Strategic Analysis

Changing Geographical Factors in Planning and Conduct of Indian Military Operations

The changing nature of geography plays a critical role in the planning and execution of military missions. Geography as a subject combines both the physical and human elements and the rapid transformation of the landscape owing to climate change, and the corresponding cultural impact has to be seriously considered in the environment-security link. Lessons from military history point to the fact that 'geographical ignorance' can be perilous.

Capacity-Building in Defense Science and Technology: A Perspective from the DRDO

Examining Pakistan’s Democratic Deficit

China and Africa: A New Development Partnership

Illegal Migration, Insurgency, and the Political Economy of Assam

Dyadic Relationship Between Conflict Dynamics and Negotiations: Exploring the Linkages

A Phased Approach to India’s Missile Defense Planning

India's missile defence explorations had long been hindered by its limited access to advanced interception technologies and slow pace of indigenization. India is now developing lower- and upper-tier systems for air and missile defence applications, while also aspiring for longer range exoatmospheric interception capability. However, considering that India's requirements are skewed towards lower tier threats, it is prudent to have an all-inclusive architecture that can meet all realistic threats (including air-breathing), with limited financial and political implications.

Sects Within Sect: The Case of Deobandi-Barelvi Encounter in Pakistan

The Sunni Muslims of South Asia are divided into two major sub-sects, i.e. Deobandi and Barelvi, named after their places of origin in India in the 19th century. Because of abiding differences between them, these two sub-sects have built up walls of hatred and mistrust between them over time. The faultline between them has erupted violently in Pakistan since the late 1970s. While there are some pioneering works available on their separate worldviews, no study has yet been attempted to critically analyse the nature of their interaction at the political level.

Gilgit-Baltistan: The Roots of Political Alienation

Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir has witnessed a series of political disturbances and violence over the past years. Though many analysts have viewed the often-violent assertions by otherwise peaceful residents of this remote and mountainous region as occasional eruptions of the Shia-Sunni sectarian divide, a careful examination will indicate the deeper roots of alienation of the population in this long-neglected region.

Alok Bansal |
January 2008 |
Strategic Analysis

Bangladesh Factor in the Indo-Myanmarese Gas Deal

With the discovery of substantial gas in Myanmar's Sittwe region in the Rakhine state, India was keen to acquire gas from some of the new finds in the Shwe gas field, divided in several blocks, of which A-1 and A-2 blocks were closer to India and also estimated to have the best recoverable reserves. Given the geographical location, overland pipelines transiting through Bangladesh are the most cost-effective way of getting gas from Myanmar to India. Despite its initial enthusiasm, Bangladesh backtracked from its earlier willingness to be a partner to the tripartite pipeline.