China’s Continuing Rare Earth Dominance Given China’s stated policy of using its rare earth dominance for strategic purposes, countries have been looking for ways to diversify their sources of supply. India too needs to acquire expertise in valorising rare earth minerals and shift to developing its downstream sector. Shebonti Ray Dadwal | September 27, 2019 | IDSA Comments
Additional Allocation for Defence – A Challenging Task for MoF The government seems to have little fiscal space for accommodating the demand of the armed forces for additional funds, given its quantum on the one hand and the state of its revenues on the other which are already quite stressed. Amit Cowshish | September 26, 2019 | IDSA Comments
The Next Step in Building India-China Military to Military (M2M) Relations The incremental and calibrated improvement in the India-China defence ties has withstood the test of time. The next step in building M2M relations could provide the required impetus to further accelerate the process of strengthening peace and stability along the LAC. Mandip Singh | September 16, 2019 | IDSA Comments
India’s ‘No First Use’ Nuclear Doctrine The Defence Minister’s recent statement on ‘no first use’ basically underlines the fact that India’s current nuclear doctrine is working well. Rajiv Nayan | September 16, 2019 | IDSA Comments
Geopolitics of Western Indian Ocean: Unravelling China’s Multi-dimensional Presence The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is now attaining centrestage in the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean. Apart from France and the US, China holds significant interests in the WIO. China’s interests with the WIO states could be divided in four categories: dual-use infrastructure building, politico-diplomatic focus, connectivity-access and military activities. All four are interconnected and facilitate China’s desire to project power. For China, activities in the WIO serve the purpose of ensuring energy supplies, maintaining economic growth and securing military interests. Sankalp Gurjar | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
Korea’s Para-diplomacy with States in India: An Analysis of the ‘Caravan Events’ In the arena of international relations nation-states have been regarded as the primary actors. However, the constituent units of nation-states have also become active in forging relations with the political units which are located outside the national borders through ‘para-diplomacy’. Since the 1990s the states of Indian union have been playing a significant role in India’s foreign affairs. The Narendra Modi government in New Delhi has also established a ‘States Division’ in the Ministry of External Affairs. Ranjit Kumar Dhawan | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
The Geopolitics of the US-India-Russia Strategic Triangle The article deals with the state of play in the relationships between the United States, India and Russia. The focus of the article is placed on the geopolitical environment in which the three countries have been building their relationships in contemporary times. The author analyses the approaches of the US, India and Russia towards two geographical concepts of the Indo-Pacific and Eurasia. The situation in Afghanistan is examined through perspectives and interests of all three players as each of them is involved—though in a different manner—in the resolution of the crisis. Aleksei Zakharov | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
Sri Lanka at the Crossroads: Geopolitical Challenges and National Interests Sri Lanka has always featured in any discussion on Indian Ocean geopolitics. However, its geopolitical significance has increased manifold after the end of the long-drawn war that saw the defeat of the LTTE. The manner in which the war concluded brought international focus on the country, as some of the Tamil leaders sought international indulgence to ensure justice is delivered, and peace brought through war results in a meaningful political solution for the Tamils. Smruti S. Pattanaik | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
New Directions in India’s Foreign Policy: Theory and Praxis One of the limitations of Indian foreign policy literature is its apathy towards employing novel approaches and methods. Though Indian foreign policy has gone through a dramatic transformation, particularly in the last two decades, the majority of scholarly attempts still spin around traditional theoretical paradigms. Thus, the academic enterprise on Indian foreign policy remained limited to the realist, liberal and at best post-colonial explanations. The inability of these distinct theoretical traditions to explain the complexity of Indian foreign policy created a void in the literature. Rajeesh Kumar | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
Jordan and the Arab Uprisings: Regime Survival and Politics Beyond the State Carved by imperial powers, Jordan is a small state surrounded by a large but unstable neighbourhood. Among all the chaos, Jordan offers a semblance of stability sans durability owing to a strained economy, war across borders and the pressure of rehabilitating refugees. In a quest to have robust stability, Jordan has been constantly making efforts to embrace frequent rounds of reforms, active diplomacy and a flexible foreign policy. Lakshmi Priya | September 2019 | Strategic Analysis
