IDR Blog
What is Modi’s military vision?
Recently I had written in these pages on the importance of Narendra Modi’s strategic vision. That was dominated by the theme of foreign policy. But what about Modi’s military vision? This question is relevant as the accident involving a submarine has led to the unprecedented resignation of the chief of the naval staff who had 15 months of...
What is Modi’s strategic vision?
BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is slowly uncovering his foreign policy vision. The other day while campaigning in Arunachal Pradesh he expressed his concerns over “Chinese assertiveness” and comforted the audiences that under no circumstances will China be allowed to grab the border state. China, interestingly, is one of...
China's maritime 'silk road' proposals are not as peaceful as they seem
China’s proposition of a maritime silk route connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans is part of its propaganda drive to convince the world about its peaceful rise. Its actions do not match its protestations, but that does not deter China from proclaiming that its rise will be free from clashes, unlike in the past when rising powers challenged...
Islamic Emirate of Pakistan
In her essay, ‘Islamisation of Jinnah’ (Newsline, Pakistan, February 2014), Ayesha Siddiqa described Pakistan as ‘a hybrid-theocracy in which there are limited visible spaces where Islamic Sharia is formally implemented along with a depleted number of liberals and liberal space, but with a larger space in which religious laws and norms...
Civil-Military Relations: Heed the Timely Message
Concluding his recent address to the annual combined commanders conference during which he listed some serious challenges facing not just the armed forces but the entire national security structure of the country, the prime minister concluded by saying — “There have been concerns that have been raised in recent times about the nature of...