India, Mongolia: Spiritually Connected Powers of Asia

On May 16 Prime Minister Narendra Modi would twit: ‘First Indian Prime Minister is visiting Mongolia after 60 years of our diplomatic relation’. If China is repositioning itself in the Silk Route (ancient India was a major link too) through larger economic thrust, India has to travel in the same breadth and length with the teachings and philosophy of Buddhism in North and East Asia, as Buddhism flourished prior to the Silk Route era.

AVILASH ROUL

Modi’s Bhutan Sojourn: Why China Reads Between the Lines?

On May 16, 2014, the world’s biggest democracy and Asia’s rapidly rising power, India announced results of history’s longest and biggest multiparty democratic elections. Held in nine phases spreading across April-May 2014, the country chose to bring in power the government of Narendra Damodardas Modi, leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)- known for his unconventional but successful policies.

 

CHAARVI MODI

Border Talks: What Does Future Hold for India and China?

The Year of Friendly Exchanges between India and the People’s Republic of China kicked off with the 17th Special Representatives’ Meeting on the Boundary Question in New Delhi on 10-11 February, 2014, to forge closer and stronger ties between the two neighbours. India’s National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon discussed the issue with the Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi to come up with viable means to settle face-offs in the disputed border territories of India and China.

 

CHAARVI MODI

Common Sense at CHOGM: Advantage China?

India’s external affairs minister Mr Salman Khurshid went to Sri Lanka substituting Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) conclave. This decision by the government of India speaks volumes about how the regional politics and associated narrow political compulsions adversely impact the national security policy making. Regrettably, the politics of Tamil Nadu is more about tokenism than actually helping the cause of Talmilians in Sri Lanka.

 

AJEY LELE

Mars Mission: India’s Tryst with the Red Planet

India’s first ever Mars mission would begin its travel towards the Red planet on November 5 .2013. It would take around nine-months of time for this satellite to reach Mars orbit and start taking the observations. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) rocket with Mars Orbiter Spacecraft onboard will be launched from Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) coast, nearly 50 miles north of Chennai city.

 

AJEY LELE

"Chinese dam concerns raise fears of future water conflict" : SSPC Senior Fellow Avilash Roul was quoted in South China Morning Post

"Chinese dam concerns raise fears of future water conflict" SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 05 September, 2013

Beijing's coyness over hydro plans for Tibet's Yarlung Zangbo sparks mistrust from India over downstream impact on Brahmaputra.

The sensitive issue of water sharing between China and India is again under the spotlight.

India raised its longstanding concerns about Chinese dam construction on rivers that start in China and flow into the sub-continent at the 5th round of the India-China strategic dialogue in New Delhi last month.

Arctic Circle: Challenging Exclusivity

The Arctic Circle is the new circumpolar forum to address Arctic issues. It is the brainchild of Ólafur Grímsson, Iceland’s President and his team comprising of Prince Albert II of Monaco, Greenlandic Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Russian explorer Artur Chilingarov, who seek to engage a number of stakeholders through an inclusive process. The forum was launched at the National Press Club in Washington in March 2013 and aims to provide opportunities to a variety of stakeholders to present their views on ‘Arctic matters’.

VIJAY SAKHUJA