COMMENTARIES
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India’s Nuclear Doctrine: How Elastic and Transparent should it be?
D Suba Chandran · 31 Jul, 2012 · #3689 · Commentary
One of the major criticisms on the recently released IPCS Alternative Blueprint to India’s nuclear doctrine was – it should remain elastic, to provide adequate space for future manoeuvering. In particular there was a debate on whethe...
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Maldives: Judiciary’s Angst on Reforms
Annapoorna Karthika · 31 Jul, 2012 · #3688 · Commentary
The judicial system has been at the centre of political controversies in Maldives since it embarked on a transition to adopt democracy. Three decades of authoritarian regime has vitiated the institution of judiciary to the extent that the United...
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Sri Lanka: 25 Years After the IPKF
N Manoharan · 31 Jul, 2012 · #3687 · Commentary
29 July 2012 marked 25 years of the signature of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord and the subsequent induction of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. Much has happened in the past two-and-a-half decades, and one is tempted to make a re...
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Polarised ASEAN: Highlighting the Factions
Panchali Saikia · 31 Jul, 2012 · #3686 · Commentary
Ahead of achieving the 2015 ASEAN community vision, the regional grouping has been confronted by escalating differences between its members. It is for the first time in the 45 years of its successful existence that ASEAN has failed to conclude i...
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Polarised ASEAN: ‘Reverse Enmeshment’
Vibhanshu Shekhar · 31 Jul, 2012 · #3685 · Commentary
The recently concluded ASEAN Ministerial Meeting at Phnom Penh, Cambodia (10-12 July 2012) has brought this regional grouping into the dock over three critical issues of (a) unity within ASEAN, (b) ASEAN’s leadership role in steering the A...
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Hong Kong and China: Clashing Visions of the Future
Narayani Basu · 27 Jul, 2012 · #3684 · Commentary
On 1 July 2012 and the fifteenth anniversary of the British handover, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest the swearing in of Leung Chun-yin: a man widely seen to be allied with Beijing. Are the pro-d...
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Iran: Understanding the Policy towards Afghan Refugees
Aryaman Bhatnagar · 25 Jul, 2012 · #3683 · Commentary
Iran hosts close to 2.5 million Afghan refugees – both registered and unregistered. Iran recently announced its willingness to sign an agreement with Afghanistan and Pakistan which would put an end to the forceful deportation of Afghan ref...
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India’s LTTE Ban Renewal: Politics of Security
J Jeganaathan · 24 Jul, 2012 · #3682 · Commentary
The Government of India (GoI) has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for two more years. LTTE was first banned in 1991 in the aftermath of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. According to the Home Ministry of India, &...
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Pakistan’s Babur and Ra’ad Cruise Missiles: Strategic Implications for India
Shane A. Mason · 18 Jul, 2012 · #3681 · Commentary
If recent missile tests are any indication, cruise missiles, rather than ballistic missiles, appear to be taking an increasingly more prominent role in Pakistan’s strategic force posture. The Babur (Hatf-7) land-attack cruise missile was i...
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India-Pakistan: Moving Beyond CBMs
Ali Ahmed · 17 Jul, 2012 · #3680 · Commentary
In wake of the Abu Jindal revelations, not much could be expected from the Joint Statement at the end of the recently held meeting between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan. For that reason perhaps the ‘one small step’ th...