By extending an invitation to the President of Kyrgyzstan among other heads of States of the BIMSTEC group and Mauritius for the swearing-in ceremony of his second term as the Prime Minister of India, Modi has shown pragmatism in his foreign policy outreach.

Indian aerospace industrial capabilities have come a long way from rudimentary to independent design and development stage. However, the next phase of evolution depends on a more robust infrastructure, inclusivist R&D eco-system, diffused skills and most importantly, a clear direction from and determined support by the State.

Environment has never been a popular subject for India’s major political parties during general elections. Even in the post-1972 UN Conference on Human and Environment period or post-1992 Earth Summit scenario when environment emerged as a strong international and national issue, seldom has environment found an appropriate space in party manifestos in India.

After the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore, much was expected from the second summit held during late February 2019 at Hanoi. The first round was historic but the second round turned out to be a disaster with the summit ended abruptly. After the first summit, North Korea had begun to dismantle a missile engine test stand at Sohae. Post the failure of the second summit, however, some reconstruction has been noticed at this site. Is this symptomatic of the failure of diplomacy or it is a bit premature to write an obituary of peace in the Korean peninsula?