Institute of Security Studies
President, Gen VP Malik, former Chief of Staff, Indian Army

A distinctive feature of the contemporary strategic and security related environment has been the unprecedented changes in the concepts, paradigms and complexities of national, regional, and global security. There is a new thrust and awareness of the comprehensive nature of security, which includes in its ambit the traditional defence-related threats, but also, equally important challenges in societal, political, economic, technological and environmental dimensions as well.

The objective of the ORF Institute of Security Studies is to undertake and promote high quality integrated policy-related research in politico-military, diplomatic and security issues, as also study areas contiguous to India in a substantive and inclusive manner. It focuses comprehensively on globally emerging threats and seeks cooperative security and other alternative approaches to promote secure national, regional and global environment. Although the Institute works on security related issues, its focus is also on newer threats due to globalisation, energy, environment, terrorism, demographic and other developmental issues.

The nature of studies at ISS involves joint research with leading institutions/centres in foreign countries. RAND Corporation, Brookings Institution, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Centre for Contemporary Conflict, Naval Postgraduate School (all in the United States), China Institute of International Studies, Japan Institute of International Affairs, and Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Germany. Based on inter-institutional memoranda of understanding, subjects for joint studies are undertaken. Bilateral research cooperation is achieved through exchange of scholars for specific research projects on mutually convenient terms and conditions.

Two important projects have been completed by the Institute of Security Studies during the year.

Report of the Joint ORF -PCIP Task Force on Indo-US Relations

The project was conceived during September-October 2003 as a Joint Task Force of the ORF and the Pacific Council on International Policy on furthering Indo-US Relations. Amb. Abid Hussain, former Indian ambassador to the US and Amb. Richard Celeste, former US ambassador to India are the co-leaders of the Joint Task Force. The first meeting of the Joint Task Force was held at Jamnagar, Gujarat, on March 18-19, 2004. This meeting identified the areas of common concern that should be included in the Task Force Report and agreed on a broad format for the report. The second conference was held at Los Angeles on September 13 and 14, 2004. The Task Force Report was released by the Indian Defence Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Washington on June 282005.

MoU with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin, Germany

ORF signed a MoU with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin, Germany, for undertaking joint projects and seminars in areas of mutual interest. An international conference on the theme "Pluralism, Democracy and Conflict Resolution: The Search for Stability in South Asia Post 9/11" was held at New Delhi in March 2003. Another international conference on "Europe and Asia: Perspectives on the Emerging International Order" was held on November 19 and 20, 2004. The third conference in the series," Emerging NATO : Impact on Europe and Asia", was held in New Delhi in November 2005.

Other significant Projects

Asian Strategic and Military Perspective: Under The project, undertaken by Col RSN Singh (Retd.), has been completed and published as a volume which has been widely welcomed by members of the strategic community. The book is essential reading for the Indian Army officer cadre.

Nuclear Diplomacy after Pokhran-1998: The project was sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Completed by Mr. Ajai Rai, the final report has been sent to the Ministry.

Monograph on Defence Planning in India: The project, undertaken by Brig Vinod Anand (Retd.), has been completed and is being published as a report.

In-house Projects
Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons Programme post-1998: Undertaken by Ms. Garima Singh, the study has been completed and is being published as an ORF monograph.
Army Vision 2020 - Restructuring for an Era of Strategic Uncertainty: Undertaken by Brig Gurmeet Kanwal, the project was completed in March 2006. The report is under publication.
India's Maritime Security: Emerging Challenges and Policy Options, November 2004 to July 2005 ; Undertaken by Cdr Vijay Sakhuja, the project was completed in December, 2005. It is being published as an ORF Monograph.

Occasional Papers

The following occasional papers are under publication by the Institute:

The Dynamics of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Commercial Maritime Infrastructure.
Asymmetric Warfare and Low Intensity Maritime Operations: Challenges for Indian Navy.

FUTURE IN-HOUSE PROJECTS

Cdr Vijay Sakhuja: Risk Assessment of Critical Maritime Infrastructure.

This study aims to draft a policy document on critical maritime infrastructure protection in India. It will provide government, public and private investors and maritime analysts and other maritime entities with a risk management methodology that can be used to conduct threat, vulnerability, and criticality assessments of their facilities and to determine cost-effective countermeasures to prevent, detect, and reduce threats to assets.

INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM WATCH PROGRAMME (ITWP)

The post-9/11 discovery of linkages of the jihadi terrorist organisations of Pakistan, aligned with the Al Qaeda in the International Islamic Front (IIF), with jihadi terrorist organisations of South-East Asia, the Central Asian Republics and Chechnya in Russia brought to the fore the importance of paying greater attention to a systematic study of the terrorist organisations of these regions and their linkages with the Al Qaeda.

