‘The Chinese Passport Demonstrates Its True Worth’

BY RACHEL LU

APRIL 27, 2015

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HONG KONG — On April 25, a massive magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Nepal near its capital Kathmandu, with the death toll topping 4,000. Thousands of Chinese tourists were among those who survived, and the vast majority anxious to flee would soon come to know the value, and the limits, of the passports they bore as they sought to return home.

Over the past few years, Nepal has become a popular tourist destination for China’s growing middle class; visitors pose with pigeons in the historical Dunbar Square in Kathmandu and trek in the foothills of the Himalayas to gaze at the snowy peaks. According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, there were about 4,000 Chinese tourists in Nepal at the time of the earthquake. Almost all of them, in the chaotic aftermath, were anxious to get home. “Passengers can board [Chinese planes in Kathmandu] with or without a plane ticket as long as they have Chinese passports,” according to an April 26 Xinhua editorial, which concluded, “In a time of need, the Chinese passport demonstrates its true worth.”

What caused the Nepal earthquake?

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The India tectonic plate moving north at about 45mm a year is pushing under the Eurasian plate beneath the Himalayas.

Two tectonic plates meet beneath the Himalayas along a fault line. The India plate is moving north at around 45mm a year and pushing under the Eurasian plate. Over time that is how the Himalayas were created.

Dr Brian Baptie, head of seismology at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, explains the potential after-effects of the quake.

Saturday's catastrophic earthquake in Nepal occurred because of two converging tectonic plates: the India plate and the overriding Eurasia plate to the north, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Tectonic plates are the large, thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another on the outer surface of the Earth.

Where Do We Draw the Line on Balancing China?

BY STEPHEN M. WALT

APRIL 27, 2015

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Is it time for the United States to get serious about balancing China? According to Robert Blackwill and Ashley Tellis, the answer is an emphatic yes. In a new Council on Foreign Relations report, they portray China as steadily seeking to increase its national power, reduce the U.S. security role in Asia, and eventually dominate the international system. To deal with this clear challenge to U.S. primacy, they call for “a new grand strategy toward China that centers on balancing the rise of Chinese power rather than continuing to assist its ascendancy.”

In their view, success in this endeavor will require the United States to revitalize its economy, build preferential trading arrangements with Asian partners (such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership), deny critical technology to Beijing, and shore up U.S. and allied military capabilities in Asia. They also recommend that Washington strive to manage Sino-American relations through sustained high-level engagement with Beijing, and good things like that. But their overriding goal is to “limit China’s capacity to misuse its growing power.”

Saudi Arabia’s Air Attacks on Yemen

By Atul Razdan

28 Apr , 2015

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Saudi Arabia informed the Obama Administration in the fourth week of March 2015 of their intention to commence a ‘military operation’ against neighbouring Yemen. The situation in Yemen, from the Saudi perspective, was grave: the Saudi supported elected government of Abou Rabbou Mansour al Hadi had been defeated in an armed insurrection by Yemen’s opposition Shi’ite Houthi tribesmen, President Abou had fled to the main southern port of Aden from the capital Sana’a and Aden itself was under threat of falling to the Houthi tribesmen.

The Saudi air attack, functioning under the aegis of an Arab coalition, comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, in addition to Saudi Arabia), Turkey and Egypt, followed on the early hours of March 26. Pakistan, eager to be associated with the causes of the mainline Sunni States of the Gulf and the Middle East, also made the cosmetic gesture of offering to join the bandwagon against the Houthis.

ISIS and the Principles of War

By Robert N. Hein

April 27, 2015

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Ever since the Chinese military philosopher Sun Tzu outlined principles required for the conduct of war in the fifth century B.C., military strategists have opined on what those principles are, and whether currently accepted principles need revision. A strong case exists for the principles laid by the 19th century Prussian military theorist Karl von Clausewitz: mass, objective, offensive, surprise, economy of force, maneuver, unity of command, security and simplicity. Although there is a realization that Clausewitz’s principles do not cover every situation a modern military must face such as humanitarian crisis or counterinsurgency – the actions of ISIS to date – demonstrate Clausewitz was right.

