On November 7, 1950, Vallabhbhai Patel wrote his celebrated letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on India’s China policy. ‘The Chinese Government has tried to delude us by professions of peaceful intention’, he stated, referring to Beijing’s decision to move troops into Tibet. A new challenge confronted India as a result of the ‘disappearance of Tibet, as we knew it, and the expansion of China almost up to our gates’. ‘Chinese ambitions … not only cover the Himalayan slopes on our side but also include the important part of Assam.

• Chandrashekhar Dasgupta |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

The increasing dependence on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has unleashed a whole new genre of cyber terrorism. Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, online hate propaganda and use of the internet for recruiting, planning and effecting terrorist attacks have become new frontiers of terrorism. The ubiquitous cyberspace has expanded terrorism structures and transformed their operations.

• Swaran Singh , Jayanna Krupakar |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

Kautilya: The True Founder of Economics is a unique contribution to the subject of Kautilya’s Arthashastra (KA). Arthashastradiscusses at length governance, diplomacy, military science and political economy.1 However, never has such a strong case been presented for Kautilya’s inclusion in the economic community. Given the degree of quantitative sophistication that economic science has achieved in the 21st century, it is all the more difficult to introduce abstractions of Kautilyan thought within the modern economic framework.

• Divya Malhotra |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

This article examines Iranian contentions on three issue areas that exemplify the politicised nature of its interactions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These include access to military facilities, information credibility and the ‘nuclear activism’ of US-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

• S. Samuel C. Rajiv |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

Propelled by its rapid economic growth, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is undergoing multitudes of transitions simultaneously. These transitions are substantially transforming state–society relations in China. The conventional wisdom about China in the reform era has been that the Communist Party of China’s (CPC’s) legitimacy to rule comes from its continued economic performance; in other words, the Chinese people will not bother with the kind of regime they have if they are well fed and their economic aspirations are taken care of.

• Avinash Godbole |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

Engaging with a multilateral body requires constructive foreign policy forethought, especially for a country that is not a fully fledged member of that body. China’s overtures to the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) exemplify this approach. The Indian Ocean and India are the two most immediate elements in China’s policy approach to the IORA. With 20 member states, extra-territorial major powers as important dialogue partners, and the increasing importance of energy politics in the region, the IORA today is a significant multilateral body in China’s calculus.

• Jagannath P. Panda |
• September 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

Just as the world was beginning to understand the various dimensions of cyberspace in general, and internet governance in particular, it received the rude shock of the Snowden revelations about the global surveillance carried out by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) in the name of counterterrorism. All kinds of electronic communications of US citizens and non-citizens alike were monitored. Phone tapping and electronic interception were part of this huge operation to collect a haystack of data in the hope of detecting terrorist links to protect national security.

• Kamlesh Bajaj |
• July 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

On November 5, 2013 Pakistan conducted its fourth test of the Hatf-IX (Nasr) short range battlefield ‘nuclear’ missile. To date there have been four flight tests of the missile system. After the first three tests (April 19, 2011, May 29, 2012 and February 11, 2013) Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) had put out identical press releases.1 These statements claimed that the missile had a range of 60 km and carried ‘nuclear warheads (sic) of appropriate yield’.

• Arun Vishwanathan |
• July 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

In June 2013, President Obama met with President Xi Jinping at Sunnylands, California. The meeting was seen as a chance for the two leaders to get to know each other in a relatively informal setting so they could address the growing mistrust between their countries. While maritime disputes, trade tensions and differences over how to contain the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programmes were high on the agenda, cyber security—in particular Chinese cyber espionage—was the defining issue of this unusual summit.

• Adam M. Segal |
• July 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis

South Korean president Park Geun-hye visited India in January 2014 after India and South Korea marked 40 years of diplomatic relations the previous year.1 These developments symbolise a burgeoning relationship between two of Asia’s leading economies and democracies. However, they have added significance as Asia undergoes a shift in the strategic balance of power.

• Chietigj Bajpaee |
• July 2014 |
• Strategic Analysis