Air Chief Marshal AP Singh flying his last fighter jet sortie

Air Power and National Security: Strategic Choices that the Indian Air Force Needs to Make

Air power will remain central to national security. Whether India has enough of it, in the right form, and can afford it in scarce dollars, is still an open question. ACM Singh is to be commended for his distinguished service and stellar leadership – and more importantly – rendering objective professional advice to the apex leadership, an increasingly rare trait in the current times.

Nonalignment and Strategic Autonomy Unworkable for Small States: 'India First' Policy a Strategic Necessity for Sri Lanka

Under conditions of what is increasingly described as the "Great Fragmentation," Sri Lanka's geographic proximity to India should be viewed as a strategic advantage rather than a liability. Properly managed, this strategic reality could help transform Sri Lanka into a prosperous and stable nation.

Pakistan’s Hangor-Class Fires Its First Missile. Can It Shift the Maritime Balance in South Asia?

The September 27 firing is therefore best seen as the beginning of a new phase in Pakistan’s naval modernization. The larger strategic question is still open. Whether Hangor changes the regional maritime balance will depend on what comes next

India Strategically Transforming Bay of Bengal Islands Into a Major Trade, Logistics and Military Hub

The Great Nicobar Island Development Project (GNIDP)  is a mammoth venture by India to strategically strengthen its presence in the Andaman Sea and Southeast Asia with its own transshipment hub. The mega-infrastructure project spans approximately166.10 sq km covering about 15% of the total landmass of Great Nicobar Island at the southernmost tip of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

More on Geopolitics, Security and Strategic Affairs

An agenda for BBIN countries: An idea whose time has come

The demonstrable success of BBIN cooperation may draw Sri Lanka and Maldives also into its ambit in the near future.  India's government and corporate sectors must work together to make BBIN cooperation a success to mutual advantage.

Red flags in India's Northeast: Is Act East Policy losing focus?

The question also arises – is  Delhi losing focus and getting diverted from the AEP by QUAD, Chinese influence on RCEP, and so on. If so then Delhi must decentralise the AEP to make it effective

BJP seeks to etch new lines on the political map of Jammu & Kashmir: Will this end its electoral drought in the Valley?

This doesn’t erase the irrefutable fact that a community that used to align with Kashmiri parties until now was shifting its preferences, the impact of which is bound to be felt in the electoral battle in the forthcoming assembly polls. If the BJP succeeds in reaping the electoral benefits in Jammu & Kashmir, it will have much more to tell the nation ahead of the 2024 polls in the country.

Bangladesh's Rohingya camps are growing security and environmental hazard

Activities of militant organizations have developed around the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar. A web of militancy is spreading in the camps with the money coming from six countries including the Middle East and Pakistan.

Pakistan's Chinese bugbear: Growing attacks pose a new security challenge for Islamabad

The Chinese presence in Pakistan, with or outside of the CPEC, and the TTP's defiance, although not directly related, do pose growing security challenges to Pakistan and China, especially when the two want to combine forces to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan.

RSS leader's outreach to Muslims: Reconciliation or cooption?

Today the international image of India, courtesy the RSS-BJP, is a Hindu supremacist one where minorities are insecure, where identity issues are getting precedence over the issues of livelihood. RSS is the fountainhead of this politics; it needs introspection if it is serious about the process of dialogue and reconciliation.

India and Sri Lanka need to circumvent irritants, focus on diversification of ties

India could reset its approach by engaging with Sri Lanka as a country in the Indo-Pacific region and not just as a neighbour.

India ‘matters more', seeks to be the 'bridge', the 'voice' for the developing world; generous recognition for India's actions

For India, global governance reform starts with Security Council reforms and here New Delhi got support across blocs at the General Assembly meeting from both the US and Russia, as well as other countries. It is the only country to get the backing of both Washington and Moscow.

Bangladesh should tread cautiously in resolving growing border tensions with Myanmar, step up diplomacy

In a broadcast on Wednesday, Bangladesh Army Chief General S M Shafiuddin Ahmed stated that his troops were prepared to respond against Myanmarese provocations if necessary.

In the absence of water-sharing deal, India should help Bangladesh with Teesta water management

Building a reservoir on the Teesta will help Bangladesh create a climate-resilient infrastructure which will be useful in better managing the common river water.

Bangladesh making steady progress in ensuring labor rights

Functioning trade unions, decreasing number of child labourers and the introduction of labour courts and foundations are demonstrations of the extraordinary achievements of Bangladesh in ensuring labour rights.

Foreign policy in a divided world: Will India rise to the occasion?

Today, several other countries are gaining greater respect and acceptability in the comity of nations. India, certainly, is one of them. What is perhaps likely to happen is that global leadership would be a shared responsibility.

India badly needs a refugee policy: Harsh treatment of Rohingya goes against international principles

For a country that embraces the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (“The World is One Family”), and is often referred to by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Vishwaguru (“Teacher of the World”), the discriminatory and hostile treatment meted out to the Rohingya is not only against its ethos but also makes for bad optics on the world stage. 

From Kingsway to Kartavya Path: India comes of age

Resurgent and dynamic, a young nation, old in history and culture is finally coming to terms with the painful legacy of slavery, colonialism and the pain of partition

Economic integration of South Asia: India must seize the day

India may consider quickly extending lines of credit to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on softer terms than IMF loans as we have enough forex reserves at present to cope with their small needs to prevent economic collapse. This will result in consolidation of South Asian economies around the Indian one and allow us as Big Brother to lift our smaller siblings out of trouble