Kanwal Sibal
It’s a new era in India’s foreign policy as countries compete to woo Modi
In foreign policy, Prime Minister Modi has hit the ground running, taking unexpected initiatives. He reached out to our neighbours, taking the unprecedented step of inviting their leaders to his…
India has to take a long hard look at its foreign policy
Internally, much can improve with the spectacular electoral success of the Bharatiya Janata Party. India can now look forward to a strong and stable government at the Centre which the…
A Modi government must project a more robust foreign policy
Now that it appears that the next government in New Delhi could well be Modi-led, questions about the possible changes in India’s foreign policy are being raised inside and outside…
India must revamp its policy towards Pakistan
Several aspects of our Pakistan policy need a fresh look by the new government in May, though how much change can be brought about remains an open question as the…
Modi’s Foreign Policy
Modi has not yet expressed his thinking on India’s foreign relations. His focus and that of those opposing him or tracking his national rise has been on internal politics and…
China’s maritime ‘silk road’ proposals are not as peaceful as they seem
China’s proposition of a maritime silk route connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans is part of its propaganda drive to convince the world about its peaceful rise. Its actions do…
The right way to look East
Much has been achieved during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s current visit to India and much has not. In reiterating a clear intention to strengthen bilateral ties, the visit has…
It is cherry blossom time in India-Japan relations
Politically speaking, it is cherry blossom time in India-Japan relations. For the first time in history, the Emperor and Empress of Japan visited India December last. That visit had great…
Abe’s visit will bolster security ties
Japan’s Prime Minister Abe will be the chief guest at our next Republic Day, a decision that marks India’s reciprocal interest in deepening bilateral political and economic ties. Until now…
Fixing the Fault Lines in 2014
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…
Managing the neighbours
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 for…
US: Bullying Not Diplomacy
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…
India’s expanding power gap with China
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,…
Did the PMs of India and Pakistan need to meet just yet?
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 encounter, it became…
US ties pegged on Indian appetite for technology
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…
Should the PMs of India and Pakistan meet in New York?
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 cautious in…
Syria: Two-faced in West Asia
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 using chemical…
India lost in Afghan endgame
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…
Dialogue With Pak A Trap
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…
New hurdles on the road to peace in Kabul
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…
Mounting threat from China, lackluster Indian response
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…
New Iran Prez can’t do wonders
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…
Make most of Japan’s overtures
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan from May 27 to 30 was opportune as the circumstances today are more propitious than ever for India and Japan to forge a…
India’s China Syndrome
India-China relations are complex enough not to be seen in black and white terms. Amidst all the good reasons for India to mistrust China and deal with it as an…
Bowing down to the dragon
Our statements on the recent India-China face-off in Ladakh continue to confound. One would have thought that we would have analysed the incident in depth, tried to figure out China’s…
Italy goes back on its word
The latest turn of events in the Italian marines case is most unfortunate for both India and Italy as the bilateral relationship is being put under serious strain. The Indian…
Failing On Terror Yet Again
Hyderabad is bloodied again by terrorism, exposing once more our failure to marshal the political will, the legal instruments, the organizational structure and the required technical skills and manpower resources…
India’s compass on terror is faulty
Afzal Guru’s hanging shows the ineptness with which our political system deals with the grave problem of terrorism. The biggest challenge to our security, and indeed that of countries all…
Pakistan: Time to end unilateral concessions
Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh’s remark that there can be no business as usual with Pakistan after its troops mutilated the bodies of two Indian soldiers they killed, and that…
Still comrades after all these years
The India-Russia summit saw positive formulations on many issues, while providing an opportunity to address difficult questions like Kudankulam. Russia was the first country with which India established a strategic…
Method in the madness
If it was wrong to invite Pakistan’s interior minister Rahman Malik to India because he prevaricates on investigations into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and lets Hafiz Saeed make hate…
Rehman Malik’s visit: Going by the script
All those who have criticized the Indian government’s decision to invite Pakistan’s interior minister Rahman Malik to the country to operationalize the revised liberalised visa regime have missed several pertinent…
Bested by China’s Strategy
China’s two-track policy towards India, that of targetting our territory as well as our market is proving effective. The Chinese calculate that they can periodically rile India politically without much…
Indian Foreign Policy: Future Challenges
I feel honoured at being asked to speak today to such a distinguished audience on a subject that is of great interest to foreign policy practitioners and commentators alike. What…
Expanding the Idea of Asia
As economic power shifts increasingly to Asia and affects global political equations, adddressing security issues in the region becomes more pressing. Can the often discussed pan-Asian security architecture be created?…
SOFT POWER counts for very little!
If the US lacked the overwhelming “hard power” it has, if global institutions were not dominated by it, if it did not actively propagate its political,economic and societal values world-wide,…
India has no reason to trust China
We have to deal with China pragmatically, within the framework of our serious political differences and opportunities for economic engagement. China has grown into a formidable economic power, with swelling…
Why PM should avoid visiting Pakistan now?
As the bigger country, India is often exhorted to be generous with Pakistan. Those advocating a sustained dialogue with Pakistan, irrespective of its conduct towards us, have such thinking, an…
Granting Pak the Upper Hand
Another round of the India-Pakistan dialogue has been completed with External Affairs Minister Krishna’s visit to Islamabad on September 8. The agreement on relaxing the visa regime and holding the…
Emerging Asian Security Environment
To address the security challenges that Asia faces, the question needs to be asked whether any coherent concept of Asian security exists. Is Asia an integrated geographical entity, are its…
India’s Foreign Policy: Right Choice of Friends
A new debate has started on the nature of a redefined Indian foreign policy that takes into account the country’s transformed relations with the United States of America. The latter…
India’s defence ties with Europe
To appreciate better the subject of India’s defence relations with Europe some reflections of a general nature would be pertinent. The point needs to be made right at the start…
A Diplomatic View of the MMRCA Deal
The Americans seemed to have proceeded on the assumption that with India placing orders for advanced US defence equipment such as 6 C-130J aircraft and 8 P-8I long range maritime…
Our real adversary is China not the US!
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s visit to India on June 5-6 and the third round of the India-US Strategic dialogue at Washington on June 13 have provoked much commentary on…
US offer calls for finesse
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta’s recent visit to India brings to the fore again the question of the depth India should impart to India-US defence ties. Panetta has been explicit…
Pak bigger terrorist threat than Iran
India-US relations have neither burgeoned as much as the enthusiasts may have wanted nor withered as much as the skeptics may have anticipated. The relationship is neither in an impasse…
No Ground to Vacate Siachen
Peace with Pakistan is a desirable goal, but peace should be equally desired by both sides and both should contribute to it in equal measure. The burden of making peace…
India and its neighbours
It is considered almost axiomatic that management of relations with neighbours should be the first priority of any countrys foreign policy. The stakes are always high as conditions in its…
India-US Relations: Future Trajectory
The confidence of the Indian establishment that India–US relations were set on a steep upward trajectory has eroded noticeably with President Obama replacing President Bush. Even though personalities can…
The Darkness in Afghanistan
Even as the US is withdrawing, its leaders insist that they are not going to abandon Afghanistan, that they will maintain their long term commitment to it and not…