India-U.S. space cooperation, from handshake to hug

India and the United States agreeing to advance space collaboration in several areas, under the ‘initiative on critical and emerging technology’ umbrella, including human space exploration and commercial space partnership, comes at a crucial time for both countries. This follows from the eighth meeting of the U.S.-India Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG), that was held on January 30-31, 2023.

Deccan Herald | Quad partners can boost India’s biomanufacturing policy

Biotechnology is going to revolutionise the global economy and many countries recognise the need to optimally develop bioresources. According to an OECD report, more than 50 countries have adopted specific policies designed to shape their bio-economies.

In the recent past, the United States and China have also published plans for spurring their bio-economies. India’s Department of Biotechnology has released the 2021-2025 National Biotechnology Development Strategy, which envisions India as a global biomanufacturing hub by 2025.

The confusing matter of when we are deemed to have grown up

A few days after the admissions process, I saw an unexpected email from my daughter’s college administration. On clicking it open, I was relieved to see that it was only an automated message informing me that she had 100% attendance that day. I don’t think my adult daughter’s attendance is my business. But I still get a daily email, and at the end of every term, even her marks sheet is addressed to me.

Armed forces: Coping with changing social norms

Sexual behaviour norms recently knocked on the doors of the cultural and disciplinary space of the armed forces. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court went on to clarify that armed forces personnel can be punished for adultery despite a 2018 judgement decriminalising adultery.

It did so by striking down Section 497 of the IPC on grounds of gender justice by treating a wife as the property of her husband and thus denying constitutional guarantees of dignity, liberty, privacy, and sexual autonomy.

US-China balloon war points to troubling polarisation trend. But India can help ease tension

On 1 February, a high-altitude balloon of Chinese origin was spotted over the US state of Montana, which also houses one of the country’s three active nuclear missile silos. The US government officially described it as a surveillance balloon with no immediate military or physical threat but was quick to go back on its initial assessment. Despite Chinese claims that the balloon was a harmless “civilian airship” that had unintentionally flown into US airspace, on 3 February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled his much-anticipated diplomatic visit to Beijing. Subsequently, on 4 February, US forces shot down the balloon over the country’s South Carolina coast and are now proceeding to collect some of the debris.

What Chinese balloons are telling India about espionage

The saga of the alleged Chinese spy balloon over the United States ended in an anticlimactic puff of smoke on February 4 after an American F-22 shot down the airship over coastal waters in the Atlantic Ocean.

News of the Chinese airship went public on February 3. This was not a far fetched claim - in 1998 a weather balloon went off course over Canada and drifted across the Atlantic before coming down in the Arctic Sea.

Galwan to Leh police report—Modi govt’s censoring information, China-style

The flag of doubt raised about the loss of territory in  Ladakh by the superintendent of police of Leh, has brought into sharp focus the style of information management preferred by the Union government. The report evoked memories of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement at the all-party meeting on 19 June 2020—“Neither has anyone entered our territory nor is anyone in control of our border posts.” Though clarifications were issued by the PMO, the reality that China had changed the status quo in some areas by preventing the movement of Indian patrols has remained the nub of the ongoing border crisis.

The highway to infrastructural success has three clear signposts

Soon after we hit the national highway, my new car began to emit an unsettling beeping sound. I confirmed that the seat belts were on, all doors were securely locked, the fuel gauge showed a nearly full tank and even that the fog lights were off, but the beeping would come up every now and then. It was a few minutes later that I realized that the car sounded a beep whenever I crossed 80kmph and the warning notes would intensify at higher speeds. Someone in the back seat Googled this and found that audible speed warnings were mandatory in new cars.

Taiwan Strait: Are US-China gambling or guardrailing?

At a press conference on 11 January 2023, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was not imminent. The statement conforms to a pattern where China and the US are prioritising engagement to dial down the heat. But at the same time, given that the US and China are locked in a security dilemma over Taiwan, a new modus vivendi between the two sides appears unlikely. 

Pakistan’s peace calls with India scream strategic desperation. It won’t bear results

Strategic desperation could be the reason Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is seeking to improve relations with India. Besieged by its internal politico-strategic environment, achieving peace can benefit Pakistan only if it can barter its real and imagined security concerns for economic relief. A possibility provided by its geographical location; alongside Afghanistan and at the crossroads of South, West and Central Asia. Moreover, unlike Afghanistan, it also has a coastline in proximity to West Asia’s global energy hub.

A new book of fables by a think-tank founder offers advice on how to be a good citizen

An excerpt from ‘The Nitopadesha: Moral Tales for Good Citizens’, by Nitin Pai, co-founder and director of the Takshashila Institution:

Damani the Crane became the proprietress of a famous eatery in the seaside city of Kajupranta after the retirement of her mother, Shramani, who had started the business many years before. The establishment had three employees, Jivaprada the turtle, Ratnakala the crocodile, and Yadayada the frog.

India’s Defence Budget: As Border Tensions With China Simmer, Can Govt Level Up?

As soon as the Union Defence Budget goes live, another cycle of discussions on its size and composition will begin. Analysts will focus on how the expenditures deviate from the previous year. The government on its part, will compare the current spending to what it was in 2014 to impress upon us that it has done enough.

