Journal of Defence Studies

Border Defence Cooperation Agreement: The Icebreaker in Making?

The long expected Agreement on Border Defence Cooperation (BDCA) was signed between the governments of India and China on 23 October 2013 in Beijing, during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to the People’s Republic of China. The draft of the agreement had been through close-door negotiations by both the governments for about a year prior to its signing. Incidentally, it was also during these negotiations that a three week long face-to-face incident occurred—in April-May 2013—at Depsang located in the Aksai Chin region which is disputed between India and China.

Is the Submarine Arm Losing its Punch?

The explosions that gutted INS Sindhurakshak during the early hours of 14 August 2013 caught the imagination of an entire nation that watched the brief footage of the catastrophic event on their television sets. Barring some minor accidents which resulted in structural damage, this is the most tragic incident involving loss of lives in the 46 year history of the submarine arm.

Assessing Modernization of the Indian Armed Forces through Budgetary Allocations

India’s quest for modernization of the armed forces is propelled by the persistent threat to its territorial integrity and the aspiration of becoming a great power. However, there is no clearly defined comprehensive policy, much less a carefully crafted strategy, for time-bound modernization of the armed forces and there is no mechanism in place to steer the modernization programme in a holistic manner. In fact, there is considerable ambiguity about the core question as to what constitutes comprehensive ‘modernization’.

Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean: A Changing Kaleidoscope

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR), though considered an important maritime region, has not yet been accorded the due importance of a geo-strategic entity. One attributable reason is the ‘sandwiching’ of the IOR between two ‘hotspots’—the South China sea and the Persian Gulf that divert the attention of nations from this area. While there are commonalities like ‘Freedom of Navigation’, the divergences—caused by varying strategic interests even while addressing common security issues such as piracy—have resulted in a sectoral view of the maritime security paradigm in the IOR.

China’s ‘Three Warfares’ and India

For the past decade, China is known to have actively used ‘three warfares’ (3Ws) strategy—media, psychological and legal warfare—to weaken its adversaries in regions constituting what it perceives to be its ‘core interests’. While a wide range of tools have been deployed, the attacks have remained mostly confined to Taiwan and South-East Asian states involved in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea. But with Beijing’s influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) growing, there is evidence emerging of the 3Ws strategy being put to use against India.

The Rational Believer: Choices and Decisions in Madrasas of Pakistan, by Masooda Bano

The Rational Believer is a result of three years of research and field trips in Pakistan by the author and examines the post-9/11 image of madrasas in Pakistan. The findings are correlated with socio-economic theories and explain the logic of the teachings of Quran, where appropriate. Analyses of what makes a believer endure hardships, why jihadis attack fellow Muslims and what makes them martyrs (shuhada) are also carried out.

Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present, by Kaushik Roy

In the academic field of modern history studies, historians dealing with South Asia largely neglect the historical evolution of military–strategic thought on the Indian subcontinent. It is also true that, both for political scientists and scholars of the specialized field of strategy, it is not very common to find people engaging with theories other than Western theories of warfare.1 Nevertheless, the new generation of scholars has started to deal with these subjects.

Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, by C. Raja Mohan

Samudra Manthan is a book whose time has come. It brings to the table the other dimension of the Sino-Indian rivalry, which is often missed by the larger group of policymakers: the maritime and naval aspects of the relationship. Raja Mohan borrows from Indian mythology in selecting the name of this lucid and well-researched account of the emerging frontiers of Sino-Indian rivalry in the Indo-Pacific.

The Rise of the Indian Navy: Internal Vulnerabilities, External Challenges, edited by Harsh V. Pant

Since antiquity the Indian Ocean has been the centre of human progress, a great arena in which many civilizations have mingled, fought, and traded on important trade routes criss-crossing the waters around India for thousands of years. The entry and exit is to this vast water body is through four ‘gates’ or choke points: the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb; around South Africa’s Cape Agulhas; the Strait of Malacca; and past Australia’s Cape West Howe.

Strategic Perspectives on Growth Phases and Long-term Techno-economic Performance of India’s DRDO

The future of an organization is less determined by outside forces than by its history and the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is no exception. This article analyses the major achievements and shortfalls of the DRDO. It models the strategic dimensions of organization development. The value of production from defence industries arising from DRDO technology transfers is rapidly escalating, enabling the government’s goal of self-reliance.

