FELLOW'S SEMINAR

Chair: V.G PatankarDiscussants: Kalim Bahadur and Ajay D Behera Pakistan’s self image, geographical location and history have influenced the country’s strategic thinking. In the initial years, Pakistan perceived itself to be a weak state and believed that India posed an existential threat to its security. However, Islamabad’s thinking evolved over a period of time through… Continue reading Pakistan’s Strategic Thinking

Chair: Arvind GuptaDiscussants: Anuradha Reddy and Sunil Kumar After the Cold War, India’s foreign relations have become multi-directional and diversified. Growing realisation that international defence cooperation can supplement diplomatic initiatives towards issues of common interests is increasingly being acknowledged the world over. New geo-strategic realities necessitate improvement of relations with the major powers, such as… Continue reading Benefits of India’s Defence Cooperation Initiatives towards the Foreign Policy Goals

Chair: G. BalachandranDiscussants: Shakti Sinha, K. C. Singh and Rahul Bhonsle Afghanistan today appears to be teetering on the brink of failure and unending chaos. Despite the military endeavour by the United States (US) and its allies, under Operation Enduring Freedom for the last eight years, violence in 2008 increased by 40 per cent over… Continue reading US Counter Insurgency Approach in Afghanistan Under Obama Administration: Does It Portend ‘Change’?

Chair: Rajiv SikriDiscussants: Arun Sahgal and K. P. Vijayalakshmi The debate on strategic autonomy makes a conceptual contribution about how India as an emerging power seeks to forge a partnership with the United States. The Indian imperative is to keep a sufficient degree of autonomy in its security and military relationship with the United States.… Continue reading India’s Strategic Autonomy Dilemma and the Rapprochement with the United States

Chair: V. K. MisraDiscussants: Amit Cowshish and Sujeet Samaddar India’s security comes with a huge price tag. In 2009-10, the defence budget reached Rs. 1,41,703 crores, representing nearly one-seventh of total central government expenditure and 2.35 per cent of the gross domestic product. Such a huge financial outlay raises questions as to how funds are… Continue reading Rationale for Performance Oriented Defence Budgeting

Chair: Prakash SinghDiscussants: G. D. Bakshi and Arun Sahgal In her presentation titled ‘A Scenario-Building Method on India’s North East’, Dr. Namrata Goswami projected the vision of a peaceful and prosperous North East India by 2015. Identifying terrorism, left-wing extremism and insurgencies as the three great internal security threats of India, she repeated Manmohan Singh’s… Continue reading A Scenario-Building Method on India’s North East: Time Horizon 2015

Chair: Kanwal SibalDiscussants: K. C. Singh and Christopher S Raj The presentation of Professor Steven Hoffman began by examining the question “Is diplomatic style important and what impact does it have as far as Indo-US diplomatic negotiations are concerned? Professor Hoffman began by noting that diplomatic style is important enough to deserve careful attention. During… Continue reading The Indo-US Relationship: Is Diplomatic Style Important?