In early January 2009, the Financial Times reported “preliminary talks” between US and India on possible sale of systems for an Indian ballistic missile defence (BMD) shield. The daily quoted US embassy officials in New Delhi as saying that technical talks had taken place and that US defence officials had conducted computer simulations with Indian counterparts to demonstrate the capabilities of this technology. The Indian media, and some foreign ones, picked up the story and projected the report as an impending US-India deal on missile defence cooperation.

• A. Vinod Kumar |
• January 30, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

It has been widely noted that the US has not suffered a terrorist attack since 9/11. This is because it undertook major reform of its homeland security structures following the 9/11 attacks. India could learn from the wide ranging CT reform in the US after 9/11 and adopt measures suitable in the Indian context.

• Arvind Gupta |
• January 30, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

A fundamental principle of humanitarian law, non-combatant immunity, has been virtually consigned to history during the Bush years. To a large extent this can be considered a ‘success’ for terrorists. That terrorists do not respect the principle of non-combatant immunity is central to the definition of terrorism. The aim of terrorists is substantially achieved when states also adopt their language and grammar. This has been done to an extent by the US in its militarily aggressive response to 9/11 in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Ali Ahmed |
• January 30, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Expectations are high in Japan, both in the general public and amongst the elite, after Democrat Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the American Presidency. Japan was clearly uncomfortable with Republican Bush administration’s pursuit of a unilateralist foreign policy as against Obama’s more pronounced multilateral approach. According to Professor Kenji Takita of Chuo University, multilateralism is closely associated with smart power and therefore Obama’s shift towards multilateralism is likely to undo some of the damage that the Bush administration’s unilateralism has done to American standing.

• Rajaram Panda |
• January 29, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Among the many monikers that Barack Obama has collected as he enters office is that of being the first "Tech President". In the days since his victory, Obama has already brought technology into his Presidency in a big way, starting with the launch of an online site, change.gov, where people could apply for jobs in his Administration and give suggestions on the agenda of his Administration. Other changes include the transformation of the traditional weekly radio address to a video address which can be viewed over video site Youtube, and a complete re-design of the White House website.

• Cherian Samuel |
• January 23, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

In a recent poll for the newspaper Le Parisien, 55 per cent of the French public expressed their disagreement with the presence of the French military in Afghanistan. A number of political and strategic mistakes contributed to this difficult situation being faced by Sarkozy’s government regarding the war in Afghanistan. The situation is also exacerbated by the fact that 10 soldiers of the 8th RPIMA lost their lives in the Uzbin sector in late August after a brilliantly orchestrated ambush by elements of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami which shocked the country.

• Guillem Monsonis |
• January 22, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, arrived in India on his two-day visit on 13 January, barely a month and a half after the carnage in Mumbai. His visit was controversial for what he said during the visit and it was made worse by his article that appeared in The Guardian on the last day of his visit. It even provoked the normally restrained Ministry of External Affairs to comment that it could do without Miliband’s “unsolicited advice” and that his views were only “evolving”.

• Thomas Mathew |
• January 22, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

Every year as India approaches the Budget session of Parliament, there are debates in various forums about the adequacy of Budget allocation to meet the modernization plan of the Services considering the threat perceptions/scenario. Due to the economic slowdown world-wide which is likely to affect the revenue collection of the national exchequer this year, the Government may face difficulty in meeting the increased demand from the Defence Forces. Further, we should not forget that electoral compulsions are also likely to play an important role in the coming budget.

• Arvind Kadyan |
• January 21, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

It is perhaps a truism that issues concerning India’s internal security like terrorism, Naxalism and insurgencies in the North East require a dynamic multi-pronged approach spread across states to manage and resolve them. Such a management and resolution package would possibly require crafting a national strategy capable of bypassing local political divisions and enabling India’s multiple political parties to work towards a consensus on issues concerning the nation.

• Namrata Goswami |
• January 20, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments

An article by the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, in The Guardian (January 15) in which he suggested, “resolution of the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms, and allow Pakistani authorities to focus more effectively on tackling the threat on their western borders” evoked swift responses in the media, political and foreign policy establishments in Delhi. The Ministry of External Affairs was quick in its response that, ”Mr. Miliband is entitled to his views, which are clearly his own and are evolving”.

• Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay |
• January 20, 2009 |
• IDSA Comments