COMMENTARIES
  • The Banning of the Ahmadiyah in Indonesia
    Tri Susdinarjanti    ·   30 Dec, 2011    ·    #3537    ·    Commentary    
    Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the Ahmadiyah movement in India in 1889, and his teachings gradually spread to different parts of the world. The teachings of Ahmad gradually spread to different parts of the world. In Indonesia, there are two groups o...
  • Xi Jinping in Vietnam: Attempts at Reconciliation?
    Amruta Karambelkar    ·   29 Dec, 2011    ·    #3536    ·    Commentary    
    Xi Jinping, Vice President of People’s Republic of China paid an official visit to Vietnam from 20-22 December 2011. He met President Truong Tan San, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other senior officials of the country. What does China...
  • Chinese Black Jails: 'An Alleyway in Hell'?
    Namrata Hasija    ·   29 Dec, 2011    ·    #3535    ·    Commentary    
    The Chinese petition system is nearly 3000 years old. The citizens can complain against the corrupt provincial officials directly to Beijing. The tradition still continues wherein complaints ignored by provincial officials can be taken to Beijin...
  • Russia’s Afghan Strategy: What are its Interests?
    Monika Pawar    ·   28 Dec, 2011    ·    #3534    ·    Commentary    
    From the Bonn I to Bonn II Conference, Russia’s involvement in Afghanistan has come a long way. Russia’s support for the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) by allowing supplies through its territory alludes to its strategic interest...
  • Unrest in Buddha’s Homeland: The Curious Case of Lumbini
    Pradeepa Viswanathan    ·   23 Dec, 2011    ·    #3533    ·    Commentary    
    Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha has of late received the attention it deserves but sadly for the wrong reasons. The spiritual significance of the site appears to be in conflict with the ‘Greater Lumbini Project' which propose...
  • India's China Policy: Should it be ‘Effective’ or ‘Assertive’?
    Bhartendu Kumar Singh    ·   23 Dec, 2011    ·    #3532    ·    Commentary    
    Recently, the opposition members in the Parliament accused the government of going soft on a hitherto ‘assertive’ China and apprehended a looming attack in the near future. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s refutations notwithsta...
  • Talks with the Kachin and Mon Rebels in Myanmar: Strategy, Motives and Hurdles
    Bibhu Prasad Routray    ·   23 Dec, 2011    ·    #3531    ·    Commentary    
    Myanmar’s recent policy to politically reform itself might have excited many analysts outside the country, but its objective of achieving peace with the ethnic rebels is progressing slower than expected. Suspicion regarding the government&...
  • Vietnam and the South China Sea: Hypothetical Scenarios
    Amruta Karambelkar    ·   22 Dec, 2011    ·    #3530    ·    Commentary    
    ONGC Videsh limited (OVL) India in October this year entered a three-year agreement with PetroVietnam to carry new investments and strengthen energy exploration. This area falls within the Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone in the South Chi...
  • China’s New Rural Poverty Line: An Insight
    Teshu Singh    ·   22 Dec, 2011    ·    #3529    ·    Commentary    
    Recently, China has revised its rural poverty line from 1,196 RMB to 2300 RMB (6.3 RMB per day). Consequently, it has brought three times more rural poor people under the poverty line. What has influenced China to revise its threshold limit? Wha...
  • Bonn II: From Transition to Transformation in Afghanistan
    Mariam Safi    ·   22 Dec, 2011    ·    #3528    ·    Commentary    
    The International Afghanistan Conference in Bonn held on 5 December 2011 marked ten years of state-building and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Ten years ago, on the very same day, the UN held the first Bonn Conference where the internati...
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