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The apex court’s national anthem order is expanding its role and deciding it is at once lawmaker, rule-enforcer, adjudicator, and now moral guardian.

Storm strikes are common in the Indian Sundarbans Delta on the northern Bay of Bengal and will only become more frequent and intense in this era of climate change. Every time a cyclone has hit the Sundarbans, the attempt has been to adapt in situ by creating protective infrastructure, and later return to the same conditions prevailing prior to the disaster. Such reliance on the notion of ‘resilience’ has become increasingly unsustainable and

Strategic clarity is often a by-product of wars and as nations count their dead, they also recognise their true friends as well as the limits of their liberal illusions about managing relationships with adversaries who see violence as perfectly legitimate instrumentality in pursuit of power and ambition.

Given India's high stakes in the Indian Ocean, it is important for it to ponder the possibility of using both soft and hard power resources to create dependencies for the other countries, and the same time, seek possibilities to engage with China.

A solely American perspective would be ill-suited to understanding the complex dynamics and goals of China's military ambitions

India and Japan’s economic vision is that of an ‘Asia and Africa Growth Corridor’ (AAGC) empowering states to peacefully counter and constrain Chinese revisionism. However, a stable AAGC will depend on enhanced security cooperation and the current rules-based order upheld by the US-led security framework. While current Indian and Japanese engagements in Asia are conducive to successful cooperation, weaker economic and military engagements w

India-Canada relations have deteriorated to unprecedented levels, fueled by accusations and retaliations over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's handling of Sikh separatism and his political motives have worsened bilateral ties, leading to a severe trust deficit.

It is indeed tempting to wax eloquent about the shikaras full of tourists on the Dal Lake in Srinagar and the peace moves in the air between India and Pakistan. However, a pragmatic assessment of the military situation in the fifteenth year of insurgency reveals that a state of strategic stalemate now prevails in Jammu and Kashmir (J).

The focus on the Henderson-Brooks report creates a bias in our minds that the failure of 1962 was that of the Army. Perhaps that is what the babus and politicians wanted. In fact, the real failure was of the Nehru government's China policy and the management of that policy.

This paper examines India’s ‘two-front’ dilemma in view of its conflicts with China and Pakistan, and the possibility that these two adversaries could join forces. The author studies historical events that could help outline the strategies that have been undertaken by certain countries to combat the combined power of multiple adversaries, usually exceeding their own. These include the Napoleonic strategy and the Israeli experience. In analy

From Iran's perspective, Israel breached a critical threshold by attacking its diplomatic mission, which Tehran deemed its sovereign territory

Compellence is a word derived from nuclear weapons theory.is being used in the conventional context in relation to India and Pakistan

Taking care of the urgent requirements, the new Cabinet Committee on Security of the Modi government should insist on a radical overhaul of the national security system before funding new acquisitions.

The discussion covered various aspects of video streaming ecosystem interspersed with insightful panel discussions.

Large numbers of people, most of them women, are trafficked in the Bay of Bengal region. Despite these countries having anti-trafficking laws in place in line with the United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol, the incidence of the criminal activity continues unabated. This brief gives an overview of human trafficking in the Bay of Bengal region, particularly around the contiguous zone of India–Nepal–Bangladesh, which has become a hub of

India’s geopolitically sensitive location and complex relationships with neighbours, global powers, and non-state actors necessitate national security strategies that include the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) domain. This paper discusses the current threat scenario related to CBRN technologies; it makes a case for leveraging multilateral cooperation through alliances like the Quad and regional partnerships to strengthen

India’s August 2021 presidency of the United Nations Security Council allowed New Delhi to exhibit clout, creativity, and diplomacy, as it pushed for its inclusion in the Council permanently. Such a push reignites the “responsible stakeholder” debate in Washington and other Western capitals, particularly to gauge India’s rise against the interests of the US and its allies. This brief argues that the West needs to reassess India in a renew

This brief tackles the crucial role of public diplomacy in enhancing India's global influence. It argues that India should exert effort to communicate its rich cultural heritage and economic growth story to foreign audiences, and recommends a roadmap that involves linking public diplomacy to national security, the establishment of a specialised public diplomacy agency, and creating the position of a chief public diplomat. A well-structured public

The question of municipal leadership is of great significance in urban governance in India. There are various models of the position of chief executive of an urban local body (ULB), predominantly tilting towards the ‘strong mayor’ model either through ‘presidentialisation’ of the office or through a ‘mayor-in-council’[1] system. In India, it is the ‘state appointed municipal commissioner’ model that holds sway, sitting over a popu

Small satellites have gained considerable importance in recent years. Although small spacecraft have existed for decades, their military applications have recently gained prominence owing to technological advances in their development and integration into the armed services of the major spacefaring countries across the world. This paper analyses the significance of small satellites in the C4ISR capabilities of the three service branches of the In

India and France, amid intensifying geopolitical trends in the Indo-Pacific region, are likely to build an even closer partnership.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the formal schooling system in India, as it has across the globe, causing massive pressure on the online education sector. This paper analyses the state of digitalised education in India. It outlines current government guidelines on digital-mode schooling, and uses the case of Maharashtra’s five-year-old efforts at digitalising government schools to gauge preparedness for implementing the guidelines. It highl

Street vending was illegal in urban India for almost six decades until the passage of the Street Vendors Act in 2014. Despite the law having legalised the activity, however, the default policy in most cities across India is to clamp down on street hawkers. Yet street vending remains a viable source of employment for many. As the pace of urbanisation increases across India, it is only likely that a greater number of street traders will contest for

China's increased assertiveness in the South China Sea has been pushing Japan and Vietnam towards greater security cooperation. Bilateral security cooperation has been increasing.

With ever-expanding engagement, India and the United States develop their foreign policies, distinguishing priorities from irritants

Safer cities are a product of technology, policing, community participation, education, and planning and architectural design. In the policy frame, focus should be on inclusive development, participatory approaches, identity mainstreaming, and sustainable urban development to create a more equal and tolerant urban society.

The political mess in Nepal presents a very difficult challenge for India. Nepal is geo-politically too sensitive for India to detach itself from developments there. We have to be ever watchful of the inroads China makes.

This return to business as usual is reflective of the wariness on both sides to escalate the crisis further and prevent it from metastasising into a new front of conflict.

While India is looking to the UN to manage the cyber challenges, America and China are exploring bilateral solutions that could eventually be imposed on the rest of the world. That is very similar to what happened in the nuclear arena five decades ago.

Like China did in the early 1980s, India needs to exploit the opportunity of good relations with the US to become a stronger economic and military power. Indeed, as a decisive leader, Modi could well transform the relationship with the US and enable it to reach its full potential.

At the heart of Italy’s Indo-Pacific vision lies the understanding of this region as the neighbourhood of its strategic Mediterranean Sea.