North America & Strategic Technologies
About Centre
Members:
The Centre tracks relations between India and the countries of North America. US and Canadian internal developments are also monitored to have a better understanding of their role as drivers of foreign and domestic policies. The large Indian diaspora in these two countries also serves as a bridge for strengthening bilateral relations.
The Centre also actively tracks and analyses trends in strategic technologies, with principal focus on critical technologies and their implications for national security. It addresses evolving threats in space security and cyber security, ensuring comprehensive research into these critical domains. The other mandate of the Centre is to undertake research on Biological and Chemical Weapons with a focus on studying the dangers of proliferation and terrorism.
No posts of Books and Monograph.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been sensitive to continuous changes in geo-political and geo-strategic contexts, as well as the changing nature of warfare. It has fashioned its responses by evolving appropriate military doctrines and strategies to meet future threats and challenges. Thus, China’s military doctrine has over the years undergone a transition from people’s war to ‘people’s war under modern conditions’ and thereafter from ‘limited local war’ to ‘limited war under high tech conditions’.
Both India and Japan have evinced interest in deploying defences against ballistic missiles because of the threat they pose. Significantly, both have shifted their stance on US Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD), from previous opposition to active support. Notwithstanding certain basic differences between India and Japan on the nature and degree of interest and participation at present, shared interests offer an opportunity for them to cooperate with each other on the BMD issue to further consolidate the 'strategic partnership' understanding they have evolved.
Space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theatre of war.
President John F. Kennedy, Address to Rice University, September 12, 1962
A recent news item indicated that the US Government had been planning a website that would enable people to place bets on the likelihood of terrorist events. It was hoped that a study of market trends would enable intelligence agencies to anticipate and prevent such events.
The need of the moment is an encryption policy that does not come in the way of innovation but at the same time reduces undue opportunities for criminal and terrorist activities.
SAARC satellite was an opportunity for Pakistan to display its enthusiasm for space cooperation with India, but its strategic calculations appear to have ‘jammed’ its vision.
Along with physical and system operational security at nuclear power plants, cybersecurity of electronic assets and computer/ICS networks have also become a major concern.
Even if the investigations reveal the technical reason behind the breach, issues of jurisdiction, accountability and dearth of international laws governing cyber or money laundering crimes would await another billion dollar breach.
Terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba are increasingly taking to social media to further widen their outreach. By integrating social media with self-developed android apps, Lashkar is also turning from mere technology user into a product developer.
North Korea may not have reached the level of expertise to develop an ICBM indigenously. But, in terms of declaration of intent, it has achieved all that it wants.
The increase in demand for small satellites is not supported by the best launch options. Various existing options have huge limitations. It is believed that ‘proliferation’ of small satellites technology is possible only if reliable and cost-effective launch options are made available.
As ISIS strives to spread its tentacles in India, it would definitely build up a network of sympathisers and probable recruits, connected digitally with its operatives spread across the globe and available online round the clock.
Free Basics actually leads to converting the internet, which is supposed to be a global public good, into a ‘controlled’ platform. For some this even amounts to compromising on their ‘human rights’.
On December 16, ISRO demonstrated its growing capabilities with multiple burn fuel stage/rocket engine. In few years, ISRO is expected to put big primary payloads into different orbits by using a single rocket launcher.
