IDR Blog
Assessing Power Transition in Taiwan: From KMT to DPP
On May 20, 2016, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was sworn in as the 14th President of Taiwan, or the Republic of China (ROC), recognised as a sovereign country only by 22 countries. She defeated her rival Eric Chu of the Kuomintang (KMT) by a huge margin of 25 per cent vote in the presidential election held in January...
The Sorry State of Affairs in Tawang - A Deadly Cocktail
In March 2014, Arunachal Pradesh could have entered the Guinness Book of Records: eleven Congress candidates, including the chief Minister Nabam Tuki, were elected unopposed to the local 60-member Assembly. Even some local BJP leaders ‘paved’ the way for the Congress candidates; for example Chief Minister Nabam Tuki was left without a rival...
Why OBOR of China is not at all a good idea for India?
From the time the OBOR was conceptualized towards end of 2013, there have been plenty of discussions on the usefulness of this project to Asia, Africa and beyond. It is also being made out that it will bring about greater connectivity, prosperity and regional economic integration. Many countries across continents have joined the initiative....
Obama in Hiroshima: Betwixt spoken and the unspoken
Barack Obama became the first sitting US President to visit Hiroshima on 27 May 2016. He did that after concluding the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations’ summit meeting in Ise-Shima. In doing so, in addition to his saying in his April 2009 Prague speech that “as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States...
India's North West: A Picture Starting to Emerge
Afghan Taliban’s intransigence on the peace process coupled with its attack on civilians in Kabul has forced the four powers initially driving the peace process to increase the pressure on the group. President Ghani’s announcement to initiate a 5-year war strategy[1] against the Taliban, American drone strike on the head of the...