International

. The conflict with China on the borders of Ladakh, and the brutal murder of 20 Indian soldiers has led to furious allegations by retired service officers as well as opposition leaders of ‘another’ intelligence failure. A disjointed Indian intelligence system appears to have permitted China the crucial time window to initially move forces into … Read more

China and its engagements in the Indian Ocean Region is set to grow at a rapid pace until the near future. China’s setting up of its base in Djibouti is ideal during peacetime but there is also a significant presence of other militaries such as the US, France, Japan, etc, which shall render the Chinese … Read more

India enjoys an important position in the global pharmaceuticals sector. It is the largest provider of generic medicines globally, occupying a 20% share in global supply by volume, and also supplies 50% of global demand for vaccines the largest in the world. India ranks 3rd worldwide for production by volume and 13th by value, thereby … Read more

End of cold war When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed the reins of power in the Soviet Union in 1985, no one predicted the revolution he would bring. A dedicated reformer, Gorbachev introduced the policies of glasnost and perestroika to the USSR. Gorbachev hoped these changes would be enough to spark the sluggish Soviet economy. Freedom, however, … Read more

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. The inter-governmental body sets international standards that aim to prevent these illegal activities and the harm they cause to society. As a policy-making body, the FATF works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory … Read more

India’s main strategic challenge comes from its prosperous northern neighbour; China. It can be said that China and India, are going to make uneasy neighbours. For the two nuclear-armed nations to rise, almost simultaneously, without conflict will require either adroit diplomacy or a miracle; possibly both. The all weather Sino-Pakistan alliance, with its strong anti-Indian … Read more

The South China Sea (SCS) is important not just to its littoral countries. It has been a transit point for trade since early medieval times, contains abundantly rich fisheries , and is a repository of mineral deposits and hydrocarbon reserves. Dispute: It is all about China’s claim of all south China sea as its territory. … Read more

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project (BEPS Project) is an OECD/G20 project to set up an international framework to combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises (“MNEs”) using base erosion and profit shifting tools. It refers to tax planning strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no … Read more

The Arctic Council is the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. The Ottawa Declaration lists the following countries as members of the Arctic Council: Canada, … Read more

. The Wassenaar Arrangement has been established in order to contribute to regional and international security and stability, by promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, thus preventing destabilising accumulations. The aim is also to prevent the acquisition of these items by terrorists.  Participating States seek, through … Read more