IDSA Comments - MP-IDSA

Terrorist Attack on the Danish Embassy in Islamabad

On June 2, terrorists exploded a car-bomb outside the Embassy of Denmark in the high-security diplomatic area of Islamabad. The explosion instantaneously killed eight people, injured more than twenty five...

Problems with Arms Imports

Recent announcements of major arms acquisition programmes by the Indian government must have given a sense of elation to the armed forces, which have been waiting for long for some...

N. Neihsial |
June 03, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The Chlorine Gas Leak at Jamshedpur

On the afternoon of May 27, the people of Jamshedpur were caught unaware. They were exposed to a dense, pale green, pungent and poisonous gas, Chlorine. This gas had leaked...

Monalisa Joshi |
May 31, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Defence Budget as a Strategic Tool of National Security

The practice of converting defence plans into publicly known defence budget is essentially a practice of democratic governments. One reason for public disclosure of defence spending could be that tax...

N. Neihsial |
May 30, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Who are the “Indian Mujahideen”?

At least nine co-ordinated blasts rocked Jaipur on May 13, 2008, killing more than 70 people and injuring 200. Subsequently, a little known Islamic militant group, Indian Mujahideen (henceforth IM),...

The India-Pakistan Bonhomie Continues

The review of the composite bilateral dialogue process by the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan on May 22 at Islamabad was significant in many ways. This was the first...

Pakistan’s Peace Deals with Islamic militants: Lull before the Storm

The new ANP-led provincial government in NWFP signed a peace deal with the Islamic militants of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) led by Maulana Fazlullah, on May 21, 2008. The deal is the...

Alok Bansal |
May 28, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

The Need to Regulate Pakistan’s Use of Covert Action

Ever since the new democratically elected government assumed office in Pakistan, analysts have drawn up exhaustive priority lists of tasks before it. These range from restoring civilian pre-eminence over the...

Satinder K. Saini |
May 28, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Lessons of Jaipur

The Indian reaction to the terrorist attacks in Jaipur has so far been quite predictable. As usual the media has congratulated the citizens of Jaipur for ‘resilience’ and maintaining communal...

Hu’s Visit to Japan

Sino-Japanese relations were in the doldrums for the past decade because of the repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. One consequence was a...

Gunjan Singh |
May 28, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

NATO’s Bucharest Summit

At the NATO Summit in Bucharest, Ukraine and Georgia’s loss became Russia’s overall gain. Ukraine and Georgia wanted to get the invitation for the pre-membership programme in NATO, which is...

Increasing Violence in the Assam Hills

The hill district of Assam, North Cachar Hills (N.C. Hills), has been recently in the news all too often but for the wrong reasons. Known for its pristine mountainous landscape...

Namrata Goswami |
May 26, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

China and Maoist Nepal: Challenges for India

“[China] feels that the Himalayas alone in this nuclear age are not enough to guarantee its national security, especially in view of Tibet’s strategic location. [It], therefore, ideally wants a...

Renewed Infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Response

In a turnaround of events, the recent encounter with terrorists in Samba area and the reported infiltration of a large group of terrorists through the international border (IB) of Jammu...

B. S. Sachar |
May 16, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

India-Brazil-South Africa ‘Tango’ at Sea

The first half of May 2008 (2-16) witnessed an epochal multilateral event that passed off virtually unnoticed in the countries involved. It saw the first ever combined maritime exercise among...

Stalemate Redux in Sri Lanka?

A fierce battle in the North and the reported high casualties among Sri Lankan troops at Forward Defence in Muhamalai in the third week of April have placed a question...

M. Mayilvaganan |
May 16, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Geophysical Threats and ENMOD

The term “environment” has come to be used in security discourse at three levels. At the first level is the issue of the degradation of the natural resource base, exhaustion...

P. K. Gautam |
May 16, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Is Bangladesh heading for a food crisis?

Since the beginning of 2007, there has been a sharp increase in global food prices, especially in developing countries. During the past year, the prices of rice and wheat have...

Sreeradha Datta |
May 15, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist: Rebels to Rulers

The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), a former rebel group, emerged as the largest political party with 220 seats in the April 10 Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. Mainstream political parties...

Nihar R. Nayak |
May 14, 2008 |
IDSA Comments

Kosovo’s Independence: The “Politics” of Geography and Internal Contradictions

Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence on February 17, 2008 is dividing the world into states that support the move and those opposed to it. It has also emboldened separatist movements...

Namrata Goswami |
May 14, 2008 |
IDSA Comments