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Military Affairs

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About Centre

The Centre for Military Affairs comprises of a mix of serving officers of the Indian Armed Forces and civilian experts. The Centre adopts an inter-disciplinary approach to various issues that impinge upon India’s national security in general and the armed forces in particular. Its research focus is on issues that impact upon national security and capacity-building of the Indian armed forces. Specific areas of focus include: emerging contemporary challenges in warfare, jointness, defence co-operation, maritime security, and military training needs. In addition, the Centre also addresses China- and Pakistan-related issues with a bearing on their interface with Indian security. The Centre closely interacts with military establishments in India and abroad and contributes to policy making by conducting research in areas of significance for the armed forces.

Members:

India’s Military Strategy: Countering Pakistan’s Challenge

  • Publisher: Bloomsbury
    2022
This book explores what military strategy is and how it is interconnected with policy on one hand and military operations on the other. In the process, it traces the transformation of the notion of strategy from its original military moorings to a more policy-oriented and-influenced conception and elaborates upon a tripartite framework of policy, strategy and doctrine to think about, understand, and analyse the use of force. The book explores the politics of India-Pakistan conflict in order to root the study of Indian military strategy in the political sphere. It discusses three main issues that have ensured the persistence of conflict: incompatible national identities, Pakistan's congenital quest for parity with and compulsion to challenge India, and irreconcilable positions on the Kashmir issue. The book argues that India has invariably pursued limited political aims that did not threaten Pakistan's survival or form of government or regime in power albeit containing a counter offensive elements. It states that India employed the strategy of exhaustion during the Indian Army's campaigns in the 1947-48 conflict and 1965 war, which made way to strategy of annihilation during the 1971 war (East Pakistan), but after Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear weapons capability the strategy is back to exhaustion. The book highlights the importance of designing an overall military strategy for waging limited war and pursuing carefully calibrated political and military objectives by creatively combining the individual doctrines of the three services by establishing a Chief of Defence Staff system.
  • ISBN: 9789356400023 ,
  • Price: ₹ 1299/-
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1971 India-Pakistan War: 50 Years Later

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2022
India’s decisive and historic victory in the 1971 India–Pakistan War is considered to be one of the landmark geopolitical events in the history of the sub-continent. One of the shortest wars in world history, fought for a mere 13 days, the lightning campaign brought about a change in the world’s perception of India, marking its recognition as an important regional power.

The combined impact created by the resolute people of Bangladesh and the professional approach of the Indian state, successfully converted a catastrophe of epic proportions into a victory of the people, won through their stoic resolve and the professionalism of the armed forces.

There have been a number of books, memoirs and articles over the years that have documented first-person and academic accounts of events that marked this period of history. Not surprisingly, most were written during the period succeeding the war and after the birth of Bangladesh. This book is an attempt to evaluate events with the benefit of a five-decade time lapse. In doing so, the focus remains firmly on the military aspects of the war, accompanied by a brief account of political events, diplomacy, influence of major powers, public perception and the role of Mukti Bahini.

  • ISBN:9789390095698 ,
  • Price: ₹ 1495
  • E-copy available
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India–China Rivalry: Asymmetric No Longer: An Assessment of China’s Evolving Perceptions of India

  • Publisher: KW Publishers
    2021
In recent years, there has been growing interest in deciphering the nature and contours of bilateral dynamics between India and China, since the contours bilateral dynamics between the two rising powers have potential implications for the evolving geopolitical order in the region and even beyond. This book is not about understanding the nature of rivalry dynamics between India and China but prominently focuses on China’s mental and emotional image of India, which has remained an underexplored dimension in contemporary scholarship.

The aim of the book is two-fold. First, this book is an effort to analyse China’s contemporary perceptual image about India primarily through the analysis of Chinese publications on the subject. Second, this book questions the prevalent notion of characterising India-China rivalry as ‘one-sided’ or ‘asymmetric.’