It is unlikely that a group of renegade jihadist extremists would abide by the principles, or even be aware of them; however, the invasion of Iraq by ISIS is a textbook example of the timelessness of the principles and a worthy example of their effectiveness. ISIS’ successes demonstrate how adherence to the principles can lead to success on the battlefield. Denying ISIS the ability to adhere to the principles will likewise lead to their defeat.

USAF Has Many Options to Destroy Iranian Nuke Facilities

By James Drew

April 27, 2015

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Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told CNN the United States military has the capability to “shut down, set back and destroy” Iran’s nuclear program.

The highly-publicized yet classified weapon Carter was referring to is the Massive Ordnance Penetrator — a behemoth, 30,000-pound bunker bomb introduced specifically to destroy Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facilities.

In January, we told you the Pentagon was modifying and testing the bomb as the diplomatic push for a nuclear settlement with the pariah state intensified. But of course, that’s not all the U.S. military has been up to in the background.

For some Muslim youth, Islamic State's allure is a meaningful alternative to Western values

By Timothy Phillips and Nir Eisikovits

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BOSTON — As the "Islamic State" takes its murderous Blitzkrieg across the Middle East, analysts and policymakers have struggled to understand how the organization attracts so many young people, especially from the heart of Western Europe. 

While precise numbers are elusive, recent studies (including, notably, Stern and Berger’s excellent book “ISIS: The State of Terror”) suggest that foreign European fighters are dramatically over-represented in the ranks of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). 

Some point to the group’s social media savvy. But this explanation confuses the means of gathering support with the reasons behind it. Twitter and Facebook offer outstanding ways for organizing, but they do not generate the will to organize. 

Ukraine’s existential struggle: Russia employing scare tactics

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As Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk, Kiev’s military reported intensifying attacks by pro-Russian rebels in the east and south-east.

The EU-Ukraine summit was the first since a political and free trade association agreement was signed by Poroshenko’s pro-Western leadership after the ousting of the Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich in a public revolt in Kiev in February last year.

The EU particularly is pressing Ukraine to take radical moves to rid itself of endemic corruption and reform its corruption-prone energy sector, give regions more power to run their own affairs and improve the business and investment climate.

Is Ukraine Conflict a Victory or Defeat for Russia?

By Alexander Golts

Apr. 27 2015 

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To paraphrase a famous expression, "Be careful what you complain about — or you might end up with something to really complain about."

Moscow officials have long complained that the international community did not give Russia the attention it deserved. "Those insidious Westerners ignore Russia's wonderful foreign policy initiatives," they grumbled, "because they are unable to come up with anything half as brilliant themselves."

But all of that changed almost overnight. Now Russia is once again firmly in the limelight — right alongside Ebola and the Islamic State.

A perfect illustration was the latest annual forum in Tallinn named in honor of that country's second president, Lennart Meri, and devoted to the most pressing international problems. Russia's outstanding successes in Crimea and the Donbass made it the primary focus of the entire conference. President Vladimir Putin figured in one way or another in almost every discussion panel.

America Is Never (Ever, Ever) Ending the War on Terror

Robert Golan-Vilella

April 27, 2015 

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Over the past month, two members of the Obama administration have made public statements regarding different aspects of America’s ongoing “war on terror.” The second has (understandably) received much more public attention than the first, but the first says something more important about the ultimate course of that long struggle.

In the more recent of the two statements, President Obama spoke on Thursday about the deaths of two Western hostages, one American and one Italian. The hostages, Obama stated, were killed in “a U.S. counterterrorism operation targeting an al Qaeda compound in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region” this January. The president said “I profoundly regret what happened” and apologized to the families of the victims on behalf of the U.S. government, while also defending the broader thrust of America’s targeted-killing campaign against Al Qaeda and other groups.

