Strategic Analysis

Kathmandu Dilemma: Resetting India-Nepal Ties

The book Kathmandu Dilemma: Resetting India-Nepal Ties by Ranjit Rae, a former Indian Ambassador to Nepal (September 2013 to February 2017), is timely, given that bilateral relations have been marred by numerous controversies in the recent past. Nepal has sent two diplomatic notes—September 2021 and November 2019—to India in the last few years. Accusations in Nepal of India meddling in its internal affairs during the 2021 constitutional crisis, have further vitiated the atmosphere.

Securing India in the Cyber Era: Sameer Patil, Routledge, New Delhi and Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, Mumbai, 2022, 82 pp., £16.99 (E-Book), ISBN 9781003152910

Cyberspace has become the most prominent arena for geopolitical contestation. As conflicts move to another dimension, countries are manipulating cyberspace to exploit vulnerabilities of adversaries to conduct espionage, data theft or make inroads into critical infrastructure to trigger cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure of a nation. Online criminal gangs, mostly with state patronage, are using sophisticated technologies to get the better of security apparatuses in cyberspace.

The Fractured Himalaya: India, Tibet, China, 1949-1962: Nirupama Rao, The Fractured Himalaya: India, Tibet, China, 1949-1962, Viking (Penguin), Gurugram, 2021, 609 pp., Price: INR 999.00 (Hardback), ISBN: 9780670088294

The Fractured Himalaya covers India-China relations during the initial 13-year period (1949–1962) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The author, Nirupama Rao, a former member of the Indian Foreign Service, served as Ambassador to China, thereafter as Foreign Secretary of India and eventually became Ambassador to the United States. Post-superannuation, she received the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship following the Meera and Vikram Gandhi Fellowship at Brown University, to conduct research on Sino-Indian relations. The author’s credentials have equipped her adequately to write this book.

Assessing the China Factor in the India–Australia Strategic Partnership after COVID-19

The article argues that India and Australia have a significant role to play amidst China’s expanding maritime footprint in the Indian Ocean and growing influence in the South China Sea. With worsening relations between India and China as well as Australia and China, both New Delhi and Canberra have been deepening their connections, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic.

GCC at Crossroads: Challenges Amidst Unrest in the Arab World

The Arab unrest had a severe impact on the GCC, as it uncovered the existing internal fissures and limitations of the organization. Despite their success in integrating themselves on vital economic, security and political issues, divergent policies adopted by the individual member states on a number of regional issues in the aftermath of the Arab unrest was the main reason for the widening cracks within the organization.

Saudi Arabia’s Strategic Partnership with the United States: Fraying at the Margins?

The strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and the US withstood the test of time despite occasional challenges. Even as the US dependence on Gulf oil weaned, the partnership continued due to foreign policy convergences and the security nexus. The Arab Spring uprisings challenged the partnership leading to foreign policy divergences. While the US looked for reducing its regional commitments, the Kingdom diversified relations with emerging powers.

All Roads Lead to North: Nepal’s Turn to China

Amish Raj Mulmi’s All Roads Lead to North vividly and eloquently captures the growing Chinese inroads into Nepal. Growing Chinese influence is visible not just in the northern-most border villages and transit checkposts of the Sino-Nepalese border at Tatopani, Rasuwagadhi or Humala in the rugged Himalayas, but also in the palace, parliament and the lives of people on the streets of Kathmandu. The author has diligently and skilfully recorded this enormous yet invisible process in its minutest detail, exposing how it is exerting pressure on the tranquillity of Nepali life.

Japan’s Security Reforms under Abe Shinzo: Setting the Stage for Proactivism in the Indo-Pacific?

As the longest-serving Prime Minister so far, Abe Shinzo will be remembered for the unprecedented shifts he brought about in Japan’s security policies, which will most likely have a lasting impact. From creating new institutions to fundamental changes in decision-making and from constructing a new framework for defense strategy and acquisition of offensive military capabilities to deftly managing the alliance with the US, Abe has left an indelible mark. He also came up with the Indo-Pacific construct and the Quad, which have become the key facets of regional security.

Cyber Technological Paradigms and Threat Landscape in India

In a discipline struggling to define even fundamental concepts like cyberspace and cyber threats, Ramnath Reghunadhan’s Cyber Technological Paradigms and Threat Landscape in India is a remarkable work to make sense of India’s efforts and challenges in cyberspace. The book by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras scholar is explanatory in nature and provides rich, collated, and specific information for cyber researchers working on India’s cyber policy.

US-China Strategic Competition and Converging Middle Power Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific

The 21st century’s central economic nexus will be centred on the Indo-Pacific region. Simultaneously, the intensifying US-China competition in the Indo-Pacific is deepening. Regional middle powers must negotiate this competition to ensure their interests remain intact. This article applies a realist framework to analyse the strategic alignment of Australia, Japan, and India in response to the great power competition. It examines the strategy each middle power is pursuing to protect their interests and the motivations behind their approaches.