Mandip Singh

The paper looks at the critical vulnerabilities of China in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). Ever since China captured and annexed Tibet in 1950, it has been unable to integrate the Tibetan people with the mainland. The author looks at these criticalities from an Indian viewpoint and draws some key assessments for China watchers in India with regard to policy on Tibet.

• Published: 2013
• IDSA Occasional Papers

• Published: 2012
• Book

Liberia has witnessed intense internal strife, conflicts and total breakdown of law and order in the past. A West African organisation, ECOWAS and United Nations operated together in Liberia to obtain a peaceful settlement. It was the first UN peacekeeping mission undertaken in collaboration with a peacekeeping operation already being undertaken by a regional grouping. Though there are obvious advantages of regional groupings taking such initiatives there are numerous nuances which emerge when such organisations operate together.

• Published: July-September 2022
• Journal of Defence Studies

Understanding the Chinese Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) has been a challenge for military thinkers and planners due to opacity and secrecy within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This article delves into the traditional relationship between the erstwhile Soviet (now Russian) and Chinese militaries and draw parallels between the two RMA. It argues that in many ways the Chinese RMA has followed the Russian RMA, which was driven by the latter’s experiences in modern wars in Georgia, Ukraine, Crimea, and Syria. The article concludes that the PLA has suitably modified the Russian military doctrines, reorganisation and restructuring as well as the induction of military equipment to suit the threats and challenges that confront it. Military thinkers and planners would do well to study the Russian RMA to extrapolate the future trajectory of the changes that are underway in the PLA.

• Published: October-December 2020
• Journal of Defence Studies

The incremental and calibrated improvement in the India-China defence ties has withstood the test of time. The next step in building M2M relations could provide the required impetus to further accelerate the process of strengthening peace and stability along the LAC.

• Published: September 16, 2019
• IDSA Comments

Authoritarian regimes are increasingly taking recourse to sharp power as a preferred means of realising national interests. Sharp power weaves an intricate web of responses short of war, such as coercion, persuasion, political power, and inducements to further a nation’s interests, all the while concealing a long stick. China, in particular, has perfected the art of using sharp power in recent years, often investing large political capital and monies to impose its will on nations all over the globe.

• Published: July-September 2018
• Journal of Defence Studies

If PLA doesn’t change its ‘army-centric’ character and make way for professionals with domain expertise, the higher defence organisation will continue to be weak and the reform only in name.

• Published: March 09, 2016
• IDSA Comments

Hitherto, the India-China border dispute was largely a land-air contingency. Now, the PLA Navy’s presence in the IOR adds the third dimension and needs to be factored in future planning and preparations.

• Published: February 22, 2016
• Issue Brief

This book is a compilation of papers written by journalist Neville Maxwell over a career span of five decades. Those who look at China–India relations closely, notably the border dispute, will know that Neville Maxwell is not new to the India–China border discourse. Accredited to The Times, he was their South Asia correspondent in New Delhi during the tumultuous years from 1959–62, when he extensively covered the Indo-China War of 1962.

• Published: October 2015
• Journal of Defence Studies

Samudra Manthan is a book whose time has come. It brings to the table the other dimension of the Sino-Indian rivalry, which is often missed by the larger group of policymakers: the maritime and naval aspects of the relationship. Raja Mohan borrows from Indian mythology in selecting the name of this lucid and well-researched account of the emerging frontiers of Sino-Indian rivalry in the Indo-Pacific.

• Published: October 2013
• Journal of Defence Studies