Trafalgar and Tsushima: Relevance for India The one-armed picture of Lord Nelson, perhaps the most celebrated and eulogised of British seafarers, is synonymous with the victory at Trafalgar and the bicentennial celebrations of this famous sea battle began on June 28 with an International Fleet Review in the Solent off south England. India apart, the 35 participating navies include the French and Spanish navies who were defeated by Nelson’s superior skills in that decisive battle on October 21, 1805. C Uday Bhaskar April 2005 Strategic Analysis
The New US Agenda: Militarising Space Space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theatre of war. President John F. Kennedy, Address to Rice University, September 12, 1962 Ajey Lele April 2005 Strategic Analysis
Vivek Chadha, Low Intensity Conflicts in India: An Analysis Low intensity conflicts in India, despite a long history and a major threat to national security, have remained substantially under-researched. Though a number of books have been written on the various aspects of low intensity conflicts, one still finds gap in the scholarship, particularly in areas relating to its varied dimensions, factors that sustain them, extremist groups – their interests, leadership, mobilisation strategy, financial resources, and other dimension of state intervention, including the role of various security forces. Sanjay K Jha April 2005 Strategic Analysis
The rise of fiscal terror By targetting the IT industry, terrorists are revealing that the Indian economy may increasingly be their target Sudhir Saxena March 25, 2005 IDSA Comments
Condi Rice visit to Delhi: Landmark in India-US Ties The just concluded visit to India (March 16) by Ms. Condi Rice, the US Secretary of State may be deemed a landmark pointing to a deeper strategic underpinning between the two countries notwithstanding the divergences that were expressed over issues such as Iran and the sale of F-16 aircraft to Pakistan – which inadvertently received greater focus in the immediate aftermath of the Rice visit. While there is considerable symbolism in the fact that Ms. C Uday Bhaskar March 24, 2005 IDSA Comments
Manmohan Doctrine and India’s External Relations The next four weeks will be very eventful for advancing India's relations with the major powers as Delhi prepares to receive US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (March 16), Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (end-March) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (early April). C Uday Bhaskar March 16, 2005 IDSA Comments
Till the Dragon spits fire Putting an end to all speculations, protests from the media and other quarters and hectic Chinese diplomatic parleys in Brussels before the EU-China Summit in December 2004, the EU finally declared (December 8) that the arms embargo on China would not be lifted for the time being. The embargo, which was sanctioned against China in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square tragedy in 1989, remained one of the most debatable issues before the summit. The EU however informed that there was a willingness within the Union to work towards the lifting of the ban. Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay March 10, 2005 IDSA Comments
Troubled Road to SAFTA The proposal to reconvene the 13th SAARC Summit soon has rekindled the hopes of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) coming into force on schedule on 01 Jan 2006. It is a sad commentary on the regional economic cooperation that although the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has been in existence for about 20 years, the intra regional trade is still languishing below five percent of the global trade of the member states. It is widely believed that all the seven states of the region will benefit immensely in the long run from the economic benefits of SAFTA. Alok Bansal March 10, 2005 IDSA Comments
Indo-Pak Peace Process: Keep the Process Afloat India-Pakistan interaction, in recent days, is fast losing its familiar flavour of distrust and bitterness. This is not to deny, however, that one can still identify the inertial sense of rancour, the propensity to misunderstand and misinterpret each other within the dialogic track that has completed one year. Ashok K. Behuria March 10, 2005 IDSA Comments
Defence outlay-modest increase but shades of gray The defence expenditure (DE) announced today is Rs. 83,000 crores and this is a modest increase of Rs 6,000 crores or 7.7% over last year’s budgeted estimate (BE). C Uday Bhaskar March 01, 2005 IDSA Comments