Poorly Designed Immigration Reform Will Negatively Impact American Innovation and Economic Growth

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 31, 2015 – The U.S. is on the brink of a new IT revolution that could produce $5 trillion in economic gains by enabling companies to drive innovation, jobs and income growth, and opportunity from a new wave of technologies requires updated immigration and visa policies, concludes a new report released today by the American Competitiveness Alliance (ACAlliance).

The new paper —“IT Services, Immigration, and American Economic Strength” by Professor Matthew J. Slaughter, incoming Dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth—identifies the policy challenges facing the U.S. labor market as it expands its high-value knowledge and technology-based economy. It advances the requirements for a suite of recommended actions that Congress can take to address the shortage of specialized STEM workers at U.S. companies and further harness the IT sector as a driver of American innovation and growth.

“Today a new wave of IT innovation is building around social, mobile, analytical, and cloud technologies,” said Slaughter, incoming Dean of the Dartmouth Business School. “This next IT revolution could create economic value worth 10% to 30% of U.S. GDP—manifested in new jobs, new goods and services, and rising incomes—if America has sufficient access to global talent.”

What Is AFRICOM Doing in Africa?

April 27, 2015

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U.S. AFRICOM (Africa Command) reported that it had carried out 679 activities (missions, programs, and exercises) in 2014. This includes training, advising, intelligence gathering (via UAV, manned aircraft or people on the ground), logistical or technical assistance and so on. That was 23 percent more than in 2013 and four times as many as 2008 the first year AFRICOM was in charge of all American military activities in Africa. The number of activities (many of them classified SOCOM missions) is expected to be more than 20 percent higher in 2015. AFRICOM is in greater demand throughout Africa because of the growing threat of Islamic terrorism and the greater participation of African troops in peacekeeping operations (mainly within Africa.) American troops have long trained foreign troops in peacekeeping techniques and has a reputation for doing it well. Another increasingly popular AFRICOM activity is aerial surveillance, using manned aircraft, UAVs and satellites. AFRICOM also provides help with logistics and planning military and security operations. The armed forces in most African nations needs help in these areas and finds that the American aid works and is usually free. Such a deal.

The New Global Marketplace of Political Change

Thomas Carothers

APRIL 20, 2015 

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Western democratic powers are no longer the dominant external shapers of political transitions around the world. A new global marketplace of political change now exists, in which varied arrays of states, including numerous nondemocracies and non-Western democracies, are influencing transitional trajectories. Western policymakers and aid practitioners have been slow to come to grips with the realities and implications of this new situation. 

A transformed transitional era. Despite overall global democratic stagnation since 2000, the era of widespread national-level political flux that marked the 1980s and 1990s has not ended; its character has simply evolved. It no longer has any overarching directionality, with countries moving as often away from democracy as toward it or into civil war as out of it. 

A widespread phenomenon. The marketplace is not limited to high-profile hot spots like Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen. Competition for influence among diverse external actors impacts all countries experiencing fundamental political change.

The Path to Happiness: Lessons From the 2015 World Happiness Report

Jeffrey Sachs Become a fan

25/04/2015

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Getting richer but not happier: It's a familiar story, for people and for nations. The purpose of the World Happiness Report, now in its third edition for 2015, is to remind governments, civil society, and individuals that income alone cannot secure our well-being. True happiness depends on social capital, not just financial capital.

The evidence is straightforward. Around the world Gallup International asks people about their satisfaction with life. "Imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand?" Countries differ widely, and systematically, in their average scores. Using these scores, it is then possible to determine, statistically, the causes of life satisfaction around the world.

