Comment & Briefs

The terrorist strike on Minhas airbase in Kamra on August 16, in which one Pakistani soldier and nine terrorists were killed, is but the latest manifestation of the state’s inability to protect even its vital military installations.

The question of Sino-Bhutan diplomatic relations, which is essentially linked to a settled boundary line between the two countries, is a matter of strategic choice for Bhutan.

Irritants like the Dokdo/Takeshima issue, if allowed to linger further, will affect Japan-South Korea relations including the security cooperation they have envisaged given common regional security concerns.

This Backgrounder focuses on recent events in the West African Sahel, and highlights emerging security issues against the background of events following the Libyan revolution.

While India is not immediately affected by the Rohingya refugee migration from Myanmar, it cannot be oblivious to the regional dimensions of such human migrations based on ethnic discontent.

The need of the hour is to activate a clean and transparent record keeping of land by the state so that violence based on the fear of outsiders forcibly taking away the most precious commodity, land, can be effectively averted.

While China’s desire for economic prosperity in Xinjiang may be achievable, it has not seemingly found any solution to the sense of alienation felt by the local Uighurs.

Like in the 2011 edition of the Defence White Paper, this year too, the report warns that China’s military movements are “a matter of concern” for the Asian region and the international community, and “should require prudent analysis.”

The US will undertake a manned mission to Mars to once again demonstrate its supremacy as well as to demonstrate the limitations of China’s rise.

The US will undertake a manned mission to Mars to once again demonstrate its supremacy as well as to demonstrate the limitations of China’s rise.