South Asia

When - or if - completed, a new natural gas pipeline would carry 33 billion cubic metres of gas from Turkmenistan through three South Asian countries. 

Pakistan and India would each purchase 42 percent of the gas; the remaining 6 percent would go to Afghanistan. Afghanistan would receive about $400 million per year in transit fees, equal to about 25 percent of the state's total domestic revenue in 2015.

When, on December 10th, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani returned to Kabul from Islamabad, he was greeted by a Taliban attack that killed more than fifty people

Cultural, diplomatic, and economic exchange has proliferated between India and the Middle East since ancient times. This engagement has continued into the modern era. India has maintained a strong relationship with Egypt, particularly since both countries became the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. India also maintains bilateral relations with Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the Gulf states, dating back to when the area was known as the Fertile Crescent and when the Arab spice trade dominated the region.

Three of the most exciting initiatives have emerged on the sidelines of the official deliberations, and Indians have played a prominent role in all of them

The recent series of dastardly and heinous attacks in places as dispersed as Baghdad, Beirut, Bamako, Kabul and Paris by myriad terrorist outfits ranging from the Taliban to Islamic State and al-Qaeda hold several important lessons for international efforts to counter terrorism.