India-China Relations: Complex and Out-of-Step

Canberra, 8 August 2017 On 15 May 2015, India and China came out with a joint statement acknowledging the simultaneous re-emergence of both the nations as major regional powers. This event was termed as heralding the beginning of the Asian Century in international geo-politics. The bilateral relationship between India and China influences and has repercussions […]

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India: Changing the Traditional Political Patterns

Jakarta, 2 May 2015  In the elections held in five states in March 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won majority in two states and managed to form the government in another two with coalition partners. A total of 690 seats were contested in the five states, of which the BJP won 406 that translates […]

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India: Seeking Its Place in the Sun

Canberra, 4 January 2017 India initiated an economic evolution in the 1990s, which gathered sufficient momentum to become a revolution that propelled India into the thick of international power play. The geo-politics and circumstances of international power balance are ever-changing and have their own ways of creating ups and downs that in turn revamp the […]

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Afghanistan – A Long Way from Anywhere

Canberra, 20 September 2016 Afghanistan has been teetering at the edge of a precipice ever since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. The situation has become further precarious, if such a thing is possible at all, after the current President Ashraf Ghani took over the reins of government two years back. The embattled […]

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Pakistan: Painting Itself into a Corner

  Canberra, 11 July 2016 Pakistan is a land of contrasts. The disparity between the haves and the have-nots in all aspects of normal life stands out as a prime example. However, the most starkly visible contrast is the two very different conceptual understanding within the nation of the role of religion in the State. […]

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PAKISTAN: STUCK IN A CUL-DE-SAC

Canberra, 22 June 2014 Pakistan, a state created in the name of Islam, is today divided along linguistic, ethnic, tribal and sectarian lines. It also claims to be the ‘heart of Asia’, making any observer want to ask, ‘a wounded, bleeding heart?’ While it is beset with domestic issues that directly threaten the well-being of […]

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BANGLADESH: BEING SWALLOWED BY INACTION

Canberra, 4 June 2015 Ever since it’s tumultuous birth in 1971, Bangladesh has been caught in an identity trap. The nation’s linguistic, secularist and, most importantly, its religious identity have often been in conflict with each other, preventing the nation and the people from forging a clearly defined identity of its own. In fact the […]

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INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS

Canberra, 03 June 2014 [This is an edited and abridged version of a Public Presentation that I gave to the Faculty of Art at the University of Western Australia, at their invitation, on 20 May 2014] Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Before I start my presentation, I must thank the Faculty of Arts of the […]

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Indian History Part 23: THE INDIAN APPROACH TO PHILOSOPHY

Canberra, 2 January 2014 Indian philosophy has its roots in the Vedic period and was initially an attempt by the great sages of that era to find answers to the fundamental questions of human existence: What is the world? If it is a creation, then who was the creator? What is life? What is ‘truth’? […]

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Indian History Part 22: Of ANCIENT LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE

Canberra, 27 December 2013 Language is a term that conveys a meaning much larger than just grammar or philology because it reflects prevalent social convention and learning. The use of language, the capacity to acquire and effectively employ a sophisticated and complex system of communication, is deeply entrenched in human culture. Language is the testament […]

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