Nagaland: Elusive Reconciliation and Lingering Peace Process

Despite substantial progress in the peace talks between New Delhi and the armed groups of Nagaland over the last five years, there are still uncertainties over finalising a permanent peace agreement. The second round of negotiations over a peace agreement with the Naga insurgent groups, including the NSCN-IM (Isak-Muivah), was initiated by New Delhi in 2015. But that appears to be in trouble since October 31, 2019. A fresh informal attempt by the Union Government in this regard with the NSCN-IM in August 2020 in New Delhi also has not moved in the right direction.

NIHAR R NAYAK

DRDO’s Success with HSTDV: Hypersonic Missiles in Sight

India successfully tested an indigenously-developed hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV) powered by a scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) engine on September 07, 2020. This test is an essential step towards building next-generation hypersonic cruise missiles. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)  achieved a significant technological achievement when it flew a cruise vehicle at a hypersonic speed of Mach 6, for 20 seconds.

Understanding the Technology

AJEY LELE

MLM: "Islamic State Obituary Profiles the Life of Slain Maldivan Jihadist Ahmad Nishwan"

September 12, 2020

In early May 2020, the pro-Islamic State (IS) media center Haqqu released a documentary on the life of the slain Maldivian jihadist Ahmad Nishwan. The biographical sketch on Nishwan, which is approximately 33-minutes-long, comes amid IS’ increased outreach efforts to Maldivians.

ANIMESH ROUL

India- Bangladesh Relations: Bridging the Gap while Marching Forward

September 11, 2020

Abstract: India's relations with Bangladesh have perhaps been more scrutinised in recent times. The bilateral ties are weighed mostly in terms of an imaginary competition between India and China, especially whether India is losing out to China has remained a major debating point for the political and social elites in both countries.

COVID-19 and Shifting Health Security Discourse

Within weeks of its emergence in the Chinese city of Wuhan (Hubei province) in late December 2019, the novel Coronavirus has engulfed 213 countries and territories worldwide. Now infamous as Covid-19 Pandemic, the contagion has already killed over 850000 people (as of August 28, 2020). It not only poses significant risks to our physical and fiscal security (economy and public health)  but presents a substantial threat to our national security. It is imperative and urgent for Nation-states to manage this health risk effectively.

Shaheen Showkat Dar

Balochistan: State Suppression Under Chinese Pressure

After a brief quiescence, Balochistan has once again gained international attention for extrajudicial killings and disappearance cases since the beginning of this year. In fact, in May 2020, Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had sought Iranian assistance in tackling Baloch militants suspected to be operating from its soil. Gen.

NIHAR R NAYAK

"Before celebrating the import embargo on military items, worth checking the results of the defence offsets"

August 14, 2020

On  August 9, 2020, under the ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, the defence ministry (MoD) announced the imposition of an import embargo on 101 military products with a declared intent on boosting national military-industrial capacity. This much-publicised announcement has been cheered by all stakeholders of the Indian defence sector, especially the private manufacturers.

Why Speculate? Evaluating Delhi-Dhaka Ties

Several articles were published in the last week mostly speculative, indicating a doomsday scenario for India-Bangladesh bilateral relations.[1]  Three developments were cited as signals of this new low in the bilateral ties.[2] First, one report appeared in Bhorer Kagoj, a Bengali newspaper in Dhaka, that Indian High Commissioner, Riva Ganguly Das was not granted a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, despite her trying for the last four months to have such a meeting scheduled.[3] This news that Indian High Commissioner was not given

SMRUTI S PATTANAIK