How China Uses its Cyber Power for Internal Security

By Greg Austin

April 27, 2015

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On April 13, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and State Council issued new guidelines on strengthening internal security in the wake of unprecedented terrorist attacks inside the country, rising public order concerns, and increasing online dissent. The guidelines called out the use of new high-technology and cyber-based assets, including data mining, closed circuit TV, and satellites, to help restore central government control. This is the first in a series of five brief items by Greg Austin, based on his 2014 book, Cyber Policy in China, providing some political context on how the country is using its cyber power in the service of internal security. See also the author’s earlier post on how China will want to use artificial intelligence to support its internal security objectives.

Security companies hire hackers, ex-spies to fight cyber attacks

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Computer hacker photo illustration arranged in Tiskilwa, Illinois, the US. Cyber security companies have hired hundreds of ex-government sleuths in recent years, capitalising on the boom in business caused by hackers who stole more than 1bn records in attacks last year.

It’s a seller’s market for the cyber war’s special forces.

Just ask Scott Davies, 30, who left a career snooping on Australia’s enemies in December for a similar gig at FireEye Inc Or Brian Varner, 35, who swapped a job with the US Department of Defense breaking into networks in hot zones to be a security engineer at Symantec Corp.

“I have a blank canvas to paint whatever I want,” says Varner, exulting at the lack of bureaucracy, not to mention his ability to work remotely from Florida.

NSA veteran chief fears crippling cyber-attack on Western energy infrastructure

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

26 Apr 2015

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The West lacks a shield against formidable foes and is losing the battle against Jihadi terrorism as chaos spreads across the Middle East

Studying a new language doesn’t have to mean stepping back into the classroom. Babbel offers 13 language courses that can be studied online and on the go.

The West is losing the worldwide fight against jihadist terrorism and faces mounting risks of a systemic cyber-assault by extremely capable enemies, the former chief of the National Security Agency has warned.

"The greatest risk is a catastrophic attack on the energy infrastructure. We are not prepared for that," said General Keith Alexander, who has led the US battle against cyber-threats for much of the last decade.

Estonia recruits volunteer army of 'cyber warriors'

By David Blair

26 Apr 2015

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Estonia has recruited a "ponytail army" of volunteer computer experts who stand ready to defend the nation against cyber attack.

The country's reserve force, the Estonian Defence League, has a Cyber Unit consisting of hundreds of civilian volunteers, including teachers, lawyers and economists.

The Baltic nation of 1.3 million people is one of the most technologically advanced in the world: almost every banking transaction takes place online and 30 per cent of all votes in the last general election were cast electronically.

But this also makes Estonia acutely vulnerable. In 2007, the country sufferedone of the biggest cyber attacks in history when the websites of banks, government ministries and the national parliament were swamped with data.

Estonia Recruits Guys With Ponytails in Battle Against Cyber Warfare

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150427/1021433153.html

Estonia - with a population of just over 1.3 million - has recruited a "ponytail army" of volunteer computer experts to protect the small Baltic state against a cyber attack.

Estonia has been badly hit by a series of cyber attacks which began in 2007 as part of a protest against the Tallinn government following the removal of the Bronze Soldier Soviet war monument erected in 1947.

The protests on the streets turned to cyber warfare when prominent government websites along with the websites of banks, universities and Estonian newspapers were targeted in a series of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Aimed primarily at specific sites and networks, DoS attacks block the access of legitimate users, rendering the entire site or network unavailable.

Retirement overhaul on fast track

By Leo Shane III

April 27, 2015 

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House and Senate lawmakers are moving ahead with dramatic plans to replace the current 20-year, all-or-nothing deal with a "blended" compensation system, complete with a 401(k)-style investment plan that promises all future troops will leave the service with some money for retirement.

The moves echo recommendations from the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission earlier this year, which pushed for changes to recognize the estimated 83 percent of service members who leave the military with no retirement benefits.

But some outside advocates still worry that, while well-intentioned, the change could decimate the senior noncommissioned and officer ranks, by giving them too much incentive to start a civilian career earlier and not enough incentive to stay to 20 years.