The Cholas: Some Enduring Issues of Statecraft, Military Matters and International Relations

The article addresses the deficit in the indigenous, rich historical knowledge of south India. It does this by examining the military and political activities of the Cholas to understand the employment of various supplementary strategies. The article deals with the engagements and battles of the Cholas with other kingdoms of south India, and ‘externally’ with Sri Lanka. It begins with an exposition of various types of alliances that were an integral part of the military strategy of the time.

Letter to the Editor

My overall impression is that the Army has been unduly harsh and self-deprecatory regarding the present state of its moral health. As against this, the Army’s track record has been excellent through all wars and operations since independence, except in 1962. In addition, the Army has done sterling work in quelling or containing various insurgencies in Nagaland, Punjab and, above all, the virulent, decades old insurgency in Kashmir, which is still raging intensely. In spite of the most strenuous efforts made by Pakistan, Kashmir still remains under Indian control.

Effective Underwater Weapon Systems and the Indian Ocean Region

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has profound strategic relevance not only for the nations in the region but also for other countries.1 The bulk of the world’s merchant fleets transit through one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, via the Malacca Straits. Also, the presence of major petroleum exports originating from the Gulf, encourage the major powers of the world to have a strategic presence in the IOR.

Political Abstention in War and the Influence of Nuclear Weapons: A New Research Puzzle

Clemenceau’s famous statement—‘War is too important to be left to the generals’—represents an essential conflict in civil?military relations during crisis situations, especially with regard to the demarcation of boundaries for civil and military authority in the conduct of war. Where and when, in the conduct of war, should the political class step down and military commanders take over? Or, since, as the Clausewitzian dictum of war being a continuation of politics suggests, can war ever be considered a purely military enterprise?

India’s Geostrategy and China: Mackinder versus Mahan?

Two recent events exemplify India’s geopolitical dilemma. In early April 2013, it was reported that Chinese submarines had been conducting forays in the Indian Ocean that were apparently picked up by US Navy sonar.1 A few weeks later, there was a Chinese intrusion in the western sector where a platoon of Chinese troops entered the Depsang Valley area of eastern Ladakh.2 While the status quo ante was peacefully attained, the Ladakh incident is a vivid reminder of the abiding implications of an unresolved Himalayan dispute.

Chinese Intrusion into Ladakh: An Analysis

The intrusion by the Chinese Army in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was first reported by the media on 15 April 2013. Initial reports indicated that about 30–40 armed soldiers of the Chinese Army had set up three to four tents in the area of Depsang Bulge, south east of Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO). Subsequently, media reports indicated that the Government had accepted this intrusion to be 19 km from the LAC, inside Indian territory.

The Arrest of Argentine Warship ‘ARA Libertad’: Revisiting International Law Governing Warships, Sovereign Immunity, and Naval Diplomatic Roles

The ARA Libertad Case (Argentina v. Ghana) is the first instance where the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), Hamburg, Germany considered the issue of the release of a warship which was detained in a foreign port contrary to the principles of sovereign immunity of warships. The Argentinian warship was detained based on a commercial case filed by an American hedge fund against Argentina in the Ghanaian Court.

Restraining Kargil: Nuclear Caution in the Shadow of Kashmir

The debate surrounding the stability of nuclear weapons has been a critical issue for the last half century. On the one hand, realists like Kenneth Waltz argue that the proliferation of nuclear weapons will foster greater stability due to the intrinsic deterrent logic associated with these weapons. The nuclear pessimists, on the other hand, argue that the accidental use of nuclear weapons and unstable regime types are a greater concern for the outbreak of nuclear war.

The Soldier and the State in India by Ayesha Ray

The Indian armed forces were inherited from the British on attaining Independence. The Indian soldier, who forms a part of the three services, has been involved in combat right from the time the nation was formed. He has always followed Field Marshal Philip Chetwode’s motto which states that the honour, safety and welfare of the country comes first always and every time; the honour, safety and welfare of the men you command comes next; and your own comfort comes last always and every time.

Confronting the State: ULFA’s Quest for Sovereignty by Nani Gopal Mahanta

India’s nation and state building project faces challenges in the NorthEast because of the simplistic, linear, and development-centric approach that has been guiding it so far. This neglects the mind set and the psyche that is sustaining insurgency and violence in the region. The Indian Union has, undeniably, won the war against the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), and its support base has also reduced to a large extent.