VIF Papers
US-China Trade War: Analyses of Deeper Nuances and Wider Implications

… China is unsatisfied with the degree of accommodation offered by the US and the US is uncomfortable with the strategic demands made by China … US wants China to reduce its trade deficit … an unrealistic request given the time it would take to adjust supply chains and given the US consumers' demand for Chinese products … and that China opens up more sectors to investment and trade without restriction ... America holds almost all the high cards in trade with China, and almost none of Beijing’s supposed points of pressure are real threats.

The Conclave on River Basin Management Equitable Use of River Basin Water

Introduction Water Management in India has always been a challenge because of large temporal and spatial variations in its availability. The task is becoming more challenging due to global warming having significant impact on water availability both in space and time. The challenge is accentuated by the increasing population pressure and uses, resulting in water scarcity in many areas.

Nepal’s March Towards Constitutional Democracy

… India-Nepal relations are a vast confluence of socio political and economic engagements …evolved from age-old ties and permeate our socio-cultural aspects …multi-faceted and multi-dimensional approach is required on both sides to study and analyse our relationship...

Current Military Situation in Afghanistan

... insurgency in Afghanistan is a political problem; the military can create the right conditions for diplomatic talks to begin ... currently, Taliban is in no mood to negotiate ... Taliban who are ready to come around must be granted favourable options ... All this will take time and a lot of patience ... Finally, a favourable situation would emerge only if the US and NATO continue to stay and guide the ANSF ...

Where Economics and Strategy Intersect: A Political Economy Approach to Global Power

This essay attempts to understand the role of economic power in shaping the world since the Second World War. It focuses on the main strand of economic developments over this period, separated from looking at subsidiary processes related to the Cold War, détente or the UK-US economic competition in mid-1960's because from the economic point of view, these processes were put in the shade by the much bigger magnitudes of capital flows in the West and among the oil producers. The study begins with the European Recovery Programme, or the Marshall Plan ......

Displaced Brus from Mizoram in Tripura: Time for Resolution

Abstract History has been witness to the conflict-induced internal displacement of people in different states of Northeast India from time to time. While the issues of such displacement have been resolved in most of the North-eastern States, the displacement of Brus from Mizoram has remained unresolved even over past two decades. Over 35,000 Brus have been living in six makeshift relief camps in North Tripura's Kanchanpur, areas adjoining Mizoram under inhuman conditions since October 1997.

Professional Military Education - An Indian Experience

Introduction “The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.” - Thucydides Professional Military Education (PME) has always been a critical component of developing military leaders. It is based on two key principles: train for certainty, so that military personnel gain and master the skills needed for known tasks and educate for uncertainty, so that they have the broad base of knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to handle unanticipated and unpredictable situations.

Weapons and Missiles in the Indian Environment

Firepower in the current era is characterised by multiple combat platforms– guns, howitzers, multi-rockets and missiles - managed through the means of surveillance, target acquisition, engagement, destruction, and finally, damage assessment. For such complex orchestration of firepower to bear fruition, it is necessary to imbibe the right combinations of tactical, technical, logistic and financial factors which have to be derived from fundamental professional acumen rooted at the origins of firepower, the courses of its development and finally, the contemporary parameters of its application.

Afghanistan- Pakistan Transit Trade

Abstract The transit trade problems of Afghanistan are typical to any other landlocked country. As a landlocked country, Afghanistan has relied on Pakistan for its international trade. However, the transit trade of Afghanistan has remained unstable akin to escalated political relations between the two countries. Given economic importance of access to sea, the landlocked countries continued to raise their voice at the United Nations.

The Impact of China’s “One Belt, One Road” Strategy on Political, Military and Economic Situations in the Asia Pacific Region

Retrospect When one talks about Silk Road it conjures up visions of traders and caravans travelling from Occident to the Orient and vice versa. There have been many versions of silk roads which have been used by both traders and invaders for ages. These silk roads connected many cultures and civilizations and these exchanges were largely mutually beneficial. For instance, along with the trade Buddhist religion spread from India to Afghanistan and then to Central Asia, and beyond to China along one of the many silk roads/routes.

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