Issue Brief - MP-IDSA

Interim Defence Budget 2019-20

The eight per cent hike in the interim defence budget 2019-20 is bound to further intensify the resource problem of the MoD, which is already battling a massive shortage of...

Laxman Kumar Behera |
February 04, 2019 |
Issue Brief

Japan’s Strategic Calculations: Constraints and Responses

As the East Asian regional order becomes fragmented, how is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe managing Tokyo’s strategic interests within the US-Japan-China relations?

Titli Basu |
January 17, 2019 |
Issue Brief

China’s Big Push for Solar Energy

China has managed to establish an edge in solar energy manufacturing and technology, and any shift in its solar policy is likely to affect countries looking to increase their solar...

Chithra Purushothaman |
December 31, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Bhutan National Assembly Elections 2018: A Mandate for Change?

Voters in Bhutan have shown their political maturity by bringing in a new government, which is an indicator of growing awareness about their rights and their role in holding governments...

Nihar R. Nayak , Rajrajeshwari Singh , Ashok K. Behuria |
November 12, 2018 |
Issue Brief

75 Years Later, Are Lessons From the Bari Incident Still Relevant?

While planning and executing kinetic operations, it is essential to look at various facets of force application including the possibilities of accidents or surprise attacks by the adversary.

Kishore Kumar Khera |
November 08, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Nepal-China Transit Agreement: An Evaluation

Nepal’s quest for an alternate transit country with a view to reducing its dependence on India succeeded with the finalisation of the text for the Protocol of Transit Transport Agreement...

Nihar R. Nayak |
September 27, 2018 |
Issue Brief

The 2018 Maldivian Presidential Elections: Two-horse Race between Development and Reforms

The forthcoming presidential election is a contest between Yameen’s pledge to bring about a transformational change with mega-projects and Solih’s pledge to end presidential tyranny, injustice and corruption

Gulbin Sultana |
September 17, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Land Ahoy! Debarment Systems in Ministry of Defence start Coming of Age

It is administratively easy and politically appealing to debar an errant entity, but the unintended consequences of debarment can be challenging to handle in high-technology areas such as defence

Sandeep Verma |
September 11, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Examining the Feasibility and Affordability of Raising the Share of Defence Expenditure to Three Percent of GDP

The Brief argues that MoD’s total allocations should be considered for any discussion on defence expenditure since the official defence expenditure does not capture all the expenses that the government...

Laxman Kumar Behera |
August 20, 2018 |
Issue Brief

India and the UAE: Progress towards ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’

The way forward for New Delhi is to seize the momentum and develop a strategic partnership with the UAE to safeguard its core national interests while avoiding regional entanglements.

Md. Muddassir Quamar |
July 05, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Challenges in Implementing JCPOA after the US Withdrawal

While Iran and its European interlocutors (along with Russia and China) can be expected to mount a tough challenge to continue to make the JCPOA work in the light of...

S. Samuel C. Rajiv |
May 17, 2018 |
Issue Brief

South Asian ‘Zombie’: The futility of reviving SAARC

Given the structural fragility of SAARC and its inability to promote South Asian regional integration, an attempt to reboot the organisation would be futile.

Rajeesh Kumar |
May 01, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Implications of CAATSA for India’s Defence Relations with Russia and America

While the provisions of the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) are unlikely to be imposed on India anytime soon, it is nonetheless likely to prove a dampener on...

Will Great-Power Conflict Return?

Geopolitical competition between the great powers with or without direct conflict will lead to a situation where productive cooperation among them on critical international issues is likely to prove difficult.

Rajeesh Kumar |
April 06, 2018 |
Issue Brief

External Balancing in India’s China Policy

External balancing is re-emerging as an element of policy driven by the yawning power asymmetry between India and China and China’s turn towards assertive behaviour and territorial claims.

S. Kalyanaraman |
March 28, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Xi Jinping’s Extended Presidency and India-China Relations

India should carefully understand the evolving foreign policy strategy of China under Xi Jinping, and notably, his worldview, and try to position bilateral relations accordingly.

Jagannath P. Panda |
March 27, 2018 |
Issue Brief

FATF as an Instrument of CFT Compliance in Pakistan

Pakistan’s desperation to keep itself off the list of defaulting countries maintained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) underlines the increasing effectiveness of the organisation, which has become the...

Vivek Chadha |
February 26, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Defence Budget 2018-19: Over to the Standing Committee for Scrutiny

This Issue Brief highlights five major issues and concerns that may merit the SCoD’s attention while examining the latest Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Defence.

Laxman Kumar Behera |
February 26, 2018 |
Issue Brief

The Global Race for Artificial Intelligence: Weighing Benefits and Risks

India can play an essential role in mitigating the risks and maximizing the benefits on account of rapid growth of AI enabled technologies.

Munish Sharma |
February 23, 2018 |
Issue Brief

Aerial Drone Swarms: The Next Generation Military Weapon

Affordability, software domination, reduction in mission costs and risk reduction are some of the advantages swarm technology promises in military campaigns.

Atul Pant |
February 15, 2018 |
Issue Brief