Earlier this month, India’s Defense Ministry canceled a $500 million deal to buy Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israeli defense contractor Rafael. According to reporting by Bloomberg, the decision was made in order to give an Indian state-run company “an opportunity to design, develop and manufacture its own anti-tank missile.” The cancellation adds to India’s long-standing reputation for having an unreliable and inefficient defense procurement process. In an email interview, Saurav Jha, an author and commentator on energy and security affairs and founder of Delhi Defence Review, explains what is wrong with the process, the reforms India has implemented and [...]
KATHMANDU, Nepal—Scarred by a civil war in the 1990s, and sapped by constitutional crises in the decade after, Nepal is finally facing some prospect of electoral democracy and constitutional stability. On Dec. 7, it successfully concluded elections for national and state legislatures, implementing the most important and challenging aspects of its 2015 constitution, which was adopted despite sustained opposition from some ethnic minority groups. The elections were a landmark moment for a Nepali state experimenting with the devolution of power at municipal, state and federal levels all at once and for the first time since the formation of the Kingdom [...]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—For an outsider trying to unravel the complexities of Sri Lanka’s postwar challenges, the country presents countless tangled and unexpected threads. Among the surprises is that the most unlikely of countries, a nation half a world away—one that on the surface has very little in common with Sri Lanka—is playing an important role in guiding Sri Lanka forward. Colombia, the South American nation that just a year ago signed a peace agreement with rebels to end its own lengthy war, is lending its knowledge and expertise to help Sri Lanka tread a path toward peace and stability. The [...]
