IDR Blog
Red Star over Tibet
Rumours recently circulated about the Dalai Lama restarting negotiations with China. Nine rounds of fruitless talks were held between 2002 and 2010 between Lodi Gyari Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy and Zhu Weiqun of the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department. Since then China’s control over Tibet has hardened; countries...
Hurriyat should opt for realistic, people centric political engagement
The more things change, the more they stay the same! This old phrase can be most aptly applied to the theatrics of talks that the Hurriyat stage-manages every time a new Government takes charge in the centre. This time there were two differences in the script. First, the NDA government was sworn in for a second term with a massive majority, so,...
Insurgency in Rakhine: Need to talk to Arakan Army
There was an unnoticed report in the media that said that the Arakan Army – its increasing strength, growing popular acceptance of its military role should be of national and international concern. National concern- because a new front is being opened in the West near Bangladesh and Indian border and second with the disturbed condition in the...
Toward Post Terror Stability in Sri Lanka
A few weeks ago, a security expert who has studied the so-called Islamic State (IS) rightly said to this author, that “Your country was ‘staged’.” While the IS attempted to take credit for the attacks, they do not appear to have been directed by the group. Those who perpetrated the attacks seem to have been influenced by the IS, but the...
India and Pak at the SCO
The recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference attended by the Prime Minister at Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, dominated headlines mainly because of the cold shoulder given to Pakistan. By Modi refusing to overfly Pak despite having been given clearance was another message of his unwillingness to engage with them. Prior to...