MzExMjcwMA Courtesy: IEEE Spectrum
6 June 2019

BECA and the 5G-weather clash

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The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Cooperation (BECA), the last of the India-U.S. foundational agreements, will enable India to avail of U.S. expertise on geospatial intelligence and to sharpen the accuracy of weapons and automated hardware systems used for military purposes. But the over-emphasis on imaging in the agreement overlooks the likelihood of a clash between the telecom and meteorological technologies, which can hurt India’s crucial capabilities in space-based weather forecasting and disaster management

BN-WC464_BURMAP_GR_20171113114119 Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal
6 June 2019

Suu Kyi, more politician than icon

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The Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy, which has been in power for three years, has shown a modest score card, winning more censure than praise. Suu Kyi’s civilian-military equation has been good, but not her reluctance on the Rohingya issue. What chances does her party have of winning in Myanmar’s elections in 2020?

modi-768x432 Courtesy: CNBC TV18
28 May 2019

PM Modi’s foreign policy 2.0

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India's foreign policy under the second Modi government will take account of a turbulent world in which the old verities are disappearing and domestic political compulsions exert overwhelming influence on external postures

Maldives-618x412 Courtesy: Dying Regime / Flickr
25 April 2019

A power change in Maldives

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Maldives’ new president, Ibrahim Solih, has had two election wins in a span of six months – his own in September 2018 and his Maldivian Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the Majlis elections about three weeks ago. An analysis of what this win says about democratic politics in Maldives, improved relations with India and the complex equation it shares with China

modi_hasina_0 Courtesy: The Daily Star
7 March 2019

Bangladesh’s India-China balancing strategy

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Bangladesh faces several major challenges in its external relations. It showed humanitarianism in receiving the fleeing Rohingyas, but its diplomatic efforts to repatriate them have not succeeded. It must also maintain a balance between relations with India and China and show proactive leadership in garnering regional cooperation

359864_3622116_akhbar Courtesy: thenews.com.pk
7 March 2019

Gwadar 2.0: Pakistan’s Saudi vs. China play

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Pakistan’s aspirations for oil and gas prospecting off its Makran coast, south-western Balochistan, are diverging from those of China, which has had a nearly two-decade long presence in Gwadar as an infrastructure provider. To turn Gwadar into the petrochemical hub it desires, Pakistan has sought out other benefactors, changing geopolitical equations in the region

RadioFarda Courtesy: Radio Farda
28 February 2019

FATF: global terrorist financing watchdog

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After the Pulwama attack of 14 February 2019, Pakistan has come under the international scanner for its support and financing of terrorist groups. At a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris last week, it was pulled up for its inability to choke terrorist financing. This primer illustrates the role of the FATF in tackling terrorist financing and money-laundering, and studies its recent review of Pakistan