Ajey Lele

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Artemis Accords: India’s Policy Shift’ has been published in Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC) on 07 July 2023.

India has joined the Artemis Accords with open eyes. For years, India has managed to sail through the rough waters of sanctions and export control challenges. In 2005, the Indo-US nuclear deal became a reality despite the ‘existence’ of the disarmament ayatollahs. For a long time, India has been able to balance their relations with Russia and the US. Possibly, India feels that as an insider, they would be able to restrict the US from becoming the sole gatekeeper to decide on the future of space, says Gp Capt Lele.

https://sspconline.org/opinion-analysis/artemis-accords-indias-policy-shift

• Published: 7 July, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Indian to the International Space Station: Is it 'Sare Jahan Se Accha' 2.0?’ has been published in ‘The Wire’ on 04 July 2023.

The proposed 2024 visit by an Indian to the ISS is unlikely to bring much value to India’s overall human mission agenda since there is very less time in hand, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 4 July, 2023

Consultant Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Artemis Accords and ASAT Power’ has been published in Financial Express on 02 July 2023.

The major limitation of these accords is that it offers a wider canvass for the private agencies without having any specific checks and balances in place. There is a lack of clarity about legal aspects in regards to Space tourism, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 2 July, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Artemis Accords: What India stands to gain or lose?’ has been published in Taaza Khabar News on 29 June 2023.

India is embracing the US for various geopolitical and geoeconomic reasons and signing Artemis could be one part of that larger game. At the same time, India understands that space is too important a domain to be used for ‘earthly’ gains. Years of experience show that India knows how to play geopolitical games to its advantage. It is expected that India would continue to remain a partner of the US in the domain of space and not an ally, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 29 June, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘India joins the Artemis Accords’ has been published in ‘The Space Review’ on 26 June 2023.

With India becoming a part of this US-led global space regime/governance model, some questions are being raised about India’s space autonomy, says Gp Capt Lele.

• Published: 26 June, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s commentary ‘China's Quest to Explore the Earth's Core’ has been published by the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC), on 06 June 2023.

China is digging a hole in the Earth's crust which is 10,000 metres (32,808 ft) deep. As per the available information, China began digging this deep borehole on May 30, 2023, in the Tarim Basin, in the oil-rich Xinjiang province, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 6 June, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘Poisoning of school girls in Afghanistan: mistake, or mischief’ has been published in ‘Taaza Khabar News’ on 06 June 2023.

It may not be correct to associate the use of poisonous gas with an attempt to use chemical weapons. However, such incidents cannot be taken lightly…. Chemical weapons have been in use since the First World War, which also was known as the Chemist’s War, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 6 June, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘China’s spaceplane returns: is this a new weapon in their counterspace arsenal?’ has been published in ‘The Space Review’ on 30 May 2023.

Weaponization of a space is a reality. Spaceplanes appears to be a platform capable of launching both kinetic and non-kinetic counterspace missions. With such a platform available, states can demonstrate both deterrence and usability factors in regards to their counterspace agenda, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 30 May, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s article ‘From NavIC 1.0 to 2.0, ISRO needs to learn from mistakes’ has been published in Financial Express on 29 May 2023.

NVS-01 is the first of the second-generation satellites for the NavIC constellation and with this launch it could be said that commencing of NavIC 2.0 has begun, says Gp Capt Lele.

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• Published: 29 May, 2023

Consultant, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Gp Capt Ajey Lele’s Issue Brief ‘Beyond China: Exploring Asia's Emergence In Space’ has been published by Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC) on 22 May 2023.

The Issue Brief tries to assess the space race among Asian powers, exploring the geoeconomics, geopolitical, and geostrategic dimensions behind the initiation of space programs in various Asian states and understanding the concept of a space race among them. This paper focuses on assessing Category-2 and Category-3 space programs; therefore, no direct assessment of China's space program is conducted.

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• Published: 22 May, 2023