The ‘Realist’ school of thought rests in the idea that states are only ever bothered about issues that concern them – and therefore are more inclined towards pursuing their self-interest. These ‘National interests’ are a complex blend of historical, geopolitical, and strategic factors that shape their foreign policies. A case in point is the longstanding conflict between India and Pakistan […]

This bold move would advance its security, diplomatic, economic, and soft power interests in one fell swoop with the only possible costs being criticism from Somalia and those of its foreign partners that already treat India unfairly anyhow. India’s flexing of naval power in the western part of its eponymous ocean, which was prompted by the Houthis’ Red Sea Crisis […]

On January 30, 2024, three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and another 15 sustained injuries in a gunfight with Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres along the Sukma-Bijapur border in Bijapur District. The gunfight erupted when the CRPF personnel were working to establish a Forward Operating Base (FOB) – a remote camp meant to facilitate Security Forces […]

Risks are integral to nations’ pursuits of their national interests. However, today, the risks have magnified and diversified amid rising extraneous challenges and their knock-on effects, ranging from environmental degradation and global warming to humanitarian disasters and wars. Added to the mix is the growing misuse of economic leverage by countries like China as part of their foreign policy to […]

Pakistan has its own reasons to spy on Russian-Indian military and diplomatic ties, but it also can’t be discounted that some of the secrets obtained by this agent were also passed along or sold to the US after Pakistan’s pivot back to it in April 2022. The latest spy scandal to rock Russia doesn’t involve Western agents for once but […]

India’s fundamental maritime security objective is to deter conflict and coercion from the sea. Recent developments in its regional security environment have created new complications in this pursuit. The conflict in West Asia has extended into the Arabian Sea, affecting freedom of navigation and generating strategic risks to India’s maritime security. Cause: Conflict Extension into Indian Ocean Israel’s war in […]

On January 27, 2024, a cadre of the Biswa Mohan Debbarma faction of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT-BM), identified as Chhanaklu Debbarma, surrendered before the Border Security Force (BSF) in the Dyke village of Dhalai District of Tripura. Chhanaklu Debbarma had joined the outfit in October 2022. On January 14, 2024, five insurgents of the Parimal Debbarma faction of […]

The Sino-Indian standoff since 2020 has had a lasting negative effect on not only their diplomatic relations but also the management of their 4,057 km Line of Actual Control (LAC). Speaking to the media on the eve of Army Day, which falls on 15 January, Indian Army chief Gen. Manoj Pande spoke of the situation being “stable but sensitive.” On […]

Orchestrating their first act of violence in the current year, on January 10, 2024, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres shot dead their former comrade Nelson Bhengra near his house in West Singhbhum District, accusing him of being a ‘police informer’. Bhengra, a resident of Samtha village in Jeraikela, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Saranda Forest Division, was […]

India’s entry into the ranks of the world’s surviving theocracies — Iran, Afghanistan, the Vatican City — arrived bathetically. When the history of the nation’s descent from secularism to Hindu nationalism is written, it might end in Ayodhya. Just after noon yesterday, the Ram Temple was consecrated, a stone’s throw from the ruins of Babur’s Mosque, which was demolished three […]