Such discussions are of limited value. The budget is only a financial statement based on the government's priorities. The Defence Budget is then, a result of intra-governmental negotiations that consider India's threat perceptions, national security goals, defence capabilities, and the economic climate. As the government doesn't release any of these upstream ideas as official public documents, the Defence Budget becomes a focal point for understanding India's stance.

India-Egypt Ties: Forging A Deeper Cooperation

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi has been invited as the chief guest for India’s 76th Republic Day. Egypt is also among the nine countries India has invited to participate in the G20 summit this year. Last year, both countries celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. India and Egypt share civilisational relations that have stood the test of time and are a testament to Afro-Asian unity. During the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic, India sent an Indian-made vaccine to Egypt, while during the devastating second wave of Covid-19 in India, Egypt sent emergency medicines, oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators and Remdesivir to India. Egypt due to its historical legacy, the largest army in the region and strategic location, has emerged as a leading player in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region and India’s key partner in the region. The relationship between both countries has been gaining momentum with the presidency of Sisi since 2014 with deeper strategic and increased economic engagements. The visit of President Sisi to India provides opportunities for both countries to rekindle their historical friendship and scale up their relations as strategic partners.

Re-evaluating bioweapons amid global political fragility

Unstable political systems, ineffectual international organisations, and unprecedented technological advancements have created a global environment that can enable the development and deployment of bioweapons. New-age bioweapons could be used for more than just as weapons of mass destruction. This necessitates a new approach to mitigate risks by staying apace with technological development. India must take a leadership position at the Biological Weapons Convention while strengthening internal surveillance and health care systems to ensure its biosecurity. Investments in emerging technologies will be crucial to deter biosecurity threats.

Army’s most potent weapon against China on Indian borders—human force

In the Himalayas, it is not mass—which China perhaps can muster—that will matter most. Instead, the ability to sustain troops logistically is what counts, and that ability can be put under strain even by small groups that can threaten the adversary’s rear. General Manoj Pande, Chief of Army Staff, addressed the media in Delhi ahead of Army Day on 15 January. He described the situation along the northern border as stable, under control, but unpredictable. General Pande declared that the Army is highly prepared and well poised to meet any challenges, even though China has enhanced its troops across the Eastern border. It is an assurance that will possibly be tested in due course.

Challengers of Big Tech’s sway on the internet won’t have it easy

Writing about competing visions for the future of the internet in a column at the turn of 2022, I argued that two of the much-hyped contenders, the metaverse and web3, appeared far fetched. It is hard to imagine everyone wearing virtual-reality goggles to engage with the internet, crypto is too complicated, and both are costly ways to access the global network. Last year was somewhere between a wake-up call and a devastating setback for promoters of 3-D metaverses and crypto services, with lower profits, higher interest rates and scandals delivering the due reality checks.

Don’t wait for National Security Strategy. Bring theatre command system, first things first

The public debate on the politically mandated structural reform of the military to a theatre command system received a booster dose when former Army chief General M.M. Naravane described the prevailing implementation approach without a National Security Strategy as “putting the cart before the horse”. It is a smoking gun assertion for the tardy progress of the reform and indicates a military view that political guidance is lacking to fulfill the task assigned.

Who should call the shots in a theatre command—Air Force, Army, Navy? Let the context decide

Last week, I wrote about the military identity being targeted by civilian authorities in the context of civil-military relations. The argument made was that the impact of the military’s denuded identity could manifest itself in tainted military advice. That, in turn, could cost the nation dear. In fact, the phenomenon is layered atop another identity struggle that got deepened three years ago when the Narendra Modi government created the post of the Chief of Defence Staff and mandated him to restructure the Armed Forces by creating Theatre/Joint Commands. Thereafter, what has apparently transpired is the boosting of self-preservation efforts due to perceived threats to the individual Service identity that has been traditionally based on land, sea and air identity. Integration through restructuring is facing headwinds that are derived from such perceptions. The end result is that the Theatre Command is nowhere in sight.

Why we shouldn’t copy-paste EU’s ‘one nation, one charger’ policy

A common mistake in public policy is the inability to confront trade-offs. Every government policy seems well-intentioned, nice-sounding, and welfare-enhancing. The union consumer affairs ministry’s recent moves towards a ‘one nation, one charging port’ for all electronic devices (except for wearables) demonstrates the need to be wary of intuitive solutions to complex policy problems.

India is following the European Union example here, which has banned all chargers except USB-C from 2024. The intent is two-fold—reducing consumer inconvenience because of multiple chargers. And two, reducing e-waste. Lofty goals. Who could say these aren’t problems that need to be solved?

Canada-India Relations: Revitalising for a New Era

Canada recently released its Indo-Pacific strategy acknowledging the region’s centrality in present-day geopolitics. The region is home to 65 percent of the world’s population and will have 50 percent of the world’s GDP by 2040. At the same time, the Indo-Pacific has many geopolitical hotspots and is seeing a deepening of great power rivalry with the emergence of a belligerent China. Also, climate change is a pressing challenge for the Indo-Pacific, given that it is not only home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world but also 50 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy provides a comprehensive blueprint for its engagement in the region with an initial investment of around $2.5 billion over the next five years and the identification of India as a key partner. The publication of the strategy provides a new opportunity for both India and Canada to recalibrate their geo-economic and geopolitical engagement. But this requires addressing key political obstacles and deepening economic ties.