National Security and Strategic Studies
National Security: Preemption is Viable and Valid

The Chambers Twenty-first Century Dictionary defines ‘preempt’ in the following words:- “To do something ahead of someone else and so make pointless an action they have planned”. Preemptive action is defined by the same dictionary as an atta....

1947-48 Indo-Pak War: Fall of Gilgit and Siege and Fall of Skardu

Part- I: Fall of Gilgit India has fought many conventional wars since independence; it has also been involved in fighting insurgency and proxy wars during this period. Many heroes that these wars produced have become household names. Howeve....

Portents of Increased Terrorist Violence in J&K – Proactive Action Only Option

Sometime during the autumn of 2012, security forces homed on to a communication between a terrorist commander in the valley with his handler based in Pakistan Occupiued Kashmir (POK). The agitated handler was egging the commander to carry out some ac....

Uttarakhand Disaster: A Legacy of Environmental Destruction

June 2013 has been a month of catastrophe, trials and suffering in the Garhwal Himalaya in Uttarakhand. This is the region known as Devbhoomi, or the abode of the Gods, sacred to Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs alike. The source of the most sacred river....

India’s Defence and Security Policies: Need to Learn Lessons from the Past

Have we learned any lessons from our experiences during the Nehru era and in subsequent years? Anyone looking dispassionately at our defence and security policies over the decades would respond only in the negative. India frittered away its militari....

The Ishrat Jahan Case Chargesheet: More Questions than Answers

On 4th July 2013, newspapers had headlined reports to the effect that the Delhi Special Police Establishment (hereinafter referred to as CBI for the sake of convenience) has put up a challan against eight police officers of Gujarat on a ch....

Intelligence vs. Investigation, Or CBI vs. IB?

The controversy surrounding a major confrontation between India’s premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), and the nation’s internal intelligence agency, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which has been aired in the ....

India’s National Security Management needs Urgent Reform

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) appears to have rejected the proposal of the Naresh Chandra Committee on Defence Reforms to appoint a permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC). This is a retrograde step as the proposal itself is a wate....

Maoist Insurgency in India: Impending Escalation and Dimensions of The State’s Armed Response

Resurgence of Maoist Violence Since the mid-2011 or so, the intensity of Maoist insurgency had somewhat been less spectacular as compared to the preceding years. Indeed, there had been many Maoist-Police encounters during this time, mostly ....

India Internal Security Challenges and Responses

Kautilya wrote in the Arthashastra that a state could be at risk from four different kinds of threats – internal, external, externally-aided internal and internally-aided external. The internal security scenario in India has a mix of all the shades....

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