Geographical proximity and close ethnic commonalities attracted Tamil Nadu to involve directly or indirectly in the ethno-based political turmoil of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the role of Tamil Nadu had become most significant in determining the depth of intimacy/hatred between India and Sri Lanka relations, particularly after the entry of the Sri Lankan Tamils into Tamil Nadu as refugees and help seekers. It is evident that the Government of Tamil Nadu provided only lip service in terms of solidarity until the movement of Tamil militants became stronger in the political spheres of the Island country. In fact, the Tamil Nadu factor should be read from two different angles. First, the contribution of 'Tamilness' has to be understood impartially, prevailing both in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka at the beginning of ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka. Secondly, their role should be analyzed systematically within the period of military conflict. In this context, the paper focuses on the imprint of the Dravidian Movement in Tamil Nadu on the ethnic turbulence of Sri Lanka. Further, it would emphasize on the ongoing policy shifts in the ethno-tensed Indo-Lankan relations. More...

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India's policy towards China has been to limit military tensions on the contested border through expanded bilateral economic engagement, high-level political contacts and enhanced multilateral cooperation on international issues. Counter-terrorism diplomacy is one such instrument, which has been viewed by India as an important diplomatic tool to convince China about the dangers of terrorism emanating from Pakistan. But China's uncooperative attitude towards India by repeatedly undermining the Modi government's diplomatic efforts to pressurize Pakistan has raised serious doubts about India's counter-terror diplomatic engagement with China. For India, the main source of terrorism is Pakistan. For China, Pakistan is its all-weather friend. Beijing's selective characterization of terrorist threat poses several challenges to the success of India's counter-terrorism efforts. Consequently, India has not been able to cope with Pakistan's asymmetric strategy of using terrorism, as Pakistan continues to mobilize China's unconditional help to ward off India's pressure. More...

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The Liberian conflict is a classical study in the confluence of factors that created a 'perfect storm' of weapons proliferation. This paper outlines the gradual aligning of factors and processes, both local and international, that made the Liberian war a hot bed of small arms. The same weapons that would be recycled into other conflicts in the region where funneled into Liberia via the same countries that would later suffer the fallout of the Liberian conflict. The historical method is employed to examine the gradual build-up and the distinct patterns that were created in the process. The same patterns can be recreated if cooperative security in the region does not engage regional security sector reforms with the intent of stemming the growth of such patterns. More...

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