Journal of Defence Studies

Revolution in Military Affairs with Chinese Characteristics

While China’s interest in Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) dates back to the mid-1980s, the Western hi-tech precision military action in the 1991 Gulf War; the 1999 Kosovo war; the 2003 Iraq war and the continuing Afghan campaign have all convinced it to opt for the RMA, albeit within the limits of Chinese technology, organisation, and defence budget.

India’s Defence Preparedness to Face Chinese Challenges

It will not be an exaggeration to say that China poses the major challenge to India’s foreign policy and defence policy – which does not necessarily mean that a potential threat from China is imminent. Far from this, the Sino-Indian border of 3488 kms is by and large peaceful and tranquil, excepting occasional reports of border incursions. There are institutional mechanisms in place to meet any untoward incident on the border. Nevertheless, the security of the country, its territorial integrity and sovereignty warrant military preparedness to cope with any kind of eventualities.

Deradicalisation in Bangladesh: Challenges Ahead

The Sheikh Hasina government has been able to crack down on militant outfits by initiating a process of de-radicalisation ever since it came to power in 2009. This has been evident from the fact that since 2009 the violent activities of the Islamic extremists have been curtailed with relatively little bloodshed. And the same has been the case with the left wing extremists in the country. The Sheikh Hasina regime is more determined, than any government since the formation of Bangladesh to de-radicalise the political as well as the social structure of Bangladesh.

Emerging Dynamics of Pakistan’s Internal Situation and the Security Challenge for India

As of now, institutions within Pakistan are strong enough to prevent both the balkanisation of Pakistan as well as the possibility of the state falling into theocratic hands. Pakistan is also unlikely to wind up terror operations against India as it considers the terrorist organisations to be its strategic assets. Internal disturbances within Pakistan allow it to maintain plausible deniability and the shifting of blame on to non-state actors over whom Pakistan claims it has no control. This paper argues that India’s response to terror will have to be well thought out.

China’s Expanding Footprint in Nepal: Threats to India

Nepal used to be a safe zone for India. China was least interested in Nepal till 1950s. But strategic design changed once China forcefully occupied Tibet. Nehru tried to strengthen the Indian positioning in Himalayan sphere vis-àvis China. Things became more complicated once China started intruding in Nepal. This article tries to see the emerging Chinese threats from Nepal. Since 1,751 km India-Nepal border runs through 20 districts of five Indian states. The India-Nepal border is open. China has tried through its long strategy to erase Nepalese dependency on India.

Outcome Budgeting in India: The Need for Re-Engineering

The transformation from the comforts of outlay budgeting to an environment of accountability with outcome budgeting is difficult but not impossible. This re-engineering is essential as in the absence of outcome budgeting, budget management may be ineffective and ineffective budget management would weaken the Public Financial Management (PFM) system. A weakened PFM could even threaten established economic, social and political equilibriums.

Alex Mintz and Karl DeRouen Jr., Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making

Leaders make decisions to go to war, make peace, form alliances, establish diplomatic relations, take a position on nuclear nonproliferation, impose economic sanctions, or ratify global environmental agreements. The focus of Alex Mintz and Karl DeRouen’s book Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making is this broad range of foreign policy decisions. The book presents a decision making approach to foreign policy analysis. The benefits of such an approach are that it analyses not only the outcomes of decisions but also the dynamics and the processes of decision making.

Outcome Budgeting for Naval Dockyards

The Indian Navy (IN) has one Naval Dockyard (ND) each at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam and one Naval Ship Repair Yard (NSRY) each at Kochi, Port Blair and Karwar. The repair and refit requirements of IN ships and submarines are collectively met by the above mentioned repair agencies. NDs have the capacity and capability to handle Major Refits (MR). The Operational-cum-Refit cycle of each ship / class of ship is promulgated by IHQ MoD (N) from time to time.

Reconciling AFSPA with the Legal Spheres

The present paper analyses and examines the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in respect of legal aspects. It first discusses it in terms of domestic law, international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law. Given India’s obligations under international human rights instruments going beyond domestic law is necessary in any such discussion. Ensuring complementarity between the Act in its application in armed conflicts and IHL, would contribute towards making the Act more ‘humane’. The second part discusses the Act from security perspectives.

Restructuring the Indian Armed Forces

This paper broadly deals with two important aspects. First, it analyses various security challenges that India is facing at present; and second, it examines the need for restructuring the Indian Armed Forces to address these security challenges. It explains that India is in a two front situation with China to the