289 results found
China's assessment of its threat environment has evolved under President Xi Jinping, who underscores the imperative of bolstering traditional and non-traditional security. The Chinese Communist Party believes that inimical forces will attempt to overthrow it by penetrating the ideological sphere. Additionally, following the tumultuous presidential succession in the US in 2021, China has sought to cast doubts on the virtues of democracy, and is le
The political ambitions of a few could potentially derail the Indian defence purchase mechanism for a long time to come. This will delight our nation's adversaries.
This brief examines state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, taking the cases of India, Israel, Brazil, Hungary and the United States. It studies the language utilised by the government leaders in these countries and finds extensive war-time semantics. The brief explores the interrelationship of such rhetoric with the legitimisation of extreme measures through the construction of an issue as an “existential threat”— a process analysts call
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.
India is increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks that range from intrusions that affect the integrity of data to large-scale attacks aimed at bringing down critical infrastructure. This vulnerability is largely a function of India's digital economy, which is a "net information exporter" that relies heavily on devices manufactured outside the country. Another complicating factor is the density of India's cyberspace, which does not permit a unifor
Ensuring national security is an important attribute of a modern nation-state. But as the erstwhile Soviet Union realised, the threats to the state these days do not come from orthodox sources. And looking at India with its nuclear weapons and huge armies, it is even more difficult to believe that any combination of external and internal threats can actually pose an existential challenge to the nation.
Narcoterrorism—or the trafficking of illicit drugs by terrorist and insurgent groups—has long threatened India’s national security. Security agencies are attempting to address this challenge, which involves various groups like Khalistani terrorist organisations, Kashmir’s separatist militants, and insurgent groups in the Northeast; their efforts have achieved mixed results. This brief examines recent trends in drug trafficking and narcote
Linking Aadhaar to nearly everything creates a “map of maps” that is vulnerable at multiple points.
Policymakers and practitioners are leading the emerging consensus on the need to fundamentally reassess assumptions
The broad thrust of the NSS document transcends Trump and reflects a growing consensus in the American establishment that China is an adversary. As far as India is concerned, this is the good news.
India, in the new report, falls squarely in the “opportunity” category, rather than in that of “threats” or even “competition” for the US.
The country won’t have the resources required to modernise and equip the armed forces, or the wherewithal to project power in its neighbourhood and beyond.
India needs to be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences for its national security.
The UPA government has allowed the withering away of the Prime Minister's Office as the ultimate source of authority in policy-making. The latest developments on the Indo-Pak LoC demand that the Congress party focus urgently on revamping the defence establishment and reclaiming the PMO's authority to coordinate national security policy.
Modi’s re-election assures India’s allies that Delhi will play a leading role in shaping the new world order
The Munich Security Conference Core Group Meeting is beginning in New Delhi from Tuesday. Around 70 senior decision-makers from politics, business, media and civil society from India, as well as the Euro-Atlantic, Asian and the Middle East region will discuss key issues of international security policy.
The rapid pace of digitalisation poses new national security risks for countries like India, a country with over 700 million internet users. The multilayered digital ecosystem comprising of infrastructure, devices and applications is complex, and security threats evolve at a breakneck pace. This makes it difficult for states to develop an effective response to individual or organisational security threats. India therefore has often had to resort
China has criticized the latest round of new rules by saying that it will “disrupt the international semiconductor market as well as cooperation among enterprises.”
Former NDA prime minister Vajpayee kept the professional hawks in the national security establishment and the conservatives in his own party BJP at bay in the making of India's foreign policy. It is not clear if Narendra Modi can sustain a similar freedom of action for his government.
Pakistan trusted and gave too much independence, which was misused by AQ Khan to the detriment of Pakistan's national security and international embarrassment, says Brig. Khan....
The National Security Initiative of the Observer Research Foundation held a workshop to examine the relevance of the Army Aviation Corps. This report details the outcome of a discussion amongst prominent defence personnel.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Wednesday (June 27) released the new ORF publication, titled The New Asian Power Dynamic, edited by Mr. Maharajakrishna Rasgotra, Adviser to ORF Chairman and convenor of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB).
The National Security Council Secretariat, headed by top spy Ajit Doval, may have gotten a staggering 311% increase in funds this year to tackle issues at the intersection of cybersecurity and nuclear weapon delivery systems.
In the prevailing era of strategic uncertainty, Special Forces (SF) provide the most reliable means to a government for the application of military force to achieve national security objectives. The SF components of a nation¿s military and other security forces are force multipliers in times of both war and peace.
26 November 2018 marked a decade since 10 Pakistan-based terrorists killed over 160 people in India’s financial capital of Mumbai. The city remained under siege for days, and security forces disjointedly struggled to improvise a response. The Mumbai tragedy was not the last terrorist attack India faced; there would be many others since. After every attack, the government makes lukewarm attempts to fit episodic responses into coherent frameworks
With the traditional liberal order appearing agile, new questions on international security and peacemaking have come to the fore. In the current context, global players are according Afghanistan greater strategic importance. As NATO troops continue to make headway in that region into the safe havens of ISIS, and with US posturing purportedly getting more robust, China’s role in Afghanistan merits scrutiny. Even though China’s involvement, mi
Japan's recently approved Defence White Paper has pointed out discomforting Chinese maritime activities in the region, military modernisation and the opacity about China's goals as challenges to Japan's national security.
