COMMENTARIES
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The Indian Army: Organizational Changes in the Offing
Firdaus Ahmed · 17 Jan, 2011 · #3318 · Commentary
The recent headline in a leading national daily, “Indian Army set for its most radical revamp,” is entirely believable. The article informs that “proposals include setting up of a Strategic Command, comprising of Army's offen...
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India and Iran: Convergent Interests, Widening Fault Lines
Lydia Walker · 13 Jan, 2011 · #3317 · Commentary
On Thursday, 23 December 2010, India’s Central Bank announced that Indian companies which buy Iranian oil and gas would no longer be permitted to use the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) to facilitate international commerce. Two weeks later, a d...
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The Oil Payments: New Twist in India-Iran Relations
Uddipan Mukherjee · 13 Jan, 2011 · #3316 · Commentary
A fresh spin was provided to the turbulent India-Iran bilateral relations when India’s Central Bank issued a directive on December 27 2010, regarding the payment mechanism for trade with Iran. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that: ...
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Japan’s New Policy Defense Program Guideline and Japan-India Security Cooperation
Kei Koga · 13 Jan, 2011 · #3315 · Commentary
On 17 December 2010, the Japanese government produced a new National Defense Program Guideline (NDPG). Japan’s defense objectives consists of the defense of Japan, regional security and stability and world peace and human security, and its...
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Reading Pakistan-II: Four Implications of Salman Taseer’s Assassination
D Suba Chandran · 10 Jan, 2011 · #3314 · Commentary
A voice of reason against the abuse of blasphemy law in Pakistan has been brutally silenced. What are the implications? If his assassination is a loss to the moderate voices in Pakistan, who stands to gain? What does this loss and gain mean for ...
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China’s Longjiang Dam: Concerns for Myanmar
Panchali Saikia · 10 Jan, 2011 · #3313 · Commentary
As divergence continues over river-water sharing between China and lower riparian countries in the Mekong subregion, a new concern has emerged over the Longjiang dam on the China-Myanmar border. With a considerable increase in trade and Chinese in...
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Reading Pakistan-I: Who Killed Salman Taseer?
D Suba Chandran · 07 Jan, 2011 · #3312 · Commentary
Yes, of course the security guard pumped bullets into Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, who stood against the Blasphemy laws in Pakistan. But, did he really kill Taseer? Or is he only an expression and an instrument of a larger narrow relig...
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The P-5 Visits and India’s Nuclear Energy Programme
· 04 Jan, 2011 · #3311 · Commentary
The race to enter India’s nuclear power market is on. India has been gaining recognition as a responsible nuclear weapons power and, more significantly, expanding its nuclear commerce. Not all the deals that India wanted have fructified; b...
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New START Ratification: Future Possibilities?
Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Dipankar Banerjee · 04 Jan, 2011 · #3310 · Commentary
The US Senate approved the ratification of the New START Treaty at a lame duck session on 22 December 2010. The President signed it the following day. This successful ratification was the major foreign policy achievement of the Obama administrat...
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Obama’s Annual Af-Pak Review: Need for a Reappraisal
Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Dipankar Banerjee · 03 Jan, 2011 · #3309 · Commentary
President Barrack Obama released another review of the Af-Pak situation on 16 Dec 2010. Weeks in formulation and after careful deliberations by top officials, the summary still leaves too many questions unanswered. Unlike the Bruce Riedel report...