Unarguably, power asymmetry, with substantial Chinese advantage, has been a persistent characteristic of India-China relations and is likely to remain or even grow further. India, being weaker in this dyad, naturally has a greater threat perception vis-à-vis China. However, this apparent power asymmetry does not provide China with an overwhelming advantage over India.

The book argues that India has been and continues to be a ‘strategic rival’ in Chinese perception even though it is not categorised by China as its ‘principal rival.’ In the contemporary period, as India expands its defence capabilities, extends its regional outreach and deepens its engagement with major powers, Beijing has begun to factor New Delhi into its strategic calculus even more seriously.

  • ISBN: 978-93-91490-01-0 ,
  • Price: ₹. 980/-
  • E-copy available
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CDS and Beyond Integration of the Indian Armed Forces

  • Publisher: KW Publishers
    2021
Defence reforms are a challenge for most countries. The lessons from India’s experience suggest that major change has almost always been mandated from the very top. The ongoing structural changes are also being driven by the highest political office in a bid to seek integration, indigenisation and greater effectiveness of the armed forces.

The ongoing military reforms began with the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and creation of the Department of Military Affairs. Future changes are likely to include the creation of theatre commands, functional commands, restructuring of Army Headquarters and a number of other associated shifts in conjunction with these big bang reforms.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that these changes are perhaps the most far-reaching military reforms in India’s post-independence history.

The book undertakes a focussed assessment of the changes that commenced with the appointment of CDS. This includes the role and inter-se co-relation between major stake holders and defence departments. Keeping in view the need to enhance operational effectiveness, recommendations regarding the chain of command, rank structures and role of service chiefs have been made. The book will also analyse the structure and role of the future Air Defence and Logistics Command.

  • ISBN: 978 819 52 858 4 6 ,
  • Price: ₹. 918/-
  • E-copy available
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Best Practices in Financial Management: Integrated Financial Advisor for Defence

The institution of Financial Advisor in any organization is a salient pillar of good governance and accountability. In a government organization, Integrated Finance serves as the sine qua non for most efficacious utilization of available funds. The Ministry of Defence in particular, with its prodigious and multifarious expenditure, stands to gain enormously if its resources are harnessed in the most productive manner possible.

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COMBAT AVIATION: Flight Path 1968-2018

  • Publisher: KW Publishers
    2020
Combat aircraft, a powerful component of military strength, define the battle space today. In the last five decades, world combat aircraft inventory, after peaking in 1988, gradually declined owing to changes in the geopolitical landscape, altering character of war, evolving technology and emerging alternatives. Today, there are 106 countries in the world that own and operate around 80 types of approximately 18,000 combat aircraft. But, there are only 19 countries that have more than 200 combat aircraft in their inventories. In this book, the available data of the world’s combat aircraft inventory is analysed for the trends and probable reasons for changes in the holdings, before predicting the future trajectory of manned combat aircraft. Additionally, the role of combat aircraft and their interplay with various tenets of Indian air power capability and the likely future is discussed.
  • ISBN: 9789389137446 ,
  • Price: ₹.1280/-
  • E-copy available
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KARGIL: Past Perfect, Future Uncertain?

  • Publisher: KW Publishers
    2019
The Kargil conflict was fought 20 years ago. However, it continues to remain relevant for strategic analysts, military historians, academics, armed forces personnel and diplomats. This book, delves into the structures, planning processes and procedures adopted while pursuing diplomacy, higher direction of war and strategic communications, on both sides of the Line of Control during the Kargil conflict. In doing so, existing arguments are challenged and alternative conclusions drawn. This includes the debate around the decision not to cross the LoC during operations, the decision making process involved with the employment of air power and limitations of existing strategic communication structures of the armed forces, as observed during the conflict.

The second part of the book employs Kargil and the succeeding 20 years, as the basis for analysing the changing character of war. This includes a study of its implications on the notion of victory and shifts needed while pursuing diplomacy, higher direction of war and strategic communications. It also introduces the concept of finite and infinite game theory to conflicts in the sub-continental context, in an attempt to contextualise it through a fresh perspective.