The Prisoner of War Disaster Overshadowed by Lincoln’s Death

Evin Demirel

04.27.15

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150 years ago, 1,800 passengers on the steamship Sultana—mainly Andersonville POWs—died. The deaths were overshadowed by Lincoln's, whose backdoor dealings may have played a part. 

Abraham Lincoln’s near-apotheosis from man to national myth began soon after his April 15, 1865 death at the hands of a disgruntled actor. Just a day later, on Easter Sunday, preachers and priests compared his death to Jesus’ in pulpits around the nation. Millions of Americans paid homage to him in the ensuing weeks as his body was carried nearly 1,700 miles from Washington D.C. to its final resting place in Springfield, Illinois. Reporters for the nation’s largest newspapers breathlessly covered the funeral train procession. Right around the time Lincoln’s body was heading to Buffalo, NY, a colossal disaster erupted between podunk Arkansas and Tennessee.

Viet Cong Commandos Sank an American Aircraft Carrier

By Paul Huard

April 27, 2015

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It was shortly after midnight when two Viet Cong commandos emerged from a sewer tunnel that emptied into Saigon Port, each man carrying nearly 90 pounds of high explosives and the components needed to make two time bombs.

Their target was the largest American ship in port, USNS Card. An escort carrier that saw distinguished service as a submarine-hunter in the North Atlantic during World War II, during the early morning hours of May 2, 1964, Card was part of U.S. Military Sealift Command.

The ship supported an escalating military commitment of the South Vietnamese government that occurred well before the Tonkin Gulf Incident. Since 1961, Card had transported both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to the beleaguered nation as well as the U.S. pilots and support crews need to operate them.

Copycat: Is Germany's Fearsome Submarine Past China's Future?

Lyle J. Goldstein

April 28, 2015 

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With the centenary of the sinking of the Lusitania at hand, the anniversary of this tragic event has produced a non-fiction best-seller, but little serious reflection among strategists.

This is curious given that the submarine has emerged in the early 21st century as the naval weapon of choice. Putting aside the major powers for a moment, middle powers such as Australia and Vietnam, have fixated on the submarine as the ultimate defense elixir for coping with rising regional tensions. Even poor countries, such as Bangladesh, are planning on investing hefty sums in undersea warfare.

Shinzo Abe’s Ill-Timed Speech

By Edward Jackfert

April 27, 2015

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s April 29 address to the U.S. Congress will come at the expense of America’s Pacific War veterans. As a former POW of Japan who endured a hellish three-and-a-half years of captivity and slave labor, I am astonished that Abe’s address falls on the birthday – a national holiday in Japan – of the man who initiated World War II, Emperor Hirohito. For me, it was a day of harsher beatings and lower bows. I am outraged that this high American honor was given to a Japanese leader who still evades his country’s war responsibilities.

It has been difficult for me to watch the fading memory of Japan’s war atrocities accompanied by increasing Japanese denials of their heinous war record. A complacent U.S. Congress has been complicit. In 2011, no effort was made to remember the 70th Anniversary of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the American entry into WWII. This omission and others regarding the war, I understand, were the result of new House rules ending commemorative resolutions.

To my future children: Your father’s war

BY THOMAS E. RICKS

APRIL 27, 2015

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One day, you will be old enough to ask me about the war, about Iraq, about the dusty uniform hanging in the closet. You will expect stories of valor and glory, picturing your father as the grand protagonist in a heroic quest. Or maybe I have already told you about the war, confessing the ugly truths, sharing the moments of fleeting laughter, and revealing all the secret tears. Yet, I doubt I possessed the courage to tell you the truth — at least the whole truth. Every father wants to be the hero in his children’s eyes, no matter how briefly.

