Comment & Briefs

The possible lifting of the sanctions on Iran will lead to a rush for a share of the lucrative Iranian energy pie similar to Myanmar’s opening up last year. India cannot afford to be left behind.

The response from the Indian side during the recent border incident was much more robust. However, it is important to examine the likely motives that drive the Chinese to raise the ante before the high-level visits to India.

The participation by the Saudi royal family in the US-led bombing of Daesh positions in Syria indicates Riyadh’s implacable opposition to the mercenary group. Iran, however, has dismissed the air strikes as a “psychological operation”, not a military one.

The background study looks at incidence of violence in the Kashmir Valley during the 2014 parliamentary elections and the correlation of violence to voter turnout. This study also lists out various actors responsible for violence and the trends in voting patterns from different regions of the Valley.

It all appears that the Indian army this time got clear orders to hold the ground and undo what the previous UPA government did – dismantled huts, bunkers and observation posts in exchange of PLA moving back from the Indian territory.

In the Chinese mind the settlement of the border issue with India cannot be divorced from regional, political and larger strategic issues. China has used the threat of intrusions across the LAC, as a part of its coercive diplomacy and it is too valuable an asset to give up.

During PM Modi’s visit to US, one of the topics that is likely to be high on the agenda will be the still incomplete US-India nuclear cooperation by way of sales of nuclear reactors to India because of the Indian Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.

The military gap between Indian and China is growing steadily as the PLA is upgrading the military infrastructure in Tibet to enable rapid deployment. China will stall resolution of the territorial dispute till it is in a much stronger position.

Can the two leaders go further and recognize the regional strategic interests of each other in the Pacific and the Indian Oceans? What about full support for India’s membership of the Security with the two countries working together in that forum?

The orbit insertion scheduled for September 24 will be a landmark achievement. The Mars accomplishment could assist the global efforts towards the possible human colonization of the Red Planet and would automatically increase India’s status.