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Following up with the SIPRI-ORF-SWF seminar in New Delhi earlier this year, the Secure World Foundation organised a panel discussion in Washington on "India's Military Space Efforts and Regional Security Considerations".

India's decision to go for the European option in the 42000 crores MMRCA deal is going to hurt India in politico-strategic terms compared to any possible significant gains. Not just numerical superiority and costs but more importantly the strategic benefits should have been the guiding factors in making the decision on MMRCA.

For India's current administration, beset with corruption scandals, letting technical merits alone determine the MMRCA decision was probably the politically easiest choice. But its strategic merits are somewhat less clear.

Behind the Navy's success is project management. The managing directors of all the key shipyard are retired navy officers. Some, but not all, of these officers are engineers. Indeed, it is not their engineering skills that matter in the job they are doing, but their managerial abilities.Having served the Navy for a long time, they have considerable knowledge of the user's requirements, as well as the ability to manage large work teams.

At moments like this in Delhi, of political surrealism and bizarre events, it is worth turning to Robert Greene's "The 48 Laws of Power". Greene describes how politicians and leaders elsewhere in the world and, in history, had conducted themselves.

A digital revolution in MSMEs' access to credit might accelerate growth and prosperity - if policymakers focus on simplicity, access, and human capital.

The talk on India's participation at the Nuclear Suppliers Group has initiated a discourse on the future of the Group, with particular reference to the Group's relationship with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The Modi government’s recalibration of India’s Middle East policy goes underappreciated.

India's diluted version of the 'No First Use' nuclear doctrine makes an already dangerous security situation in South Asia more dangerous still. Everyone would be better off if the government did away with it.The problem is that no political group currently has the wherewithal to try to fix these ambiguities.

MoEF, on the one hand, abruptly enforces the 'no-go' rule on 203 coal blocks with a potential output of 660 million tonne of coal per annum, jeopardising power generation, while on the other, it talks about developmental needs taking precedence over environmental and safety concerns when it comes to nuclear power plants.

A study conducted by Observer Research Foundation in 2014-15 found that India has a fairly strong nuclear security policy.

India's obsession with Pakistan is making it overlook its relationship with other neighbours, observed Bangladesh scholar Rounaq Jahan during a discussion on Bangladesh at Observer Research Foundation.

While India is preparing to give up one of the blocks it has been drilling in, it has no intention of abandoning its search for oil and natural gas in the South China Sea.

While India has been mature in assuaging the concerns of Bangladesh on issues like the shooting of Bangladeshis by the BSF, policymakers should still reach out to other political actors so as to ensure that there's a genuine and sustainable improvement in bilateral relations.

The Indian Government's ratification on June 23 of the IAEA Additional Protocol, which is essentially a component of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, will allow the international nuclear body to monitor India's civilian nuclear programme with ease.

India is a dialogue partner of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF), and PM Modi has acted to enhance India’s involvement with the region.

The quest for a permanent seat is another challenge altogether. There is little appetite for UN reform in the international system, and there is no one big driver. Certainly, the US, without the support of which India cannot make it to the high table, has no interest in it right now.

Though India is yet to demonstrate anti-satellite test capability, as China did in January 2007, the scientific establishment has made it amply clear that they have the technological blocks ready should there be a political decision to do so.

Incidents in China should serve as a reminder that racial bias against Africans will be counterproductive for countries wanting to pursue a holistic partnership with African countries.

Alexander of Greece, the Scythians, Genghis Khan, Mahmud Ghazni (17 times), Mohammed Ghori, Timur the Lame and the Mughals, among others, all invaded India through the Khyber Pass. But, like it is said of the Bourbons of France, though we forgot nothing, we learnt nothing.

Given the centrality of the Indian Ocean to its national security, it is time for India to leverage existing and emerging multilateral platforms to engage deeply with partner countries and take on a greater leadership role in the Indian Ocean Region.

If India were able to sustain the launches of remote sensing satellites as per the plans, it would significantly beef up its ability to deliver services, products and other inputs in the field of climate, cartography and agriculture.

The most important reason for Sri Lankan government's failure to move on reconciliation is the incapacity to work positively with moderate Tamil forces, according to Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, M.P. And in reaching out to Tamil parties, India's role is crucial.

Whatever fighters India might opt to purchase would attempt to rectify imbalances in this mix.

It's now a battle to the finish. The amazing diversity of the digital world is seen as a threat by a coterie of bureaucrats who are going all out to annihilate it.

As in Nepal, in India too, the Maoists have been waging a People's War in 13 States of the Indian Union. Indian policy-makers and media refrain from calling them Maoists, possibly due to a fear that characterising them as Maoists might create negative perceptions of China in the minds of the public, at a time when the relations between the two countries are improving.

Though the importance of the Maritime Silk Route, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is laid on promoting greater economic integration and boosting connectivity through the Indian Ocean, the strategic significance of such a project cannot be underestimated.

Narendra Modi seems serious about building 100 smart cities. Just look at how the port city of Dholera in Gujarat is shaping up. It's might as well become an emblematic talisman of how a few handpicked men and women can build a new urban India at breakneck speed.

In June 2015 the Modi government launched the Smart Cities Mission, a major urban development initiative designed to improve living conditions and achieve higher economic growth in 100 cities across the country. The Mission offers the State and city governments yet another opportunity to think creatively and work towards the betterment of their cities. Will India succeed in this venture, and would the future 'smart cities' be equitable and sustai

India needs to embrace the idea of soft power, and abandon the misconception that 'soft' power somehow equates to a soft country, says Ms Mira Kamdar, a noted author. She believes there is hope, since the Indian people are not taking injustices lying down.

Commercial interests in the outer space domain calls for new innovative thinking if India has to be able to retain its presence. The Indian political leadership needs to take ownership of this domain and dictate new plans and priorities for the future.

Over and above the stated causes, reasons and justification, the Indian 'abstention' on the anti-Sri Lanka vote at the UNHRC this time was a 'message' in itself. Intended or otherwise, the 'message' was for the West-dominated 'international community' on the one hand, and the Sri Lankan stakeholders on the other.

With Narendra Modi pursuing a very active Indian Ocean region diplomacy, Maldives cannot be kept away from his outreach programme. Maldives is key to our strategic interests in the Indian Ocean and any instability or discord in its internal affairs would have a bearing on our security.

Modi does it again.

Across the world, workforces 'stranded' by technological, regulatory, or climatic change have become politically crucial to the rise of populism

Delivering the 30th Bhimsen Sachar Memorial Lecture for 2009 in New Delhi, the former Chief of the Army Staff highlights the flaws in India's strategic thinking and stresses the need for a more focused and clearly defined vision for the future.

Vietnam has its own difficult history with China. It is not surprising, then, that this emerging country is often seen as a linchpin in India's counter-encirclement and "Look East" policies.

With the objective of discussing India's strategy for oil and gas sector development, ORF, the International Energy Agency and the Korea Energy Economics organised a roundtable on "An Overview on India's Oil and Gas Upstream Sectors and Its Overseas Investment".