But the truth is your father was no great war hero. I did not storm into Saddam Hussein’s royal palace in a barrage of bullets and explosions. I did not drag men from fiery Humvees in a feat of unadulterated altruism. The war had many heroes, some of whom paid the ultimate price for Corps & Country, but your father was not one of them. Your father was a terrified nineteen year old plucked from suburbia, dropped in a distant country, fighting a war he barely understood. Your father was a starry-eyed boy chasing the ghosts of 9/11, believing he could change the world behind a rifle.

DAILEY SETS SIGHTS ON MILITARY EDUCATION

By Sgt. William F Smith

27 Apr2015

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FORT CARSON, Colo. (April 22, 2015)– The importance of improving military education while continually improving the Army profession were two topics Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey shared with members of the Fort Carson community, April 20-21.

“As the Army gets smaller we have to invest in the people who will lead us into the future,” Dailey said. “We are revamping the entire military education system. Our education system doesn’t transfer well into the civilian sector. While we rebuild our courses force-wide, we are focusing on maximizing opportunity for two programs: credentialing and academic equivalency.

“We are the largest academic institution in the world and have the largest online delivery system in America,” Dailey said. “We have the academic ability to accredit our own courses, to give you the maximum amount of credit for the work that you do, especially the ones that translate into work that is done out in the civilian sector.”

Troops' financial readiness to get boost

By Karen Jowers

April 27, 2015 

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Lawmakers are moving to strengthen the financial literacy of troops and families by requiring defense officials to improve training and provide it early and often.

The financial literacy plan approved by the House Armed Services Committee's military personnel panel April 23 mirrors recommendations from the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission, which found that "existing financial literacy programs do not adequately educate service members and their families on financial matters."

The new programs would start within six months after the plan becomes law. This and other personnel proposals will next be considered April 29 by the full House Armed Services Committee.

Increasing the strength and frequency of financial education is especially important because service members will have to make some financial decisions if the commission's recommendations related to significantly overhauling the military's retirement and health care systems go forward, commissioners noted.

Drone critics must drop the 'fantasy of precision'

By Noah Feldman

April 24, 2015

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Every weapons system, from the bow and arrow to the intercontinental ballistic missile, sometimes kills the wrong people. So why has the revelation that a U.S. drone strike accidentally killed two al-Qaida hostages — a U.S. citizen and an Italian aid worker — created such a storm of drone "rethinking"?

Part of the answer is that liberal critics of drone strikes, who've questioned their legality, are using the opportunity to repeat and reframe their criticisms. I've joined in some of that criticism in the past and stand by it.

But the deeper reason for the renewed discussion is a pernicious myth: the fantasy that drones are uniquely precise. From the start, this fantasy of precision has been at the heart of the political and tactical appeal for President Barack Obama. The same myth has also been central to legal criticisms of the strikes, from the standpoints of U.S. constitutional law and of international law.

Forgetting Vietnam

By Christian Appy

April 27, 2015

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If our wars in the Greater Middle East ever end, it's a pretty safe bet that they will end badly -- and it won't be the first time. The "fall of Saigon" in 1975 was the quintessential bitter end to a war. Oddly enough, however, we've since found ways to reimagine that denouement which miraculously transformed a failed and brutal war of American aggression into a tragic humanitarian rescue mission. Our most popular Vietnam end-stories bury the long, ghastly history that preceded the "fall," while managing to absolve us of our primary responsibility for creating the disaster. Think of them as silver-lining tributes to good intentions and last-ditch heroism that may come in handy in the years ahead.

The trick, it turned out, was to separate the final act from the rest of the play. To be sure, the ending in Vietnam was not a happy one, at least not for many Americans and their South Vietnamese allies.

Watching a city crumble

ADITYA ADHIKARI

April 28, 2015 

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A first person account of the earthquake and its aftershocks in Kathmandu, Nepal.

In the evening of April 25, the day that the 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, I stood on the roof of my house in Kathmandu and looked over the city’s southern suburbs. There was mostly darkness, since the electricity supply had been cut off. Electric light flickered from a few houses that had private sources of power. I counted five small bonfires in the distance, marking the locations of a few of the makeshift campsites where the inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley were preparing to spend the night.

