Entries by admin
LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS: FROM FRAGILITY TO STABILITY
With a total land area of just 32 km2, the Lakshadweep Islands, which lie off the west coast of India, are the smallest of the Union Territories (UT) under the Government of the India (GoI). And yet, they contribute something like 20,000 sq.km to the area of India’s Territorial Sea, and 400,000 km2 to the […]
INDIAN NAVY’S ‘CAMPING’ EXPEDITIONS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION
The year that has gone by is significant in many aspects for the Indian Navy’s operational deployment which has been demonstrated far and wide in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The time-tested formula of the navies of the world, namely, “Forward presence and posturing” can only be effective when it is applied continuously in […]
REVISITNG ‘SAGAR’ – INDIA’S TEMPLATE FOR COOPERATION IN THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION
The month of March 2018 marks three years since the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first enunciated India’s vision for the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) commonly known by its acronym – SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region). In a well thought out strategic move, Modi first spoke about SAGAR, not in India […]
INDIA-ASEAN MARITIME COOPERATION PROSPECTS
www.maritimeindia.org Published in Diplomacy & beyond Plus Magazine: Special Report on ASEAN-India: 25 years of Dialogue Partnership, January 2018 at www.diplomacybeyond.com As India looks towards its extended neighbourhood – South East Asia and the geopolitical prospects of the Indo-Pacific concept, the Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a natural […]
25 YEARS OF INDIA – ASEAN ECONOMIC COOPERATION
In 2017, ASEAN and India celebrated their silver jubilee. ASEAN and India have evolved enormously since early 1992 when India joined the regional organization and launched its “Look East Policy”. The policy was later named as “Act East Policy” showcasing the importance of the ASEAN countries to the new Modi government. The change came when […]
INDIA AND MYANMAR: PROSPECTS OF MARITIME RECIPROCITY
www.maritimeindia.org Myanmar occupies a critical position as far as India’s geopolitical intentions in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) are concerned. On 06 September 2017, the two countries inked agreements on maritime security and cooperation, including one on information-sharing with regard to white shipping. New Delhi expects to enhance its geopolitical leverage in the BoB, particularly […]
“COMFORT” WOMEN AND “UNCOMFORTABLE” EAST ASIAN GEOPOLITICS
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, publicly criticized the 2015 Comfort Women Agreement reached between South Korea and Japan, and appointed a task force to review the Agreement— which in turn concluded that the Agreement was flawed.[1]This created a diplomatic furore in Japan, and the Japanese Foreign Minister warned of serious repercussions for Japan-South Korea relations.[2] […]
CHINA’S GROWING INFLUENCE IN AFRICA: LESSONS FOR INDIA
On December 04, 2015, while delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Johannesburg Summit of the Sixth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted, “In conducting China’s relations with Africa, we adhere to the principles of sincerity, practical results, affinity and good faith and uphold the values of friendship, […]
INDIA AND INDONESIA: CONVERGING MARITIME INTERESTS IN THE CONFLUENCE OF THE OCEANS
As the ‘rise’ of Asia gathers momentum, the geopolitical interplay amongst the regional powers is likely to become more vigorous. India and Indonesia are amongst these powers whose interface is likely to be guided by strong convergent interests due to a variety of reasons. First, with the concept of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ gaining traction leading to […]
MARITIME DIMENSION OF HYBRID WARFARE – THE INDIAN CONTEXT
(This is a revised extract of chapter titled “India’s Strategic Landscape, Hybrid Threats and Likely Operational Scenarios” jointly authored by Gurmeet Kanwal, Syed Ata Hasnain, Gurpreet S Khurana and Manmohan Bahadur, in Satish Kumar (ed.) India’s National Security: Annual Review 2016-17 (Routledge India: December 2017) Introduction To address its maritime dimension, it is essential to […]