There are signs of China's external behaviour becoming more aggressive in the coming years. If that happens, strategic implications for neighbours having territorial disputes with China can become deeper and imperatives can rise for the former to counteract, says D S Rajan
'We have a common way of looking at the world, a common way of thinking, and a common set of values that predispose us to be partners. And our interests overlap greatly,' Dr Ashton B Carter, America's next defence secretary, told Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
Here's a collection of images of the past week.
The agreement was reached in intensive negotiations between contact groups that Obama and Modi had set up in September.
Attacking the note ban move, Yechury said the PM's assertion that it will impact terror funding has not yielded any result.
The revival of long-term growth is highly dependent on the revival of private investment.
Condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, US President Barack Obama and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said that no country's territory should be used to destabilise its neighbours.
'I believe Modi mentioned Balochistan only to embarrass Pakistan and also divert attention toward the situation in Kashmir.' 'I think from now on, India intends to raise Balochistan whenever Pakistan brings up Kashmir or upsets them on the issue of terrorism.' 'Balochistan is the least developed of Pakistan's four provinces. It is the least educated and least economically developed. People are agitated that a region so rich in mineral resources and a sea-port is still so poor.' Baloch political analyst Malik Siraj Akbar on why the province wants freedom from Pakistan.
Amid Trump's expected action against employment visas, India's bellwether IT firms reveal they have been preparing for this eventuality for years.
India's commitment to an open and plural security architecture attests to the fact that Asia's transition is a dynamic of both power & identity, says Zorawar Daulet Singh
'Omar Khorsani has called repeatedly for the most barbaric of attacks. He is very adept on social media. He is, in other words, eerily similar to the ISIS leader Baghdadi.' 'The crux of the army's 'strategic asset' policy -- its policy of regarding militants as those that can help Pakistan pursue its regional interests -- is that Pakistan needs help in weakening India or in keeping its presence minimal in the region.' Michael Kugelman reveals what the world can expect next from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the terrorists responsible for the Peshawar school massacre.
This is the joint statement issued by the ministry of external affairs on the visit of US President Barack Obama to India.
'It is in the interest of both sides that the visit of the US President is seen as being successful. Both sides have invested considerable political capital in it. This rapid exchange of visits and the decisions taken have to be justified, beyond the symbolism, which is no doubt important in itself. This opportunity to impart a fresh momentum to ties should not be missed,' says former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.
The prime minister's visit to Washington should focus more on shopping for energy security and stopping the US from snooping on us, reigning in its popular and innocuously operated instruments to gather intelligence like Google, says Tarun Vijay.
'Today if you look at the way India is growing many people are saying the sleeping elephant has finally woken up, is dancing!' 'I have travelled extensively, in about 60 countries. In all these the moment you say India, the first thing they mention is either an actor's name. Or they start humming a song.' 'I wanted to be in Bollywood. It is the most powerful medium we have in this country. That's soft power.' Listening in on Shobhaa De, Kabir Khan, Vikas Swarop and Saffron Art CEO Hugo Weihe speak on India's Soft Power, Hard Influence.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
The Geneva agreement is a signal, which at least Saudi Arabia and Israel are so reading, that normalisation of relations between US and Iran is not merely about the nuclear fuel cycle, says K C Singh.
A major criticism of the new law is that it can become an instrument of abuse as it confers the tax enforcement authorities with strong discretionary powers, says Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
India'Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been congratulated for his speedy diplomacy and his talks with Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif. However, academic Christine Fair and former Pakistan ambassador to US Husain Haqqani dismiss the meeting, calling it merely a photo-op and an exercise in futility. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Judge Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan is the front-runner to replace the late Justice Anthony Scalia on the US Supreme Court.
Deployment of THAAD in South Korea could unfold a new cataclysm in the Korean Peninsula with unwelcome prospects.
Sri Srinivasan, the first Indian-origin federal judge in the United States, is India Abroad Person of the Year 2013
'The question remains: Was the Obama visit truly a success? Only the future will tell us if the "breakthrough" in the nuclear liability issue will concretise into electricity.' 'As importantly, it will be interesting to watch how India's relations with China will evolve in the months to come.'
Even as plans to redevelop Dharavi continue to gather dust in government files, its young residents have chalked their own course and chosen to fly high. Hepzi Anthony recounts a few inspiring tales.
'We are allowing FDI on the terms of the investors, multinationals.' 'We bow down to whatever they say.' 'When they say you open this sector, we open that sector.'
As Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah form a joint government after contesting the presidential election against each other, Prakash Bhandari reports from Kabul on the problems facing the new, US-brokered arrangement.
In his penultimate State of the Union address, Barack Obama said that the economy is improving.
My goal is to implement the Sevak project all over India and make the villages true Gandhian villages -- self sustainable in every way, including health, says Dr Thakor Patel, head of the American Association of Physician of Indian Origin's Public Health Committee. Aziz Haniffa reports
Kashmiris hope that India and Pakistan can find a lasting solution to what many call the Kashmir 'problem'.
Meet the US Attorney who took on Donald Trump.
'When he first came to office, my belief is that the PM's reading of the landscape was that, with a vanquished Congress and fragmented Opposition, he was looking at least at two terms in office. This reading perhaps allows for a more cautious, gradual approach.' 'It was only a matter of time before the government was forced to come face-to-face with a serious corruption scandal. This is not a commentary on the BJP, but a statement about India's political economy.' 'There is growing concern about the government's commitment to freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and an independent civil society. Thus far, the positive movement on strategic and economic matters has crowded out these concerns, but they are lingering beneath the surface.'
Princess Shivranjani of Jodhpur is breathing new life into dead forts and quietly changing the house of Marwar.
'Cultural property crimes have been linked, by the United Nations and others, to terrorism.' 'These links show the perpetrators to be associated with major criminal and terrorist networks like ISIS.
'The unique achievements have been made by engineers from small towns who have had a non elite upbringing and who have grown with the programme,' says R Aravamudan, one of the pioneers of the Indian space programme.
'After many rudderless years, India and Japan have prime ministers with a sense of purpose and direction,' says Brahma Chellaney.
The kind of people Narendra Modi has chosen, the decisions he has taken and the rail and central budgets suggests that he is treading carefully in New Delhi. There is less of innovation and more of continuity, so far. He is not ready to rock the boat and start from scratch, says Sheela Bhatt.
Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist, HSBC, speaks about a range of issues ranging from inflation, to how Goods and Services Tax and land acquisition bills can help India hit double digit growth, and her impressions about economic growth in the last one year after Narendra Modi took over as India's Prime Minister.
'...But my strong suit will not be dancing,' Kal Penn tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com, in the concluding part of the interview.
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The disparity between the outlook of the rich and poor was greater in India than in any other emerging economy. Indians might want to be worried about this because this suggests that the rich are really out of touch with the poor, Bruce Stoke, Director of Pew Research Center, tells Faisal Kidwai in an interview.
It does not apply to anyone who might come to America illegally in the future. It does not grant citizenship, or the right to stay here permanently, or offer the same benefits that citizens receive, the President said.
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