Comment & Briefs

Decoding the Expansion Plans of the United States Air Force

How different will the USAF look after the proposed restructuring with 74 additional squadrons? Will there be a trade-off between quality and quantity?

September 28, 2018

  • Kishore Kumar Khera
  • Read More

    Nepal-China Transit Agreement: An Evaluation

    Nepal’s quest for an alternate transit country with a view to reducing its dependence on India succeeded with the finalisation of the text for the Protocol of Transit Transport Agreement with China on September 7, 2018.

    September 27, 2018

  • Nihar R. Nayak
  • Read More

    Issues in Defence Costing

    It is important to pay greater attention to the system of costing followed by the MoD given that costing errors could result in the sanctioning of an unaffordable procurement programme, contract being awarded at a higher price, cost and time overruns, and default on contractual commitments.

    September 27, 2018

  • Amit Cowshish
  • Read More

    CAATSA Sanctions and India

    While 11 of the 12 prescribed sanctions will have little or no effect on India-Russia defence relations, the twelfth, unless waived, has the potential to completely derail the India-US Defence and Strategic Partnership.

    September 26, 2018

  • G. Balachandran
  • Read More

    China Looks to Africa to Reduce Trade Dependence on the US

    China may or may not succeed in transforming Africa into a substitute market. If it does, the bilateral trade relationship is likely to become more unbalanced and tilted in its own favour leading to greater exploitation of Africa.

    September 18, 2018

  • Anand Kumar
  • Read More

    The 2018 Maldivian Presidential Elections: Two-horse Race between Development and Reforms

    The forthcoming presidential election is a contest between Yameen’s pledge to bring about a transformational change with mega-projects and Solih’s pledge to end presidential tyranny, injustice and corruption

    September 17, 2018

  • Gulbin Sultana
  • Read More

    India’s Economic Opportunities in Central Asia

    India needs to use economic leverages more efficiently to build closer ties with Central Asia.

    September 17, 2018

  • P. Stobdan
  • Read More

    The Arithmetic of India-U.S. Relations and the Russian Factor

    India, on its way to become a global power, will likely have to follow a zigzag course, balancing between American demands, long-term friendship with Russia and its own strategic necessities in the neighbourhood and beyond.

    September 17, 2018

  • Aleksei Zakharov
  • Read More

    The First India-US 2+2 Dialogue: An Assessment

    An evaluation of the non-negotiable elements of the CISMOA Boilerplate agreement does not show any element that will have any unavoidable security risks for India.

    September 14, 2018

  • G. Balachandran
  • Read More

    Caspian Sea Agreement and the International Energy Market

    The value of the Caspian energy reserve lies in its potential to add to global reserves of oil and gas, which, in turn, could bring down costs.

    September 12, 2018

  • Shebonti Ray Dadwal , Chithra Purushothaman
  • Read More