Crisis in Central African Republic The UN resolution comes not a moment too soon but the actual deployment of troops is still a few months away as modalities about the troop contributing nations and funding are yet to be figured out. The crisis is of a disturbing magnitude but a swift and effective response may still pull the country back from the verge of complete collapse Divita Shandilya January-March 2014 Africa Trends
India and Maldives: Ties Must Be Consolidated President Yameen decision to visit India soon after his election in November 2013, is an indication that he wants to put India-Maldives relations on a positive track which had received a setback since President Nasheed was deposed in 2011. A notable feature of the visit was a joint declaration recognising India-Maldivian cooperation not only in the context of South Asia but also in the context of the Indian Ocean. Arvind Gupta January 13, 2014 Policy Brief
Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean: An Indian Perspective For a maritime nation like India, its conception of maritime security of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and, specifically, its approach to maritime security has a long historical legacy. The modern Indian Navy has its origins in the colonial period. But it is the post-colonial period spanning independence and then the imperatives of the Cold War, and later to the interim phase in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present day strategic partnerships—all of which have contributed to moulding the Indian perspective of maritime security. Sarabjeet Singh Parmar January 2014 Journal of Defence Studies
Border Defence Cooperation Agreement: The Icebreaker in Making? The long expected Agreement on Border Defence Cooperation (BDCA) was signed between the governments of India and China on 23 October 2013 in Beijing, during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to the People’s Republic of China. The draft of the agreement had been through close-door negotiations by both the governments for about a year prior to its signing. Incidentally, it was also during these negotiations that a three week long face-to-face incident occurred—in April-May 2013—at Depsang located in the Aksai Chin region which is disputed between India and China. Bijoy Das January 2014 Journal of Defence Studies
Is the Submarine Arm Losing its Punch? The explosions that gutted INS Sindhurakshak during the early hours of 14 August 2013 caught the imagination of an entire nation that watched the brief footage of the catastrophic event on their television sets. Barring some minor accidents which resulted in structural damage, this is the most tragic incident involving loss of lives in the 46 year history of the submarine arm. Sataluri Govind January 2014 Journal of Defence Studies
Assessing Modernization of the Indian Armed Forces through Budgetary Allocations India’s quest for modernization of the armed forces is propelled by the persistent threat to its territorial integrity and the aspiration of becoming a great power. However, there is no clearly defined comprehensive policy, much less a carefully crafted strategy, for time-bound modernization of the armed forces and there is no mechanism in place to steer the modernization programme in a holistic manner. In fact, there is considerable ambiguity about the core question as to what constitutes comprehensive ‘modernization’. Amit Cowshish January 2014 Journal of Defence Studies
Naga Violence: Reminiscent of ‘Wild West’ The recent violence indicates that armed groups have not disarmed and that state forces are simply unable to keep “extortion” networks in check. While the cease-fire agreement signed in 1997 has been the harbinger of the subsequent peace talks, blatant violations of the agreement by the outfit render the framework of the talks weak and question its effectiveness and legitimacy. Namrata Goswami January 09, 2014 IDSA Comments
The US’ Surveillance Review Panel Report: An Assessment The 300-page report has 46 recommendations offering drastic solutions while addressing many of the issues in the wake of the Snowden revelations. The Administration has already rejected a key recommendation; that since both the NSA and Cyber Command have conflicting functions, the NSA should be placed under civilian control and should be split from the Cyber Command. Cherian Samuel January 09, 2014 IDSA Comments
Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear Thinking and the Pakistani Connection Riyadh anticipates that in the long run a nuclear Iran will be challenging Saudi’s proxy conflicts with Iran in states like Palestine, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. Amidst such concerns, Riyadh’s rejection of a UN Security Council seat in October 2013 followed by the revelation of the BBC news about possible nuclear weapons cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in November 2013 has raised questions whether Riyadh aspires to acquire nuclear weapons capability. Reshmi Kazi January 07, 2014 Issue Brief
Cancellation of the VVIP Helicopter Contract: Beginning of a Long haul? While there was perhaps no option for the MoD but to do what it has done, it would be naive to expect the seller to acquiesce in forfeiture of the bank guarantees, recovery of the sums allegedly paid in violation of the PCIP (assuming that it will be possible to recover this amount) and to simply take the three helicopters back without demur. Amit Cowshish January 06, 2014 IDSA Comments