  • ISBN: 978-93-89137-13-2,
  • Price: ₹.880/-
  • E-copy available
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Hybrid Warfare: The Changing Character of Conflict

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2018
A scan of recent conflicts indicates blurring lines between war and peace, state and non-state, regular and irregular and conventional and unconventional. The prevailing security environment is radically different from what it was even a decade ago. The probability of conventional conflict between states or groups of states has been steadily declining while, at the same time, sub-conventional conflict is gaining prominence. These small wars, or niggling wars as some have called it, have also been called hybrid, non-linear, gray zone, unrestricted and a plethora of such names. The ontological and epistemological enquiry of these terms is essential to understand if they allude to the same phenomenon through different frames. Are they the convention or an aberration? The book tries to fill this crucial research gap related to the changing character of conflicts in the strategic discourse in India.
  • ISBN: 978-93-86618-35-1,
  • Price: ₹.995/- $32.95/-
  • E-copy available
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Defence Reforms: A National Imperative

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2018
Despite being faced with myriad and complex challenges to national security, India's defence structures have not kept pace with changing times. The defence reforms that were undertaken periodically were reactive in nature and, in many cases, responses to crises as well as being sporadic, piecemeal and often ad hoc. The most recent review of security challenges undertaken occurred close to two decades ago, in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict of 1999.
  • ISBN: 978-93-86618-34-4,
  • Price: ₹.995/- $32.95/-
  • E-copy available
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The Arthasastra in a Transcultural Perspective: Comparing Kautilya with Sun-Zi, Nizam al-Mulk, Barani and Machiavelli

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2017

This book is the product of a collaborative effort by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi; South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University; and Institute of South Asian Studies, National University Singapore. The volume contains papers exploring Kautilya’s Arthasastra in a transcultural perspective, comparing it with the thoughts of Sun-Zi, Nizam al-Mulk, Barani and Machiavelli.

  • ISBN 978-81-8274-938-2
  • Price: ₹. 995
  • E-copy available
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Even If It Ain’t Broke Yet, Do Fix It: Enhancing Effectiveness Through Military Change

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2016

Bringing about change in any setup, especially major shifts, is a challenges. This challenges is accentuated further in a strictly hierarchical organisation like the army, presenting an unenviable contradiction to both senior military practitioner and the governing elite, wherein, change is inevitable, yet, it is most likely to be resisted.

  • ISBN 978-81-8274-919-1,
  • Price: ₹. 795
  • E-copy available
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Human Resource Management in the Armed Forces

Human Resource Management (HRM) in the Armed Forces is a vital issue because its strength has always been the soldier. This monograph analyses the challenges of HRM in the Armed Forces with specific focus on transition of soldiers to a second career, as service personal retire at a comparatively young age when their personal responsibilities are at the peak.

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Status Of Jointness In Indian Security Apparatus

Jointness and integration of the military is an inevitable requirement for the modern-day battlefield. The principles underlying these features are inter-service cooperation and economy of effort, both of which are crucial to war fighting. The lack of jointness and integration in the Indian armed forces received an impetus post Kargil. The Kargil Review Committee and Group of Ministers on National Security highlighted the pitfalls in the existing system and made a number of recommendations.

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Indigenous Historical Knowledge: Kautilya and His Vocabulary (Volume III)

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2016

This book is the third in a series of three volumes on "Kautilya and His Vocabulary" as a part of the "Indigenous Historical Knowledge" project undertaken by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. The edited volumes contain select papers presented in a series of workshops, national and international seminars organised by the Institute. The project is an attempt to trace, look into, analyse and relate with the indigenous strategic thinking in India. These volumes aim at initiating the study, internalisation, spread and consolidation of Kautilya's Arthashastra in the strategic domain. The four focus themes in the three volumes are foreign policy, intelligence, war and internal security as they relate to contemporary times.

