Director's pick - Issue XIV

Dear Readers,

As we herald the new year 2017, for the strategic community it is a traditional time to look back, take stock of rises and slips, and gear up to face up to the gathering challenges. No doubt, the newyear would bring in new and more complex challenges for an ‘India on the move’, and that is a realisation that we have to be cognisant of. While wishing the VIF family a very successful 2017, I am sanguine that in the coming days, the fraternity would continue to make excellent contribution to the finer and crucial aspects of our national security that has been our hallmark.

Indeed, the fore stated realisation reflects in our analytical articulations of the past fortnight. Thus we have recorded an excellent ‘score card’, so to say, of the foreign policy pursued during the year past, and a dispassionate prognosis of India-Pakistan ties for the coming days.

The past few weeks have seen events of marked significance shaping the regional environment. Thus there is Pakistan outsourcing to China its managerial mandate in Gwadar and much of the Indian territory occupied by her by force. Then there is Sri Lanka leasing its soils and waters, Myanmar renting its natural assets, Nepal inviting indulgence and Bangladesh buying arms, China being the other party in all the cases. Meanwhile, the Central Asian Republics in the North and Indian Ocean littorals in the South seek beneficial adjustments with China’s infrastructural development ventures, and Russia discovering the newfound virtues of collaborating with Pakistan. Finally there is the diplomatic charade in which all of them engage in joint military exercises, ostensibly to counter terror or calamities.

Even if distinct and well prospected, these developments in the immediate neighbourhood have inexorable fallouts for India’s security that India has to contend with. Needless to state India’s geo-political articulation has a testing time ahead.

In tune with the theme above, there are many interesting articles uploaded during this fortnight on our website, www.vifindia.org [1]. I am certain that these pieces would set a fresh course of thinking and analyses to the realisation of our objectives.

Happy reading,

Yours Sincerely,

General N C Vij
Director, Vivekananda International Foundation
New Delhi
10 January 2017

Articles

A Score Card for India's Foreign Policy in 2016 [2]

Amb Kanwal Sibal, Dean, Centre for International Relations and Diplomacy, VIF

India continued its vigorous diplomacy in 2016 under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. Modi’s aspiration to make India a “leading power” by overcoming the challenges it faces and the opportunities Read More
[2]

Indo-Pak Ties Likely to Remain Fraught in 2017 [3]

Sushant Sareen, Senior Fellow, VIF

2017 marks the 70th year of Independence and the ‘Great Divide’ between India and Pakistan. The 69th year – 2016 – saw a steep deterioration in the already not so normal state of relations Read More... [3]

Post-Demonetisation – The Way Forward [4]

Rajesh Singh

On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook the economy by the scruff of its neck with his decision to demonetise more than 85 per cent of the Indian currency (by value) then in circulation. Read More.... [4]

Developments in Myanmar [5]

PM Heblikar

A week-long business exploratory trip to Myanmar was a rewarding experience and confirmed the availability of exponential opportunities to participate in developmental activities.Read More.... [5]

Reports

NIA is Fast Emerging as a Professional Investigating Agency [6]

C D Sahay, Dean, Centre for Neighbourhood Studies and Internal Security Studies, VIF

Ramanand Garge, Senior Research Associate, VIF

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) that was established in 2009, post-26/11 Mumbai terror attack, with the specific charter to investigate terror related incidents, achieved a major success Read More.... [6]

Conference on ‘Security along the Silk Road' [7]

Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), in collaboration with Near East and South Asia (NESA) Center, USA, had organized a two day Conference on ‘Security along the Silk Road’ on December 15-16, 2016. 11 international guests and 12 Indian delegates participated in the endeavor Read More.... [8]