Terrorists’ Modus Operandi in Jammu and Kashmir Terrorism in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has completed almost 15 years. It marked its arrival with blasts in Srinagar city in 1988 and subsequently expanded to other parts in a well-planned and organised manner. It has the ingredients of a professionally run movement. Initially, majority of the terrorists were locals who had crossed over to Pakistan in large groups in 1987 and returned after obtaining training, but gradually the foreigners, mostly Pakistanis, replaced them. Locals or foreigners, terrorists depend fully on the public support—obtained voluntarily or through coercion. N. S. Jamwal | July 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Cooperation in Military Training as a Tool of Peacetime Military Diplomacy Military diplomacy has long been one of the essential constituents of international diplomacy and an effective methodology, to foster bilateral and regional relationships. Military training cooperation is an essential component of military diplomacy and helps to build close ties with other nations. Such cooperation also helps to strengthen strategic security relationships and address common security concerns. The Indian armed forces have rich expertise of operating in varied terrain, as also live combat experience in a vast spectrum of operations. B. S. Sachar | July 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Environmentally Induced Migration from Bangladesh to India Environmental crisis in the rural areas of developing countries is increasingly becoming an important cause of cross-border migration of population and South Asia is no exception to this phenomenon. Such movement of population in the Indo-Bangladesh context is generating a range of destabilising socio-political, economic, ethnic and communal tensions in India. It has embittered Indo-Bangladesh relations, causing tensions between the two countries. Sarfaraz Alam | July 2003 | Strategic Analysis
India’s Africa Policy in the post-Cold War Era: An Assessment In the post-Cold War era, with the emergence of an independent Namibia and a democratic South Africa, the main agenda that had brought India and Africa together—the fight against colonialism and institutionalised racialism—has disappeared. India’s Africa policy indicates a slight change as also some consistency in the post-Cold War era. It appears to be composed of five mantras: promoting economic cooperation, engaging the people of Indian origin, preventing and combating terrorism, preserving peace and assisting the African defence forces. Ruchita Beri | April 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Bangladesh’s Political Evolution: Growing Uncertainties Unlike many Third World countries, Bangladesh has remained relatively stable and peaceful and escaped from major internal upheavals. While the democratic transition in 1991 was slow and painful, democratic change of governments has become the norm. Leaders are changed through ballots and not bullets and power oscillates between the two principal parties. Sreeradha Datta | April 2003 | Strategic Analysis
The State and the Military: Perspectives on Nigeria-USA Military Cooperation The official position of USA and Nigeria in favour of military cooperation rather than a military pact does not necessarily demean its value in defence and strategic thinking. The withdrawal of military assistance to Nigeria on March 23, 2003 should be seen as a strong protest against Nigerian reservations on the US-led war on Iraq rather than a complete end to it. Aja Akpuru-Aja | April 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Bangladesh Foreign Policy vis-à-vis India Foreign policy of a country is primarily a projection of its socio-economic and political compulsions in international politics. Apart from other determinants, the foreign policy of Bangladesh was always guided by its core factors, where India occupies centrestage. Bangladesh, pursues its foreign policy based on its geographical surroundings, historical legacy, and more importantly, persistence of a number of outstanding bilateral issues, which are vital to its existence. Sanjay Bhardwaj | April 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Comments on China’s Defense Paper 2002 China’s Defense Paper 2002 was released in December 2002. It is the fourth such Paper since 1995. It clearly affirms that the top priority for China is to continue its modernisation. In particular, economic security is given more attention. The report also echoes the guidelines set at the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party for the future development of China. As stated in the White Paper, “The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China… has drawn up a grand blueprint for China’s development in the new century. Vincent W. Chen | April 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Perceptions of Japanese Students on Terrorism and Other Security Problems: Initial Results from a Pilot Study This paper is part of an international collaborative research project involving researchers from India, England, Japan and the United States. International terrorism has emerged as a major human concern after September 11, 2001 and an understanding of this against the backdrop of related security problems has emerged as a priority research area. Mohammed Badrul Alam | April 2003 | Strategic Analysis
Dominant European Powers and the US at Odds: The Transatlantic Media Divide During the latest war in Iraq, which has now come to an end, there has been a persistent debate on why Europe and the US are not seeing eye-to-eye on the question of war and a host of issues pertaining to it. The discourse so far has speculatively tried to probe whether the whole mismatch is about culture, history or about the power game in the post-Cold War world. Ajai K. Rai | April 2003 | Strategic Analysis