  • ISBN 978-81-8274-909-2,
  • Price: ₹. 795
  • E-copy available
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Indigenous Historical Knowledge: Kautilya and His Vocabulary (Volume II)

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2016

This book is the second in a series of three volumes on “Kautilya and His Vocabulary” as a part of the “Indigenous Historical Knowledge” project undertaken by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. These volumes aim at initiating the study, internalisation, spread and consolidation of Kautilya's Arthashastra in the strategic domain. The four focus themes in the three volumes are foreign policy, intelligence, war and internal security as they relate to contemporary times.

  • ISBN 978-81-8274-866-8,
  • Price: ₹. 695.00
  • E-copy available
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Indigenous Historical Knowledge: Kautilya and His Vocabulary (Volume I)

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2015

This book is the first in a series of three volumes on “Kautilya and His Vocabulary” as a part of the “Indigenous Historical Knowledge” project undertaken by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. The edited volumes contain select papers presented in a series of workshop, national and international seminars organised by the institute. The project is an attempt to trace, look into, analyse and relate with the indigenous strategic thinking in India. These volumes aim at initiating the study, internalisation, spread and consolidation of Kautilya’s Arthashastra in the strategic domain. The four focus themes in the three volumes are foreign policy, intelligence, war and internal security as they relate to contemporary times.

  • ISBN 978-81-8274-849-1,
  • Price: ₹. 695.00
  • E-copy available
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Air Power and National Security: Indian Air Force Evolution, Growth and Future

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press
    2015

In over a century since the first manned flight, air power has made spectacular progress. Every conflict since World War II has seen an increasingly bigger role of air power, but despite this, to a general reader, air power continues to be esoteric. The study highlights major air power lessons of all the major conflicts, and explains air power roles and missions. It frankly yet fairly discusses the somewhat contentious subject of air power in support of surface forces and traces the IAF’s contribution in war and peace in the last 68 years since independence. It critically examines if use of air power in the Indian subcontinent is indeed escalatory.

  • ISBN 978-81-8274-853-8
  • E-copy available
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Conduct and Discipline in United Nations Peace Operations and India’s Perspective

The United Nations Charter requires that all UN personnel mustmaintain the highest standards of integrity and conduct. The UN is committed to ensuring that all its personnel deployed globally serve with professionalism, courtesy and dignity. Allegations of Misconduct as well as Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by peacekeepers from various nations have often tarnished the image of the mission they represent and UN in general.

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Evaluating Jointness in the Indian Military: A Conceptual and Methodological Approach

The institutionalisation of jointness in the Indian military is a key driver of ongoing defence reforms. To attain this goal, the Indian Armed Forces are encapsulating principles of joint warfare, inhabiting joint capabilities and inculcating joint culture. However, the pace and process of jointness in the Indian military has been contentious since Independence. This article seeks to evaluate the state and nature of jointness in the Indian military by employing Jackson’s conceptual and methodological model for joint military activities.

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Countering Islamic State Ideology: Voices of Singapore Scholars edited by Muhammad Haniff Hassan and Rohan Gunaratna, with a Foreword by Karen Armstrong

People often complain that Islamic scholars do little more than condemn the inhuman acts of so-called jihadist groups and fall short of delivering strong, incontrovertible rebuttals against the vicious narratives of terrorist groups, like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS). It has also been stated that the ever-rearing Hydra-like heads of terrorism will have to be endlessly severed until genuine Islamic scholarship drains the very swamp of irreligious radicalism from which the monstrosity continually raises new and ugly distortions.

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Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Legal Regime

Present-day world order marks a new dawn in the field of international law. The unusual pace and nature of technological advancements has resulted in the creation of a world where problem solving is leading to the creation of more complex problems. Development and deployment of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS), on land, air, sea and space, generally gains momentum as a force multiplier.

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UN Peacekeeping in Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2003–2010: An Operational Perspective for Air Power Employment

Air power has played a critical role in counter-insurgency and irregular warfare across the world. India’s own rich experience is full of documented roles of air power in such campaigns. This article documents the unique experience of Indian air power in ‘robust’ peacekeeping under the United Nations (UN) flag in Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2003– 2010. A modelling is attempted to understand doctrinal and conceptual issues of this experience. Lessons are gleaned to improve air power’s effectiveness in such less-than-war situations.

