Viewpoint by Manish Uprety* F.R.A.S. and Dr. Yiyong Liang NEW DELHI (IDN) – Informal meetings are a rarity between two formal regional powers, more so between two tea-drinking nations that comprise over 37% of the human population. The Modi-Xi informal meeting in Mamallapuram – a World Heritage Site in the south Indian state of Tamil […]
Foreign Policy Options for a New Administration in Sri Lanka
Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona The writer is former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, and former Foreign Secretary.The following is based on a presentation made at the Annual Convention of the Organisation of Professional Associations. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and […]
Bangladesh Buddhists Live in the Shadows of Rohingya Fear
By Kalinga Seneviratne This article is the 35th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous articles. COX BAZAAR, Bangladesh (IDN) – Most of Bangladesh’s 1 million Buddhists live in Chittagong (now officially known as Chattogram), Chittagong Hill Tracks and here […]
The Roots of Hong Kong’s Crisis
By Henry Huang* WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – Hong Kong, the pearl of the East, yet lives in such a turmoil. The ongoing political crisis and massive protest have drawn a large amount of international concern and attention. There are multiple explanations of what has happened in Hong Kong. Some may say it is for a […]
White Paper Expounds China’s Relationship with The World
By Globaltimes.cn BEIJING (IDN-INPS) – The State Council Information Office issued a white paper titled “China and the World in the New Era“ on 27 September. This is the first governmental white paper that has comprehensively expounded the relationship between China and the world. The white paper focuses on China’s international outlook, its development objectives […]
Thai Farmer Shows How ‘Sufficiency Economy’ Works in Practice
By Bronwen Evans * CHANTHABURI, Thailand (IDN) – There are generally two reasons why Thai farmers embrace organics – one is health and the other is economics. For 73-year old Kumnung Chanthasit it was the latter. He had farmed the same plot of land in Thailand’s eastern province of Chanthaburi since boyhood. Despite the rich […]
Gunnar Myrdal Went Wrong with His ‘Asian Drama’
Viewpoint by Deepak Nayyar The transformative experience of the last five decades shows that policymakers should approach development with a diagnostic mind and a healthy scepticism of magic wands, silver bullets, and universal prescriptions, writes Deepak Nayyar, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The following text is based on his input […]
‘Collective Security Act’ A Possible Way Out of the Iran Crisis
Viewpoint by René Wadlow*, TRANSCEND Media Service GENEVA (IDN) – It has often been mentioned that the Chinese characters for “crisis” is a combination of the characters for “danger” and for “opportunity”. Thus it is today for the Iran Crisis. The dangers are evident and have been around for a while. The Persian Gulf region […]
Government Exam for Journalists in Nepal Riles the Profession
By Kalinga Seneviratne KATHMANDU (IDN) – The democratically elected Communist Party government in this former Hindu Kingdom is trying to change decades old media laws that were enacted before the digital age and is running into opposition from journalists who fear that the government is trying to muzzle a free media. “The communist party came […]
UN Denies Endorsement of India in Nuclear Suppliers Group
By Shanta Roy NEW YORK (IDN) – India, Pakistan and Israel, three countries armed with nuclear weapons, are not recognized as nuclear weapon states by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – a “privilege” bestowed only on the world’s five major nuclear powers: the U.S., UK, Russia, France and China, which are also members of the […]