Nawab Bugti’s Assassination: Future Portents “I have been a Baloch for several centuries. I have been a Muslim for 1400 years. I have been a Pakistani for just over fifty”, Alok Bansal | July 2006 | Strategic Analysis
Terror Trends: Mega Cities, Maximum Impact The security environment of India is in a critical phase, repeatedly challenged by terrorism, with outfits operating out of Pakistan continuing to be highly active and finding new and unexpected targets. Trend analyses over the years indicate that the targets, motives and operatives have changed. Terrorist attacks are no more targeted mainly at security forces and government establishments, but have expanded to include strikes against India’s economic and strategic assets. T. Khurshchev Singh | July 2006 | Strategic Analysis
The Essence of the South Asian Nuclear Debate Scott D. Sagan, Kenneth N. Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons A Debate Renewed With New Sections on India and Pakistan, Terrorism, and Missile Defence (New York: W W Norton and Company, 2003). Namrata Goswami | July 2006 | Strategic Analysis
The Dark Side of the West’s Global War on Terror Craig Murray, Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador’s Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror (Mainstream Publishing Company Edinburgh, 2006), pp. 400 Ramakant Dwivedi | July 2006 | Strategic Analysis
Sri Lanka’s Uncertain Future Sri Lanka, which seemed all set to move towards peace and ethnic reconciliation, teeters on the brink of a grim crisis today. In an almost incredible turn of events, the forces of peace and progressive change appear exhausted and there is a sharp rise in tensions and uncertainty. The nagging feeling is growing externally and among the Sri Lankan liberal intelligentsia that yet another round of ethnic confrontation may break out soon. If this happens, it would put the island nation onto the path of an uncertain future. M. Mayilvaganan | June 27, 2006 | IDSA Comments
Million Mutinies in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas The tribal terrain in Pakistan is in a state of turmoil. As the Pakistani Taliban gradually emerge, many analysts have pointed out that the terrain has traditionally been home to orthodoxy over the centuries and nourished rebels like Sayiid Ahmad, Faqir of Ippi, Nek Muhammad, Abdul Mehsud and now Mullah Dadullah. Ashok K. Behuria | June 27, 2006 | IDSA Comments
ULFA’s Pressure Tactics In the third round of talks held in New Delhi on June 22 with the 11-member People's Consultative Group (PCG), the Centre gave an assurance that it would engage with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) directly within a fixed time frame. Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, who represented the Centre, also told the PCG that their demand to release ULFA Vice Chairman Pradip Gogoi, Cultural Secretary Pranati Deka, Publicity Secretary Mithinga Daimary, Executive Committee Member Ramu Mech and Ideologue Bhimakanta Buragohain would be considered in consultation with the Assam Government. Namrata Goswami | June 27, 2006 | IDSA Comments
Energy Transition: Strategic Necessity for India After his landmark speech on energy independence on the eve of India's 59th Independence Day, President Abdul Kalam emphasised upon the importance of alternative fuel development to surmount the growing challenges to energy security in his opening address at the Bio-Diesel Conference on June 9, 2006. His emphasis on energy independence places immense importance on India's energy security, as the country is increasingly dependent on imported fuels. J Nandakumar | June 26, 2006 | IDSA Comments
Buddhism and China’s Rise Communist China, which has so far pursued a policy of state-sponsored repression of religion, has suddenly begun to promote a revival of Buddhism. This has deeper significance than what meets the eye. From April 13 to 16, 2006, China staged the World Buddhist Forum in Hangzhou for the first time. This first major Buddhist conference since the Chinese Communist Party took power should not be viewed as an isolated event, but is inextricably linked with growing social unrest in China, the challenges of globalisation and its wider foreign policy imperatives. Abanti Bhattacharya | June 23, 2006 | IDSA Comments
Explosions In Assam: An Assessment Assam was wracked by a wave of bombings beginning June 8, which carried on for five days and left the State in turmoil. In all, there were 30 explosions, which killed eight persons and wounded almost 100. Besides this, at least 10 oil and gas installations and railway tracks were damaged. The manner in which these were executed leaves no doubts in anybody's mind that it was the handiwork of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). The police, who had intercepted ULFA messages, have also blamed the group for the blasts. Anil Kamboj | June 22, 2006 | IDSA Comments
