On the 1st of December, 2020, the Chinese news channel, CCTV-13, tweeted out a 30-second clip that showed the Chang'e 5 lander landing on the moon's surface. The clip ends with the lander casting a shadow on the moon's surface, perhaps fittingly, as China raises its stakes in the 'Global Space Race 2.0'. The chief …
A Primer on Multilateral Diplomacy
India has just begun its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. This is a critical time in the history of the United Nations as it has failed miserably to forge international cooperation to combat Covid-19, the greatest existential threat faced by mankind. The clamour for reforms will heighten, even …
President Biden will pick up the PRC’s gauntlet
Should Joe Biden revert to the China-friendly policies of the Clinton era, voter backlash against the Democratic Party would be severe. What is democracy and how does it flower? According to some social scientists and the policymakers who believe in them, it’s all about money. It was their conclusion that once the Peoples Republic …
US Return to Iran Deal may not be a Cakewalk
One of the priorities of President Joe Biden is to deal with the threat from Iran on account of its fast-developing nuclear capability. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was brought in place by President Obama to get Iran to suspend weapon development for at least 15 years was made inoperational by President …
Climate Migrants: A Wake-up Call for North East India
Alarm bells that should have sounded decades ago began to reverberate in a meeting hall in Naypyidaw on 4 March 2014 when the Bangladesh prime minister, Sheikh Hasina informed her counterparts from the BIMSTEC nations that an increase in one degree Celsius in the earth’s climatic system—as a result of global warming—would submerge a fifth …
India-US Indo-Pacific Partnership Assures Security for Asia
Despite the influence of known GHQ Rawalpindi proxies in the Biden camp and less so in the Trump set-up, it will no longer be possible for any administration to untangle the two interlocking DNA strands that form the India-US partnership. The signing of the final defence and security foundation agreement between the United States …
China Pushes India into an American Embrace
The Chinese comment on the India-US ‘2+2 Dialogue’ and the signing of the last foundational agreement BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) that the Sino-Indian border is a bilateral matter between India and China is the height of irony because it was China which generated US interest in the Himalayas and made India walk into …
The Information Society and the Transformation of Imagined Communities
In the 21st century, political borders appear to be blurred denting the Westphalian understanding of the concept ‘nation-states.’ With the increase in the internet communications, a new generation seems to be carving their own identities which are different from national identities. According to the report of wearesocial, nearly 1 million internet users have been found …
North East Industrial Policy: Secure the Development Paradigm
Development is a central factor of security. Indeed, one of the ways in which the security calculus of a nation can be ascertained is by ensuring all-round development in the crucial matrix and architecture. In the North Eastern context, the “dream of development” has more or less been one that has been confined to mere …
China-India Standoff: No Status Quo Ante and No LAC; Resolve the International Border
Addressing the 75th Session of UNGA on 22 September 2020, Xi says “We will never seek hegemony, expansion, or sphere of influence. We have no intention to fight either a Cold War or a Hot War with any country.” He further said that China would continue to narrow differences and resolve disputes with others through …