Strategic Analysis

Shifting Dynamics: The Fraying Pakistan-Taliban Ties and the Contest for Strategic Influence

In a recent escalation, Pakistan conducted air strikes inside Afghanistan against what it claimed were terrorist hideouts on October 9, 2025. The attack marked a remarkable escalation in the souring...

Shakoor Ahmad Wani |
September-October 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Indus Waters Treaty: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

On September 19, 1960, in Karachi, the bustling port city and economic hub of Pakistan, two political leaders and a distinguished international banker convened to sign a document that would...

Uttam Kumar Sinha |
September-October 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Demanding an Inclusive Governance: Nepal’s 2025 Youth Uprising in Perspective

The youth uprising in Nepal in September 2025 must be understood not as an isolated incident but as a striking manifestation of a global trend of increasing visibility and influence...

Sneha M |
September-October 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

India’s Role as ‘Preferred Security Partner’ in the Indian Ocean Region: A Strategic Assessment of Maritime Leadership and Regional Cooperation

Over the last few years India has been progressively attempting to establish itself as a ‘preferred security partner’ in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This transformation represents a fundamental shift...

Abhay Kumar Singh , R. Vignesh |
September-October 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

The Nehru Years: An International History of Indian Non-Alignment

Originating in the wake of cold war bipolarity, non-alignment became the dominant approach under Nehru, until the early 1960s to navigate India’s engagement with the international system. Faced with volatility...

Mayuri Banerjee |
September-October 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

China’s Air Power and Maritime Strategies Towards the Indian Ocean Region

Joshy M. Paul’s China’s Air Power and Maritime Strategies Towards the Indian Ocean Region offers a detailed account of Beijing’s evolving air and naval posture towards the wider Indo-Pacific region,...

V Krishna Kumar |
September-October 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Decision Making in Defence

The post-second World War period has seen rapid development of new strategic doctrines, consequent on major technological breakthroughs in weapons systems, transport and communication capabilities. These doctrines in turn have...

K. Subrahmanyam |
September-October 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Maldives, Populism and Politicisation of Foreign Policy: India in between India First and India Out?

This article posits that Mohamed Muizzu coming to power, and the shifting tectonics of India First and India Out fits in the template of populism, and politicisation of foreign policy....

Shweta Singh |
July-August 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

From Cold War Distance to Indo-Pacific Partnership: An Overview of the Past, Present, and Future of India-ASEAN Strategic Engagement

The year 2022 marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between India and ASEAN and its progression into a comprehensive strategic partnership. Meanwhile, the unfolding geopolitical developments in the form of...

Friends: India’s Closest Strategic Partners

In an era marked by geopolitical flux, strategic rivalries, and an increasingly multipolar world order, the question of how India can safeguard its national interests while asserting itself as a...

Ahmed Raza |
July-August 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Emerging from the Shadows: Essays on Disarmament by Indian Women

After prolonged negotiations, 94 non-nuclear weapon States signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in 2017 without the participation of any nuclear weapons States. In February 2023,...

Subhash Bhambhu |
July-August 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

The Silk Road

Historical background Traditionally, an improvised caravan route used by both the Chinese and European traders for transporting once famous Chinese silk to West Asia and Europe, the legendary ‘Silk Road’...

S. B. Guha |
July-August 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Colonial Legacies and Contested Territories: Unravelling UK-PoK Relations with a Focus on Mirpur

This Article examines the UK’s historical and contemporary ties with PoK, focussing on ‘AJK’, and, in particular, the Mirpuri diaspora in the UK, through the lenses of colonial legacies, mass...

Priyanka Singh |
July-August 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Xi’s Call to ‘Tell the China Story Well’ – An Understanding of China’s Discourse Power

To contest the discursive hegemony of the West, China has been striving to have a greater say in the way it is represented on the world stage. It is believed...

Amrita Jash , A. Anupama |
July-August 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Competitiveness in India’s Defence Industry Ecosystem: An Analysis

India has undertaken multi-pronged reforms to achieve self-reliance in defence sector. It has gained momentum based on the success of the indigenous weapon system during Operation SINDOOR. However, creating an...

The Geopolitical Trap: War in Ukraine and Strategic Takeaways

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the Ukraine–Russia War began in Europe.Footnote1 The War has lasted for more than three years, resulting in around 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed,...

Nihar Kulkarni |
July-August 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Chinese Air and Missile Power

Air force Built up with Russian aid in the wake of the Korean War in the early fifties, the Chinese Air Force grew up around 1960 to be the third-largest...

S. K. Ghosh |
July-August 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

Prioritising Human Development: A Blueprint for the World from India’s Journey from Pre-MDG Successes to SDGs

This article examines India’s comprehensive journey towards sustainable development, demonstrating the deep alignment between its national priorities and the global development agenda even before the advent of the Millennium Development...

D. Padma Kumar Pillay , Srishti Slaria |
May-June 2025 |
Strategic Analysis

India’s Neighbourhood First Policy: Navigating Power, Trust, and Rivalry in South Asia

India’s Neighbourhood First Policy (NFP) is a touchstone of its foreign policy, aimed at promoting peace, stability, connectivity, and cooperation in South Asia to enhance India’s regional and global influence....

Gaurav Sen, Peril of the Pacific: Military Balance and Battle for Taiwan, New Delhi: KW Publishers Pvt Ltd, 2025

The issue of the Taiwan Straits lies at the core of tensions governing the relationship between two great powers: the United States and China. Amidst the economic and technological developments...

Khyati Singh |
May-June 2025 |
Strategic Analysis