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US-Pakistan Relations after Imran Khan’s Visit
August 02, 2019 Husain Haqqani Commentary

Media attention and domestic praise aside, Imran Khan’s visit to the US has not really changed Pakistan’s fundamental challenges; its coffers remain depleted and economy stagnant, the country still remains on the UN Financial Action Task Force (F....

Keywords : Neighbourhood Studies , Pakistan , Commentary , Imran Khan in US , Trump-Khan meeting , Pakistan’s policy difficulties
Recurring Clashes on Tajik-Kyrgyz Border over Raising of National Flags
July 29, 2019 Dr Pravesh Kumar Gupta, Associate Fellow, VIF Commentary

On 22 July 2019, the border authorities of Tajikistan informed that a skirmish took place on the border with Kyrgyzstan which resulted in killing of one local resident and several others wounded. According to the Tajik media, this violent conflict is....

Keywords : International Relations and Diplomacy , Central Asia , Commentary , Tajik-Kyrgyz spat , Border tension in Fergana Valley , border disputes in Central Asia
No Change in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Assertive Policies Despite Pressure
July 29, 2019 Jayadeva Ranade Commentary

Since more than the past 18 months Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have been under increasing pressure because of the US-China Tariff war. Washington has also been trying to create an adverse international environme....

Keywords : International Relations and Diplomacy , China , Commentary , China’s assertive policies , China’s aggressive posturing
Crisis in the Inflammable Gulf
July 25, 2019 Amb K P Fabian Commentary

We are witnessing a rapidly aggravating crisis that can result in the outbreak of hostilities with consequences, unintended, uncontrollable and possibly frightful for the region and the rest of the world. We have not seen any serious effort on the p....

Keywords : International Relations and Diplomacy , Central Asia , Commentary , US-Iran-UK confrontation , shipping in Strait of Hormuz , Gulf crisis
US Sanctions, Hormuz Strait and Security in the Gulf
July 22, 2019 Amb D P Srivastava, Distinguished Fellow, VIF Commentary

The seizure of Stena Impero by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on 19th July in the Hormuz Strait follows arrest of Grace 1 off Gibraltar by Royal Marines earlier. This represents an escalation. Incidents of attacks on tankers on 12th May an....

Keywords : International Relations and Diplomacy , West Asia , Commentary , US-Iran spat , shipping in Persian Gulf , oil tanker seizure
Chabahar Port - A Rethink is Needed
July 19, 2019 Rajesh Soami Commentary

Russian, Chinese, American and Pakistani representatives met in Beijing on the 10th and 11th of July to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. This was the third such consultation between Russia, China and the US, and the first in which Pakistan parti....

Keywords : International Relations and Diplomacy , Central Asia , Commentary , Chabahar Port , US Sanctions , Iran’s changed priorities
Fortnightly Notes from the South Asian Sub-Continent
July 15, 2019 Mayuri Mukherjee Commentary

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 j....

Keywords : Neighbourhood Studies , Commentary , Bangladesh killings , Pakistan’s debt , Death penalty in Sri Lanka
New Breed of Kashmiri Terrorists
July 12, 2019 Bashir Assad Commentary

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

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

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 : International Relations and Diplomacy , Indo-Pacific , Commentary , Korean peace , North Korea sanctions , Trump-Kim talks
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