IDR Blog
Integrating Defence Plans with Niti Aayog’s Long Term Vision
A new dimension has been added to the many challenges already being faced by Indian defence planners. In an interesting development, Niti Aayog is thinking of integrating defence and internal security with the new 15-year vision it is developing as an alternative to national five-year plans.1 This long-term vision will be based on broader...
The Closure of the Indian Consulate in Kashgar and the Aksai Chin Road
Last week, I quoted an article published by Xinhua about the Aksai Chin Road (Xinjiang-Tibet Highway or NH 219 for China); it concluded: “The highway today looks to me like an airport runway — wide, flat and smooth – a heavenly road, indeed.” It is certainly a great boon for the People’s Libration Army (PLA) and China’s border...
Afghanistan and Qatar: Indian Foreign Policy Balancing the Contrast
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi who has just completed two years in office in end -May has demonstrated a high degree of personal involvement in foreign policy matters and has commenced his third year with a brisk five nation tour that began over the weekend (June 4-5) wherein he visited Afghanistan and Qatar. Subsequently, he...
China is Getting Ready
As the Tibetan Sikyong (Prime Minister) begins his second term with a new Kashag (Cabinet) in Dharamsala, (all of the ministers were approved after a majority vote during the first day session of the 16th Tibetan Parliament), the Chinese Government continues to reinforce its presence on the plateau. Of course, Beijing does not appreciate much...
Fretting over Chabahar: Phobia or diversionary ploy by Pakistan?
It was downright amusing to read an article in a prominent Pakistani daily titled ‘Trade route linking Chabahar Port with Afghanistan’ a security threat’. The article refers to deliberations by two former Pakistani defence secretaries (Lt Gen Asif Yasin Malik and Lt Gen Nadeem Lodhi) at a three-day workshop on ‘National Security,...