Articles

Pakistan: Another Judicial Crisis in the Making?

In 2007 President Musharraf had tried to brow beat the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry to desist from hearing cases of ‘enforced disappearances’ in Balochistan. This had led to a nation-wide movement of lawyers and ultim....

June 21, 2019 Judicial crisis in Pakistan , case against Pakistan Supreme Court Judge , curb on judicial independence , Article , Neighbourhood Studies , Pakistan

Notes from the Sub-Continent

Mayuri Mukherjee, Consultant, VIF Commentary

Bangladesh: Optimistic but Unrealistic Budget?

On June 13, Bangladesh’s Awami League-government presented the country’s biggest-ever national budget, amounting to Tk 5,23,190 crore. However, most analysts and commentators seemed to agre....

June 20, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Commentary , Sri Lanka-US agreement , Pakistan budgets , Nepal’s regulating Hindu Guthis , Bangladesh

What Explains the Appointment of Pakistan’s New ISI Chief?

Prateek Joshi, Research Associate, VIF Commentary

In a recent reshuffle of the Army top brass, Lt. Gen Asim Munir was replaced by Lt. Gen Faiz Hameed as the new chief the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The change comes barely eight months after Munir was appointed as the spy chief. The fact that....

June 20, 2019 Pakistan , Neighbourhood Studies , Commentary , the ISI reshuffle , Pakistan’s new spy chief , Pakistan domestic politics

Tiananmen Square Incident @ 30

Dr Gunjan Singh Commentary

The year 2019 is very special in the calendar of China as it marks some of the most important anniversaries. But the one anniversary which Beijing refuses to acknowledge is the thirty years since the Tiananmen Square Incident. On June 3 and 4, 1989 h....

June 14, 2019 China , Neighbourhood Studies , Commentary , Tiananmen 89 , Party surveillance in China

Neighbourhood Media Watch - May 2019

Mayuri Mukherjee, Consultant, VIF Commentary

Bangladesh: Desperate Migrants

On May 10, a boat carrying migrants from Libya to Italy capsized in the Mediterranean. Of the 51 Bangladeshis on board, 37 drowned; bringing back painful memories of a similar tragedy in February. Over the c....

June 12, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Commentary , Neighbourhood media reports , India in neighbourhood news

BIMSTEC - Towards a Security Architecture

Dr Sreeradha Datta, Centre Head & Senior Fellow, Neighbourhood Studies, VIF Commentary

The renewed mandate for PM Modi holds several implications for India’s domestic and foreign policy both. The presence of Bay of Bengal initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) leaders in Delhi for the Prime Ministe....

June 10, 2019 India’s BIMSTEC commitments , India’s extended neighbourhood , Common security architecture , Commentary , Neighbourhood Studies

China’s Great Leap Forward-II, by Lt Gen Gautam Bannerjee, PVSM, AVSM, YSM (Retired), Lancer Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, India, 152 pages, INR 595/-, 2019

Maj Gen (Retd.) P K Chakravorty

The Great Leap Forward was a campaign run in the People’s Republic of China from 1958 to 1962. Chairman Mao Zedong led the campaign and the aim was to transform an agricultural economy to a socialist society through rapid industrialisation and coll....

May 31, 2019 China’s Great Leap Forward , Book Reviews , Neighbourhood Studies

Modi’s Second Term: Implementing the ‘Neighbourhood First’

Dr Sreeradha Datta, Centre Head & Senior Fellow, Neighbourhood Studies, VIF Article

Along with others, the neighbourhood attention was riveted on the Indian general elections. For many, not only the scale of the exercise was fascinating but more importantly, what it portends for the future of their bilateral with India. And as the c....

May 31, 2019 Neighbourhood Studies , Governance and Political Studies , Article , Regional Security , New Government’s tasks , Neighbourhood engagements

Pakistan: the IMF Bailout Agreed, the Hard Part Begins Now

Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF Commentary

The IMF and the government of Pakistan have agreed on a structural adjustment program of USD 6 billion for three years to stabilise Pakistan’s crisis ridden economy. This will be the 13th such IMF package since 1988. The agreement was reached after....

May 20, 2019 Pakistan , Neighbourhood Studies , Commentary , Pakistan economic mess , IMF bailout to Pakistan

Bangladesh: Optimistic but Unrealistic Budget?

Bangladesh: Desperate Migrants

मौजूदा तस्वीर