Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
मनोहर पर्रिकर रक्षा अध्ययन एवं विश्लेषण संस्थान

Journal of Defence Studies

Maoist Finances

This article shows that the Maoists have been collecting not less than Rs 140 crore annually from a variety of sources: businesses—big and small—industry; contractors engaged in various trades; corrupt government officials; and political leaders. The largest and principal sources of income for the Maoists are the mining industry, PWD works, and collection of tendu leaves. They have been able to put in place a well-organised mechanism to extort money on a regular basis. Besides, they have conceived ingenious ways to store money and ensure its safety.

Read More

Jihadist Radicalisation in India: Internal Challenges, External Threats

The Indian strategic community has for long debated aspects of jihadist radicalisation in the country—particularly over its origins, causes, extent, trajectory and possible counter-measures. This article posits that in the absence of clear perspectives, the incipient threat of jihadist radicalisation has the potential to metastasise and snowball quickly, as has been witnessed in other parts of the world in recent times.

Read More

Inherent Structural Constraints Challenging India’s Internal Security

The words ‘internal security’ do not figure in the Constitution of India. At the time of the framing of the Indian Constitution, the lawmakers were more worried about preserving the unity and sovereignty of the new nation. The world was in a far more peaceful environment and issues like terrorism and cybersecurity were far from their minds. Their outlook was conditioned by the constitutions then in existence.

Read More

Police and Counter-Insurgency: The Untold Story of Tripura’s COIN Campaign, by Kuldeep Kumar

The role of the state police in combating insurgencies has not been given due acknowledgement in India despite the success stories of Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal where police forces successfully deployed to counter insurgency movements. For instance, in Punjab, with support from the central paramilitary forces, the state police successfully neutralised terrorists who were demanding a separate state of Khalistan. In Andhra Pradesh, the state police played a highly critical role through the efficient Greyhounds model of security force operation.

Read More

India’s National Security Annual Review 2016–17, edited by Satish Kumar

The volume under review is the sixteenth in the series of the project supported by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). The series has occupied an important niche over the past many years in catering to the significant need for quality analyses on issues of national security. The contributions in the volume, specifically those by the editor, continue to exhibit the same high standards and rigour that have characterised it since its inception.

Read More

Keeping India Safe: The Dilemma of Internal Security, by Vappala Balachandran

The hedgehog’s or the porcupine’s dilemma is a metaphor about the challenges of coexistence. It describes a situation in which a group of hedgehogs seek to move close to one another to share the heat and survive in freezing weather. However, they must remain apart because they cannot avoid hurting one another with their sharp quills. Though they all share the intention of a close reciprocal relationship, this may not occur, for reasons they cannot avoid. Eventually they settle into an ideal distance, where they can derive some benefit yet not hurt each other.

Read More

The CRPF and Internal Security: A Perspective Analysis

This article critically analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), as the prime agency of the Government of India, attending to manifold matters of internal security. Many incidents, including classic achievements as well as downsides are presented here. The article highlights the need for a functional audit, urgency in professionalising the personnel, harnessing human potential in the best manner and the role of research and development.

Read More

The Quest for Nagalim: Fault Lines and Challenges

The Naga quest for independence is one of the longest-running struggles in the Indian subcontinent. Despite numerous attempts made in the past towards resolving the conflict, it continues to remain elusive on account of various fault lines. The signing of a ‘Framework Agreement’ between the National Socialist Council of Nagalim–Issak and Muivah (NSCN-IM) and the Government of India in August 2015 was one such attempt. However, the views of various stakeholders remain fragmented as the details of the agreement have not been disclosed in the public domain.

Read More

Decentralisation, Autonomy and Effective Governance: Policy Options for Resolving the Kashmir Imbroglio

This article looks at the essential conditions for a durable peace in Kashmir and argues that the Valley has been most peaceful only during an active, on-going peace process. The lack of effective and continuous engagement with key stakeholders, especially the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), has fostered a sense of deep alienation and enduring distrust. It further argues that counterinsurgency operations need to be simultaneously augmented by an active peace process engaging all stakeholders.

