istanbul summit: last chance for afghanistan Courtesy:
26 April 2021

Istanbul Summit: Last chance for Afghanistan

The Taliban should have been reintegrated into Afghan society several years ago. It is now probably too late to persuade them to accept anything less than a dominant role in Kabul. However, Turkey, Pakistan and the United States may have one last chance to pressure the antagonists into a negotiated settlement, perhaps along the following lines.

international criminal court: jurisdiction over non-members Courtesy: Shutterstock
8 April 2021

The ICC’s jurisdiction conundrum

On 3 March 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, commenced an official investigation into Israel and Palestinian Armed Groups' alleged war crimes committed in the occupied territories of Palestine since July 2014. Palestine, which referred the case, is a member of the ICC, but Israel is not. Does the ICC have any jurisdiction in these cases? Will US support for Israel play a role? The three instances in the table show precedents in similar matters.

p7 Courtesy: Lovneet Bhatt
2 April 2020

Afghan Hindus & Sikhs under attack

The 25 March 2020 attack on a Sikh gurudwara in Kabul focused world attention on the plight of Afghanistan’s indigenous Sikh and Hindu minorities, the target of both local lawless elements and religious fundamentalists. They once were a significant part of Afghanistan’s principally Muslim population and a mark of its cultural syncretism and religious pluralism

shutterstock_1655303551 Courtesy: Shutterstock
5 March 2020

Hype & substance in Trump’s visit

President Trump enjoyed every moment of the hype that attended his February 2020 visit to India, says Ambassador Neelam Deo, Director and Co-founder of Gateway House, in this podcast, even as the focus was on concrete outcomes, such as defence purchases and oil procurement deals. She discusses the geopolitical implications of a closer India-U.S. strategic relationship and the weaknesses of the U.S.-Taliban peace deal

shutterstock_716498572 Courtesy: Shutterstock
27 February 2020

The 2020 retreat from Kabul

The signing of an agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban on February 29 may result in the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, which is contingent upon the Taliban’s adherence to certain conditions. The end of the West’s 19-year-long Afghan campaign – if Pakistan does not turn spoiler – is of vital interest to India

ibc-center-oil-gaz-4-696x392 Courtesy: ibctrain.com
2 April 2019

India & the influential SCO Energy Club

The main objective of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Energy Club, when Russia formed it, was to market its member states’ substantial oil and natural gas reserves. This map shows some of the important natural gas pipelines, originating from Russia and its neighbouring countries that are not members of the SCO. What can India do to secure supplies from these abundant but currently inaccessible natural gas reserves?