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LAC
A Waning Conventional Deterrence- A National Security Portent
Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM, Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article

The last decade has been awash with incidents of Chinese belligerence on India’s borders, in the North and North East. The long period of supposed peace and tranquility has actually worked to the strategic advantage of China as it enabled a widespr....

September 22, 2023 International Relations and Diplomacy , China , Article , China , PLAAF , IAF , LAC , Tibet , PLAN , deterrence , multi domain
Does Absence of ‘War’ Mean Peace, in Indian context?
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article

A narrow definition of peace is that it is opposite to concept of war, implying where there is no war, there is peace! Again, in a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a non-existence of war and freedom from fear of violence. The proposition ....

August 07, 2023 International Relations and Diplomacy , Article , China , War , CCP , Peace , LoC , LAC , Sun Tzu , Influence Operations
China: “Soft use” of “Hard power”
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article

China’s geopolitical aims and global ambitions are not a secret. President Xi sees China the most pre-eminent power in Asia and eventually, the world, consolidating trans-continental routes and waterways, and assured political influence among large....

July 03, 2023 International Relations and Diplomacy , China , Article , India , Soft Power , PLA , COVID-19 , LAC , Galwan , Hard power
Neighborhood News Digest – 29 June 2023

Afghanistan

Taliban supreme leader Akhundzada orders to free 2,178 prisoners For Eid-al Adha – Devdiscourse
According to the Supreme Court, the Supreme leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada released orders to free 2,1....

June 29, 2023 VIF Neighbourhood News Digest , Pakistan , Nepal , Maldives , Myanmar , Sri Lanka , Afghanistan , Bhutan , Bangladesh , Imran Khan , World Bank , IMF , LAC , UN , Military Coup , drug trafficking , debt restructuring , Jack Ma , Adani Power , Same-sex marriage
Indications of Elevated Military Preparations in Tibet
Jayadeva Ranade Article

Monitoring developments in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has become even more important after India's 4057-kms Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China became active along its entire length since at least May 2020, when the clash at Galwan Valley ....

June 21, 2023 International Relations and Diplomacy , China , Tibet , Article , China , PLA , LAC , Tibet , Galwan valley , TAR , Arunachal Pradesh , Metok Hydropower
Salami Slicing, Fait Accompli and Buffers: What Next?
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article

The contradictions are stark. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has often opined that relations with China are not normal, because India will not agree to any attempt to change the Line of Actual Control (LAC) unilaterally. Stating again ....

March 23, 2023 International Relations and Diplomacy , China , Article , China , PLA , Aksai Chin , LAC , Tawang , buffers
Balloon Surveillance and the Near Space Region
Air Marshal Rajesh Kumar (Retd) Article

With the US shooting down a fourth unidentified object over US airspace on 11 Feb 2023, it has been an unprecedented week or so for NORAD and the homeland defence. Among the four objects that have been brought down is the well publicised Chinese ball....

February 20, 2023 International Relations and Diplomacy , Article , China , U.S. , LAC , Ladakh , ISR , balloon , near space
Disentangling the Perceptions of ‘Grey Zone Warfare’!
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article

One of our most serious problems today is defining what war is. Historically, war and warfare have rigid definitions, and national security and military doctrines, the capabilities and structures are designed to respond to those definitions. Wars wer....

February 08, 2023 International Relations and Diplomacy , China , Article , LAC , Sun Tzu , no war no peace , Grey Zone warfare
US- India & Indo-Pacific: Takeaways from 2022
Dr Sweta Kumari, Associate Fellow, VIF Article

The year 2022 brought a series of geopolitical changes of global magnitude that were last witnessed somewhat in the Cold War period. The economic slowdown and the disruption of the supply chains that were triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic got furthe....

January 20, 2023 International Relations and Diplomacy , Indo-Pacific , Article , India , South Korea , China , ASEAN , Indo-Pacific , QUAD , South China Sea , Taiwan , Japan , LAC , Russia-Ukraine conflict , IPEF , US Domestic Issues , CAATSA Waiver
Inapt ‘Perceptions’ and Elusive ‘Peace and Tranquillity’
Lt Gen (Dr) Rakesh Sharma (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF Article

Dai Bingguo, then State Councillor, Director of the General Offices of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Group of the CCP’s Central Committee and Special Representative (SR) for boundary negotiations with India from 2003 to 2013 had stated ....

December 14, 2022 National Security and Strategic Studies , International Relations and Diplomacy , Defence , China , Article , Indian Army , PLA , LAC , WTC , Dai Bingguo , Tawang , Yangtse , Xiaokong
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