Read More

Additive Manufacturing in Aerospace and Defence Sector: Strategy of India

Additive manufacturing (AM), also popularly known as 3-D printing, is revolutionising the global manufacturing landscape. The proliferation of AM technology has had a huge impact on the design and production capability of the manufacturing industry. At the same time, the technology to mimic and print real parts has huge implications for a country’s defence capability and security.

Read More

High Command: British Military Leadership in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, by Christopher L. Elliott

Defeats are orphans and very educative. Most defeats are, in fact, manifestation of erroneous judgments or equipment failure, or a combinations of the two. In case the defeats are of military force application then the costs are very high. The United Kingdom’s (UK) military missions and the losses in Iraq and Afghanistan can be classified as failures, if not outright defeats, and have thrown up significant lessons about its higher defence management.

Read More

A Longue Durée Perspective on Military Science in India

This article posits that military science has been one of the most neglected subjects in Indian history in practice and in scholarship. Greater, popular scholarly focus tends to be mostly on subjects dealing with grand strategy and with it, abstract armchair theorising. While grand strategy is necessary at the political–military level, it is not sufficient as victory or defeat also depends on the capacity of the armed forces to achieve the desired results during the conduct of war.

Read More

Faith, Unity, Discipline: The ISI of Pakistan by Hein G. Kiessling

The work of intelligence agencies is a grey area and any attempt to ‘lift the veil’ is an uphill task, shrouded in uncertainty and doubt, and suspect as to the authenticity of the information brought out into the open. Notwithstanding this, it has been established beyond doubt that intelligence agencies have a major say in strategic events both at the international and national levels. Given a free hand, they might end up ‘controlling the controllers’.

Read More

India’s Pathways for Regional Prominence in Asia-Pacific: Prospects and Challenges

Asian geopolitics currently represents a complex blending of power and paradox, both stable and fluid, with change occurring against an unresolved tension between the direction of economic growth and that of strategic anxiety. With the continent turning into the economic growth engine of the world, regional geopolitics is witnessing friction between Asian powers that had previously kept economic and political separation from one another.

Read More

Drones: An Emerging Terror Tool

From the days of their inception, remotely piloted aero models (known popularly as drones) have been feared as a means of spreading terror. Recently, the use of drones by terrorist outfits like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as the Islamic State (IS), has seen an increase and this has brought those fears to the fore. Experts fear that the drones have given terrorists a near-perfect solution for spreading terror and a major terror act may be around the corner as legal and illegal drone activities are on the rise.

Read More

Doklam and the Indo-China Boundary

On 19 December 2017, three days ahead of the scheduled 20th Round of Indo-China border talk between the Indian National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval, and China’s State Councillor, Yang Jiechi (the details of which are yet to be made public), the daily Times of India reported a statement by China that the Doklam standoff posed a ‘major test’ for the bilateral ties and that lessons should be learnt from it to avoid a similar situation of its kind in the future.1 China’s statement was made in the context of the face-off between Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PL

Read More

Inside the Enemy’s Computer: Identifying Cyber-Attackers, by Clement Guitton

Attribution of cyberattacks is an impending issue in enabling a credible deterrent against both state and non-state actors. It applies equally to cases of a criminal nature as well as to those with implications for national security. The technology underlying cyberspace facilitates anonymity and thus affixing responsibility, that is, attributability, is not merely a technological challenge but a political one as well, especially when nation states have proven prowess in engaging their adversaries in cyberspace.

Read More
  • Visitor No:25009978
  • © Manohar Parrikar Institute For Defence Studies and Analyses
  • XHTML validation2.0 Level Double-A Conformance
    CSS Validator
    Explanation of WCAG 2.0 Level Double-A Conformance