Courtesy: Nikkul/WikimediaCommons
On April 24, former Indian Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, spoke in depth about India’s nuclear weapons policy. How can his speech be instrumental in dismissing the doubts that some in Washington have had over the credibility of India’s nuclear deterrent?
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The Chinese defence industry has emerged as one of the world’s top five arms exporters. It has come a long way from the early 1990s when it was characterised by inefficiency, corruption, and poor performance.
Courtesy: Ministry of Defence, India
Though India may seem to be mirroring or competing with China’s military build-up, it doesn't seem to be doing so in consonance with a long-term plan. New Delhi would be better served by avoiding an arms race; staying away from the U.S.-China rivalry and fostering stronger relations with its immediate neighbours.
Courtesy: U.S. State Department
The setting for the third Indo-U.S. Strategic Dialogue is promising: a global shift of economic weight to Asia, U.S. military exhaustion and indebtedness to China and other factors call for a greater convergence in Indo-U.S. interests than ever before. It is essential then, to take bold decisions at the dialogue.
The scope for any process on nuclear talks with Iran to founder on distrust, misunderstanding and political in-fighting in both Tehran and Washington remains formidable. Equally disturbing are the wider political realities. Can the upcoming talks in Istanbul launch a process that can, over time, lead to agreement?
India and Japan have designed their collaborations over the years to be a win-win for both sides. Now, they are willing to collaborate on long-term initiatives, based on intrinsic factors of inter-dependent competencies – rather than on the defence of an extrinsic threat of a common enemy.
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A decade after 9/11, the U.S. has prevented further terrorist attacks - a major achievement. But with a $1.3 trillion budget deficit, a debt downgrade, and 24 million Americans searching for jobs, the U.S. needs to attend to matters at home rather than intervening in the world's affairs.
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Japan’s Fukushima fallout puts the future of nuclear power in India in jeopardy. Our energy needs are so high that we will now need to consider all forms of energy - solar, wind, bio-mass, geo-thermal, oceanic energy, even energy through waves.
Courtesy: SamanthaAppleton/WhiteHouse
Indo-US business dealings and the US Federal Reserve’s money-printing initiative may have saved Chinese President Hu Jintao the headache of explaining – to his American counterpart – China’s stealth fighter shocker, undervalued currency and giant trade surplus.