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It has historically been assumed that while the nature of war remains the same—i.e., violence inflicted on the adversary to bend them to one’s will—the character of warfare changes with technology, organisation, politics and culture. This notion has changed. Over the past decade, the nature of war has also changed, with increased use of non-contact and non-kinetic modes of warfare expanding the battlefield spatially and temporally.

New Delhi and Canberra are likely to conclude the much-awaited Mutual Logistics Sharing Pact — as well as other agreements covering science and technology and public administration.

The Central Asian Republics (CARs) have, in recent years, implemented multifaceted foreign policies to achieve strategic autonomy and limit China’s influence and Russia's traditional sway. But domestic uprisings in the CARs, the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan, and now the Russia-Ukraine conflict have given China new opportunities to strengthen its presence in Central Asia. This brief investigates China's increased engagement with the CARs

We can turn blue in the face discussing the importance of the rule of law but more than its imposition, isn’t it the responsibility of every citizen to follow the law, both in letter and spirit?

Egypt’s labour market is marked by systemic skills mismatches, geographic inequalities, and rising automation risks. A new AI-powered observatory analyses online job postings to offer a scalable model for data-driven workforce planning in the digital age.

India’s desire to reconfigure the global balance of power is predicated on its ability to become an indispensable element in the global economic order. Thus, it is not surprising that the new foreign trade policy seems to shed the reticence of the past.

By announcing the American decision to ¿nominate¿ Pakistan as a ¿major non-NATO ally¿, US Secretary of State Colin Powell may have done a calculated disservice to the ongoing peace process between Islamabad and New Delhi. His reference to greater military-to-military cooperation with Islamabad may have stirred,

India’s endeavour to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a well-defined and time-bound manner is critical for national and global development. This paper examines India’s data availability to assess the SDGs related to health and nutrition. While India is still facing severe challenges of generating disaggregated information on mortality and cause-specific deaths, the desired data on nutrition and healthcare utilisation are la

In March 2019, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) rolled out the Bulk Data Sharing Policy for its databases. The policy states that organisations must pay an annual fee of INR 3 crore, and research and education 1 institutions INR 5 lakh, to access the databases in four data dumps. In the absence of a data protection law, sectoral regulators and ministries are issuing their own data 2 policies. Though the policy claims that the d

The new Indo-Pacific strategy by the European Union (EU) follows previous measures to increase engagement with the region in the economic, security and connectivity domains. The plan indicates a clear intent to position the EU in the emerging global and regional governance structures, focusing on strategic autonomy, inclusivity, the rules-based order, and common public goods. Implementing the action plan based on the strategy is likely to face nu

The paper provides an understanding of high flows in a river system by explaining the hydro-meteorological, hydro-geomorphological, ecological and socio-economic dimensions of monsoon-related high-flows in the Ganga-Padma river system straddling India and Bangladesh. The aim is to inform the existing flood management approach in India, which has failed to adequately incorporate the geomorphic, hydrologic, hydraulic and biological processes of riv

An end to the New START in 2021 will leave the arsenals of the two major nuclear powers unencumbered by any pact

Under the new Trump administration, the Indo-Pacific is likely to retain prominence but with a sharper focus on hard power dynamics

This paper explores the impact of India’s federal architecture, particularly its tax-sharing structure and system of fiscal transfers, on the state of the country’s healthcare. It examines the existing system of intergovernmental transfers and pays particular attention to the Fourteenth Finance Commission’s new devolution framework that has enhanced the previously constrained fiscal spaces of states. This, in turn, will likely have implicat

The phenomenon of individuals leaving their home country and making their way to conflict zones to join terror and insurgent groups is not new. In the past few years, however, the numbers of these “foreign fighters” have increased: thousands of people from more than 80 countries have made their way to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and other battle zones. As countries in the West struggled to deal with these intra-geographic threats from radicalis

While Kremlin may be playing to a Russian audience by blocking the West, broader interests, namely, geopolitics, multilateralism, regional stability, and doubts about the feasibility of UNSC resolutions drive its actions in Syria.

The Modi government should recognise the advantages of a defence diplomacy that mobilises external partnerships to accelerate India's defence modernisation, shapes its regional strategic environment and helps Delhi emerge as an indispensable element of a new balance of power system in the Indo-Pacific.

India began investing in Space science and technologies in the 1960s, putting in place an administrative structure similar to that for Atomic Energy. However, unlike the atomic energy domain which came under the 1948 Atomic Energy Act (revised in 1962), the country’s space activities are yet to be regulated by specific legislation. India’s space agency, ISRO, has historically viewed space technology applications primarily for societal develop

The US Congressional Staff was pointed out that though Pakistan's political machinery is willing to work with all parties, including India, on Afghanistan, the army apparatus and the ISI still remains a liability. These factors must be taken into account while US deals with Pakistan.

By entering the scene though a little late in the day, SLMC president Rauff Hakeem on the one hand, and the People's Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT), the latter the political outfit floated by the LTTE as far back as 1989, have made the 10 May polls to the Provincial Council high profile and interesting at the same time.

