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This paper examines the role that national intelligence agencies may play in helping to secure critical technology supply chains. As the race for scientific advantage becomes increasingly characteristic of national security concerns amid growing multipolarity and interstate competition, national intelligence agencies are paying greater attention to the security of critical and emerging technologies. This paper analyses how intelligence agencies m

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its limitless application in naval operations has grabbed the imagination of strategic planners worldwide. The applicability of AI to naval operations surpasses its usage in any other military domain due to the hostility, unpredictability and sheer size of the ocean environment. While these systems and vehicles can never be equivalent replacements for human naval commanders and traditional naval vessels, evidence

The ongoing global energy crisis has highlighted countries’ vulnerabilities to energy shocks due to an overdependence on fossil fuels. Clean energy sources are an ideal option for states looking to hedge against the risks associated with fossil fuels. Moreover, recent technological advances and falling costs have placed renewables at the centre of the global energy landscape. Developing countries are now on the cusp of a histori

The one thing Nawaz Sharief should do on day one is to issue an order placing the ISI under civilian leadership. This will de-fang the Army of the most potent instrument it uses to distort Pakistani democracy.

Going by the frequency and nature of the TTP attacks, the militant group seems to be playing a larger game aimed at drawing the armed forces deeper into a protracted conflict in the tribal areas with the US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in mind. For the Nawaz Sharif government, and the military, the options are fast running out.

The tragic accident of Sindhurakshak should serve as a clarion call for the Navy and the higher defence establishment for introspection over the institutional inadequacies and the need for re-evaluating policy decisions. A refocused attempt to rectify the growing lack of underwater platforms and warship inventory is the dire need of the hour.

If one really wishes to get a better appreciation of how the Indian Navy plans for an upsurge in naval rivalry with Beijing, the best thing to do is to carefully parse the refreshingly sanguine words of India's naval chiefs on the matter.

After the US withdrawal in 2014, the Taliban, with the help of Pakistan, could plan a low-key but protracted military push towards Kabul. Taliban's attacks in Kabul this year are an indication of this strategy which will push the region towards greater instability in the next one year.

There will soon be two important changes in the Nepal and India diplomacy, which are of significant importance to both the countries. Nepal's ambassador to India, Rukma Shumsher Rana, has been recalled while the Indian envoy to Nepal Rakesh Sood will be replaced by another career diplomat.

The recent face-off between Indian and Chinese patrols in Asaphila area on June 26, 2003 evoked considerable media interest and political debate in the country. It overshadowed and almost neutralised the Prime Minister's visit to China, which took place after a decade long gap and, more significantly,

Meetings have been taking place, but if China seeks to use the lack of precision of the Line of Actual Control to keep India off balance, little will change

Of all the non-conventional renewable energy sources, small hydro represents highest density resource and stands in the first place in generation of electricity from such sources world-wide. It is also the most cost-effective energy technology to be considered for rural electrification and under the climate change scenarios.

Politicians have always used the media to communicate with the electorate. What makes social media unique is the scale, speed, and minimal cost at which leaders can do this task. This paper analyses the relationship between political leaders and the microblogging site, Twitter. It provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the use of Twitter by two contemporary Indian political leaders—Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. It describ

Irrespective of whether AAP delivers on all its promises or is somehow muscled out of office in a few months, it has proven something to all Indian media watchers. Social media buzz has helped in shaping the agenda for India's largest and most important city, making a newly formed political party into a serious player in just over a year.

Global debate on the loss of social protection benefits in a platform economy does not apply in the Indian context and need is for Uber to devise some plan

It will not be an exaggeration to say that almost all the countries in Africa face some form of conflict. Yet, most of them have managed to survive, and some—like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo—have even evolved into reasonably successful states. However, Somalia has not. What are the reasons for Somalia’s failure to survive? Did external interventions play a role? Was Islamophobia a contributing factor, and the inter-clan

On the domestic front, Sri Lanka remained engaged in the forthcoming Provincial Council elections. On the eastern front, various electoral alignments are being worked out. Bargaining is taking place among political parties to woo winnable contenders to their side.

Two politically significant events took place this week. First was the filing of the nomination papers by People¿s Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT), the political wing of LTTE set up in 1998. Second was the split in the only Muslim party,

Tamil Nadu has always played an important role in the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. Tamils fighting for their homeland in the island nation has always desired and appreciated the assistance rendered by their Tamil brethren from the neighbouring India,

Sri Lanka imposed a ban on LTTE following the organisation¿s failure to release 2,50,000 civilians from its hold. The civilians are often caught in the crossfire taking place between LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces. Besides, in the absence of basic necessities,

LTTE's operational capabilities, in different dimensions, were hit hard at several places this week. While the Sri Lanka Air Force jets pounded the LTTE¿s communication base with transmitting tower in the north-east of Oddusudan junction, British parliamentarians came down heavily on the group's credit card frauds to fund its terrorist activities.

Former General Sarath Fonseka, who played a major role in decimating the LTTE, has formally announced his presidential candidature for the elections to be held in January 2010. He is all set to take on the current presidential incumbent and his former mentor Mahinda Rajapaksa as a common opposition candidate.

Bangladesh is contemplating allowing the entry of Indian container trains up to Ghazipur, close to the capital Dhaka. This will benefit the traders of both the countries as there will be reduction in the transportation cost.

