Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir—A Buffer State in the Making? One cannot deny the inexorable advantage that geography has given Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Being the only link between the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and Pakistan, PoK is truly the ‘umbilical cord’—a bond that is symbolical of the very deep relationship between the two countries. The PRC has at various forums asserted that it only has an economic interest in PoK and has openly denied the presence of People's Liberation Army (PLA) personnel in PoK. Mandip Singh | January 2013 | Strategic Analysis
Early Trends from Xi Jinping’s Leadership Xi Jinping’s speeches and actions have elaborated upon three major themes: upholding the market economy, adopting measures against ‘formalism and bureaucracy’, and endorsing the Rule of Law. Prashant Kumar Singh | December 28, 2012 | IDSA Comments
LDP “Take(s) Back Japan”: The creation of a national military is on Abe’s agenda Although Shinzo Abe is aggressively pushing for revising the Constitution, the LDP’s ally, New Komeito, remains opposed to the idea arguing that it will change the nature and duties of Japan’s defence force. Shamshad A. Khan | December 26, 2012 | Issue Brief
Capital Acquisition Budget: Factors Affecting its Utilization It is almost customary to blame underutilization of the capital acquisition budget on defective planning, apathy of the civilian bureaucracy and procedural complexities. This view, however, does not take into account several factors that are external to the Ministry of Defence. Amit Cowshish | December 26, 2012 | IDSA Comments
Chinese Aerial Patrols Over Senkaku Islands China’s escalation of the Senkaku ownership dispute by commencing air patrols over the islands by OSA aircraft has the potential to trigger a war between China and Japan. Vivek Kapur | December 24, 2012 | Issue Brief
The Signs of Change in Syria Signals from Russia, China and even Iran that it is time for Assad to go combined with domestic dissensions and defections signal that the regime is finally cracking up. Rajeev Agarwal | December 24, 2012 | IDSA Comments
Sino-Indian Relations: Are Trade Issues Likely To Cause Even More Problems? The Indian political class should seriously ponder without engaging in fruitless ideological debates – for we may be leaving ourselves with no choice – whether to acquiesce to a China-dominated commercial and economic landscape in Asia. R. S. Kalha | December 24, 2012 | IDSA Comments
The Challenges Before Shinzo Abe Rebuilding Japan’s foreign policy will be another challenge for the Abe Administration, especially in view of the rising tension between Japan and its neighbouring states - China and South Korea – over territorial disputes. Pranamita Baruah | December 20, 2012 | IDSA Comments
Update on India’s Membership of Multilateral Export Controls Regimes Both the government as well and the strategic community are convinced that India must not join the Australia Group without a road map for the MTCR and the NSG. Rajiv Nayan | December 19, 2012 | IDSA Comments
Ballistic Missile Proliferation: Implications for India To counter the consequences flowing from growing ballistic missile proliferation in its neighbourhood, India must expand its BMD programme to include boost phase and mid-course phase intercept capability. Vivek Kapur | December 19, 2012 | IDSA Comments
