Anatomy of Political Atrophy in Thailand With the take-over of power by the military on May 22, 2014, under General Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, the chief of army, Thailand has gone full circle in coup d’états, from democratic deficit to fractious political struggle between different social groups leading to acute and irreconcilable political instability that gives leverage to the army to finally intervene and seize power by suspending the constitutional processes. Democracy in Thailand is not only a recent phenomenon, but is also periodic and short-lived. Baladas Ghoshal | March 2015 | Strategic Analysis
India–US Ties: Reviewing the Relationship Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington and a summit meeting with President Barack Obama re-energised a relationship that was widely perceived to be moving towards a dead end. During almost 10 years of Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, India’s relations with the United States held all the promises of becoming robust and a model strategic partnership for international relations. Chintamani Mahapatra | March 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Israel–Gaza Crisis: Understanding the War Crimes Debate The long conflict between Israel and Palestine took a turn for the worse after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014. G. Balachandran , Aakriti Sethi | March 2015 | Strategic Analysis
Defence Budget 2015 -16: The Writing on the Wall It is a fairly simple exercise to estimate what the defence budget will be given available indicators. My assessment is that the Budget Estimate for defence is likely to be around Rs. 250,000 crore, with 105,000 crore for Capital Expenditure and 145,000 Crore for Revenue Expenditure. Vinay Kaushal | February 27, 2015 | IDSA Comments
India’s Non-Policy on Pakistan: U-Turn to Square One The thumb rule in making a policy U-turn is “minimise damage or maximise advantage”. What is extraordinary about the Modi government’s U-turn is that it maximises losses and minimises advantages. Sushant Sareen | February 26, 2015 | IDSA Comments
India and the Convention on Supplementary Compensation There is a general feeling among analysts that while US government lawyers may have been satisfied that the CLNDA is compatible with CSC in light of explanations offered by the Indian government, this view is being reportedly challenged by nuclear industry lawyers. G. Balachandran | February 19, 2015 | Issue Brief
Yaalon’s Visit and the India-Israel Defence Relationship The Modi’s government determination to adopt a muscular stance on national security and its commitment to expedite defence modernisation are likely to translate into greater political and defence engagement with Israel. S. Samuel C. Rajiv | February 19, 2015 | IDSA Comments
Giving Aero India 2015 a Make-in-India Touch There is an urgent need to conceptualise a policy framework as to what Make-in-India implies so far as defence production is concerned and how it is different from the existing policy framework. Amit Cowshish | February 18, 2015 | IDSA Comments
The Dependence Entrapment India’s nuclear deal with the US is driven less by technology requirements than by the need to be integrated into the global nuclear community and gain access to uranium imports for fuelling its nuclear power expansion plans. Sarosh Bana | February 10, 2015 | IDSA Comments
Some issues in respect of Indian’s nuclear liability law – I While the exact nature of the understanding between the two countries is yet to be announced and in fact may never be officially released, it is possible to offer an outline of the possible “memorandum” with possible understandings on all the three liability issues as well as the administrative arrangements. G. Balachandran | February 10, 2015 | Issue Brief