Joe Biden’s decision may have the potential to drag the Trump administration into the conflict.

India’s aspirations to become the third largest economy in the world by 2027, and a developed country by 2047, need to be backed by a liquid, deep, and well-functioning debt market—something that the country does not have. Banks in India typically lack the ability to sponsor long-term projects because their liabilities are of a relatively shorter tenure. An efficient Indian corporate bond market with lower costs and faster issuances could pro

The sharpest and the most explicit critique of the US in Ufa Delcaration is its failure to ratify the IMF 2010 reform package. The second major criticism is over the on-going furore over governance of the internet. The BRICS countries see the ICT sector as a critical platform they can leverage in their transition from emerging to developed economies.

The strategic location of these islands demands New Delhi’s full attention as it can open new vistas for India’s maritime strategy

The Andhra crisis illustrates the inability of the UPA government to arrive at a decision in respect of the Telangana problem. This attitude of drift has been noticed for well over 50 years. And the Centre has shown little understanding while handling with socio-political issues of Telugu speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras Presidency.

The Indian Army and the much-vilified social media is coming to the rescue of hapless victims of unprecedented flood in J&K. The use of social media for malicious purposes is proven. The use of the medium to incite and radicalise is also rampant. Yet it is a force for good as we saw this past week. Challenge and vilify the user, do not condemn the tool.

The events after the presentation of the 'Jan Lok Pal Bill' draft by 'Team Anna' has unfolded on expected lines. The Government's softened Bill, defending its politico-constitutional position on the inclusion of Prime Minister.

One year after the first deaths due to COVID-19 were announced, the world is still grappling with the twinned health and economic crises resulting from the pandemic. At the start of 2021, it is evident that an uneven economic recovery has taken shape across the globe, with some countries — such as Taiwan and Vietnam — having experienced remarkably few cases, whilst others — namely, the US, India, Brazil, and parts of Europe — are still co

This report explores the economic and geopolitical impacts of climate change, highlighting the mitigated energy crisis in Europe, inflation trends, and global monetary policies. It discusses investment opportunities in sustainable travel and emerging markets, particularly in Asia, amidst the evolving energy landscape and consumer behaviors post-COVID, in the year 2023.

What is bewildering is the stone silence on the part of ordinary Americans who are being hoodwinked by the Obama administration into believing that funnelling money and weapons to Pakistan's rogue military would help in winning strategic goals. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Did Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru fight British colonialism? If they did, is it not ironical that New Delhi should be seen to be supportive of the French neo-colonial effort in Mali?

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....

Regimes sympathic to the Palestinian plight would, to that extent, be insulted from peoples' wrath in Syria and Libya, for instance. Demonstrations in Iran and Libya are part of the internal turmoil in these countries, unrelated to the Palestinian issue.

Bush years were, of course, guided by more crude principles. But consider military action against Qadaffi's Libya keeping Albright's perspective in mind.

As climate risks deepen, we cannot afford a policy framework that separates legal neatness from ecological function

India-US defence ties have been improving significantly.

It seems unlikely that the bilateral relations will improve significantly — there are a couple of indicators of the slight improvement in the relations.

The October 29 serial blasts in Delhi are a warning to all of us who are basking in the afterglow of a make-believe harmony across the Line of Control. Opening bus routes, transit points, good wishes, hugs, flowers, smiles are all fine and necessary in one way to engage a neighbour who has been more of an adversary in the past half-a-century of its existence.

Baiting Pakistan into increasing its duplicity in its dealings with Nato, India has effectively provided the West with a convenient scapegoat. Come 2014, the historical narrative will more likely focus on betrayal rather than the reality of the West's bad homework and flawed assumptions.

Real impetus for India's expansion of its second-strike capability is, in fact, the significant growth of the Pakistani and Chinese navies in the Indian Ocean.

India has been proactive in the Arms Trade Treaty debate and has submitted its views on the issue. Currently, the debate is shifting towards the content of the treaty. Differences continue to exist, but India feels the final treaty should emerge by consensus.

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.

Exercise Sanghe Shakti, held over one week in Punjab in May 2006, was designed to test the Indian Army¿s new concept for offensive operations in the plains. This was the most recent in a series of annual exercises that have included Poorna Vijay (2001), Vijay Chakra, Divya Astra, Vajra Shakti (May 2005) and Desert Strike (November 2005), all of which were all aimed at concentrating and coordinating firepower and fine-tuning

In India, 600 million people face acute water shortages, and the demand for domestic water has risen by some 20 percent since COVID-19, as awareness about hygiene increased. The use of treated wastewater is among the strategies that can be employed to address the shortage. This brief makes an economic case for using treated water to plug the increasing demand-supply gap by comparing key learnings from successful global models and highlighting how

The use of America’s movie industry, or Hollywood, to advance an agenda is not new. This paper explores how China has expanded its financial footprint in Hollywood and consequently is able to use films for propaganda. It engages with the importance of propaganda and censorship in China, and how China has historically used mass media and other cultural tools to serve its political interests. It underlines the symbiotic nature of the rela