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The Modi government's policy of engagement, rather than isolation of sanctioned countries, is very much in line with its predecessor, United Progressive Alliance, led by Manmohan Singh. However, like Singh, Modi too has refrained from speaking on the issue of sanctions.

Experts from India and Germany, including academics, practitioners and policymakers, took part in a day-long seminar titled "Deconstructing the Economic Crisis" organised jointly by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS), Berlin.

Market disruptions and strategic concerns, followed by rapid diffusion, marked the sensational launch of China’s DeepSeek in January this year. This brief highlights how China’s ‘DeepSeek moment’ has unfolded within the wider context of its military might, manufacturing prowess, and robust network of regional and international institutions. It argues that the event introduced dimensions of national and economic security into the cascading

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

With a very high population density, India has to prevent the virus from reaching vulnerable populations through a systematic approach.

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.

Allocations made for capital expenditure must increase if India is to keep pace with China's rising military might

The primary structural problem of salaries and pension squeezing fiscal space for capital acquisition remains. However, the pattern of allocation on armaments sends a clear signal that the domestic industrial complex is prioritised and will be encouraged

China has discarded the traditional emphasis on criticising the arms control agreements promoted by the Western powers and focuses instead on securing Beijing's national interests by actively participating in international and regional military negotiations and shaping the international military norms.

Defence needs to be viewed as an integral part of national planning so as to comprehensively quantify the overall requirement to meet our legitimate security needs and strategic aspirations.

New Delhi realises it must be self-reliant in all significant areas relating to the military. Accordingly, it is working overtime to build its defence-industrial capacity, but it will not yield significant results for another two decades.

The long-term challenge for India is in ensuring deep and sustained investments in defence R&D and a defence industrial ecosystem that can, if not comprehensively, but for the most part, service the requirements of the Indian military.

There is need to re-prioritise the expensive items in the services' wish list in a manner that will not strain the economy, without necessarily increasing the vulnerability of the country.

At a time when advances in technology are revolutionising warfare, India is still debating the need to move towards leaner force structures. India needs to cut the flab on an urgent basis.

Resources are constraining the modernisation drives of India's three services. The government has not been able to check the growth of manpower in the Army and paramilitary forces. This has a direct repercussion on the modernisation plans of the military.

While allocations for the defence forces have been prioritized, the country's policymakers still grapple with the question: Despite spending billions, how strong is our Defence?

The defence component of the national budget accounts for 14% of central government expenditure, but gets less than 5% of media space. Virtually no discussion on the issue takes place in Parliament either. A call for increased resources for national defence usually goes out only when defence spending by Pakistan and China makes headlines.

Modi Govt's defence budget will only sharpen the divide between an increasingly assertive China and the Indian security establishment trying hard to cope up with the Chinese military modernisation programme. China's 2014 military budget is of $132 billion while Indian budget is of approximately US $ 37 bn only.

An all inclusive Defexpo would not only add greater character but also help the Indian companies explore the markets through a comparative framework and in turn enhance their manufacturing capabilities in the long term.

While many will be content to lay the blame only on China, questions also need to be asked about the systemic shortcomings in strategic analysis and intelligence.

Abdullah’s visit to India this week saw him underscoring the growing potency of India-Afghanistan ties in his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The DeFi landscape is complex, encompassing digital assets, blockchain technology, and tokenization. Despite skepticism, it holds potential for financial inclusion, improved taxation, and democratizing investment in private markets.

Some voices in India had advocated a tough response to the Chinese. This would be untimely and irresponsible. In retrospect, the handling of the situation which involved a symmetrical non-threatening military response by Indian forces, along with patient diplomacy has paid off.

Various Indian states have attempted to implement their respective deradicalisation programmes to counter radicalised thought amongst those identified as being at-risk, as well as those contemplating on joining, or are returning after having joined terror groups. Maharashtra and Kerala, for example, claim that their programmes are a success. Yet little is known regarding the structure of these deradicalisation programmes, their implementation, th

In the past decade, Japan made certain critical changes in its defence and security policy. These include enhancing the country’s defence capabilities, introducing the right to collective self-defence, abandoning the ban on arms exports, strengthening its alliance with the United States, and promoting its vision of a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’. Japan has introduced these changes incrementally, as a response to changing strategic circumsta

This paper explores the status and the need for the United States (US) to have a port-led strategy in place. Further, it argues that a strong port-led strategy straddling economic concerns with security imperatives on the back of its vast coastline and unmatched global network of overseas bases for the US could strongly support its Indo-Pacific strategy. A close examination of existing port-focused strategies by the US, particularly its Navy, and

The UAE’s tolerance agenda functions not merely as a domestic social policy but as a transnational strategy that diffuses values of coexistence across the region through its large Middle Eastern migrant population.

India will become a digital society. It is also deploying all the right pieces and infrastructure for a digital economy. The foundation for both will be the cloud ecosystem, which, however, needs to be protected through a robust policy and legal framework.

Social media’s impact on mainstream media, and the way people communicate with one another and disseminate information, has become a subject of serious study for journalists, academics and policymakers alike. While it has been a significant equaliser as a vehicle by which the fundamental right to freedom of expression is guaranteed everyone irrespective of class, creed or geography, these very same platforms are also becoming spaces where—in

Managing China is becoming a weightier challenge for the world, as the country’s economic, military and technological power grows. The challenge is more immense for India, given its border dispute with China and their geopolitical rivalry, overall. The relationship between the two Asian giants, also neighbours, went through a particularly troubled period in the last five years following the as-yet-unexplained Chinese incursions across the Line

This brief seeks to understand the importance of Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiatives in the Bay of Bengal undertaken by the BIMSTEC countries individually, and the dynamics of their collaboration as a subregional forum. It opens with an analysis of the turbulent nature of the Bay of Bengal, because of which disaster management gains paramount importance for the littoral states. The aim is to understand the BIMSTEC countries’

While arguments over methodologies and calculations will find its way to the courts, the telecom regulator believes that symmetry in tariffs will bring about symmetry in traffic.

The moment finance minister Pranab Mukherjee announced a mere 4% nominal increase in defence budget pegged at Rs 1,47,344 crore for 2010-11, members of Indian strategic community started showing their frustrations.

Across the globe, more than 730 million women report ever having experienced some form of gender-based violence; those in low- and lower-middle-income countries are disproportionately affected. In the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the incidence of violence suffered by women in the hands of their intimate partners, owing to heightened stresses of loss of livelihood, disruption of social and protective networks, a

The United States (US) is recalibrating its strategy in the Indian Ocean, driven by the region’s rapidly evolving geopolitical and geostrategic landscape. The US approach has moved from unilateral dominance to a more collaborative strategy that emphasises shared leadership through a technology-driven security paradigm. This paradigm supports a rule-based order where regional stakeholders are empowered to adopt more significant roles. The founda

Trump's move is likely to be temporary, as he is keen to show that he has upheld his election commitments.

No one believes that India would wipe out Lahore, if Pakistan used a low yield nuclear weapon against an Indian military formation, and that, too, in Pakistan.