avinash.godbole

Army's job is to fight wars when needed and maintain perception of preparedness for the national security in the times of peace. While this is as simple as it could get, General Bikram Singh, who became the 25th Chief of the Indian Army, knows that the challenges he faces as the Chief are far from simple. He literally has too much on his plate to keep him occupied till July 2014 when he steps down. Indian Army has been looking less like a war fighting unit since the previous Chief Gen V K Singh and his civilian counterparts in the ministry did more of firefighting over issues, serious and frivolous, in the last one year or so. What this has done is that it has tarnished the image of the security establishment and somehow cracked the perception of invincibility of the national security that is so critical for ensuring people's faith as well as the hostile enemy's fears in place. In the country where scams are dime a dozen and where there is also an active movement ...

IDSA's China Year Book 2011 is now published and available online . My Chapter is on the political developments. I welcome your comments! 

The 2009 riots occurred because of the deep-rooted ethnic biases prevalent in Chinese society, coupled with the state’s hard handed approach and the sense of deprivation among Uighurs. Perceptive to the problem and alert to the situation, the Chinese government has introduced more economic incentives for the local population. However, the deep-rooted causes of the tension remain unresolved and repeated instances of violence only show that some of the policies may be backfiring. In a year in which China will see a political transition, Xinjiang is marked by an uneasy peace. Chinese leaders will be hoping that there is no more trouble at a time when stability remains their paramount objective. All the same, they will leave no stone unturned in their search for what is proving to be an elusive stability in the region. Summary of the Issue Brief published yesterday on IDSA, the full article can be accessed here

              Today's newspapers have the story of the release of a Pakistani convict from an Indian jail on humanitarian grounds. Indian express reports that the earlier meeting of the two prime ministers was cited by the Supreme Court judgement as one of the reasons for the release.               I would like to argue that there is a reason for India and Pakistan to delink bilateral relations from such individual humanitarian crises. Inadvertent border crossings and such instances should be treated on legal basis and not based on the state of the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. Treating these people as victims instead of criminals would help unite estranged families and avoid the day to day tragedies that their families have to go through.                 better still, the two countries should set down the guidelines in fast tracking such...

In India, civil military relations have been strained in the recent past due to a couple of instances. First, it was the date of birth controversy about the serving Chief of the Army. It involved a few missing documents and a legal tangle. Even as it was solved with all honours retained, other set of controversies seem to have emerged. These new controversies perhaps have been blown out of proportion, probably because the DoB controversy was still fresh in mind. During this second phase of the controversy, corruption, under-performance and under-preparedness came into picture.  However, the icing on the cake was the whole supposed coup expose by the Indian Express. Figment of imagination, undoubtedly at its worst, was at play in creating a script that would crate yet another dud like Agent Vinod! Has the media been mature on reportage and expose? Its one thing for a letter to be leaked, but its completely different for the media to publish it wi...

New Delhihosted its first BRICS Summit on 29th of March 2012. The BRIC grouping, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China has come a long way since they started meeting in 2009. With the inclusion of South Africa in the group in last year’s Summit in Sanya, China, it has become stronger not only in numbers but also more representative in terms of its geographic spread. The New Delhi Summit promises to take the group forward.   Introduction to my article on BRICS published on the IITM-CSC website on 29th March 2012.

भारतासह ब्राझील, रशिया आणि चीनचा समावेश असलेल्या ‘ब्रिक्स’ गटाची  परिषद आजपासून नवी दिल्लीत सुरू होते आहे. ही परिषद महत्त्वाची आहे का, आणि त्यातून काय साधणार, याबद्दल एका अभ्यासकाची ही निरीक्षणे..   ब्राझील, रशिया, भारत आणि चीन या चार देशांच्या ‘ब्रिक्स’ या गटाची चौथी शिखर परिषद आता नवी दिल्लीत होत आहे. भारतात अशी परिषद प्रथमच होत असली तरी केवळ तेवढय़ाचेच अप्रूप नाही. चीनमधील सन्या शहरात गेल्या वर्षी झालेल्या शिखर परिषदेत ‘ब्रिक्स’चे वाढते महत्त्व दिसून आले आहे आणि बहुसांस्कृतिक (निव्वळ पाश्चात्त्यांचे वर्चस्व मानणे इतिहासजमा झाल्यानंतरच्या) जगातील एक महत्त्वाचा गट ही ‘ब्रिक्स’ची ओळख यापुढेही वाढत जाणार, हेही स्पष्ट झाले आहे. अशा राष्ट्र-गटांना अनेकदा त्यांच्या भू-राजकीय भूमिकांमुळे महत्त्व असते, तसे तर ‘ब्रिक्स’ला आहेच; परंतु जगातील बदलत्या आर्थिक स्थितीमुळे / वातावरणामुळे ‘ब्रिक्स’ देशांचे महत्त्व वाढले आणि वाढणार आहे.  Summary of my article published in Loksatta on 26 March 2012. The complete article is available here.