ins vikramaditya Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
9 July 2014

Defence and the Budget

When the Modi government presents its first Budget, it will hopefully pay closer attention to India’s defence requirements. Over the years, the defence budget has expanded, but funds allocated for military modernisation have not increased. This should be the government’s priority

west asia Courtesy: Wikipedia.org
27 June 2014

Will ISIS redraw the West Asia map?

The rise of the militant ISIS will alter the stability and future of all West Asian countries, and can impact India in multiple ways. India must re-evaluate its West Asia policy, and address the safety of its nationals in Iraq, the security of its oil supplies, and the fallout on South Asia of this resurgence of strife

GlobSec_2 Courtesy: Gateway House
13 June 2014

Bratislava reflections

GLOBSEC, the Bratislava Global Security forum is central and eastern Europe’s premier security forum. While this year’s edition focused on the crisis in Ukraine, a lack of balanced – or even representative – discourse painted a very bleak picture of Russia and its president

Cyber_Games Courtesy: Conew/Wikimedia Commons
13 June 2014

Policy Catalyst: India’s Privacy Law

Edward Snowden’s revelations about the U.S.’s PRISM surveillance raised many issues related to espionage, electronic surveillance and privacy. It brought home the lack of strong privacy laws in India. As the country sets up its own domestic surveillance system, it must also quickly enact statutory privacy legislation

Spratly Islands_google map Courtesy: Google Maps
2 May 2014

South China Sea: escalating tensions

Braving potential retaliation from China, the Philippines has now challenged Beijing’s sovereign claims over the South China Sea before a UN tribunal, and raised the stakes in a longstanding dispute

RIMPAC Courtesy: Seaman James R. Evans/Wikimedia Commons
14 April 2014

Australia’s submarine choice

Australia is the second largest naval power among the Indian Ocean states and its submarine fleet represents its principal strategic force. Australia will be replacing its fleet with some of the largest and most capable conventional submarines in the world. Its decisions could hold important lessons for India

scs Courtesy: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency/Wikimedia Commons
4 April 2014

South China Sea: a new war brewing

China is reportedly taking advantage of the situation in Ukraine to further its claims in the South China Sea. Its aggressive stance has pushed the Philippines to approach The Hague for arbitration. There are concerns that the tensions could lead to a breakdown of trade routes in the Western Pacific

boeing777_2 Courtesy: Aero Icarus/Wikimedia Commons
21 March 2014

MH370: India’s intelligence challenge

The talk about the missing Malaysian airlines being hijacked for an attack on an Indian city has necessitated an assessment of India’s counter-terrorism preparedness. India has strengthened its air defences on the tactical front but lags behind in intelligence sharing in aerial, land and maritime terror attacks