Following years of unrelenting repression and humiliation of Kashmiris, India has finally extinguished their last ray of hope by repealing Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution – both of which had granted Kashmir a special status. India did so in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions that forbade annexation of the […]
Following the recent terror in Kashmir, will Hindus be forced out of every area in the Indian subcontinent that presently has a Muslim majority? Last week, a grenade blew up in Kashmir, injuring 18 people. This incident occurred after a Pakistani Islamist terror group murdered 40 Indian soldiers in the disputed region, which both Pakistan […]
2017 could be a watershed year for many countries, as various territorial disputes threaten to boil over amidst a climate of global uncertainty.
The escalating India-China rivalry in the region is increasingly dwarfing all other issues regarding the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
Heightened tensions between India and Pakistan threaten to add the upcoming SAARC Summit to the long list of failed attempts at cooperation in South Asia.
By Sarwar Kashmeri It is time to stop pretending that a residual American military presence in Afghanistan can make any difference to the future of that ancient and troubled land. The future of Afghanistan will be determined, as it has always been, by the Afghans, at their own pace and in conjunction with the countries […]
Renewed military tensions in the disputed Kashmir region are once again underscoring how even localized incidents there can subvert important diplomatic initiatives between India and Pakistan. Skirmishes this past January put the brakes on the détente process that picked up steam last year. The current round of fighting has led to a rising chorus in India demanding […]
Despite the promising rapprochement (here and here) that gathered pace between India and Pakistan last year, disruptive military tensions are never far from the surface. This point was amply demonstrated by last month’s skirmishes along the 450 mile-long boundary – known as the Line of Control (LOC) – separating the two armies in the disputed […]
The Singh-Zardari luncheon was more productive than many expected. But the bonhomie will eventually run into stark political realities. Although the timing was coincidental and neither man professes the Christian faith, it was appropriately symbolic that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari broke bread in New Delhi on Easter Sunday. […]
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 […]
Online campaigns are viewed as the most democratic medium in contemporary times. There are numerous examples of social media resulting in change and enhancing accountability in countries, towns and villages. As someone who studies the positive impact of social media on civil society interactions, it’s heartening to witness these developments. Various forms on online protests, […]
Over the past six months, there has been much of focus in the international media on the territorial disputes between China and its neighbors in the East and South China seas. However, China has territorial disputes along most of its borders. Although the United States has injected itself into the former, the dispute between China and […]
By Aarti Tikoo Singh Twenty years ago, “freedom struggle” in Kashmir meant seeking the political rights and political justice that had been denied by India since Jammu & Kashmir’s accession to the Indian union in 1947. But before the idea could even evolve into a mass awakening movement, it burst into religious extremism and cross-border […]
I look at the news of the day as either a sign or a signal. A sign is a piece or stream of data that serve as declarative propositions about the world. Signs describe the world contemporaneously, as true or false through argument, news, video, photographs or–for that matter– blog posts. Signs carry no prescriptions […]