Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
मनोहर पर्रिकर रक्षा अध्ययन एवं विश्लेषण संस्थान

Vivek Chadha

Col Vivek Chadha (Retd), served in the Indian Army for 22 years prior to taking premature retirement to pursue research. He joined the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in November 2011 and is a Senior Fellow at the Military Affairs Centre.

Colonel Chadha’s areas of research include counter terrorism and military studies. His single author books on counter terrorism include Low Intensity Conflicts in India: An Analysis; Lifeblood of Terrorism: Countering Terrorism Finance and Company Commander in Low Intensity Conflicts. His single author books on military subjects include, Even if Ain’t Broke Yet, Do Fix It: Enhancing Effectiveness Through Military Change; Kargil: Past Perfect: Future Uncertain; CDS and Beyond: Integration of the Indian Armed Forces. He has also written the book, Indo-US Relations: From Divergence to Convergence.

His current area of research focusses on the strategic lessons of the Mahabharata.

He was part of the team that wrote the Indian Army’s first Sub Conventional Doctrine in 2006.

Col Chadha is on the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Defence Studies.

Senior Fellow

Publication

Editorial

I am pleased to present to the readers the fourth issue of 2025, which brings together five insightful articles, three commentaries and three book reviews. I would also like to take this opportunity to inform our readers about a special issue planned for 2026. The title of the special issue is “The Year of Reforms: Reshaping India’s Defence for the Decade Ahead”; contributions are invited for the same.

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Mahabharata’s Strategic Insights: Navigating the Dharmic Compass

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
The appeal and allure of the Mahabharata have remained undiluted for centuries. It is the first text that lays the foundation of Indian strategic thought. This book's analysis is based on the English translation of The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, by the late Bibek Debroy. The epic falls in the unique category of itihasa, which translates to “it happened like this”. Drawing on historical facts, its primary aim remains deriving lessons and contextualising these with the present. It is a living text with a timeless appeal. The Mahabharata is a foundational text for Indian strategic thought. It successfully distils ancient strategic wisdom through a combination of descriptive, didactic and prescriptive approaches. In doing so, dharma remains its abiding spiritual, philosophical and strategic anchor, with Krishna as its primary architect. This guidance frames the objective of yoga kshema as the raja dharma of a king, or a state, in contemporary times. The book discusses a conceptual framework for wars. This includes its conditional acceptability, planning process and conduct. The book also compares key aspects of the Mahabharata with the Arthashastra and Nitisara, to identify common elements of strategic thought over a period spanning almost 2,000 years.
  • ISBN: 978-81-988370-7-3,
  • Price: ₹ 995/-
  • E-copy available

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Vivek Chadha’s Article ‘FATF can salvage its counter-terrorism credentials by cracking down on Pakistan’ Published in First Post

Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Col Vivek Chadha’s article ‘FATF can salvage its counter-terrorism credentials by cracking down on Pakistan’ has been published in First Post on 10 June 2025. With the second meeting of the FATF scheduled to commence today, countries interested in the fight against terrorism and its financing need to re-evaluate Pakistan’s role in failing to crack down on terrorism from its soil, says Col Chadha. Read Complete Article [+]

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