Lucky and unlucky populations

I had seen numerous such sites as I’d walked around the southern outskirts of the Valley where my house lies. In the more affluent parts, where the houses are of relatively recent and sturdy construction, such as the area in which I live, the campers had polyurethane mats and plastic chairs, and were living out of their cars. The damage around didn’t seem that severe: boundary walls had collapsed, water tanks had toppled down from rooftops. Some people I spoke to said the earthquake was the most frightening event of their lives, but many also said that given its intensity, they were surprised that the damage had not been more severe.

Chinese take away: Nepal Challenge

By C Raja Mohan

April 28, 2015

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New Delhi did well to respond decisively when tragedy struck Nepal. But India is at the very beginning of a long and demanding process of delivering relief to victims, assisting their rehabilitation and contributing to the reconstruction of Nepal. While Kathmandu is now being flooded with media and relief teams from around the world, the cameras will soon leave Nepal. The world’s attention will turn to the next crisis. But India must stick around for the long haul.

Geographic proximity, cultural intimacy and economic interdependence means Nepal’s problems are also India’s. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aware of this reality and has devoted special attention to revitalising ties after he took charge as PM. Nepal is the only country Modi has visited twice. On both occasions, he underlined the unique bond between the two countries.

Crushing voices of dissent

MANAN AHMED ASIF

April 28, 2015 

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Activist Sabeen Mahmud’s assassination in Pakistan proves that the state sees in intellectuals a threat to its unitary vision of nationalism.

Why kill intellectuals? Why kill feminists? Why kill artists or writers?

On April 24, 40-year-old Sabeen Mahmud, the director of a literary and cultural space in Karachi, The Second Flood (T2F), was assassinated by unknown assailants. She was driving home with her mother after an event at her cultural centre when the assassins shot her five times on a road in the upper class Defence Housing Authority area. The bullets that pierced her shoulder, chest and abdomen killed her before she could reach a hospital. Her mother, who was shot twice, was critically injured.

Italy plays the spoilsport

Bhaswati Mukherjee

Apr 28 2015 

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There were great expectations of an upswing in India-EU relations after India's elections. Regretfully, an opportunity to inject a new dynamism into the relations has been lost. Federica Mogherini of Italy as the new Vice-President and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy has ensured, to the surprise of major European Union members such as France, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands, that the ongoing judicial proceedings with regard to the Italian marines cast a long shadow on the India-EU relationship itself. This was manifest in the developments leading to the long anticipated India-EU Summit that was supposed to have been held during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France and Germany this month. 

Due to the vision of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the supportive role of the then Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, the first India-EU Summit was held in Lisbon in June, 2000. The Summit was a great success and laid the foundation for a new strategic relationship with the EU. 

INDIA MAKES SMART MOVE IN CENTRAL ASIA – ANALYSIS

By Divya Kumar Soti

APRIL 27, 2015

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India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was on a three-day visit to Turkmenistan from March 7 to discuss various bilateral issues like the TAPI pipeline project as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to visit the country in July. Sushma Swaraj described her visit as successful “exceeding her expectations”. Both countries reaffirmed their strong commitment to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project and need to expedite the same. Both nations also agreed on sorting out various technical glitches, which include appointment of a consortium leader for the TAPI project, as none of the four partner nations have experience in handling a cross-country pipeline project.

The TAPI pipeline has been stuck up inThis was preceded by a meeting in Islamabad of representative ministers from all the four partner countries in February, chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif where he described the TAPI project as “very important for all countries of the region” and appealed to all the four nations to “take this opportunity seriously so that we can fulfill our obligation to our people”. Pakistan has faced a great scarcity of gas this winter and the Nawaz government has been facing a lot of criticism at home in the wake of Pakistan’s worsening energy crisis.