russia pak military exercises Courtesy: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
29 September 2016

Russia’s zero sum games in Asia

Russia's decision to go ahead with joint military exercises with Pakistan is the latest move in Putin's flexible and pragmatic Asian foreign policy playbook. However, whether it will be worth having provoked Indian ire remains to be seen.

IMG_20160811_160515-01 Courtesy: A Salute to the Sword Arm
11 August 2016

Partition 1947: the navy we didn’t see

15 August 1947 saw the division of more than a country. There were other spoils that were split: the Royal Indian Navy was one of them. This included not just a division of assets, but also of staff, whom the British Royal Navy had trained. This led to a piquant situation

1 Courtesy: Sameer Patil
22 June 2016

Challenges in protecting the border

A recent seminar on ‘Countering Violent Extremism’ (CVE) offered a platform for law enforcement agencies to understand technological, social media and other propaganda strategies used by cross-border terrorist groups. The seminar’s location in Sri Ganganagar, the northern-most town of Rajasthan, served as a gentle reminder of challenges specific to security agencies on the India-Pakistan border.

Evening Dialogue - Keynote - Kiren Rijiju 02 Courtesy: Gateway House
14 June 2016

GOID 2016: Evening Keynote by Kiren Rijiju

Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs, delivered the keynote speech during the Evening Dialogue on Cybersecurity and Terrorism at the Gateway of India Dialogue held in Mumbai last June, organised in cooperation with the Ministry of External Affairs. The speech outlined the relationship between cybersecurity and terrorism, counter-measures already put in place by the Indian Government, and areas for improvement and progress in the future.

Andaman Courtesy: Wikipedia
26 May 2016

Andaman & Nicobar: an underutilised asset

Does India plan to remodel its Andaman & Nicobar Islands as a launching pad for future security operations to check growing Chinese inroads in the Indian Ocean Region? Development of the islands has long been ignored to India’s detriment, and their strategic position in the Indian Ocean, underutilised.

US India Navy Courtesy: Ash Carter / Flickr
16 April 2016

India-U.S.: convergence and divergence

The success of the U.S. Defense Secretary's recent visit to India is indicative of the deepening India-U.S. defence relationship. It has become clear that Indo-U.S. maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean is steaming ahead; while other geopolitical differences, like the sale of aircraft to Pakistan, seem unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

modi sharif Courtesy: Flickr/ MEAPhotogallery
7 January 2016

New approach to security emergencies

The Pathankot attack reflects a new template of terrorism and is a reminder that India needs a well-coordinated approach to security emergencies. This is particularly necessary as the country has embarked on a bold foreign policy path, daring to tread where we have not gone before, intensifying existing and new engagements and trying to functionalize dysfunctional bilaterals like Pakistan