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Biological Weapons: Coronavirus, Weapon of Mass Destruction? by U.C. Jha and K. Ratnabali

War, when all else fails. The reasons for war could be ideological or for greater control over finite resources but war invariably has violence at its epicentre. Ethics and wars have rarely been concentric in human history; therefore, wars have seen the employment of all possible means. Victory, as the ultimate aim, has forced warring sides to look at multiple options and biological weapons are one such method. Biological weapons are as old as war itself and their primitive recorded use was centuries ago.

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The Sino-Indian Geopolitics and Maritime Security of the Indian Ocean Region

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is a prominent arena in international politics, in terms of trade, tourism, population, among other aspects. Several countries, some unconnected geographically, have shown interest in these waters. These entities offer financial, technical, infrastructural and capacity-building support, and security services to several IOR countries. India, the prominent resident power of this ocean, and others, consider this development unnecessary, uncalled for and unacceptable.

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Nexus of Global Jihad

The emergence of Al Qaeda on the global stage marked a shift, in more ways than one. Amongst these, it was perhaps the ability to run a corporatised terrorist organisation, with global affiliates who owed allegiance to the mother ship, that set new standards for terrorism. This interlinked global footprint, of not necessarily like-minded organisations, presented a challenge to states, which were neither as quick to adapt, nor as willing to cooperate.

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Interventions: A Life in War and Peace

Post-Cold War structural change (from bipolar to unipolar) brought about by the demise of the Soviet Union, redefined the role and responsibilities of the United Nations (UN). The constraints imposed by the Cold War rivalry in the UN were removed. On one hand, it ensured the smooth functioning of the UN, but on the other hand, state failure and civil strife posed challenges and provided new opportunities as well. At this crucial juncture, fortunately, the UN was led by qualified secretaries-general: Boutros Boutros Ghali (1992–1996) and his successor Kofi Annan (1997–2006).

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The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: A Global Snapshot

The United States dominates global defence markets, but the nature of this dominance is shifting. Strategic and budgetary considerations—the latter being constantly restructured by the rising relative cost of defence labour—drive US defence production towards international collaboration. In this essay, I examine the politics of a high-calibre international collaborative programme that has made headlines in recent years: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). What motivated the US government to take on partners, and what influence, if any, have the partners had on the programme so far?

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Sailing through the Northern Sea Route: Opportunities and Challenges

Because of global warming, the thinning ice in the Arctic is opening up the region for navigation for a few months in the summer season. The Arctic littoral countries (Canada, Norway, Denmark [Greenland], Russia and the United States), shipping companies and several other stakeholders (the EU and Asian countries such as China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea) are closely tracking shipping related developments in the Arctic and developing strategies to exploit the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

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The Arctic: Potential for Conflict amidst Cooperation

Changes in the Arctic topography due to climate change have resulted in the region, which erstwhile was remote with little accessibility, to being accessible with potential natural resources and attractive navigable sea areas. The prospects have also influenced the strategic contours of the Arctic and brought in many actors that view the region as a resource-rich area with viable commercial interests.

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Energy Strategy for the Indian Navy: Need, Scope and a Roadmap

‘Energy’ is a key enabler of military combat power and it should be considered a strategic resource for the Indian Navy (IN). This article justifies the necessity of ensuring energy security for the IN in the backdrop of emerging energy challenges. It also discusses certain recent developments that point to the growing relevance of an energy policy for the IN. The article then discusses the contours and the scope of an integrated energy policy and proposes a roadmap for implementing an energy strategy for the IN.

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Making the Law of the Sea – A Study in the Development of International Law by James Harrison

The cornerstone of international law is ‘applicability of law based on consent’. Being bereft of any legislative machinery to legislate international law in the international sphere, the statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) adumbrates ‘treaty, customary international law and general principles of law, etc.’, as the sources of international law. Treaties (both bilateral and multilateral) formulation, however, is one such mechanism of codification of international law in which consent is given explicitly to a rule of international law.

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