Development prospects and economic growth in Pakistan, like in most other countries, will hinge on securing sustainable energy supplies. The Pakistan government has developed a strategy to enhance its energy production by 2030. This article explores the problems faced by the Pakistan government in optimising its use of indigenous energy resources and the implications that future plans to strengthen its energy security may have for its domestic and foreign policy.

• Sumita Kumar
• November 2010
• Strategic Analysis

The Bay of Bengal is the largest bay off the coast of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. With the exception of Bangladesh all the littoral states have reached agreements over their bilateral maritime boundaries. As signatories to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, India and Myanmar had to file their claims by June 29, 2009 and by May 21, 2009 respectively, and Bangladesh has to file its claim by July 27, 2011 to the Commission on the limits of the continental shelf.

• Sreeradha Datta
• September 2010
• Strategic Analysis

On April 12, 2010 the majority of citizens of the island of Sri Lanka's two main linguistic communities celebrated the Sinhala and Tamil new year and the categorical end of war and terrorism with considerable optimism, despite the lack of a clear political solution to the ‘ethnic conflict’. The new year celebrations, the first since the end of the state's 30 year war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), were in the wake of recently concluded parliamentary elections that returned the ruling party to power.

• Darini Rajasingham Senanayake
• September 2010
• Strategic Analysis

By offering to augment its $1.3 billion assistance to Afghanistan, India has sent out a clear signal that it remains a player in the beleaguered nation's reconstruction process. India will not be deterred by the efforts of Pakistan and a section of the world community to isolate it. The offer was made during President Hamid Karzai's brief visit to New Delhi, on April 26–27, 2010. The timing was significant. Karzai was flying further east to Thimphu, Bhutan, to attend the 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The Indian prime minister, Dr.

• Mahendra Ved
• September 2010
• Strategic Analysis

The SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit is often described as being a mere photo opportunity for south Asian leaders who should actually be using the comatose organisation to reinvent regional cooperation in a globalised world. Such pessimism is inevitable if one takes stock of the progress that SAARC has made over the period of time. There exists a SAARC convention to deal with all issues that have a certain salience in the regional context.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• September 2010
• Strategic Analysis

The Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed between India and Nepal in 1950 has been a subject of debate within Nepal. The issue has been regularly featured in left parties' election manifestos in Nepal and become an agenda item in bilateral talks. India has agreed to review, adjust and update the treaty while giving due recognition to the special features of the bilateral relationship. Nepal's reservations to the treaty are based on the argument that the treaty compromises Nepal's ability to pursue an independent defence and foreign policy.

• Nihar R. Nayak
• July 2010
• Strategic Analysis

The peace process between India and Pakistan came to an abrupt halt with the Mumbai attacks on November 26, 2008 (26/11). Ironically, the attacks were carried out by Pakistani terrorists minutes after the foreign ministers of both countries met in New Delhi and pledged to take the composite dialogue process forward. Ever since, Pakistan's unwillingness to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice has come in the way of resumption of the composite dialogue. There have been many false starts, but the process continues to be in a state of suspended animation.

• Ashok K. Behuria
• July 2010
• Strategic Analysis

The legal status of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is part of Jammu and Kashmir that is under Pakistani occupation, has remained undefined in successive Pakistani constitutions. Pakistan governs the region with ad hoc presidential ordinances, resulting in transitory political arrangements. It was Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who first introduced the so-called Northern Areas Governance Order of 1994, after shelving the draconian and inhumane Frontier Crimes Regulation, with which Pakistan ruled the region like a colony.

• Senge H. Sering
• May 2010
• Strategic Analysis

The India–Bhutan relationship is perhaps the only bilateral engagement in South Asia, yielding high dividends to both parties. While Bhutan all through the years has appreciated India for its economic assistance, India, for its part, has been sensitive to Bhutan's developmental needs. The relationship has helped Bhutan shape a unique developmental trajectory based on gross national happiness. Bhutan's economy has grown substantially in recent years. However, the development cooperation between the two countries can be effectively divided into three significant waves.

• Medha Bisht
• May 2010
• Strategic Analysis

After a hiatus, relations between India and Bangladesh are back on track again. This period was ushered in with the Awami League government assuming power in Dhaka after the culmination of the much delayed ninth Jatiya Sangsad elections. The bilateral relations received a further boost with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's four-day visit to India on January 10, 2010. It was breakthrough visit for a number of reasons.

• Sreeradha Datta
• May 2010
• Strategic Analysis

Regulated borders with greater emphasis on developing people-to-people contact and cross-border trade initiatives are likely to yield greater security benefits as against a closed border.

• Pradeep Singh Chhonkar
• February 06, 2017
• IDSA Comments

President Jokowi’s state visit to India in December is an opportunity to develop a truly strategic relationship that covers maritime security and defence of the Indo-Pacific, economic relations, and cultural, training educational, and people-to-people interactions that can contribute to the realisation of the full potential of two major Asian powers in the 21st century.

• Gautam Mukhopadhaya
• November 25, 2016
• Special Feature

It is in India’s interests to continue to adhere to the Treaty provisions and try to obtain maximum benefit by subscribing to it.

• Gautam Sen
• October 03, 2016
• IDSA Comments

What has emerged over the past two weeks is a well calibrated strategy meant to increase the costs for Pakistan of continuing its policy of supporting cross border terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

• Sumita Kumar
• September 30, 2016
• IDSA Comments

The reactions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India indicate a new regional consensus that state sponsored terrorism cannot be dealt with only at the bilateral level.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• September 29, 2016
• IDSA Comments

Through a pragmatic strategy coupled with national will, India should undertake calibrated responses to defeat Pakistan’s proxy war game plan with a view to making its misadventures prohibitively costly and unsustainable.

• G.G. Dwivedi
• September 23, 2016
• IDSA Comments

The advocacy by Pakistani analysts of the Indian disinclination to retaliate massively in response to their use of TNWs on their own soil indicates either a flawed analysis or a bluff that the Indian armed forces would be inclined to call.

• Gurmeet Kanwal
• September 21, 2016
• Issue Brief

Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal has a whole pile of problems lying unsolved at home. And he has only nine months, as set by his coalition partners, to deliver on his promises.

• Umesh K. Bhattarai
• September 16, 2016
• IDSA Comments

India has failed the Valley by not countering the false narratives of Pakistan’s false lexicon on Kashmir.

• Prabha Rao
• September 08, 2016
• Issue Brief

The Prachanda regime’s success in bringing India-Nepal ties back on track will greatly depend on his domestic performance; that is where the goodwill which can give him political heft lies.

• Rajesh Singh
• September 05, 2016
• IDSA Comments