Asia News Agency (ANA) is the original and only diplomatic news consultancy in India and South Asia. It has been serving the India based diplomatic community since 1972 through its editorial services. Among its clients are Ambassadors and High Commissioners of almost all embassies and international organisations based in India.

News behind the News (NbN) is a weekly journal published by Asia News Agency. It is structured to suit the needs of the India based diplomatic community. It analyses week after week, key issues and developments talking place in respect of India’s polity, foreign policy, defence and economy.

Special Studies are prepared by Asia News Agency in partnership with Society for Policy Studies (SPS). These are in the nature of in-depth analytical backgrounders / desk reviews on topics of current interest to its clients.

  • INDIA - RUSSIA: DESPITE DIFFERENCES, TIES REMAIN STRONG

    The visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to India soon after his remark that “India is currently an object of the western countries’ persistent, aggressive and devious policy to engage it in anti-China games” alluded to an assessment by Moscow that despite differences, its relationship with New Delhi was too important.

  • MAOISTS / NAXALITES: SINGLE BIGGEST INTERNAL SECURITY THREAT

    At least 22 soldiers were killed and 31 injured by Maoists (also called Naxalites) in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region which has been the epicentre of major Maoist attacks in recent decades. Several other states are also grappling with the menace.  Naxal/Maoist violence has claimed more than 12,000 lives.

  • INDIA - PAKISTAN: PEACE PROCESS - ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACKWARD

    After a month of an apparent détente, latest events appear to indicate otherwise with Pakistan making a U-turn on an earlier decision to reopen imports of Indian cotton and sugar. The study explains  the U-turn; examines afresh, Pakistan Army chief’s call to ‘bury the past’; what to make of the peace gesture; a Paki-stani view that it is too soon for a  ‘paradigm shift’ with India etc.

  • RELATIONS WITH BANGLADESH CENTRAL TO INDIA’S REGIONAL OUTLOOK

    As New Delhi re-envisioned its foreign policy priorities with a shift to the Bay of Bengal, India-Bangladesh ties have emerged as central to that foreign policy vision.

  • INDIA - PAKISTAN: ANALYSES ON PEACE PROSPECTS

    There is growing speculation among Pakistan watchers that the cease fire announced by the militaries of  the two countries, was a result of behind the scene diplomacy and the involvement of the UAE.

  • AFGHANISTAN: INDIA MUST TAKE INTO ACCOUNT GROUND REALITIES

    The US has recommended India to be part of a UN-led deliberation hosted by Turkey  that includes the US, Pakistan,  Iran, Russia and China. In other words the ‘Doha process’ will become the ‘Istanbul pro-cess’. But the Russians, initially at least, did not want India to be part of the process. The study observes the US to be  a ‘reluctant superpower’ and India a ‘reticent regional power’.

  • QUAD SUMMIT: A NEW NARRATIVE

    The first summit of the Quad involving India, Australia, Japan and the United States has improved its long-term political prospects.   Even as China has dismissed the Quad as the ‘Asian NATO’, the 4 leaders  have made it clear that it is neither a military alliance nor an anti-China coalition.

  • CHINA’S OLIVE BRANCH: DEEPER MOTIVES

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 7 March talked peace, partnership and prosperity with India. This is positive, but the study explains China may be following the ‘Kautilyan' template.

  • WATER WARS: CHINA APPROVES DOWNSTREAM DAMS ON BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER

    China’s new Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) has approved the first dams to be built on the lower reaches of Yarlung Zangbo river, as the Brahmaputra is known in Tibet, before it flows into India. This raises fresh concerns because of the location across the border from Arunachal Pradesh and the potential impact down-stream.

  • NEW IT RULES vs LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

    In the face of criticism of the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, announced on February 25, the government has launched a staunch defence arguing that they establish a  progressive institutional mechanism for digital news publishers and OTT platforms.

  • AFGHANISTAN: INDIA ON HIGH TABLE BUT WITH LIMITED OPTIONS

    The US has recommended to include India in the UN-led six-party platform on Afghanistan. This is based on the fact that India
    will play a critical role as head of the Taliban sanctions committee, or the 1988 sanctions committee, in the UN Security
    Council. As the chair of this committee, India will be able to monitor the conduct of Taliban leaders, some of whom are based

  • INDIA - PAKISTAN: BETWEEN THE LINES OF THE CEASEFIRE UNDERSTANDING

    The ceasefire  could result in a larger peace process or could become another border agreement that was more in breach than compliance. There is a view that the present agreement has been worked out with the former in view.

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