The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been earmarked as a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is described as Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy initiative and a grand strategy aimed at restoring China's “rightful'' great-power status in the world. It is a major plank in China's geo-strategic and economic architecture for the region, using Pakistan to secure an exploitative strategic perch in South Asia and the Arabian Sea, overlooking the crucial Persian Gulf, the west coast of India, and the east coast of Africa.
President Putin’s short but highly consequential visit to India and the launch of the 2+2 format have imbued new dynamism into the bilateral partnership. There might be a few areas of divergence between the two sides but spheres of convergence are much greater.
An introduction to ISRO, the organization that took India to space.
The end of colonial rule was an important milestone worth celebrating, but what lay ahead was a long journey towards the making of modern India. The narrative of ‘modern India’ would be incomplete without the stories of institutions that helped shape India as we know it today.
This volume, part of a series on Institutions that Shaped Modern India, offers an in-depth introduction to one such institution—the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It tells the story of ISRO from its inception to present times. Capturing its history and its evolution, dotted with several achievements and some setbacks, and offering deep insights into ISRO’s key projects—past, present and future—the book is an ode to an institution that has been at the steering wheel of India’s journey into space and has played a seminal role in nation-building.
This book is about the strategic relevance of quantum technologies. It debates the military-specific aspects of this technology. Various chapters of this book cohere around two specific themes. The first theme discusses the global pattern of ongoing civilian and military research on quantum computers, quantum cryptography, quantum communications and quantum internet. The second theme explicitly identifies the relevance of these technologies in the military domain and the possible nature of quantum technology-based weapons. This thread further debates on quantum (arms) race at a global level in general, and in the context of the USA and China, in particular. The book argues that the defence utility of these technologies is increasingly becoming obvious and is likely to change the nature of warfare in the future.
The rapid increase in the nuclear forces of China, as revealed in the 2021 Pentagon Report, is a matter of serious concern. Several countries are undertaking exercises to ascertain the strategic and security implications of the feared expansion of the Chinese nuclear stockpile.
The monograph looks at how major powers have tried to pursue three objectives in cyberspace, viz. (1) strengthening or enhancing national cyber defences, and (2) striving to shape the international cyber environment by leveraging economic and technological capabilities, and (3) through defining and evangelising international cyber norms. A section on the cybersecurity preparedness of the countries of the South Asian region is incorporated to highlight those vulnerabilities and deficient capacities and capabilities that give the major powers a foothold to pursue their objectives.
Showing readiness to sign the SEANWFZ treaty seems to be a low-cost, high-return proposition for Beijing. It could be a calculated symbolic gesture having no bearing on the region’s precarious security situation.
India–Russia cooperation in the Indian Ocean and the Arctic, including the Russian Far East, could give strong thrust to their deepening engagement. However, there is a need for heavy lifting from both sides to achieve the desired potential.
As India’s strides in the renewable sector are increasingly gaining pace, it gives an opportunity to assess what potential challenges and opportunities arise for India in the face of China’s growing dominance in the renewable energy industry.
