Comment & Briefs

The Modi’s government determination to adopt a muscular stance on national security and its commitment to expedite defence modernisation are likely to translate into greater political and defence engagement with Israel.

There is an urgent need to conceptualise a policy framework as to what Make-in-India implies so far as defence production is concerned and how it is different from the existing policy framework.

While the exact nature of the understanding between the two countries is yet to be announced and in fact may never be officially released, it is possible to offer an outline of the possible “memorandum” with possible understandings on all the three liability issues as well as the administrative arrangements.

India’s nuclear deal with the US is driven less by technology requirements than by the need to be integrated into the global nuclear community and gain access to uranium imports for fuelling its nuclear power expansion plans.

The ‘Make in India’ drive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers a way of improving the country’s self-reliance in defence production. But for the MII to succeed in the defence manufacturing sector, the government needs to address some legacy issues.

The US will continue to do what it can for blocking rapprochement between India and China or Japan and China for it knows the danger of its loss of a dominant role in Asia. Despite all the distortions of time and space, the hard geographic reality of Asia will triumph just as it happened in Europe.

Saudi Arabia has joined the war against the IS and it supports more boots on the ground to tackle this challenge. Although it is employing all the options available to it, the success of anti-IS operations depends to a significant extent on the ground situation in Syria and Iraq.

If Greece defaults and walks out, the EU will be in crisis. Speculators will go for Spain and the EU will not be able to find the money to bail out a large economy such as that of Spain.

The IS frequently releases graphic videos of, for instance, beheadings, on social media. Once these videos surface, an ethical debate arises about the sharing of violent imagery and how these social platforms should deal with the situation.

If reports about the diversion of INR 13,000 crore from the capital segment of the defence budget to the revenue heads are true, it is an indication of the growing strain on the revenue budget.