Abhay Kumar Singh

Cmde. Abhay Singh is a Research Fellow at the Military Affairs Centre in the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. He is an Indian Navy veteran with extensive command and staff experience spanning 27 years. A surface warfare officer with a specialisation in Missile and Gunnery Warfare, he has commanded various naval platforms which include frontline frigate, submarine rescue & deep diving vessel, and fleet auxiliary. He has also served as Director (Military Affairs) in the Disarmament and International Security Division of the Ministry of External Affairs. Cmde. Singh is an alumnus of the Naval Academy, Defence Services Staff Course and Naval War College. He has an MSc (Defence and Strategic Studies) from the University of Chennai and an MPhil from Mumbai University. His publications include: “Maritime Exclusion Zone: Legal Perspectives and Strategic Option,” Maritime Affairs, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Summer 2008), 79–111; “Cross LOC Strike and India’s Reputation for Resolve”, IDSA Comment, October 21, 2016; “The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill 2016 – The Long Journey of an Important Maritime Legislation”, IDSA Comment, October 03, 2016.
Cmde. Abhay Singh is on the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Defence Studies.


Research Fellow (SS)

Publication

The Second Quad Summit- Whither Indo-Pacific Order

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Cmde. Abhay Kumar Singh’s article ‘The Second Quad Summit-Whither Indo-Pacific Order’ has been published by the Chanakya Forum on September 23, 2021.

The outcome and policy choices emerging out of this momentous meeting of the Quad leaders will be carefully watched, given the increasingly arduous burden of expectations from the second Quad summit in shaping geopolitical contours of the Indo-Pacific, says Cmde. Singh.

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India–China Rivalry: Asymmetric No Longer: An Assessment of China’s Evolving Perceptions of India

  • Publisher: KW Publishers
In recent years, there has been growing interest in deciphering the nature and contours of bilateral dynamics between India and China, since the contours bilateral dynamics between the two rising powers have potential implications for the evolving geopolitical order in the region and even beyond. This book is not about understanding the nature of rivalry dynamics between India and China but prominently focuses on China’s mental and emotional image of India, which has remained an underexplored dimension in contemporary scholarship.

The aim of the book is two-fold. First, this book is an effort to analyse China’s contemporary perceptual image about India primarily through the analysis of Chinese publications on the subject. Second, this book questions the prevalent notion of characterising India-China rivalry as ‘one-sided’ or ‘asymmetric.’

Unarguably, power asymmetry, with substantial Chinese advantage, has been a persistent characteristic of India-China relations and is likely to remain or even grow further. India, being weaker in this dyad, naturally has a greater threat perception vis-à-vis China. However, this apparent power asymmetry does not provide China with an overwhelming advantage over India.

The book argues that India has been and continues to be a ‘strategic rival’ in Chinese perception even though it is not categorised by China as its ‘principal rival.’ In the contemporary period, as India expands its defence capabilities, extends its regional outreach and deepens its engagement with major powers, Beijing has begun to factor New Delhi into its strategic calculus even more seriously.

  • ISBN: 978-93-91490-01-0 ,
  • Price: ?. 980/-
  • E-copy available

Geopolitical Churning in the Indo-Pacific and the Persistent ‘Sea Foam’ of QUAD

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Commodore Abhay Kumar Singh’s article ‘Geopolitical Churning in the Indo-Pacific and the Persistent ‘Sea Foam’ of QUAD’ has been published in Chanakya Forum on October 20, 2020.

Quad 2.0 has certainly gathered momentum with growing convergence of views among members. The debate continues regarding the future role, value and relevance of Quad construct. Even though Quad 2.0 remains a work in progress, it has served the limited purpose of political signalling, writes Commodore Singh.

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Military Manpower Cost in India and the United States: A Comparative Analysis

While both India and the US face similar fiscal constraints, the approach towards military manpower cost in the two countries significantly diverge. The prevailing debate in India about the imperative to greater economic efficiency in military manpower cost would benefit from a holistic examination of approaches undertaken by the US in managing its manpower expenditure.

Emerging Contours of Maritime Security Architecture under the Belt and Road Initiative

The revival of the centuries-old ‘Silk Road at Sea’ into a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) is an integral part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Chinese White Paper on its vision for enhancing maritime cooperation broadly confirms this perception, since it considers maritime security assurance as the lynchpin of MSR initiatives. As its trade and overseas economic interests have been constantly growing, Beijing’s strategic concern about protection of these interests has magnified.

India’s Pathways for Regional Prominence in Asia-Pacific: Prospects and Challenges

Asian geopolitics currently represents a complex blending of power and paradox, both stable and fluid, with change occurring against an unresolved tension between the direction of economic growth and that of strategic anxiety. With the continent turning into the economic growth engine of the world, regional geopolitics is witnessing friction between Asian powers that had previously kept economic and political separation from one another.