Whither the Look East Policy: India and Southeast Asia India’s policy with Southeast Asia, which took a distinctive shape since the early 1990s in the form of the Look East policy, has been a multipronged approach encompassing political, strategic and economic aspects. Apart from establishing institutional linkages with ASEAN and strengthening bilateral relations with its member states, especially in the field of defence, India has been an enthusiastic participant and supporter of multilateralism in Asia-Pacific. G. V. C. Naidu April 2004 Strategic Analysis
Indo-Pakistan Talks 2004: Nuclear Confidence Building Measures (NCBMs) and Kashmir After six years, in June 2004 India and Pakistan resumed the composite dialogue process that covers eight baskets of issues agreed upon in Male in 1997 between Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and Nawaz Sharif. The eight baskets are Jammu and Kashmir; Siachen; Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project; Sir Creek; Terrorism and Drug Trafficking; Economic and Commercial Cooperation; Peace and Security; and Promotion of Friendly Exchanges in various fields. The last round of talks was held in October 1998 in Islamabad, on Peace and Security, CBMs and Jammu and Kashmir. Ashutosh Misra April 2004 Strategic Analysis
Karbi-Kuki Clashes in Assam Militant groups clashing among themselves for control over the public resources even at the cost of the rights of the local tribal or ethnic community they claim to be defending, is an important factor behind persistent inter-ethnic conflicts Praveen Kumar April 2004 Strategic Analysis
The Fallacy in the Russia-India-China Triangle Much has been said about the India-China-Russia strategic triangle, a post- Cold War idea mooted by former Russian Premier Yevgeny Primakov. Abanti Bhattacharya April 2004 Strategic Analysis
Sudarshan Bhutani, A Clash of Political Cultures: Sino-Indian Relations (1957-62) A Clash of Political Cultures: Sino-Indian Relations (1957-62) by Sudarshan Bhutani. Roli Books, New Delhi. 2004 282 p. Price Rs 450/- (HB) P. Stobdan April 2004 Strategic Analysis
Border Management: Dilemma of Guarding the India-Bangladesh Border India shares 4096 km (Assam-262 km, Tripura-856 km, Mizoram- 18 km, Meghalaya-443 km, West Bengal-2,217 km) long land boundary with Bangladesh (earlier East Pakistan). The Indo-Bangladesh border, which came into existence after India’s partition in 1947 gave rise to many questions as to the interpretation and implementation of the boundary so drawn. An effort was made to solve the outstanding border disputes with erstwhile East Pakistan and the Nehru-Noon Accord was signed in 1958. While some of the disputes were solved, many continued to haunt even after Bangladesh came into existence. N. S. Jamwal January 2004 Strategic Analysis
Operationalising the Gorshkov: An Appraisal The paper takes a critical look at various issues connected with India’s acquisition of the Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov. It examines India’s choice of fighter and various problems it is likely to face in making the carrier operational and fully effective for its task. It recommends the early acquisition of aerial refuelling and early warning systems by the Navy. The paper also argues for greater jointmanship among the services and an increase in specialist cross-postings in order to improve inter-service rapport and the pool of trained manpower. R. Sukumaran January 2004 Strategic Analysis
Central Asia and India’s Security The paper attempts to analyse the issues in Central Asia in the context of India’s security. The paper poses a question as to what the region of Central Asia means for India today. The author argues that international attention is being focused on redefining the importance of Central Asian in the changing regional and international context. Since its reappearance, many suitors have been seeking affinity, proximity and legitimacy with the region on political, strategic, cultural and economic grounds. P. Stobdan January 2004 Strategic Analysis
Application of Social Network Analysis (SNA) to Terrorist Networks in Jammu & Kashmir The paper presents initial results from a limited exercise to apply Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodology to the database on terrorism created in IDSA called Terrorism Tracker (or T2). Sudhir Saxena , K. Santhanam , Aparna Basu January 2004 Strategic Analysis
US-Iran: The Changing Dynamics and the Likelihood of a Conflict Washington-Tehran relations have come to occupy centrestage in the recent months given the United States’ current preoccupation with the Middle East. The US-Iran association can be traced back to 1953, when the CIA organised a coup to oust the elected government of Mohammed Mossadeq. Since then, the US has never really disengaged itself from the one of the most strategically important Middle East nations. This paper attempts to identify current US concerns regarding Iran and explores the possibility of a US offensive against Iran similar to that in Iraq. Parama Sinha Palit January 2004 Strategic Analysis
