North America & Strategic Technologies

About Centre

The Centre tracks relations between India and the countries of North America. US and Canadian internal developments are also monitored to have a better understanding of their role as drivers of foreign and domestic policies. The large Indian diaspora in these two countries also serves as a bridge for strengthening bilateral relations.

The Centre also actively tracks and analyses trends in strategic technologies, with principal focus on critical technologies and their implications for national security. It addresses evolving threats in space security and cyber security, ensuring comprehensive research into these critical domains. The other mandate of the Centre is to undertake research on Biological and Chemical Weapons with a focus on studying the dangers of proliferation and terrorism.

Paris Exposes the Limitations of the West’s Approach to Counter Terrorism

Against the backdrop of the Paris attacks, there is a need to introspect about the effectiveness of the approaches adopted by major states to counter terrorism.

Ajey Lele
November 18, 2015
IDSA Comments

Project Loon: Internet via Stratosphere

There is a need for India to participate in Project Loon to increase its ‘internet footprint’. The project perfectly fits into the scheme of ‘Digital India’. It could also lead to surge in India’s interest in near-space technologies.

Ajey Lele
November 09, 2015
IDSA Comments

The ‘Road’ to Success for the “Silk Road Initiative” is via Aerospace

For China, the Belt and Road initiative is a long-term strategy designed for it to assume a bigger role in global affairs through the business route. Various aerial and space-based platforms will play an important in making this strategy successful.

Ajey Lele
October 21, 2015
IDSA Comments

Hacking + Securities Fraud = New Face of Insider Trading

Hacker groups have turned their attention to stock markets not just to disrupt operations but also to trade and make financial gains.

Ajey Lele , Munish Sharma
September 02, 2015
IDSA Comments

GSAT-6: India’s Second Military Satellite Launched

India’s increasing investments in space for strategic purposes clearly indicates the rising relevance of space assets for the armed forces.

Ajey Lele
August 31, 2015
IDSA Comments

India-US Nuclear Deal: Only Half Realised After a Decade

While the first watt of power from foreign-aided projects may take many years to come, the 10th anniversary coincides with major transformations in India’s indigenous nuclear energy programme.

Concerns About Proposed US Rules on Cybersecurity Products

While the Wassenaar Arrangement has instant recall in nuclear circles, it has only recently become a source of turmoil in cybersecurity, after the US Bureau of Industry and Security published rules that are applicable to cyber technologies.

India and the Satellite Launch Market

While India has a reliable vehicle for launching less than 2 tonne satellites into LEO, it lacks the necessary infrastructure to obtain larger commercial benefits from this capability.

Ajey Lele
July 16, 2015
IDSA Comments

MERS: A New Virus Challenge

East and Southeast Asia are known to get affected by various diseases routinely. Particularly, various waterborne and other diseases likely malaria and dengue fever commonly affect the regions. There is a concern that global warming may translate into explosive growth of mosquito-borne diseases. In addition to this, growing number of natural disasters are found escalating the health related challenges. All this eventually poses a threat to health, economic and human security.

Recent ‘Chemical Incidents’ in France and Taiwan

While the attack on the chemical warehouse in France and the accident in the Taiwanese park are not cases of chemical terrorism in a classical sense, they can be analysed against the backdrop of a ‘chemical incident’.