Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

Book Review: ‘A Life Well Spent: Four Decades in the Indian Foreign Service’; Amb. Satish Chandra, Roopa Publications, 2023, ISBN: 9357020950, pp. 284, Rs 636

Amb D P Srivastava, Distinguished Fellow, VIF

The book by Ambassador Satish Chandra covers four decades he served in the Indian Foreign Service from 1965 to 2005. The book is not simply an account of his personal journey. It provides a glimpse into the making of foreign policy. It also covers India’s trajectory from the mid-60s, when it was recovering from the 1962 war to the post-Pokhran phase when it had emerged as a nuclear weapons state. Mr. Satish Chandra saw many of the defining events of this period from close quarters. He was a Second Secretary in India’s Deputy High Commission in Karachi just before the outbreak of the 1971 war.

May 19, 2023 Books/Book Review

Drone Warfare Capacity Building in Securing India’s National Interests

Harshini Nag

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.

May 11, 2023 Paper

Legal Dimensions of Commercialisation of Space

Naval Jagota

(The following is a transcript of the presentation made by Dr Ranjana Kaul at the Vivekananda International Foundation during a joint roundtable with Indian Space Foundation on 18 January 2023) The world is moving towards contestation of the ‘Outer Space’ wherein efforts are shifting from exploration to ‘commercialization’. There are increasing efforts and investments by major space powers to develop cutting edge disruptive capabilities. At the same time, several new nations are showing increased interest in adopting space technology at a scale, not seen before.

May 04, 2023 Issue Brief

Challenges of Military Leadership in the Indian Context

Dr Anurag Jaiswal

Lt. Gen Ajai Kumar Singh, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM

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.

April 26, 2023 Paper

Climate Change Adaptation in India from the Past to the Present

Heena Samant, Research Associate, VIF

PK Khup Hangzo, Associate Fellow, VIF

The impact of climate change have manifested in various ways including through extreme weather events. Extreme weather events are “weather phenomena that are at the extremes of the historical distribution and are rare for a particular place and/or time, especially severe or unseasonal weather.

April 26, 2023 Monograph

Vimarsh by Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral R Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC on National Security Challenges in the Maritime Domain

Over the years Vimarsh has emerged as a leading platform to facilitate interaction between the eminent people and the general public. The VIF is guided by the life and message of Swami Vivekananda who had a deep and abiding faith in Indian civilization and its spiritual heritage. On 13 March 2023, the Vimarsh talk was given by Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral R Hari Kumar.

April 09, 2023 Event Report

Vimarsh on Water Security in India

On 7th February, 2023 Vivekananda International Foundation organized a Vimarsh, a monthly talk series, on “Water Security in India”. Shri Bharat Lal, Director General, National Centre for Good Governance, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, Government of India (GOI) was the guest speaker for the event. Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director of VIF, delivered the opening and welcome remarks and he also chaired the proceedings. Introduction to the Speaker and Opening Remarks

February 17, 2023 Event Report

China in the Cyber Domain

Maj Gen P K Mallick, VSM (Retd)

China is developing cyber capacities in pursuit of its economic, political and strategic objectives. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China differs considerably from its Western counterparts in its approach to cyber and network operations. It thinks that cyber and network operations occur in an information domain. Along with the technical aspects of cyber operations, the PLA combines psychological warfare in manipulating public opinion, media warfare and the legal warfare that influences legal arguments to strengthen China’s diplomatic and security position.

February 07, 2023 Books/Book Review

MoU Signed between VIF and DRDO

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) agreed to establish mutual cooperation with the objective to enhance understanding of the role of technology in strengthening national security of the country. On 13 October 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two organisations. The MoU was signed at DRDO Bhawan by Dr Arvind Gupta Director on behalf of VIF and the delegation comprised of Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney (Retd), Brig Vinod Anand (Retd) and Gp. Capt Naval Jagota. On behalf of DRDODr.

January 16, 2023 Event Report

New Trends in Terrorism

On 25 November 2022, the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a brainstorming session on the “New Trends in Terrorism”, focussing on the lessons learned from the 2008 Mumbai Terror attacks. Under the Chatham House Rules, the discussion was chaired by Dr Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF. It was categorised into various themes/aspects of terrorism— i) Geographical, ii) Ideological, iii) Technological, iv) Economical, v) Coastal Security, and vi) International Counter-Terrorism Efforts.

January 09, 2023 Event Report