Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vietnam this week comes amidst a busy diplomatic season with him also attending the G20 Summit in China, the ASEAN-India Summit in Laos, and the East Asia Summit, also in Laos. Much has changed between New Delhi and Hanoi since 2001, the last time an Indian PM visited… Continue reading Modi’s Vietnam Visit: Nurturing the Counterweight
It has been 20 years since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was opened for signature by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996. Marking its 20thanniversary, 2016 offers an opportunity to gauge the successes and failures of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). One of the greatest challenges facing the implementation of the CTBT is… Continue reading CTBT 20: Reflections on the CTBTO Youth Initiative
India has been busy in the eastern Indian Ocean of late. In early February, the country finished its second International Fleet Review, which brought together 52 countries and more than 100 warships for ceremonial inspections, underscoring the growing indispensability of the maritime posture in India’s eastward orientation. In March, India test-fired a ballistic missile from its soon-to-be inducted, nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant,… Continue reading India Sees a New Regional Role for Its Navy
In light of China and Pakistan’s all-weather friendship, regional analysts have written extensively about their military cooperation. However, South Asia watchers have devoted considerably less attention to their space association. This is despite the fact that as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, Beijing and Islamabad recently agreed to prioritize space collaboration. Pakistan’s… Continue reading Beijing, Islamabad’s Upper-Atmospheric Friendship
President Obama’s Afghan policy has been decidedly mixed. Upon coming to power in 2009, he had vowed to “finish the job” in Afghanistan— after almost eight years, the job isn’t done. As he prepares to exit the Oval office in a few months, the country remains in a precarious situation. However, during his presidency, the… Continue reading Afghanistan: Obama’s Mixed Bag Legacy
The 2016 Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) Security Index was released this week. A media frenzy and heated debates in many countries followed the report’s release in both 2012 and 2014. The same appears to be true this year, particularly in South Asia, where debates over nuclear security remain contentious. Despite India’s improved performance, the report… Continue reading NTI Index 2016: The View from India
November 2015 witnessed a multilateral discussion at the United Nations (UN) on the issue of autonomous killer robots, unmanned weapon systems that can independently select and engage targets without any humans in the loop. Several countries held extensive discussions in Geneva on the ramifications of this self-operating weapon system and deliberated over the proposal of… Continue reading Managing the Menace of Killer Robots
