VIF Papers
New Paradigms in Governance 2019-2024

Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the Governance landscape of India has radically changed in scale, scope and learning paradigms. India has succeeded in transforming technologically obsolete institutions into modern day digital institutions which benefit millions of Indians. Today India’s rural country side has changed - banking Correspondents, e-Mitras and common service centers have bridged the gap between internet poor and internet rich.

Need for an Indian Civilisational Approach to Study India’s Forest and Hill People

Asia’s economic and geopolitical rise in the last decade is powering a civilisational consciousness across the world earlier dominated by political and economic ideologies of the post-World War II period. Even Communist China, which had sworn to destroy its own civilisational consciousness during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960-70s, is now recalling and talking about its antiquitous civilisation of thousands of years not only with pride, but also as a guide for the future.

India’s Defence Exports: Recent Trends and the Way Forward

In a highly competitive international defence market, India has recently made its mark and has huge opportunity to become a significant player. India’s defence exports have reached to an all-time high of approximately ₹16,000crore (US $ 1.94 billion) in the FY 2022-2023, a notable ten-fold increase from the FY 2016–17, when exports were merely ₹1,521 crore (US $ 184.59 million). This is a significant step towards India’s stated goal of exporting ₹35,000 crore (US $ 5 billion) worth of aerospace and defence equipment annually by 2025 and becoming a net defence exporter.

Systematic Persecution: Unveiling the Chinese Government's Atrocities Towards Uyghurs and Other Turkic Muslims

… gravity and consistency of the evidence presented here warrant urgent international attention and a comprehensive response .. addressing the crisis in Xinjiang requires a multi-faceted approach .. including diplomatic pressure, economic measures, targeted sanctions, and engagement with relevant stakeholders ...

Sudan’s Fate: Revolution, Coup and Civil War

Sudan since the last few decades has witnessed civil wars, terrorism, mass killings, state tyranny, street protests, partition and coups. The April 2019 protest that toppled the autocratic rule of General Omar Al-Bashir opened the path towards democratisation. The post-Al-Bashir transition process is marked by power contest between civilian groups and military as well as tussle among multiple political parties, armed rebel groups and paramilitary attempting to position itself within the new politico-military order.

Drone Warfare Capacity Building in Securing India’s National Interests

This paper seeks to make a case for the utility of drone warfare in securing India’s national interests. It begins by establishing how drone proliferation acts as a threat and opportunity in the context of India’s security objectives and discusses the importance of drone warfare capacity building in countering the security threats faced by India. It then highlights the benefits and areas of operation where the Indian military could use drone warfare to achieve its objectives from ISR and Dull, Dirty and Dangerous’ missions to counter-terrorism and logistics.

Challenges of Military Leadership in the Indian Context

The current geo-political environment indicates the enhanced challenges placed before military leadership, more so in the Indian context, as it experiences both external threats imposed by China & Pakistan and internal threats imposed by various actors with varied allegiances, aided & abetted by external forces.

Western Sahara - The North African Gordian Knot

… Western Saharan conflict is one of the world's most underlooked conflicts .. it is crucial to indigenous Sahrawis and their kin in southern Morocco, northern Mauritania and western Algeria .. UN has so far failed in providing the groundwork for self-determination and decolonisation .. with European and American interests intertwined in the conflict, the North African stand-off must be resolved …

Understanding Politics in Iraq post-October 2021 Elections

Iraq’s post-2003 political system is facing political and economic dysfunction mired by widespread corruption, economic inequalities and lack of improvement in living standards. The unstable political situation is further accentuated by the influence and control of external actors, i.e. Iran and the US. Intense turmoil and political stalemate stemming from political competition and rivalries among the key stakeholders delayed government formation and appointment of new President, Prime Minister and cabinet for almost a year since the last election on 10 October 2021.

Security Vision 2047: A Hundred Years since Independence

… India must become the bulwark of an alternative Asian and international security system … in this context India’s continental threat gravitates on the defensive construct of ‘not ceding an inch of territory,’ and limited-depth offensives. This goes against the very fundamental doctrinal premises of the employment of offensive air power followed by all Air Forces ...

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