India’s Energy Security: Challenges and Opportunities The eradication of poverty and prosperity depend upon the economic development of a nation which in turn is dependent on an adequate and continuous supply of energy sources. Hence, energy is the lifeline of economic development. The rise of South Asia in general and India in particular as a force on the economic scene is now widely acknowledged. India's growing population and expanding economy with the shift in focus from agriculture to the manufacturing and services sectors have led to an increase in energy intensity which has resulted in an unprecedented demand for energy sources. Bhupendra Kumar Singh | November 2010 | Strategic Analysis
Fresh Impetus to Sino-Indian Relations The meeting between Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi on 28-29 October has brought about a warming of the atmosphere and may lead to progress in Sino-Indian relations. R N Das | November 01, 2010 | IDSA Comments
Prospects of India’s Energy Quest in Africa: Insights from Sudan and Nigeria India has embarked on a policy to balance its need for accessing strategic energy resources from the African continent with Africa's aspirations for greater skills and sustainable development. Sudan has turned out to be the gateway for India's energy quest in Africa. India's age-old ties with Sudan have been crucial in accessing oil from the country. New Delhi's close relations helped to assuage the initial hiccups Ruchita Beri | November 2010 | Strategic Analysis
Turbulent Future Lies Ahead for Global Energy Markets What are the major trends that will shape the global energy future in the medium to long term, say up to 2030? The authoritative report of the International Energy Agency (IEA) issued in 2007, before the global economic slowdown of 2008–09, had predicted the world's primary energy demand growing by 55 per cent at an average annual rate of 1.8 per cent between 2005 and 2030. This was before the global economic crisis of 2008–09. Arvind Gupta | November 2010 | Strategic Analysis
Revisiting China’s Kashmir Policy China’s moves concerning Kashmir evoke apprehension regarding retrogressive changes in its Kashmir policy, designed to give it a hold over India. The best case scenario for China is that the Kashmir issue is never resolved; and if this issue inches towards any kind of resolution, that China should be considered a party to the Kashmir dispute. Prashant Kumar Singh | November 01, 2010 | IDSA Comments
Russia Abandons the ‘Energy Super-Power’ Idea but Lacks Energy for ‘Modernisation’ The energy sector since the mid-2000s has acquired top priority in Russian state affairs, but since late 2008 it has also become the epicentre of the economic disaster that still continues to affect Russia. President Medvedev has effectively discarded the notion of Russia as an 'energy super-power' and is now focusing on 'modernisation' for Russia's development. But coherence of this course is problematic because the bulk of new investments must go into the energy sector in order to sustain the high revenues. Pavel K. Baev | November 2010 | Strategic Analysis
Probity in the Armed Forces People in India have traditionally looked up to the Armed Forces. Corruption in the Armed Forces therefore militates against the spirit of service to the nation. It has to be cleansed wholesale, with effective mechanisms for protecting whistleblowers and taking swift action against the guilty put in place. Caesar’s wife must be beyond reproach. Rumel Dahiya | November 01, 2010 | IDSA Comments
Energy-Related Border Trade Measures: Can They Lead to Trade Wars? Following the recent economic crisis, concerns over the revival of trade protectionism have surfaced, with some countries imposing or threatening to impose highly trade-distorting legislation to help their domestic industries compete in world markets, raising the spectre of a potential trade war. This paper looks at the attempts by some of the developed countries to introduce trade measures using the issue of climate change as a Trojan horse, to ensure that they do not lose out to the emerging economies. Shebonti Ray Dadwal | November 2010 | Strategic Analysis
Review Essay Katherine T. Harris (ed.), Geopolitics of Oil , Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York, 2009, pp. 165, US$69, ISBN 978-1606928103 Peter Maass, Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil , Allen Lane, London, pp. 228, £20, ISBN 978-1846142468 Prashant Hosur | November 2010 | Strategic Analysis
Climate Change: Process and Politics With the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012, time seems to be running out for a new successor agreement. The Protocol remains the most comprehensive attempt to negotiate binding limits on anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The long-term challenge, defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is to stabilise GHG concentration in the atmosphere at levels that would prevent interference with the climate system. There are, however, economic and social realities that drive anthropogenic GHG emissions. Uttam Kumar Sinha | November 2010 | Strategic Analysis