Sri Lankan Navy and Indian Navy successfully conclude their joint naval exercises, which started on October 6 and continued till October 8, 2009. The naval training exercise, code-named CADEX 2009, took place on the western seas off Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samrasinghe claimed that 143,672 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been resettled. There were 280,000 IDPs when the fighting ended in May 2009.

Sri Lanka secured a major diplomatic victory when the United Nations (UN) passed a resolution backing its post-war plans for refugees. The UN resolution, which was passed 29 to 12 with six abstentions, urged support and assistance to Sri Lanka in its efforts to deal with large number of refugees.

Sri Lanka is seeking foreign aid for the resettlement of 280,000 predominantly Tamil refugees, officially known as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), languishing in camps without any access to basic amenities like food, clothing and sanitation.

Foreign aid reserves are at an all-time low in Sri Lanka. The island country requires foreign assistance to resettle millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and reconstruct war-ravaged areas of the northeast.

A major reshuffle of the Sri Lankan defence establishment took place last week. General Sarath Fonseka took over as the Chief of Defence Staff, a newly created post, with powers to map out military strategy and planning. Gen.

This Special Report examines key themes highlighted during a series of panel discussions exploring South Asian Perspectives on Net Neutrality, hosted by the Observer Research Foundation and the Centre for Internet and Society in New Delhi on 12 December 2015. The first panel analysed the potential effects of net neutrality regulation and zero-rated platforms on the market. The second explored viable regulatory frameworks for net neutrality that c

South Korea’s Moon Jae-in government has adopted what it calls a “New Southern Policy”, and by most accounts, the strategy is aimed at strengthening the country’s relations with India. What is the rationale for South Korea’s current inclination towards India? This brief argues that the ‘China factor’ is playing a key role in this new approach: South Korea wants to diversify its foreign relations as it faces a dilemma over its econom

Space technology has manifold applications in areas as wide-reaching as disaster management, resource management, meteorology, governance, and military and security. Southeast Asian countries, recognising the importance of space technologies, have made investments quite early on. While some of these countries already have established institutions and programmes, others are in the earliest stages of structuring their own. This report tracks the sp

Global data governance is at a crossroads—intensely contested by nations and industry players seeking to shape rules of the road to benefit their strategic interests. India has placed itself at the heart of the battle, its foreign policy vision fuelled by the principle of ‘data sovereignty’—a broad notion that supports the assertion of sovereign writ over data generated by citizens within a country’s physical boundaries. While this visi

With the U.S. having shut down one of its major Space situational awareness networks, major Spacefaring powers need to make it a priority to contemplate possible solutions to track satellites and orbital debris on a continued basis.

More than two years after the Government of Sri Lanka and the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) reached an agreement on a ceasefire in their military and para-military operations against each other, with Norway playing the role of a facilitator, and embarked on a process of negotiations in order to find a political solution to the demands of the LTTE for an independent

The events in Sri Lanka yesterday have shocked many around the world. An Easter day attack on three churches and an equal number of hotels, in such coordinated fashion, sounds surreal, even bizarre. Latest reports say over 200 people are dead and over 500 injured. It suggests the attacks were planned in meticulous fashion to inflict maximum damage. While no organization has stepped forward to take responsibility, there is speculation that this mi

Sri Lankans still hope to get jobs and incomes from Trinco development plans — it has not happened in the case of Hambantota.

Not many in Sri Lanka, particularly on the Government side, had expected China to play evasive on the report of the panel appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on issues of accountability pertaining to the end-game of 'Eelam War IV'.

In an observation recently in the Sri Lankan Parliament, External Affairs Minister G L Peiris asserted that the country could not achieve its development goals without India, which was going to play a vital role in achieving such targets.

Sri Lanka's Northern Province Tamil Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran seems to be sending contradictory signals to India through his actions. On the one hand, he wants India to play an active role in finding a 'political solution' to the ethnic problem. On the other, he boycotted the India-funded Colombo-Jaffna railway inauguration and earlier President's invitation to be part of the delegation to India.

The increasing effort at marginalisation of Sri Lanka in the international arena, with hopes that a vote against the country at UNHRC could well shame the Government into taking pro-active measures at an early political solution are misplaced, at best.

At the Galle Dialogue 2016, Sri Lanka sought not only to stress its critical geographical location at the crossroads of important Indian Ocean sea lines of communication, but also to display a catalytic ability to spur regional collaboration in securing the vulnerable commons.

A year is a lifetime in an intensely contested, democratic polity. This is why the government must squeeze out the "fat" in the system whilst planning for the future. Given the head winds building up, it is critical for the government's longevity to redeem its compact with voters by delivering real, near-term, fiscally neutral improvements in consumer welfare.

Time used to be when even in the post-Cold War era, where a new Russia — struggling both internally and externally to find its place in the new world without the Soviet Union — would be on Sri Lanka’s side, almost always. Not any more.

India placed on the agenda the need for strengthening civil society organisations and think-tanks

The discussion covered various aspects of video streaming ecosystem interspersed with insightful panel discussions.

Large numbers of people, most of them women, are trafficked in the Bay of Bengal region. Despite these countries having anti-trafficking laws in place in line with the United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol, the incidence of the criminal activity continues unabated. This brief gives an overview of human trafficking in the Bay of Bengal region, particularly around the contiguous zone of India–Nepal–Bangladesh, which has become a hub of