ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

A composite photo shows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images, Oli Scarff - WPA Pool /Getty Images Summary The landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by its controversial chief Narendra Modi, in India's recent general elections has significant ramifications for Indo-Pakistani relations, especially as Islamabad is preoccupied with the cross-border Taliban insurgency on its western flank. Modi's incoming government will have to balance between its need for pragmatism and its imperative to show that it has a more effective and tougher policy toward the threats emanating from Pakistan than the previous Indian government. Conversely, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's administration has a need to improve ties with India but faces massive resistance from within the security establishment. Since both governments are led by right-wing nationalists with strong opinions on religion and signif

Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko speaks to the media during a press conference on May 26 in Kiev.Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Analysis Petro Poroshenko has been declared the official winner in Ukraine's presidential elections , receiving around 54 percent of the vote. Despite Russia's cautious welcoming of Poroshenko's victory, the new Ukrainian leader faces some immediate challenges to his rule. First and foremost will be dealing with pro-Russian separatism in Ukraine's eastern regions . As expected, voting could not be held in many parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, particularly in the separatist strongholds. Then, just a day after the election, separatists took over the regional airport in Donetsk, where Ukrainian security forces confronted them. Heavy fighting continued into May 27. The operation to dismantle the separatist takeover in Donetsk is one of the largest since Ukrainian security forces launched what the government calls anti-terrorism opera