India’s Maritime Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: An Assessment of the INS Sudarshini Expedition INS Sudarshini, India’s Sail Training Ship (STS), was sent on a commemorative expedition to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries for six months along the monsoon trade winds route to trace India’s civilisational and cultural affinities and rejuvenate trade and maritime linkages with its neighbours in the East. The voyage was part of the commemoration of the successful completion of two decades of India’s Look East Policy, 20 years of dialogue relations with ASEAN, and 10 years of India–ASEAN summit-level partnership. Rahul Mishra | September 2013 | Strategic Analysis
Overcoming the Ways of Matsya Nyaya Ancient Indian political thought as given in the niti (moral law) lays down that matsya nyaya (big fish swallowing the smaller fish), which is a law of nature, must be eradicated. However, in spite of best intentions it continues to prevail in internal and international politics. Society is bound together by dharma (justice), which is the great protecting principle, and economic prosperity, moral welfare and cultural advancements are the functions of justice. P. K. Gautam | September 2013 | Strategic Analysis
Northern Sea Route: Humming with Activity As the ice thins in the Arctic, the commercial feasibility of the northern sea route is increasing rapidly. Five years ago there was no activity; this year about 1.5 million tonnes of cargo will be transported through the NSR. Arvind Gupta | August 27, 2013 | IDSA Comments
National Cyber Security Policy 2013: An Assessment The public-private partnership and emphasis on research and development are the key features of the document calling for collaborative engagements and operational cooperation with industry and academia. Sanjiv Tomar | August 26, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Israel-Palestine Talks: Enablers and Prospects Prospects of a solution will hinge on the ability of the two sides to moderate their maximalist positions and the ability of the Obama administration to play the role of an ‘honest broker’. S. Samuel C. Rajiv | August 26, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Women in Maoist Ranks Women join as fighters and participate in raids and attacks on police. The military training they receive is as rigorous and strenuous as their male counterparts. P. V. Ramana | August 20, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Locked in LOC: Exploring Cyber Offensive Option for India India’s niche military and intelligence technologies in the field of cyber, space, robotics and jamming can have potential deterrence value and a ‘war minus’ option against Pakistan. Ajey Lele | August 20, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Pakistan Policy reduced to a Single Binary Recent events has exposed the absence of any sort of strategic clarity at the political level and sheer lack of options at the diplomatic level on how India should deal with Pakistan. Sushant Sareen | August 14, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Ambush on the LoC: Rethinking the Response There have reportedly been 57 ceasefire violations of the LoC this year, which, according to the MoD, are 80 per cent more than the same period last year, and the number of infiltration attempts have doubled. Vivek Chadha | August 12, 2013 | IDSA Comments
Anatomy of India and Pakistan Reconciliation Islamabad remains sanguine that as long as it can leverage both cross border terrorism as well as conventional asymmetry by playing the nuclear card, it can easily manage relations with India. Arun Sahgal | August 12, 2013 | IDSA Comments