Little-known Party commission ‘may expand role in China’s national security and other roundups from behind the great wall
The annual parliamentary sittings of China’s National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference—usually held at the same time—are important political events, with speeches of leaders at the meetings reflecting the country’s policy trajectory. During the last sessions of both in March 2023, President Xi Jinping noted that western countries led by the United States (US) are seeking to “contain and en
The UPA's policy failures on Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have generated much bemoaning in Delhi's national security establishment about the breakdown of the rules of the republic that made the conduct of foreign policy the sole responsibility of the Centre. A closer look reveals that it is not the states that are exercising a veto over foreign policy decisions.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) appears to be gaining momentum in formulating collective strategies to combat non-traditional security threats in the subregion. This brief describes how BIMSTEC had focused on bilateralism or trilateralism from its inception in 1997 until 2015, thereby failing to pursue a more comprehensive and long-term approach to addressing the common threats to their
This brief traces the history of the development and deployment of conventional submarines. It analyses their shortcomings and examines how these have been progressively addressed over the years, particularly in the realm of battlefield transparency. Greater stealth, long-range weapons and large weapon loads, when coupled with accurate positional information of targets, have improved the combat capability of modern conventional submarines, narrow
Drone or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) technology has become more accessible and affordable in recent years, and their increasing long-range capability, endurance, and applications, have made them integral for both civilian and military uses. At the same time, malicious elements such as criminal networks, drug smuggling syndicates and terrorist organisations, have exploited the technology to aid their activities. For India, the increase
India's reliance on outer space has become critical in its social and economic growth stories in addition to its transformative impact in the national security context. With growing reliance comes vulnerability to adversarial attempts to harm India's capabilities, particularly from the new threat of cyber warfare. Even as countries including India have debated the need to develop certain counter-space capabilities, such as demonstration of an ASA
India needs to effectively counter the menace of China-Pakistan cyber collaboration as it has not just national security implications, but indeed implications for India’s democracy as a whole
As the world grapples with uncertainty in the post-COVID-19 era, China appears to be focusing on bolstering its rural economy. China claims to have brought nearly 100 million people out of poverty since 2012, but the regime feels that unbalanced development can jeopardise the gains of poverty alleviation. The widening economic gap could also foment unrest in the rural areas. Additionally, the government believes that the reliance on grain
The Biden administration is seeking to establish a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy as part of its national security. This issue brief analyses the US’s cyber threat landscape and examines the Biden administration’s cybersecurity strategy. It explores the strategy’s ideological, geopolitical, technological, and diplomatic significance in a rapidly shifting domain.
The opacity in the Rafale deal only raises doubts, with its fallout on national security and the 'Make in India' programme.
The Ministry of Defence released the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 (DAP 2020) in September last year, in a move to further streamline the procurement process and provide a boost to indigenous arms manufacturing. This brief argues that measures articulated in the DAP—highly anticipated as it was—need to be complemented by additional reforms to create a robust procurement machinery that supports faster and cheaper acquisition as well as hi
The emergence of Bangladesh as the new hub of international Islamist terrorism, insurgency in Nepal and Maoist militancy across several states, add new challenges to national security threats that India traditionally tackles. Despite these, India's defence expenditure continues to decrease in real terms and as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year.
The norm to protect the public core of the internet, originally advocated by the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy, can be operationalised in two ways. Both a layered approach and a functional approach to defining the public core of the internet provide productive ways to discuss safeguarding the functionality and integrity of the core logical and physical infrastructure of the internet from unwarranted state interventions. Thi
Access to, and development of indigenous digital platforms and cutting-edge technologies is imperative for robust socio-economic development and national security. In turn, such process needs to be democratised, and undertaken in a sustainable manner. India is a first mover in this novel idea of democratising technology and developing Digital Public Goods. Operationalised in the digital infrastructure called India Stack, India’s strategy aims t
The President-elect Donald Trump has already confirmed that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn will serve as the next National Security Advisor
Technology affects us in positive ways yet can also be disruptive; such is the case with Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA or more commonly known as drones). While drones are proving to be useful for military, commercial, civilian, and even humanitarian activities, their unregulated use carries serious consequences that need to be addressed. This paper examines drone operations in India and analyses the major policy gaps in the country’s evolving
In September 2002, the Bush administration officially introduced its national security strategy report. In response to the devastating attacks on the epicentre of America's financial and defence establishment, President Bush outlined the fundamental tenets of a strategy that was authored to contend with changes caused due to the "profound transformation" in the current security environment. President Bush proclaimed that, in order to protect Amer
Cyber Warfare (CW) and Electronic Warfare (EW) are crucial to combat in modern warfare. Both are products of Signals Intelligence and constitute one part of Information Warfare (IW) and what is known as Network Centric Warfare (NCW). This paper explores how the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China and the Indian Army (IA) have approached CW and EW. Both the PLA and the IA acknowledge NCW as doctrinally important. Organisationally and in Comm
