Home Publications Articles
Commentaries & Articles
Fortnightly Notes from the South Asian Sub-Continent
July 15, 2019 Mayuri Mukherjee, Consultant, VIF Commentary View: 284

Bangladesh: No justice in extrajudicial killing After a murder accused was killed in an encounter with the police earlier this month, Bangladesh’s apex court made clear that it did not approve of such ‘extrajudicial’ killings. The judges sai....

Keywords : Bangladesh killings , Pakistan’s debt , Death penalty in Sri Lanka , Commentary , Neighbourhood Studies
US Policy and India’s Energy Needs
July 15, 2019 Aayush Mohanty, Research Associate, VIF Article View: 379

The United States of America has decided to roll back the waivers on its sanctions on entities or countries engaged in oil trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The waivers known as Significant Reduction Exemption (SRE) expired on 2 May 2019. Non....

Keywords : Iran sanctions , Oil supply , India’s energy security , Article , International Relations and Diplomacy
New Breed of Kashmiri Terrorists
July 12, 2019 Bashir Assad Commentary View: 543

The current phase of militancy in Kashmir has a very strong ideological basis. It is completely different from what it was in the early 1990s. Islamist theology originating from Wahabism and Maududism provides the requisite ideological input to the c....

Keywords : Kashmir militancy , money and propaganda in radicalization , Kashmiri radicalization , Commentary , National Security and Strategic Studies , Jammu & Kashmir
Pakistan Federal Budget 2019-20 - Unrealistic Ambitions
July 11, 2019 Prateek Joshi Commentary View: 431

Pakistan’s Federal Budget was unveiled on June 11, 2019, under the looming shadow of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditionalities seeking to curb the consistently misused fiscal space as well as the gloomy growth projection of 2.4 percent....

Keywords : Pakistan budget , Pakistan’s fiscal distress , Commentary , Neighbourhood Studies , Pakistan
Trump’s visit to the DMZ: More Than Just Photo Optics?
July 11, 2019 Dr Gunjan Singh Commentary View: 302

Trump, in his impromptu diplomatic style, surprised the whole world when he tweeted an invitation to Kim to meet him at the Korean De-Militarized Zone (DMZ). The fact that Trump and Kim met on North Korean soil is a historic development. They met at ....

Keywords : Indo-Pacific , International Relations and Diplomacy , Commentary , Trump-Kim talks , North Korea sanctions , Korean peace
Budget 2019: Indian diplomacy needed a shot in the arm but budget flatters to deceive
July 10, 2019 Amb Anil Wadhwa, Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article View: 210

Union Budget 2019 India: Analysis reveals some notable facts: the MEA budget, from being close to 0.1% of India’s GDP in 2012-13, declined to 0.08% in 2018-19. Union Budget 2019 India: As the stature of India rises internationally, its diplomac....

Keywords : Parliamentary Standing Committee , India’s Act East Policy , MEA , Union Budget 2019 , Article , VIF Scholars Outreach , Governance and Political Studies
Air Defence Cover for Mechanised Forces: The Bigger Picture
July 10, 2019 Lt Gen (Dr) V K Saxena (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article View: 681

The Event On 10 May 2019, it was reported in the media that India had finally selected the South Korean made Hanwha K 30 Biho (Flying Tiger), a highly mobile short range Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) weapon system, to protect its forward mano....

Keywords : Defence , Climate Change , Article
More Needs to be Done to Revitalise Chabahar Project
July 10, 2019 Gautam Sen Commentary View: 507

The latest Govt. of India`s regular budget of 2019-20, has a meagre allocation of Rs. 45 crore for the development and operationalising of Chahbahar Port infrastructure under the Ministry of External Affairs line of credit to finance this programme, ....

Keywords : Central Asia , International Relations and Diplomacy , Commentary , India’s access to Central Asia , India-Iran relations , Chabahar Port
India’s Lesser Known, yet Dangerous Maoist Groups
July 08, 2019 Dr Uddipan Mukherjee Article View: 448

The Maoist movement in India is known by the violent activities of the Communist Party of India-Maoist [CPI-M] – the organization which took shape in September 2004 with the merger of the People’s War Group based in the southern state of Andhra P....

Keywords : Leftwing Extremism , National Security and Strategic Studies , Article , North East insurgency , Maoists in Manipur , Maoist groups
Losing Istanbul Twice: Erdogan’s Humbling Moment
July 08, 2019 Dr Yatharth Kachiar, Research Associate, VIF Article View: 236

Introduction President Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (also known as AKP by its Turkish acronym) conceded a major defeat in the re-run of Istanbul mayoral elections on June 23 indicating a tectonic shift in Turkey’s politics. I....

Keywords : Turkish democracy , Istanbul shock , Erdogan’s dictatorial trends , Article , International Relations and Diplomacy , West Asia
Contact Us