Indian PM’s Visit to Oman and Qatar During his November 2008 visit to Oman and Qatar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed two memoranda of understanding with Oman and three with Qatar. The MOUs with Qatar were on defence and security, investment, energy and manpower development. Zakir Hussain | December 02, 2008 | IDSA Comments
Role of Intuition in Military Command Historically, the use of intuition by commanders to anticipate events in battle to exploit fleeting opportunities has remained obscure. One likely reason is that it has not been a fashionable subject for the great military commanders to talk about, being outside the realm of a logical thought process. Recently researchers have begun to unravel the aura of mystery and give scientific explanations to intuition. S. K. Saini | Winter 2008 | Journal of Defence Studies
Oil Politics in the Bay of Bengal Hydrocarbon rich Bay of Bengal seems to be emerging as another centre of oil politics. This was recently manifested by a standoff between Myanmar and Bangladesh, when Dhaka sent three naval vessels to stop Myanmar from conducting exploration activities in their disputed Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). The crisis has since been diffused, though it is far from over. Anand Kumar | November 27, 2008 | IDSA Comments
Obama and the Special Envoy to Kashmir The dust might have settled on the US Elections with Barack Obama ensuring a place in history as the first African American President to occupy the White House. The moot question now is whether the dust will begin to fly in South Asia as the new Administration begins to formulate new policies with regard to the region. It is also inevitable that existing policies would also be modified to bring them in synch with the substantially different worldview of the Democratic Party which has reclaimed the White House after eight years. Cherian Samuel | November 24, 2008 | IDSA Comments
The Gorshkov Deal: Beyond Economic Considerations It has been reported that Russia has demanded US $3.5 billion from India for the aircraft carrier, Gorshkov, which is currently undergoing repairs. This is the second time that Russia has sought a price increase from the original contracted amount of $1.5 billion. Given the hike in its price and the further delay in the date of delivery, the deal has naturally attracted comment, with some people even questioning the very wisdom of having gone for the ship. N. Neihsial | November 21, 2008 | IDSA Comments
Indian Army: Vision 2020 Kanwal, G., Indian Army: Vision 2020, New Delhi, Harper Collins, 2008, pp. 342, Rs. 495/-, ISBN 13: 978-81-7223-732-5 Ali Ahmed | Winter 2008 | Journal of Defence Studies
China’s Scary Challenges to India External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's recent outburst that China poses a security challenge indicates a dangerous ambiguity in India’s China policy. The fact that Mukherjee has aired such a view after his intense and long diplomatic rapport with the leadership of that country needs to be noted seriously. It is not that China has not been a puzzle to Indian strategic thinkers. Even former Defence Minister George Fernandes considered China as India’s number one enemy, but his views were transformed after he paid an official visit to Beijing. P. Stobdan | November 18, 2008 | IDSA Comments
Kashmir has nothing to do with stability in Afghanistan The contention that stability in Afghanistan is linked to the resolution of the Kashmir issue is fallacious. It only serves the interests of a particular interest group, which has consistently tried to link stability in the subcontinent to the Kashmir issue, and which is now illogically stretching this argument to include stability in Afghanistan. This argument gives the impression that the dynamics in the two cases are interlinked, when they clearly are not. Smruti S. Pattanaik | November 18, 2008 | IDSA Comments
Space Security and Global Cooperation Publisher: Academic Foundation For the last five decades artificial satellites are being used to perform diverse roles in astronomy, atmospheric studies and education. They have been found useful for reconnaissance, meteorology, navigation, communication and search & rescue. ISBN 13-978-81-7188-741-5, Price: ? 695 Ajey Lele , Gunjan Singh | | Book
Talking Peace Across the Taiwan Straits If current developments are any indicator, the long road to economic integration on either side of the Taiwan Straits has commenced. In a first of its kind, a sixty member delegation led by Chen Yunlin, Chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) visited Taiwan from November 3-7, 2008 to hold talks with his counterpart Chiang Pin-kung, Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). ARATS and SEF are two non-governmental organisations authorised by China and Taiwan in the early 1990s to examine the entire gamut of cross-Strait relations. Raviprasad Narayanan | November 14, 2008 | IDSA Comments
