitment to regain Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

• S. Kalyanaraman |
• March 30, 2021 |
• Issue Brief

Through effective contagion mitigation and disease control strategies, India has managed to confine the COVID-19 to a minuscule section of the population, though at great economic cost.

• A. Vinod Kumar |
• March 24, 2021 |
• Issue Brief