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India Should Keep Starlink Out of Its Sky: Lessons from Ukraine

If a state allows a foreign private satellite network to handle part of its communications, it is in effect outsourcing part of its security and will eventually pay the price during a crisis, when it will be too late to negotiate. Ukraine found out that resilience does not mean ownership. 

The Strategic Implications of India's Association to Horizon Europe Programme: Major Step in Scientific and Technological Cooperation

Beyond funding opportunities, it indicates that Brussels and New Delhi increasingly see each other as long-term partners in shaping the technologies, standards and scientific solutions of the 21st century. The agreement therefore reflects not only stronger scientific cooperation, but also a broader convergence of strategic interests in an era of technological competition and geopolitical uncertainty.

Atma Jayaram: India’s Gentleman Spymaster who loved Sri Lanka

Recently declassified documents from the National Archives in Colombo have shed light on Jayaram's involvement in assisting Sri Lanka during the leftist guerrilla insurrection that engulfed the island nation.  Acting on Jayaram's advice, 150 Indian Gurkha soldiers were reportedly deployed to protect Colombo International Airport.

Managing India--Border Tensions - and the 'New Normal'

It is an  elegantly worded statement and impossible to disprove. It turns a dispute about differing LAC perceptions,  acknowledged since 1993,  into a story of Chinese compliance and Indian deviation.  This is the new China that India must manage, not the old one.  

More on Geopolitics, Security and Strategic Affairs

Diplomacy and the global North-South divide: Need to redefine power dynamics in international relations

An alternate strategy for overcoming the North-South divide and altering power dynamics is South-South collaboration. South-South collaboration disproves the idea that knowledge and progress only travel from North to South, giving developing nations the chance to establish their autonomy and create their own narratives.

Climate crises affect women more: Vulnerabilities of Nepalese women increased manifold after 2015 earthquake

According to a UN report, three months after the quake in Nepal at least 245 children had been preyed upon by traffickers and that was just the “tip of a growing iceberg”

With a little help from India, an energy deal will open new avenues in Dhaka-Kathmandu relations

A trilateral energy sales and purchase agreement between Bangladesh, Nepal, and India are required for any Dhaka-Kathmandu power transaction to be implemented because Bangladesh and Nepal do not have a direct land link.

Pakistan abides by the highest standards of nuclear safety and security

Pakistan’s nuclear tests of 28 May 1998 not only demonstrated the resolve of the Pakistani nation to safeguard the country's territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty but also the desire to preserve strategic balance in South Asia. 

India should leverage its soft power as a trade multiplier

India should make concerted efforts to corner a bigger role in the governance of global multilateral bodies and should get involved in resolving global conflicts and issues. It should take its success to the world, contributing to capacity building wherever required, especially in Africa. 

Bhutan's foreign policy is guided by a set of philosophical and cultural values

Bhutan is regarded as ‘the kingdom of happiness’ and also has the reputation of being the first to become the one and only carbon-negative country in the world. The international community sees Bhutan as a peaceful and traditional country, and that has helped its policymakers formulate a foreign policy that maintains its unique status in the world order.

The crisis in Manipur has been brewing: Depths of discord in northeastern India

The danger is that the cracks in the Constitution are widening. The need of the hour is to find the true meaning of religion. A divisive agenda no matter how strong, will end up dividing the nation and enhancing a culture of division.

Pakistan: The military versus the people

Since Pakistan’s birth over 75 years ago, it is the ‘establishment’ that has largely determined who gets political power and when to take it away. Out-of-favour politicians get disqualified from political office, imprisoned, or exiled. Some have been killed.

India and Australia: A relationship whose time has come

The research strengths of Australian universities in areas such as cyber security, quantum computing, space technology, robotics and AI, critical technologies, public health, water, waste utilization, teacher training, low-cost housing, and solar power, to name a few, are all initiatives and aspirations that PM Modi has identified for India and which Australian universities are well-placed to collaborate on.

Karnataka elections 2023: Defeat of hate in India

From the secular Bharat Jodo Yatra to the Karnataka elections, Indian civil society groups have played an important role. One does look forward to civil society groups committed to the rights of weaker sections of society playing a similar role in forthcoming elections to ensure that the country comes back to the path and idea of India envisaged by the freedom movement and the Constitution of India.

Climate crisis: A ticking time bomb that the world can ignore at its own peril

The warning is not only coming with unusual certainty but there is a clearer message that the world is failing in its pursuit to meet the Paris Climate Agreement.

Regional cooperation imperative in tackling Cyclone Mocha-type natural disasters

Cyclone Mocha only reminds us of the urgency of India-Bangladesh-Myanmar-Thailand-China-Sri Lanka cyclone management cooperation. As a start, Myanmar-Bangladesh-India trilateral cooperation is a must in this regard.

Will Karnataka mark the turning of the tide in Indian politics?

After Karnataka, however, the BJP may be wary of going down that path when the world will be watching Modi’s forthcoming steps in the run-up to the 2024 general election 

25 Years of Pokhran II Tests: Thinking beyond nuclear deterrence in South Asia

The lesson one can draw from 25 years of nuclear South Asia is that nuclear weapons are guarantors of stability at the highest or strategic levels, but they are certainly not the panacea to the security challenges faced by a nation, especially at the sub-conventional level. The case of the India-Pakistan conflict validates this point

Polls and the paradox in Karnataka: Casting their shadow on 2024

Herein lies the paradox of Karnataka. The rest of educated India and the world knows the state mostly through the stories of its tech leaders and the vibrancy of Bengaluru, which has sometimes been voted as the top city to work for many and certainly for IT professionals. On the other hand, the state of Karnataka has become a tinderbox of communal strife. 

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