The geostrategic sensitive region of region of Nagorno-Karabakh lies at an intersection of political, ethnic and religious borders of Iran, Turkey, Russia and Georgia. On September 27, 2020 the war broke out with Azerbaijan launching an offensive retake Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding previously Azerbaijani-populated regions. The war was won by Azerbaijan.
In January five expert group discussions and one interaction on India-Bangladesh relations with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh was organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation through webinar on events and topics extending from India’s neighborhood to West Asia to China to the US. Each of the members of the expert groups brought rich flavour and knowledge on the topic through their varied professional backgrounds (military, diplomacy and academia).
The world is witnessing momentous shifts in geopolitics, and in fact, in every facet of human life. The US-China zero-sum game for dominance may well define pathways nations take to bring prosperity to their people in the next decade. This paper attempts to track current issues of this ‘race’ especially after a change of presidency in the US. In particular, issues in the Indo-Pacific in terms of fast-changing policies of both powers are explored from the Indian perspective.
In December four expert group discussions and one conference on Taiwan were organized by the Vivekananda International Foundation through webinar on events and topics extending from India’s neighbourhood to West Asia to China. Each of the members of the expert groups brought rich flavor and knowledge on the topic through their varied professional backgrounds (military, diplomacy and academia). This issue contains reports of the West Asia, Pakistan, Indo-Pacific, China Expert Groups and Taiwan Conference report. In addition one article authored by Dr.
India and Uzbekistan share close historical and cultural links dating back to ancient times. Uzbekistan is India’s extended neighbour and a strategic partner. This relationship is multi-faceted and includes cooperation in political, trade-economic, education, science and technology, industry, agriculture, civil aviation and defence sectors.
In November six expert group discussions were organized by the Vivekananda International Foundation through webinar on events and topics extending from India’s neighbourhood to West Asia to USA. Each of the members of the expert groups brought rich flavour and knowledge on the topic through their varied professional backgrounds (military, diplomacy and academia). This issue contains reports of the U.S, Pakistan, West Asia, and China Expert Groups. In addition two more country specific topics relating to Nepal and Myanmar in India’s neighborhood were discussed.
This discussion paper attempts to examine two major questions, first, if RVC can be developed in South Asia, and, second, is the South Asian region ready for this development? We are premising our arguments on the marginal rise in trade volume over the last decade, coinciding with the removal of a number of tariff and para-tariff barriers particularly by India, and the recent focus on developing a multi modal transportation infrastructure in the region as well as measures to facilitate trade and logistics being undertaken by India and the neighborhood.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been described to be the greatest challenge for the world since the Great Depression and the Second World War. No country and its people had anticipated that they would have to deal with a crisis of such a large scale. The coronavirus, which first originated in the city of Wuhan, capital of China’s Hubei province, in December last year has now spread to almost every part of the planet and at the time of writing has infected more than forty million people worldwide and killed more than one million people.
The Vivekananda International Foundation in October hosted different Expert Groups through video conferencing. Members of these groups contributed immensely by sharing knowledge gained through vast experience in their respective fields. This issue contains reports of the U.S, Pakistan, West Asia, and China Expert Groups.
Several reports—news media and research, has highlighted the Chinese government’s engagement in data collection at a massive scale across multiple domains, for various purposes—including enhancing State security/surveillance. For a better and in-depth understanding of the China’s tech-enhanced data collection—domestically and internationally; on 16 October 2020, the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a virtual discussion with Professor Christopher Balding—an Associate Professor at the Fulbright University Vietnam.