COMMENTARIES
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Shangri La Dialogue: Indian Perspectives
Abhijit Iyer-Mitra · 15 Jun, 2012 · #3639 · Commentary
For India, there was much to be happy about in what came out of the Shangri-La Dialogue. Given its rhetorical obsession with laughable concepts like ‘strategic autonomy’ and ‘non-alignment’, this conference saw the formul...
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Civil-Military Relations: Questioning the VK Singh Thesis
Ali Ahmed · 13 Jun, 2012 · #3638 · Commentary
General VK Singh’s perspective on civil-military relations needs interrogation for it can be expected to carry at least some subscription within the services. The general, now retired, outlined the perspective that in case civilian suprema...
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Global Zero: The Road Ahead
Shubhra Chaturvedi · 13 Jun, 2012 · #3637 · Commentary
While the Global Zero movement started off with high expectations and global enthusiasm for nuclear disarmament, two years later, there seems to be slow progress. Why has it slowed down? What has been achieved so far and what are the grey areas?...
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Kargil: Implications of a Full-Fledged Air Base for India
Zainab Akhter · 12 Jun, 2012 · #3636 · Commentary
In a move that may rattle India’s neighbours, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided to convert the Kargil airstrip into a full-fledged air force base by 2016. The strip lies close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan. The IAF is pla...
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Conflict Alert: Impact of Communal Clashes on Myanmar's Reform Project
Bibhu Prasad Routray · 12 Jun, 2012 · #3635 · Commentary
Addressing the World Economic Forum meeting in Bangkok on 1 June, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi underlined the need to be cautious about embracing Myanmar as the new investment destination of the world. She asked the investors to retain a &...
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Antony and Panetta: A Shakespearean Drama?
PR Chari · 12 Jun, 2012 · #3634 · Commentary
Why did US Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, hurry to New Delhi immediately after he met Antony in the 11th Shangri-la dialogue in Singapore that ended on 3 June? A parallel can be found in Shakespeare’s drama Antony and Cleopatra. Romance ...
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The Non-Traditional Nuclear Threat in South Asia: Managing the Focus
Martin de Lavernée · 09 Jun, 2012 · #3633 · Commentary
In South Asia, the rise of non-state actor networks with radical views and the fear of nuclear terrorism have changed the scope of non-proliferation from a state-to-state channel to include the non-state (therefore not politically responsible) a...
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The Curious Case of India’s Withdrawal from the South China Sea
Teshu Singh · 08 Jun, 2012 · #3632 · Commentary
The withdrawal of ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) from the South China Sea (SCS) has added a new facet to the existing maritime dispute in the region. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in a letter to the MEA dated 10 April 2012 said, “OVL...
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A Nuclear Deal for Pakistan?
Martin de Lavernée · 04 Jun, 2012 · #3631 · Commentary
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) countries and Nuclear Suppliers Group have expressed serious concerns over the security of nuclear plants and materials in Pakistan owing largely to domestic radicalization and internal strife, in a...
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The Sri Lanka-China Relationship: A Print Media Analysis
Priyakala Manoharan · 04 Jun, 2012 · #3630 · Commentary
China’s deepening relationship with Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly conspicuous as the emerging super power extends relations beyond its sphere of influence. This paper brings out the Sri Lankan perceptions of the unconditional and time...
