Articles By Kanwal Sibal

Fixing the Fault Lines in 2014

Fixing the Fault Lines in 2014

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: Mail Today | Date: 30 Dec , 2013

Our major foreign policy challenges are enduring and no dramatic change in our security environment is likely in 2014. Relations with Pakistan could actually worsen. Nawaz Sharif is focusing on...

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Managing the neighbours

Managing the neighbours

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: The Telegraph | Date: 23 Dec , 2013

India’s search for a successful neighbourhood policy continues. Sections of our society are anxious about our failure to manage our relations with neighbours properly. We tend to blame ourselves...

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US: Bullying Not Diplomacy

US: Bullying Not Diplomacy

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 18 Dec , 2013

The arrest and hand-cuffing of India’s Deputy Consul General (DCG) Devyani Khobragade in New York as if she is a criminal with all the intrusive personal indignities heaped on a “felon” by...

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Iran’s Nuclear Deal: Embracing change in West Asia

Iran’s Nuclear Deal: Embracing change in West Asia

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: Mail Today | Date: 27 Nov , 2013

The interim nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries opens up real prospects of resolving an issue that has generated enormous tensions in the region for years with threats of military...

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India’s expanding power gap with China

India’s expanding power gap with China

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: The Telegraph | Date: 13 Nov , 2013

We have a tendency to overstate the positives of our relations with China and downplay the negatives. This creates the impression that our ties are better than they actually are, and that the...

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India being pulled apart from within

India being pulled apart from within

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: Mail Today | Date: 13 Nov , 2013

 The political controversy generated over Prime Minister’s participation in the Commonwealth Summit (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka on November 15 deepens mounting concerns about our foreign policy being...

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Did the PMs of India and Pakistan need to meet just yet?

Did the PMs of India and Pakistan need to meet just yet?

By: Kanwal Sibal | Date: 11 Oct , 2013

Manmohan Singh’s meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, in New York on September 29 produced limited results. After Singh himself mentioned toned down expectations from the...

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India and the US: Slow and Steady Relationship

India and the US: Slow and Steady Relationship

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: Mail Today | Date: 24 Sep , 2013

All eyes will be on the meeting between our Prime Minister and President Obama this week and what it produces. This is natural as our relationship with the US is, in many ways, the most important...

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US ties pegged on Indian appetite for technology

US ties pegged on Indian appetite for technology

By: Kanwal Sibal | Date: 23 Sep , 2013

The aim of India-US dialogue is that as India rises and seeks an adaptation of existing rules, it does so in a concerted manner with the US. Our ties with the US have improved remarkably. The...

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Syria: Need proof to pass judgment

Syria: Need proof to pass judgment

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: Mail Today | Date: 10 Sep , 2013

The G 20 meeting in St Petersburg has further exposed and deepened international divisions on Syria. President Obama believes that the Syrian government is responsible for last month’s chemical...

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Should the PMs of India and Pakistan meet in New York?

Should the PMs of India and Pakistan meet in New York?

By: Kanwal Sibal | Date: 06 Sep , 2013

Whether the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, should meet his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, in New York in September has become a politically controversial issue. The government is being...

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Syria: Two-faced in West Asia

Syria: Two-faced in West Asia

By: Kanwal Sibal | Date: 04 Sep , 2013

President Obama’s plan to take military action against Syria can be legitimately questioned on legal, political and moral grounds. Syria has not, strictly speaking, violated international law in...

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India lost in Afghan endgame

India lost in Afghan endgame

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: Mail Today | Date: 27 Aug , 2013

The situation in Afghanistan is full of uncertainties and the prospects of India’s neighbourhood becoming even more difficult for us are real. We have little control over the situation in...

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Dialogue With Pak A Trap

Dialogue With Pak A Trap

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: Mail Today | Date: 13 Aug , 2013

Our response to the killing of five Indian soldiers last week by the Pakistanis inside our Line of Control has again shown our inability to deal effectively with the dual issue of dialoguing with...

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New hurdles on the road to peace in Kabul

New hurdles on the road to peace in Kabul

By: Kanwal Sibal | Date: 08 Aug , 2013

In 2014, power will be transferred to a new president in Afghanistan. The army of the United States of America will complete its withdrawal and the Afghan National Security Forces will assume...

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India’s options in dealing with Pakistan

India’s options in dealing with Pakistan

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 07 Aug , 2013

When we consider our options, the first reality that we must accept is that we have no option but to deal with Pakistan irrespective of whether we have friendly or inimical relations with it, as...

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Afghanistan: 2014 will be a turning point

Afghanistan: 2014 will be a turning point

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 01 Aug , 2013

2014 will be a turning point in Afghanistan. Power will be handed over to a new President after elections. The US military will complete its withdrawal. The Afghan National Security Forces will...

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Political Islam’s Failure

Political Islam’s Failure

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: Mail Today | Date: 09 Jul , 2013

If the overthrow of President Mubarak by the mass of protestors in Tahrir Square in 2011 was a surprise, the ouster of President Morsi by even larger protests in Tahrir Square and across Egypt in...

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Mounting threat from China, lackluster Indian response

Mounting threat from China, lackluster Indian response

By: Kanwal Sibal | Issue: Courtesy: The Telegraph | Date: 05 Jul , 2013

India will have to manage its relationships with China and Japan with greater finesse. China constitutes by far our most difficult diplomatic challenge as its rise impacts us directly in view of...

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New Iran Prez can’t do wonders

New Iran Prez can’t do wonders

By: Kanwal Sibal | Date: 25 Jun , 2013

Hassan Rowhani’s election as President of Iran on June 14 is unlikely to materially change the dynamics of the conflict between Iran and the western powers.  The “reformists” in Iran who...

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