Foreign Policy Blogs

India

Vietnam Seeks Greater Defense Ties with India

Vietnam Seeks Greater Defense Ties with India

The disputed waters of the South China Sea have been quiet recently, as a nationalistic Beijing has sought to reassure its neighbors of its peaceful intentions by toning down the rhetoric and hesitating from taking any further aggressive actions.

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Obama Heads to India for Summit with Modi

Obama Heads to India for Summit with Modi

January is an important month in India-U.S. relations, with the arrival of a new U.S. ambassador, a visit by Secretary of State John Kerry to the country, and a meeting in New Delhi between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama.

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Indian Hardline Lawmaker calls for more Hindu Births

Indian Hardline Lawmaker calls for more Hindu Births

In a speech on Tuesday, Maharaj, who represents the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, spoke of the obligation of Hindu women to protect the Hindu majority by having at least four children.

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Finally, Some Good News from South Asia…. But Will It Last?

Finally, Some Good News from South Asia…. But Will It Last?

UPDATE (February 29): Islamabad today announced that it would grant “most favored nation” trade status to New Delhi and phase out major restrictions on Indian imports by the end of this year. For all of the discouraging news coming out of South Asia – Afghanistan’s escalating turmoil, the breakdown in U.S.-Pakistani relations, and growing political instability […]

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Paper Wars

Paper Wars

It’s all-out war, and yes, South Indians plan to relish every minute of it. After all, it is rather gratifying to see the dignified Hindu getting down and dirty with the more boisterous Times. In a recent series of much-discussed ads, The Hindu wittily takes on the Times’ penchant for sensational and tabloid-centric news, urging […]

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Republic Day Reflections

Republic Day Reflections

Salman Rushdie’s effigy is burned in Mumbai Just in time for Republic Day, which commemorates the adoption of a post-colonial constitution on January 26, 1950, a series of events lays bare the limits on freedom of expression in India. Foremost among these is the raging controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie’s scheduled appearance at the Jaipur Literature […]

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Advancing the Strategic Partnership

Advancing the Strategic Partnership

The state visit to New Delhi by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in December 2010 focused on the potential for mutual economic cooperation. Wen arrived with a large business delegation that promptly signed some $16 billion worth of deals. The two governments also pledged to take their $60-billion trade relationship to the $100-billion level by 2015. […]

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The Year That Was: India in 2011

The Year That Was: India in 2011

The Hindu Cartoonscope and Amul butter cartoons continue to be a great way to capture news in India with humor and satire.  This Year in Review presents a montage of cartoons from the two sources to present highlights of what happened in India in 2011. Reports of political scams and corruption continued to surface throughout 2011. 2G allocation, hoarding […]

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Missed Opportunities, Promising Trends

Missed Opportunities, Promising Trends

The year was filled with missed opportunities but also promising developments in U.S.-India relations.  2012 is shaping up to be the same. President Obama’s state visit to India in early November 2010 appeared to impart new dynamism to a bilateral relationship that had been listless since his inauguration. The trip offered an effective tonic for […]

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Borders and Buddhism

Borders and Buddhism

Events last week illustrated that the true fault line in India-China relations remains the 60 year-old acrimony over the Tibetan frontier. From India’s increasing presence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea to the duel over diplomatic influence in Myanmar, developments in recent months amply illustrate how India and China will bump into […]

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India Launches Low-Cost Tablet – Aakash

India Launches Low-Cost Tablet – Aakash

India’s Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal launched Aakash, the $35 tablet, midst much fanfare last week. The launch was hailed as a grand moment for India’s innovative prowess and claims to have silenced the skeptics. Aakash is developed by DataWind, a wireless Web access products maker in Montreal in partnership with IIT Rajasthan. […]

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Time to make India’s Afghanistan Policy Relevant for the Endgame

Time to make India’s Afghanistan Policy Relevant for the Endgame

India’s Afghanistan policy is a classic case displaying the pros and cons of soft power approach in international relations. Soft power is fruitful as a continuum of the smart power strategy where hard power is purposefully used. Soft power is helpful in creating space for and sustaining hard power options. A strategy that rests only […]

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Red Lines and Reversed Roles

Red Lines and Reversed Roles

The respective security roles that the United States and India traditionally play in East Asia seemed to switch last week.  By deciding not to supply Taiwan with the new fighter aircraft it has requested, the U.S. appeared to defer to China, which had cautioned that the sale was a “red line” that must not be […]

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India Wades Into Troubled Waters

India Wades Into Troubled Waters

In his critically acclaimed book on the Indian Ocean last year, author Robert Kaplan warned that with growing Sino-Indian rivalry, the “the Indian Ocean and its adjacent waters will be a central theater of conflict and competition.” It seems that Kaplan’s prophetic claim was made none too soon. Last week, an editorial in the Global […]

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Knocking on APEC’s Door

Knocking on APEC’s Door

Having made the calculation that America’s security and prosperity would be enhanced by partnership with India, the United States over the last decade has promoted New Delhi’s admission into global governance structures.  For the Bush administration, this meant doing the heavy lifting required to enroll India into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an informal cartel governing […]

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