Commercial Evaluation Challenges – The Critical Task of Best and Final Commercial Offer Format – An Optimal Decision Matrix To prevent diffusion of responsibility, dedicated teams should be in place for the entire duration of a project, especially for non-R&D projects. The team should be mandated to stick to sanctioned time and cost but sufficiently empowered to make minor alterations in the scope. The team may be asked to sign a performance and integrity related MoU and assured of necessary support. This should include assured funding support because old projects may sometimes gasp for funding as new priorities take over with change of key decision makers. Shobhana Joshi | January 2010 | Journal of Defence Studies
Convergence of Strategic Interests between India and Japan The Joint Statement catapulted India-Japan strategic and global partnership to a “New Stage” in which the bilateral relationship is going to be deepened on all fronts, embracing regional, global and economic issues. Rajaram Panda | January 07, 2010 | IDSA Comments
Indo-Bangladesh Relations: An Enduring Partnership? Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is visiting India on January 10, 2009. Both India and Bangladesh are looking foward to resolving some of the key bilateral issues. In the light of the new political climate in Bangladesh ever since Sheikh Hasina returned to power, what are the options for India? Sreeradha Datta | January 06, 2010 | Issue Brief
Dynamics of Indo-Myanmar Economic Ties Clearly, there is immense scope for cooperation between India and Myanmar to deal in agro-based products, floriculture, engineering, timber and tobacco and expand business cooperation. Although there has been a significant increase in bilateral trade in recent years, full potential has yet to be realised. Saurabh | January 06, 2010 | IDSA Comments
The PLA on Diplomatic Front in 2009 The participation of the PLA Navy in escort missions in foreign waters is a radical departure from the historical point of view because this is the first time that the PLA Navy is carrying out such tasks not in national waters. Prashant Kumar Singh | January 06, 2010 | IDSA Comments
Ongoing Revision of Indian Army Doctrine The point of significance is that even as the Army prepares for the worst case, it would be a political-diplomatic-strategic exercise to ensure that such a scenario does not arise. Ali Ahmed | January 06, 2010 | IDSA Comments
Japan Beefs up its Naval Capability To assuage fears, Japan might see merit to take India on board in the form of a naval cooperation framework to secure peace at sea. Developments in the past 4-5 years in India-Japan relations point towards that direction. Rajaram Panda | January 05, 2010 | Issue Brief
Rising China at Copenhagen Given the divergence of views in the industrialized and industrializing countries as was demonstrated at Copenhagen, it is too early to expect any comprehensive result from the Copenhagen Accord. One needs to wait till June 2010 if the UN meeting at Bonn will yield a different outcome. Simi Thambi | January 05, 2010 | IDSA Comments
Copenhagen Accord has initiated a drift in climate change negotiations The Copenhagen Accord is weak and a step back from the Bali Action Plan which talked about four pillars of negotiations – mitigation, adaptation, financial support and technology transfer. Arvind Gupta | January 04, 2010 | IDSA Comments
US Interests in Iran: Myths and Realities The recent events in Iran have raised a number of questions: one interesting question concerns the real character of the US interests in that country. There are obvious strategic US interests like monitoring and early warning stations, oil interests, military interests, including sales of huge quantities of modern weaponry, and so on. T. Sreedhara Rao , John Cavanagh | January 2010 | Strategic Analysis
