120416-N-ZI635-259 
INDIAN OCEAN (April 16, 2012) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) participate in a passing exercise with Indian navy ships during Exercise Malabar 2012. Carl Vinson, Bunker Hill, and Halsey comprise Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 and are participating in the annual bi-lateral naval field training exercise with the Indian navy to advance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman George M. Bell/Released) Courtesy: Wikimedia
24 April 2017

Military option in North Korea too risky

As the United States considers its policy options towards North Korea it must understand that Pyongyang has been thinking about military conflict for decades. It too will have military plans and they could pose major challenges for the U.S. This is why China and South Korea–and U.S. regional experts too–prefer the diplomatic route

e92550d47b6d4ed5ad131f474187f8a7_18 Courtesy: Al Jazeera
6 March 2017

The Trump challenge: unpredictability as norm

Forecasting uncertainty is a full-fledged task for security and foreign policy analysts, but when countries resort to being unpredictable then it is likely to backfire. Uncertainty about his next course of action seems to be Trump’s defining characteristic. How India will manage this to better relations will be critical

India's Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (L) and US Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson Courtesy: AFP
6 March 2017

India-U.S.: continued ‘solid’ footing

Foreign Secretary Jaishankar’s third visit to the United States since Donald Trump's election is an indication of India’s commitment to engage with all-quarters in Washington with its full diplomatic might. Despite the current situation of concern due to the H-1B visa and the recent shooting of an Indian in Kansas, initial soundings are reassuring and positive.

trump Courtesy: Wikipedia Commons
28 February 2017

Trump: overturning the status quo

President Trump has moved to deliver on his campaign promises with rare alacrity: his executive actions cover everything from policies on trade and energy to bringing back manufacturing to America. But he has also been walked back on some of his explosive assertions while ambiguity looms large over several issues

indias-global-energy-footprint Courtesy: Gateway House
14 February 2017

India’s global energy footprint

Trends in technology, geopolitics and geoeconomics have dramatically transformed the global energy scenario in the last two years. This means favourable conditions for import-dependent India, which must use the opportunities available to reduce its vulnerability to high energy prices. The jump in oil prices past the $60 mark suggests that India must act with alacrity. India’s Energy Footprint Map offers a profile of India’s global trade and investment in energy, and indicates what India can do to access cheap and reliable supplies

28912263963_0b75893744_h Courtesy: MEA/ Flickr
14 February 2017

Indo-Pacific: a scenario of possibilities

The Indo-Pacific region is home to some of the largest and most rapidly growing economies as also powerful military forces. Nuclear threats, international terrorism and climate change are some of the issues that define the region. Uncertainty dogs relations among the four nations in the top league—U.S., China, India and Japan—but what is emerging is a hawkish, policy stance from the U.S. as opposed to an isolationist outlook apprehended earlier

1200px-Malabar_07-2_exercise Courtesy: Wikipedia
14 February 2017

A democratic quadrilateral in Asia?

A strategic coming together of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India was close to fruition some years ago, impelled initially by the tsunami of 2004. The spirit of the enterprise remains alive even now, and there are many merits in India joining the quad, but such an arrangement can skew existing Asian equations, jeopardising the Act East policy