shutterstock_1787861693 Courtesy: Shutterstock
21 October 2020

Riparian Governance in South Asia

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The record of regional cooperation on rivers since India's independence in 1947 is one of several successes, with some contestations. In contrast to the past when governments strove to divide and share river waters, the endeavor has now shifted to thinking about comprehensive river basin development which makes the process even more complex. India’s policy on transboundary river governance must now also be aware of the increasing importance of Indo-Pacific in the global geopolitics.

shutterstock_600118958 Courtesy: Shutterstock
20 October 2020

Re-assessing India’s Non-Personal Data

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India is ahead of the curve in considering the regulation of non-personal data. The July 2020 Report by the government-appointed Gopalakrishnan Committee evaluated several aspects of non-personal data including its monetisation. An analysis of the Report, however, reveals some lacunae and questions on the early nature of the assessment since India has yet not yet established rules on the governance of personal data.

shutterstock_1164717811 Courtesy: Shutterstock
30 September 2020

Start-ups in India’s defence sector

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Start-ups are the latest entrants in the defence manufacturing sector. They have greater access through the Innovations in Defence Excellence programme. The technologies developed by them will add to the Indian military’s operational and combat capabilities. Beyond the obvious market for the defence forces, there is also the huge homeland security market in India and abroad for the start-ups.

shutterstock_1799297029 Courtesy: Shutterstock
21 September 2020

China wins this TikTok round

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With Oracle, Walmart and U.S. venture capitalists now holding the majority of TikTok Global’s shareholding, China’s closed digital world gets a breather, and the possibility of a truly open global Internet, gets a blow. China has won this round.

shutterstock_289197416 Courtesy: Shutterstock
20 August 2020

China’s Global Push: is a backlash building?

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The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated geopolitical changes. Countries around the world are becoming increasingly concerned about the nature of China’s global advances. China, at the urging of President Xi Jinping, is pursuing technological goals and investment programs to build a China-centric global model, not to mention its militarization of the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

shutterstock_371039261 Courtesy: Shutterstock
13 August 2020

India’s Defence-Industrial Agenda

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The delivery of five Rafale fighter jets last month is a big boost for Indian military capacity. The government's recent ban on the import of 101 defence items is a major step forward in building domestic defence-industrial capabilities. Partnering with like-minded diplomatic partners and adopting emerging technologies will help India in this endeavour.

CG Courtesy: USGS/Wikimedia
6 August 2020

Geospatial shutter control for India

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The recent use of geospatial analyses by Indian social and mainstream media for near real-time defence and military intelligence in Ladakh has been made possible because of the lower cost of earth-observation satellite construction, and thereby, easy access to satellite imagery on the internet. While independent analysis is useful, the same intelligence can be also used against the interests of a sovereign nation by an adversary, especially border imagery. India must find innovative methods to reduce this vulnerability of commercial satellite imagery.

CIGI Courtesy: Press Information Bureau
6 August 2020

India’s geopolitical time has come

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In the past five months, India has seen great change: ambitious economic reforms, billions in U.S. digital investments and a determined military and digital push back against China. India is now using the strategic and market weight of its 1.3 billion population and openly taking geopolitical sides to achieve its desired positioning, namely, to be a reliable partner in a more equitable global supply chain of virtual, physical and geopolitical elements.

BF_Final Courtesy: Uday Deb/Times of India
12 July 2020

Chinese 5G: Kiss of death

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After the strategic digital pushback against Chinese investments and apps, India should turn its attention to the biggest Chinese domination tool – 5G. This is the mother lode that enables the efficient gathering of data, which when mined, results in product enhancement and pricing benefits to products listed in China 2025 and helps China set global standards. There is an urgency for alternate suppliers of 5G equipment and other technologies to avoid relying on China.

DS - Final Courtesy: Tasnim News Agency
25 June 2020

China’s “little blue men”

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The Quad is set to launch a satellite-based maritime security initiative to monitor illegal fishing by the Chinese maritime militia. This is long overdue. China’s ‘little blue men’ are recruited from its fishing communities but are in fact official members of a well networked and controlled defense force engaged in regional grey zone warfare.