The 21st century may not hold the same strategic logic of the 1960s and 1970s towards discovering outer space. Over a period of time, particularly after the end of the Cold War, space appears to have lost some, if not all, of its strategic significance. During 2004, the then US president, George W. Bush, had argued that the 21st century moon exploration initiative by the US should be viewed as part of a journey and not a race. Mostly, the peaceful voyage of global activities in space got a jolt when China conducted an anti-satellite test (ASAT) during January 2007.

• Ajey Lele
• January 2011
• Strategic Analysis

This article evaluates the opportunities associated with The Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC) for India. HCoC is a stand-alone agreement against ballistic missile proliferation. Since the 1974 Pokharan nuclear tests it has been tricky for India to get into the non-proliferation mainstream. The success of the 2005 Indo-US nuclear deal is a first step towards global acceptability of India's non-proliferation and disarmament policies. Now, it is important for India to start supporting the international norms which do not affect their strategic programmes.

• Ajey Lele
• March 2011
• Strategic Analysis

Chemical science has a direct relationship with human life. In order to celebrate the value of chemistry, the United Nations (UN) has declared 2011 as the ‘International Year of Chemistry’. Various bodies of the UN including UNESCO and other organisations like the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have been entrusted with popularising the science of chemistry.

• Ajey Lele
• September 2011
• Strategic Analysis

The last couple of decades have seen a colossal change in terms of the influence that computers can have on the battlefield, with defence pundits claiming it to be the dawn of a new era in warfare. Under these circumstances, there has been a gradual paradigm shift in military thinking and strategies from the strategic aspect to the tactical aspect of cyber warfare, laying more emphasis on it being a potent force multiplier. The author believes this is wrong and rather than cyber warfare being an enhancement of traditional operations, the latter will be force multipliers of cyber warfare.

• Amit Sharma
• March 2010
• Strategic Analysis

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NT) are emerging fields of science and technology that are witnessing the emergence of an increasing number of new ideas and applications. Many states are seriously looking at military applications of this technology. This paper analyses the impact of NT on defence and looks at its current and futuristic applicability for military purposes, as well as their likely impact on arms control.

• Ajey Lele
• March 2009
• Strategic Analysis

So far the Chinese have carried out ten nuclear tests which include one underground test, one test of a nuclear-tipped missile and three thermo-nuclear tests. In other words, the Chinese are on a comprehensive weapons programme, which will give them thermo-nuclear warheads from the megaton range down to small yield nuclear weapons of a few kiloton range and even fractional kiloton range. They are now engaged in improving the compactness of their warheads.

• K. Subrahmanyam
• September 2009
• Strategic Analysis

India's missile defence explorations had long been hindered by its limited access to advanced interception technologies and slow pace of indigenization. India is now developing lower- and upper-tier systems for air and missile defence applications, while also aspiring for longer range exoatmospheric interception capability. However, considering that India's requirements are skewed towards lower tier threats, it is prudent to have an all-inclusive architecture that can meet all realistic threats (including air-breathing), with limited financial and political implications.

• A. Vinod Kumar
• March 2008
• Strategic Analysis

As part of its peaceful rise strategy, China has made resolute investments in the field of science and technology. One major aspect of this technological quest has been its investments in space technologies. China's success in this field is remarkable and has brought glory to the nation. However, at the same time, the anti-satellite test (ASAT) undertaken by China, during January 2007, has raised the fears of the weaponization of space.

• Ajey Lele
• July 2008
• Strategic Analysis

One important feature of China's outer space policy is to carry out cooperation with all countries. In the cooperation, China pays great attention to the rights and demands of developing countries in the high-technology area. With more actors in outer space, it is necessary and urgent to improve the existing legal system regulating the relations of countries and non-state actors. China's attitude to outer space activities is driven by both domestic and international elements. Development, defence, and technological innovation are the three major goals of China's outer space programmes.

• Wu Chunsi
• July 2008
• Strategic Analysis

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been sensitive to continuous changes in geo-political and geo-strategic contexts, as well as the changing nature of warfare. It has fashioned its responses by evolving appropriate military doctrines and strategies to meet future threats and challenges. Thus, China’s military doctrine has over the years undergone a transition from people’s war to ‘people’s war under modern conditions’ and thereafter from ‘limited local war’ to ‘limited war under high tech conditions’.

• Vinod Anand
• October 2006
• Strategic Analysis

The Agni family has had a successful series of user trials extending over several variants and a number of years which should give some confidence in the robustness of the design, development, testing and induction process.

• Sanjay Badri-Maharaj
• May 15, 2017
• IDSA Comments

Given the advertisement surrounding the use of MOAB, it is possible that the Trump administration is signalling to its adversaries the very lethal weapons in its arsenal and its willingness to use them.

• Ajey Lele
• April 18, 2017
• IDSA Comments

Human rights, privacy and protection of confidentiality are important issues, but so are the requirements of intelligence agencies which have to contend with the inhumane activities of terrorist groups and individuals.

• Ajey Lele
• April 07, 2017
• IDSA Comments

North Korea has blatantly breached the chemical weapons ‘red line’ in the killing of the half-brother of Kim Jong-un in Kuala Lumpur on February 13.

• Ajey Lele
• March 06, 2017
• IDSA Comments

In view of China’s adverse reaction to India’s missile testing, this year’s Republic Day parade could have been used for strategic signalling to arrogant entities questioning India’s ‘strategic autonomy’. Nuclear deterrence is also about demonstration and display of capabilities. If you have it, then flaunt it!

• Ajey Lele
• February 09, 2017
• IDSA Comments

India must move away from the perspective which it has allowed to dominate, namely, that the application of supercomputers is more important than supercomputer technologies themselves.

• Prabha Rao
• September 07, 2016
• Issue Brief

Given that the NSG may not be able to withhold the India membership question for long, in spite of China’s inconsistent positions, it would be unwise on India’s part to forfeit any advantage it has on the SCS issue.

• A. Vinod Kumar
• August 24, 2016
• IDSA Comments

For India, at this point in time, ISRO developing expertise with multiple launch technology is more important from the commercial perspective.

• Ajey Lele , Tushar Shrivastav
• June 28, 2016
• IDSA Comments

While the intent exists to forge a strong partnership on cyberspace issues, there is much groundwork to be done to actually build trust and move forward together.

• Sanjeev Gupta
• June 14, 2016
• IDSA Comments

While the China-US Cyber agreement is an attempt at conflict management or risk mitigation, the India-US Cyber agreement is a joint quest for security driven by a common threat perception, democratic values and growing dependence.

• Munish Sharma
• June 09, 2016
• IDSA Comments