MANTRAYA POLICY BRIEF#50: 21 JANUARY 2024 New Delhi’s Strategic Challenges in Dhaka BIBHU PRASAD ROUTRAY Abstract New Delhi was among the first countries to endorse the Bangladesh polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sheikh Hasina for her fourth successive victory in the parliamentary elections. The polls, which were boycotted by the opposition, have been described […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#76: 08 JANUARY 2024 Centre-State Dichotomy: India’s Response to the Influx of Myanmar Refugees BIBHU PRASAD ROUTRAY Abstract The continuing civil war in Myanmar, reaching a new level with the launch of Operation 1027 by the Brotherhood Alliance, is pushing thousands of humanitarian refugees into India. The Indian state’s response to the influx, however, […]
MANTRAYA POLICY BRIEF#47: 19 JUNE 2023 Simmering and Burning Manipur: Need for a Policy Change BIBHU PRASAD ROUTRAY Abstract Unprecedented violence between the majority Meiteis and the minority Kuki tribals has turned Manipur into a theatre of instability. The violence which started around the demand for ST status for the Meiteis has widened the schism […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#66: 23 MAY 2023 The Question of Myanmarese Migrants in Manipur: Ethnic Violence, Drugs, & Conflict Spillover BIBHU PRASAD ROUTRAY Abstract Among the many factors behind the ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur is the alleged presence of Myanmarese in the five hill districts of the state. Whereas the Kuki […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#56: 17 NOVEMBER 2021 Manipur: Insurgency Upturn Bibhu Prasad Routray Abstract There is a pattern to the activities of the remnants of insurgency movements in India’s northeast. Violent attacks are interspersed with lengthy hiatus of absence of violence. Insurgents groups may be weak, but remain potent, by periodically drawing their sustenance from state complacency, […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#47: 14 JULY 2020 Nagaland: Mirage of Peace Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract August 2020 will mark five years since hopes were raised by the Government of India (GoI) of a solution to the Naga insurgency. However, in spite of the periodic optimistic statements by authorities, a solution to the oldest insurgency of India […]
MANTRAYA POLICY BRIEF#31: 12 NOVEMBER 2019 Nagaland: Conflict Fragility, Intractability, and Resolution Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract More than four years after it signed the framework agreement with the NSCN-IM in 2015, New Delhi appears distant from signing a final peace deal in the restive state of Nagaland. Conducted under the close of watch of […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#38: 10 JULY 2019 ‘Negative Peace’: Conflict Economy of Naga Insurgency Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract How does an insurgency movement engaged in peace talks with the government generate its finances? Should the government attempt to curb its extortion activities that retains not only its structural violence instrumentalities, but also the options of indefinitely […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#35: 19 MARCH 2019 Cattle Smuggling from India to Bangladesh: Scale, Nexus & Prevention Attempts Pallavi Banerjee – Abstract According to a 2016 estimate, 3000 cows are smuggled across the Indo-Bangladesh border each day. It is a trade that is estimated to be worth US$500 million. Since the BJP government came to power in […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#33: 30 JANUARY 2019 India’s Defence Diplomacy with Myanmar: State of Play Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract New Delhi’s strategic objectives in Myanmar remain important, yet ambigous. Firstly, the country is a lynchpin for India’s Act East policy. Secondly, it is a theatre where New Delhi is seeking to challenge the decades-old dominance of Beijing. […]