Similarly, the discovery of the presence of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) in the Gulf region and its contacts with extremist elements in India underlined the likelihood of threats to India#146;s national security from the West Asian region. This threat has been magnified by the influx of a large number of non-Iraqi terrorists belonging to the Al Qaeda and other organisations allied with it, including some from Pakistan, into Iraq to wage a jihad against the US-led coalition there.

Since 9/11, international terrorism has taken a more lethal form and has undergone many mutations---from targeted killings to mass casualty terrorism; from attacks on hard targets to soft targets; from political to economic targets etc. The international community has reasons to apprehend likely resort to acts of maritime terrorism, acts of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) terrorism and cyber terrorism by the international terrorist organisations.

Likely threats to energy security from terrorist organisations have been a matter of increasing concern to the international community ever since the Al Qaeda extended its activities to Saudi Arabia.

In the light of these developments, the need to pay greater attention to likely threats from the international networking of terrorist organisations and to develop an expertise in the study and analysis of new mutations of terrorism such as maritime terrorism, WMD terrorism etc and likely threats to energy security from international terrorist organisations was felt. The Observer Research Foundation (ORF), in keeping with its policy of constantly looking far and ahead and developing a capability to anticipate the hitherto unanticipated, took the initiative in setting up the International Terrorism Watch Programme (ITWP) in order to fill up the existing gaps in research. The ITWP started functioning from January, 2004.

ACTIVITIES

Presently, the following are the activities of the ITWP:

Research on the activities of terrorist organisations and international terrorist incidents of concern to India and preparation of analytical reports. The reports prepared by the members of the Research Faculty of the ITWP are available at the web site of the ORF at www.orfonline.org . Some of these analytical reports are also often carried by the print and online media.
Participation of the members of the Research Faculty in electronic media discussions on developments relating to terrorism.
Interactions with the local experts and other sections of the elite on matters relating to terrorism in order to create an awareness of the threats.
Round Tables, national, regional and international Workshops, Seminars and Conferences
Publications.

INTERACTIONS

The ITWP has so far held public interactions on the following subjects relating to terrorism:

Future Terrorism held at Chennai on Jan.8, 2005, in which the then US Consul-General in Chennai and other experts participated.
The Global War on Terror: A Progress Report initiated by Dr. Ashley Tellis at New Delhi on Feb. 23, 2005.
The Madrid Summit on Terrorism, Democracy and Security, initiated by Mr.B.Raman, at New Delhi on March 24, 2005.
International Terrorism---An Update, initiated by Mr.B.Raman at Chennai on May 14, 2005.
The Implications of the LTTE acquiring an air-mounted capability----Initiated by Commodore Vasan at Chennai on June 25, 2005
Port Security and Terrorism held at Chennai on July 16, 2005 in which many serving and retired officers of the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Chennai Port Trust as well as a diplomat of the Office of the US Consulate-General participated.
Indo-US Co-operation in Counter-Terrorism, initiated by Ms Christine Fair of the US Institute of Peace, Washington DC, at Chennai on Aug.3, 2005.
The Role of the Diaspora in Sustaining Conflicts in their Home States initiated by Ms. Christine Fair at New Delhi on August 9, 2005.

In addition, a number of interactions on Iraq and other terrorism related issues were also organised at Chennai.

A Round Table on Ayodhya and London---Lessons for the Future, held at New Delhi on July 29, 2005 was co-ordinated by Ms Swati Parashar. This was attended by a galaxy of retired chiefs of intelligence and other retired civil servants, who had in the past contributed to policy-making in security-related matters, and non-governmental experts.

PUBLICATIONS

An edited compilation of the papers presented at the Workshop on Maritime Counter-Terrorism is being published. The papers are already available at the ORF Web site: http://www.orfonline.org/reports/maritime/mpapers.htm
An edited compilation of the papers presented at the Workshop on Naxalite Violence is also being published.
A report on the Round-Table on London and Ayodhya: Lessons for the Future is also being published.

Current Focus

At the International Terrorism Watch Programme, the thrust of work is on understanding the various internal security threats that India is faced with -- cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the insurgencies in the North East and the Maoist-Naxalite movement in India. Further, major emphasis of research is on the Maoist-Naxalite movement as it has emerged as the single largest security threat to the country. Research papers, one monograph and a few brainstorming sessions are being planned for the year ahead.

Also, two important studies are being conducted on terrorism in South East Asia in order to assess if their impact on India, or have implications for the security of country.

The International Terrorism Watch Programme is also considering constituting a Task Force comprising well known analysts, experts and policy makers from the various countries of the South Asian region to analyse and compare state response to terrorism in South Asia and draw lessons, especially for India, from each other's experiences.