Publication

The territories of the so-called ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), known together as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), hold immense geostrategic significance while remaining at the heart of a deeply contested political discourse within the broader Kashmir issue. Despite ‘AJK’s ostensible branding as ‘Azad’ or ‘free’ and GB’s glorification as Pakistan’s ‘crown jewel’, these characterizations obscure a reality of constrained autonomy, overshadowed by Islamabad’s overarching federal control and the formidable grip of Pakistan’s security apparatus.

• Mohammad Usman Bhatti , Muneeb Yousuf |
• March-April 2025 |
• Strategic Analysis

The Indian Union Budget for the fiscal year 2025–26 provisioned ₹ 20,000 crore for the Nuclear Energy Mission aimed at advancing research and development in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), to operationalize at least five indigenously developed SMRs by 2033 (PIB Citation2025a). This is a part of the larger objective to instal 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047, which currently amounts to a mere 8.18 GW, i.e., 1.74 per cent of India’s total electricity generation capacity. Moreover, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is actively designing three types of SMRs—Bharat Small Modular Reactor (200 MW), Small Modular Reactor (55 MW), and Gas-cooled high-temperature reactor meant for hydrogen production (PIB Citation2025b). The development of the SMRs will involve Indian private industry for the first time. Further, India is also collaborating with foreign companies in this endeavour. To address concerns raised by private players, the Government has established separate Task Forces to amend the AERB, Citation1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA), 2010. The budgetary allocation, a time-bound action plan to develop SMRs and the intended legislative changes show that the Government is serious about the development of SMRs. Against this backdrop, the Commentary tries to gauge the significance of the SMRs in India’s strategic calculus. How will the proposed amendments change India’s nuclear energy landscape? What are India’s global engagements in the field of SMRs? What are the challenges in the path of India’s acceptance of SMRs?

• Niranjan Chandrashekhar Oak , Bhawna Budhwar |
• March-April 2025 |
• Strategic Analysis

Strategic thought has long found its sharpest expression in the in-house journals of leading policy institutions. These publications serve as repositories of insights, platforms for debate, and at times, instruments of influence. Strategic Analysis, the flagship journal of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), is a notable example, charting the trajectory of strategic scholarship in India.

• Uttam Kumar Sinha |
• March-April 2025 |
• Strategic Analysis

The 12-day war between Israel and Iran showed that Information Operations have become a decisive part of modern warfare.

• Harsh Yadav |
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• Issue Brief

South Asia is witnessing new alignments, with divergences between old allies (the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan) and convergences between new partners (India and the Afghan Taliban).

• Saman Ayesha Kidwai |
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• Issue Brief

What are the domestic factors shaping India’s foreign policy? Where do the opportunities and challenges for India’s foreign policy come from? How can India navigate a tumultuous world where events within and beyond its control impact it? Ambassador Rajiv Sikri answers these questions in Strategic Conundrums: Reshaping India’s Foreign Policy, which builds on his previous book Challenges and Strategies: Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy (Sage Publications, 2009). Strategic Conundrums does not have a core argument but takes stock of Indian foreign policy developments since 2014, when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power for the first time, while also analysing the trajectory of diplomatic relations with countries before 2014. The depth of analysis in the book, drawn from the author’s experience as a diplomat is evident in the analysis.

• B. R. Neeraj |
• March-April 2025 |
• Strategic Analysis

Voices of the Unvoiced is a deeply moving and painstakingly researched book,Footnote1 which explores the various challenges faced by PakhtunFootnote2 women as they seek education in the culturally complex and war-torn province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. An academic treatise and personal testament, this book is the result of five years of intense research, including a doctoral dissertation and postdoctoral study. It combines feminist theory, socio-historical analysis, and ethnographic storytelling to highlight the tenacity and resilience of (Pakhtun) women in a patriarchal society. It offers a timely reflection on gender, education, and empowerment in a region grappling with the legacies of armed conflict and cultural conservatism.

• Ashok K. Behuria |
• March-April 2025 |
• Strategic Analysis

Soon after acceding to India in October 1947, the princely State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) became synonymous with what was to be known as ‘the Kashmir issue’, ‘the Kashmir conflict’, ‘the Kashmir problem’ or ‘the Kashmir dispute’. From India’s standpoint, Kashmir’s embroilment was mainly due to Pakistan’s invasion of the state, the geopolitically-motivated mess at the UN (when India registered its complaint on the Pakistani aggression) and the retention of territory by Pakistan it illegally occupied during the invasion. Within India and outside, the span of 78 years post Pakistan’s invasion has produced an ocean of literature on multiple issues concerning the former state. Comparatively, there are fewer books that have come out after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Obviously, the rescinding of the special status from Jammu & Kashmir is still fresh andmore importantly, the new reality is still to sink in completely.

• Priyanka Singh |
• March-April 2025 |
• Strategic Analysis

In the aftermath of the Cold War, the resurgence of Russia and the swift ascent of China have reignited an era of intense great power competition. The United States’ National Security Strategy 2017, which formally identified Russia and China as strategic competitors, marked a pivotal moment in the crystallization of this moment. The pursuit of technological supremacy is at the heart of the competition, with the US and China moving beyond bilateral disputes to exert global influence through alliance formation, setting technological standards, and competing for control in key regions like the Indo-Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula, and South Asia. Bernard F. W. Loo and James Char’s Strategic Currents: China and US Competition for Influence presents a timely and empirically grounded analysis of the US–China strategic rivalry, with a particular emphasis on Southeast Asia’s adaptive responses within an increasingly contested international order.

• Nistha Kumari Singh |
• March-April 2025 |
• Strategic Analysis

The aim of this article is to examine in comparison with some other modern parliamentary democracies, India’s decision making process and organizational structure in the overall realm of national security,* and to suggest where appropriate, how our system might be improved. This comparative study will encompass the relevant national security machinery in the US, France, Britain and India.

• Rathy Sawhny |
• March-April 2025 |
• Strategic Analysis