India declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) Islamic group and its affiliates unlawful on Wednesday, accusing them of involvement in terrorism and banning them for five years, after authorities detained more than 100 PFI members this month. The PFI said it had dissolved itself and asked its members to stop their activities. “As law-abiding citizens of our great country, […]

The recent visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India once again highlighted the continuous deepening of bilateral relations. In the last one decade or so both countries have not only been able to solve a number of long-pending disputes but also made tremendous progress in trade, commerce and connectivity. Cooperation in the area of energy security has been […]

Present-day Indian rulers, who are keen on establishing India’s presence in Central Asia, can draw inspiration from the daring and enterprising Indian traders of the medieval era, who were key participants in the trade along the Central Asian Silk Road. In Medieval times, Central Asia, now comprising the independent Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, were not known […]

India and Russia have historic ties and common interests that have led New Delhi to straddle a middle ground between Moscow and the West with respect to the Ukraine war. Russia’s August battlefield setbacks in Ukraine have caused some Indian leaders to question whether Moscow remains a reliable and effective strategic partner. India remains highly dependent on Russian arms imports […]

For FY22, India’s real gross domestic product grew at a rate of 8.7%, which is lower than the advance estimates but better than the previous year. Given the current state of global markets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has maintained its projections of a growth rate of 7.2% for FY23. It is important to note that the real GDP […]

Wickremesinghe revives India’s plan for close economic integration With the Rajapaksas pushed into the background and due to the high powers vested in the Sri Lankan Executive Presidency, President Ranil Wcikremesinghe is now in a position to take his island nation closer to India and away from China by promoting economic, investment and national security ties. China’s distancing itself from […]

Data protection regulation in India has recently faced several setbacks. The Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced to India’s lower house on 11 December 2019. But the government withdrew the Bill after India’s Joint Parliamentary Committee proposed 81 amendments and 12 recommendations. A new bill with a more comprehensive framework, including modern digital privacy laws, will be released soon. There […]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that now was not the time for war, directly assailing the Kremlin chief in public over the nearly seven-month-long conflict in Ukraine. Locked in a confrontation with the West over the war, Putin has repeatedly said Russia is not isolated because it can look eastwards to major Asian […]

Afghanistan U.S. killed al-Qaeda chief in first high-profile strike since Aug 2021 withdrawal, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) targeted Taliban and religious minorities, and Taliban clashed with Pakistani forces. U.S. President Biden 1 Aug confirmed U.S. had killed al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al Zawahiri, in drone strike in capital Kabul on 31 July; Washington accused Taliban authorities of violating Feb 2020 […]

The rise of China triggered a regional power shift that has been felt across East Asia and into the Himalayas. As China changes the status quo of the Indo-Pacific, it talks of promoting a multipolar world. But in practice it has a problem with multipolar Asia and is unwilling to accommodate India’s interests. In response to this, India is aligning […]