Comments & Briefs

Though public-private partnerships is encouraged, privately the government continues to retain its monopoly on research and development and defence production through the DRDO, the ordnance factories and the defence PSUs.

Transforming the India-Nepal border from an ‘open border’ to a ‘closed border’ would severely damage the traditional socio-cultural and economic ties. It would be prudent to keep the border open but manage it more effectively through mutual cooperation.

The Urban Movement has a defined role in the political strategy and military strategy of the CPI (Maoist). The Maoists envisage that they would mobilise and organise the industrial workers.

The emerging doctrine of intervention is built around the ability of the international community, mainly the US-led western alliance, to impose its collective will in order to restore a deteriorating situation or to prevent a nascent conflict from burgeoning into full blown war with wider ramifications.

Creation of new states is likely to undermine India’s polity and governance and consequently the socio-economic progress. Cost-benefit analysis suggests that only in some respects the newly-created states have performed better.

New energy find in West Asia will set forth new political equations. Syria alone has discovered huge proven gas, oil and shale reserves. Whether the Assad regime survives or a change of regime happens there would determine the global gas system in a large way.

The transitional politics in the Himalayan Kingdom has entered choppy waters with the breakaway radical faction of the Maoist party vowing to disrupt the election to a new constituent assembly slated in November this year.

It is not so much because of the use of chemical weapons that will unleash US fire-power, but the fact that the Assad regime might be winning the civil war in conjunction with its Iranian and Hezbollah allies.

Joint military exercises hold strategic relevance but India must consider seriously that despite the Annual Defence Dialogue mechanism and joint training exercises, incursions in the border regions have increased over the years.

The Indian navy has long aspired for a true blue water capability and the aircraft carrier project is a critical part of safeguarding India’s maritime interest that includes providing security along the sea lanes of communication.