Iran under Rouhani: From Confrontation to Reconciliation Rouhani’s presidency has injected a new tone in Iran’s foreign policy, marking a dramatic shift from Ahmadinejad’s policy of confrontation with the West. Rouhani’s policy towards the neighbouring countries has received strong support while his policy of engagement with Obama administration and the nuclear deal have generated intense debate. M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi | February 26, 2014 | Issue Brief
India’s Interim Defence Budget 2014-15: An Appraisal The 10 per cent growth in the interim defence budget although looks impressive from outside, it has a poor outlook on the modernisation front. Much of the hike in the interim budget is consumed by the increase in salary, leaving very little to meet the defence modernisation requirements. Laxman Kumar Behera | February 23, 2014 | IDSA Comments
Political Turmoil in Bangladesh Likely to Continue The BNP has urged the government to arrange for dialogue. The AL says the BNP must snap ties with the Jamaat before engaging in negotiation. The uncompromising attitude of the two leaders is the main hurdle to initiate concrete steps for resolving the ongoing political impasse. Many Bangladeshis feel that it would take at least another year to reach an agreement. Rupak Bhattacharjee | February 19, 2014 | IDSA Comments
Heavy Satellite Launch Vehicles: An Assessment This brief has carried out an assessment of the launch vehicles used globally for launching of heavy satellites into the geostationary orbit. This assessment is mainly based on the comparison of the various features of different launch systems and the characteristics of the propellants put in use. Ajey Lele , Parveen Bhardwaj | February 19, 2014 | Issue Brief
Maoist Finances: Sources, Methods of Collection and Utilization Citing IDSA Report, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, RSN Singh said in the Rajya Sabha recently that “…the CPI(Maoist) party has been collecting not less than Rs 140 crores annually from a variety of sources. Further, the possibility of certain front organizations of the CPI (Maoist) … clandestinely getting foreign funds cannot be ruled out.” P. V. Ramana | February 17, 2014 | IDSA Comments
Modernising the Army’s Tactical-level Communications Systems The new optical fibre network being laid as an alternative to the 3G spectrum surrendered by the armed forces will go a long way in providing modern land-line communications in peace stations and to limited extent up to the war-time locations of higher formation HQ. Gurmeet Kanwal | February 14, 2014 | IDSA Comments
What is choking the Indian defence budget? Projecting a demand which cannot be met is as pointless as allocating budget that is barely sufficient to sustain the armed forces and other departments of the MoD. The persistent neglect of this aspect of defence management is taking its toll not only on the stock of ammunition held by the armed forces, notably the Army, but also on serviceability levels of the equipment. Amit Cowshish | February 14, 2014 | IDSA Comments
Drugs and the Golden Triangle: Renewed Concerns for Northeast India India’s security strategy for the economic corridors and connectivity will have to entail water tight anti-drugs control measures and mechanisms to snuff out the possibilities of surges in narcotics trafficking that may result from better connectivity and established networks of peoples across the region. Namrata Goswami | February 10, 2014 | IDSA Comments
Army’s Ingenious Frontier Diplomacy To reshape public confidence further, the Union Home Ministry should quickly address the long festering issue of redeploying at least one regiment of the sashastra seema bal (SSB) in Ladakh. Initially raised as Special Service Bureau in the 1960s, SSB effectively involved natives for building a second line of defence against adversaries. P. Stobdan | February 05, 2014 | IDSA Comments
Run up to the Defence Budget 2014-15: Challenges to Modernisation It is commonly viewed that in an election year, the incumbent government is tempted to present a populist budget. In that scenario, the MoD would have reasons to be unhappy, particularly so when the modernisation requirement of the armed forces has reached a stage which is now contingent upon substantial additional resources to remain on course. Laxman Kumar Behera | February 04, 2014 | IDSA Comments