S. Kalyanaraman is a Research Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. His areas of expertise are India’s foreign and security policies as well as issues relating to international security. A PhD in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Dr Kalyanaraman is a recipient of the Nehru Centenary British Fellowship and a former Visiting Fellow at the Department of War Studies, Kings College London. He is a visiting member of the faculty at apex civil and military training institutions including National Defence College, Army War College, Foreign Service Institute, and at Bhutan's Royal Institute for Governance and Strategic Studies.
His publications include:
A longer list of his publications can be accessed at
Sankaran Kalyanaraman on ResearchGate
India’s Changed Approach to Kashmir Settlement
If India-Pakistan dialogue does resume, India is unlikely to return to the Manmohan-Musharraf framework of negotiations because of the Modi government’s commitment to regain Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Changing Pattern of the China-India-US Triangle
India and America enjoy amity in their bilateral relationship, but both share adversarial relations with China. What has cemented their global strategic partnership is the threat that both countries perceive from China. This pattern appears set to continue into the medium term.
The China-India-US Triangle: Changing Balance of Power and a New Cold War
China is no longer interested in maintaining previous patterns of its relationships with India and US. It seeks to forge new types of relationships that are reflective of the extant balance of power. China expects India to demonstrate awed subservience and refrain from security cooperation with US.
Chinese dragon’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean
Research Fellow, IDSA Dr. S. Kalyanaraman’ review of the book The Costliest Pearl: China’s Struggle for India’s Ocean by Bertil Lintner, titled ‘Chinese dragon’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean; has been published by ‘The Tribune’ on November 10, 2019.
Will India Ally with America?
India’s decision to ally with America would be contingent upon the degree of convergence between their positions on core issues and the extent of military assistance needed in a two-front war scenario.
India’s Defence and Security Priorities
This Brief offers an overview of India’s long established as well as more recent external defence and security priorities, and delineates the three options available to the Defence Planning Committee under the extant economic and geopolitical circumstances.
External Balancing in India’s China Policy
External balancing is re-emerging as an element of policy driven by the yawning power asymmetry between India and China and China’s turn towards assertive behaviour and territorial claims.
India, Japan and Preservation of the Asian Territorial Order
Research Fellow, IDSA, Dr S Kalyanaraman’s article on India-Japan Strategic partnership to safeguard Asian Territorial Order, titled ‘India, Japan and Preservation of the Asian Territorial Order’ was published in E-International Relations on December 24, 2017.
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War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft by Robert D. Blackwill and Jennifer M. Harris
Geo-economics was one among several ideational constructs postulated as the likely defining characteristic of international politics after the end of the Cold War. A neologism coined by Edward Luttwak, the construct was premised on 'the waning importance of military power' in the interactions among the core states of the international system, that is, those located in North America, West Europe, and East Asia.
India’s Wars: A Military History, 1947–1971, by Arjun Subramaniam
In this first of two volumes, Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam offers excellent and concise histories of India’s wars and military operations, starting with the rescue and partial liberation of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947-48 from depredating Pakistani irregulars and ending with the 1971 war for the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan’s genocidal rule. Based on published material available, and supplementing it with interviews, Subramaniam’s India’s Wars provides a layered perspective on the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of these wars and operations.