Over the past few years, ‘trilateral economic cooperation’ and ‘vibrant bridge’ have become buzzwords in Nepal’s foreign policy discourse, and have also caught the popular imagination at home in India. These proposals have generated both curiosity and anxiety in Delhi’s diplomatic and academic circles that are otherwise largely indifferent to Nepal. The Chinese diplomats in Delhi also raising the issue with the Indian officials has added to India’s anxiety all the more. With some notable exceptions (e.g., C.

• Post Bahadur Basnet
• September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

Integrating the restive Tibetan minority with China has been the primary domestic challenge for Beijing. Thus far, its Nepal policy has been crafted essentially to address the Tibetan question. The idea of trilateral cooperation between India, Nepal and China apparently floated by Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) in April 2013 was, in effect, first made by the former Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Yang Houlan, in 2012.

• Abanti Bhattacharya
• September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

Trilateral cooperation between India, Nepal and China needs to be seen from the perspective of how beneficial it is for all three countries. However, such cooperation cannot be divorced from India’s security concerns and its close relations with Nepal. Moreover, there are several issues that come into question, too. Are there any objectives behind this proposal? Does it involve only developmental cooperation? Does it undermine India’s security interests?

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

Prachanda’s proposal for trilateral cooperation between India, Nepal and China seems reasonable on the face of it. However, both China and Nepal should be aware that it will create a lot of misunderstandings in India. The reasons for this are as follows:

• Arvind Gupta
• September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, made the trilateral proposal during his official visit to India in April 2013. This was the third time since 2010 that Prachanda had raised this issue. This concept seems to be a modified version of his earlier ‘equidistance policy’, which was declared after he became prime minister in September 2008. He proposed trilateral cooperation for the first time in October 2010 after visiting Beijing.

• Nihar R. Nayak
• September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, the chairman of the United Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN) (Maoist), visited India on April 27–30, 2013, shortly after he had returned from a week-long visit to China. During his visits to China and India, Prachanda proposed trilateral cooperation between India, Nepal and China. Although he assured India that this trilateral cooperation would be founded on the bilateral relations that Nepal already shares with India, he clearly did not elaborate on the nature of this trilateral cooperation and the issues that need to be discussed within this framework.

• Editorial Board
• September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

Analysing peace journalism is a difficult task, especially within the context of an ongoing conflict. This study looks at peace journalism as it relates to the Balochistan/Pakistan conflict. Balochistan is a Pakistani province that makes up a large part of the country and is rich in natural resources. The Pakistani government has employed a policy of resource exploitation in the province, withholding any due share of profit from the Baloch.

• Aarushi Prakash
• September 2013
• Strategic Analysis

In late 2012, the first liquefied natural gas tanker to sail through the Northern Sea Route reached its destination in Japan, carrying gas from a Euro–Arctic offshore field. Only months earlier, a Korean-owned naval architecture and engineering company had won the contract for designing the long-awaited new icebreaker for Canada's coast guard, 1 and China had completed its fifth Arctic marine survey from its own ice-capable research vessel.

• Olav Schram Stokke
• July 2013
• Strategic Analysis

The problem confronting the Hindu minority in Bangladesh is analysed in this article within the framework of a majoritarian state, which embodies the socio-cultural ethos of the majority community in its effort to establish itself as a nation state with a unique history. Such a state by its very nature marginalises the minorities, who are considered unequal in the construction of the ‘nation state’ narrative even though constitutionally they enjoy equality as citizens.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• July 2013
• Strategic Analysis

Nepal's King Prithvi Narayan Shah's famous ‘Yam between two boulders’ quote reflects the great understanding of Nepal's security dilemma, even as far back as the 18th century. 1 This has remained a cornerstone of Nepal's foreign policy to date, primarily driven by Nepal's geographic location. 2 Shah understood well that Nepal would always remain insecure vis-à-vis its powerful neighbours, that is, China and India, and urged the need to keep refining, adapting and adjusting Nepal's foreign policy in order to deal with its powerful regional neighbours.

• Rohit Karki
• July 2013
• Strategic Analysis

It is feared that Imran Khan’s move to sideline the already alienated opposition and continuous bickering between the federal and provincial governments would undermine the national effort against COVID-19.

• Zainab Akhter
• April 10, 2020
• Issue Brief

The Hasina Government is in overdrive to meet the Covid-19 challenge head on, and ensure that this unforeseen threat does not snowball into a major national crisis.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• April 09, 2020
• IDSA Comments

The surge in official references to PoK has disrupted the inertia of the past years. Pushing PoK high on India’s strategic priorities will make India’s Kashmir policy more effective.

• Priyanka Singh
• February 17, 2020
• Policy Brief

The government and the military in Pakistan appear quite determined to either silence or censor media by all means. This may prove counter-productive since such restrictions can fuel further criticism, especially at a time when the government seems unable to fulfil its promises and meet the expectations of the people.

• Nazir Ahmad Mir
• January 17, 2020
• IDSA Comments

The issue of illegal migration in India-Bangladesh relationship cannot be swept under the carpet. It will be better if both sides look at the issue dispassionately especially when the trust levels are high.

• Anand Kumar
• January 08, 2020
• IDSA Comments

The possibility of total decimation of ISIS gives the world an opportunity to take the fight against global terror to several localised jihadist groups operating across the world, before they forge new cross-continental alliances and give rise to a larger terror conglomerate.

• Adil Rasheed
• November 05, 2019
• IDSA Comments

South Asia has a common history and celebrates its great cultural and linguistic overlap. However, the South Asian experience in building cooperative security architecture has been mixed. India on its part remains committed to strengthening cooperative security in the region.

• Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy
• October 23, 2019
• IDSA Comments

With a failing foreign policy and a crippling economy, and growing domestic opposition as well as criticism within the army, Imran Khan and his government is clearly caught between the devil and the deep sea.

• Zainab Akhter
• October 17, 2019
• IDSA Comments

With China now willing to discuss issues of mutual interest with India, a well-structured bilateral dialogue on regional and global terrorism may go a long way in convincing Beijing of the need to put pressure on Islamabad to act against terror

• Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy
• May 16, 2019
• IDSA Comments

The Easter bomb blasts is a grim reminder of how the undercurrent of ethno-religious violence remains a dominant factor in Sri Lanka’s chequered history.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• April 29, 2019
• IDSA Comments