Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Yasen class SSN at launch ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Kremlin) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The Russian Navy’s first Project-885 Yasen-class nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine, K-329 Severodvinsk, is set to deploy on its first combat training mission. The new submarine recently completed operational testing after being accepted into service in June 2014. Prior to that, the boat had been undergoing pre-delivery sea trials since September 2011. “Operations trials of the Severodvinsk submarine are over and the submarine is ready to fulfill its designated missions,” Russian Northern Fleet spokesman Vadim Serga told the Moscow-based TASS news agency. “The Severodvinsk’s crew is currently completing measures necessary to put the submarine into service and to take to sea for planned combat training sessions." Severodvinsk and her more advanced Project-885M sister ships are capable vessels. “We’ll be facing tough potential o

Credits- China.org Source- The National Interest Author-  Koh Swee Lean Collin Coast guard–type forces, commonly called “white hulls,” ought to constitute a stabilizing presence compared to regular navy forces (or “grey hulls”), as sea-power theorist Harold Kearsley wrote in Maritime Power and the Twenty-First Century in 1992. “White hulls” do not convey the same overtly militaristic, war-fighting impression as regular naval forces employed for this purpose. But theory can only go so far when the parties concerned have a different, or even revisionist, interpretation. China, for one, has quashed Kearsley’s idea. The recurring South China Sea incidents are illustrative: no longer are “white hulls” more dovish than their naval counterparts. In some cases, the coast guard can prove to be aggressive while the navy is relatively docile. Outside Asia, the last notable instance of a coast guard exhibiting unusually aggressive behavior was Iceland’s coast guard, the Land

European Union- Turkey deal on Syria ( Image credits- VOA/ Author) Source- IDSA Author- K.P Fabian After long negotiations in Brussels, Turkey and the 28-member European Union (EU) have signed a deal on Syrian refugees that is both complex and controversial. The deal was inked at the EU headquarters on March 18, with the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu beaming and his EU counterparts looking relieved, but far from beaming. Turkey has extracted a good deal for itself from the EU. The EU found itself in a weak negotiating position, overwhelmed by the inundation of Syrian refugees coming from Turkey threatening its very foundations, the Schengen Agreement and much more. At the same time, it is difficult to dismiss the thought that the EU could have played a smarter game with its weak hand. While it is too soon to say whether the deal is going to work out to the satisfaction of its makers, primarily, President Erdogan of Turkey and Chancellor Merkel of Germany, there a

Indian Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Narendra Modi Official) Source- IDSA Author- Ian Shanghvi The Government of Tanzania is making creditable strides to scale up its renewable energy sectors. One of the initiatives includes preparation of the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP) Project document in 2013. The aim is to promote clean energy for domestic end-uses like cooking and lighting. A spectacular feature of the SREP Project is its particular consideration to scale up rural electrification. However, related efforts and strategies condone the contribution of rural communities to achieving this goal. Most of the attention and support is focused on the private sector as the core driver of rural electrification. Examples from rural India reveal that rural communities are actually the lynchpin of rural electrification. Drawing from these examples, this paper argues that decentralized el

INS Chakra ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Indian Navy) Source- Russia & India Report Author-  Ivan Safronov , Kommersant Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu and Manohar Parrikar, India’s Defence Minister discussed the lease of a second nuclear submarine to India. While discussing military-technical cooperation between the two countries during a telephone conversation on March 23, the two ministers agreed to work out details for the transfer, on a leasing agreement, of a second nuclear-powered submarine (NPS) to the Indian Navy. According to Kommersant, the situation is being complicated by different approaches to this issue. In New Delhi they want to rent the latest multi-purpose project 885 Yasen-class submarine, but the Russian Navy has its own plans for this sub. A compromise being considered is the transfer of a project 971 submarine. Kommersant learned about the phone conversation between the two ministers from an official Defence Ministry press

Tributaries of the Mekong river  ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Shannon1) Source- Eurasia Review Author-  Kalinga Seneviratne China would like to project the release of Mekong River waters from its dams in March to “assist” drought-stricken farmers and fisheries further downstream, especially in Vietnam, as a magnanimous gesture from a friendly neighbour. But that action is in fact the reflection of a greater environmental and political crisis that is brewing in the region. China announced middle of March that in response to a Vietnamese request, it will discharge from March 15 to April 10 water from the Jinghong hydropower station on the Mekong River in Yunnan province to the lower reaches of the Mekong River to alleviate drought in Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. “In order to accommodate the concerns of countries at the lower reach of the Mekong River, the Chinese government decides to overcome its own difficulties to offer emergency water

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Site Office Source- The National Interest Author-  Togzhan Kassenova Just in time for the annual appearance of cherry blossoms, fifty-two heads of state will come to Washington to discuss nuclear security. The fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit, launched by President Barack Obama in 2010, will take stock of the progress made in securing vulnerable nuclear material over the last six years. Thanks to the summit process, nuclear security, which was previously relegated to small groups of mainly Western bureaucrats and nuclear nerds, has become a prominent issue on the international stage. Major media outlets cover it, governments around the world have been forced to learn about it and greater understanding exists of why protecting nuclear material is critical to international security. Despite the buzz that these regular meetings of heads of states have generated, many states a

Model of Japanese ATD-X Fifth Gen Fighter Aircraft ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Hunini) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar Japan has opened talks with Western defense contractors—including Lockheed Martin and Boeing—to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter. Tokyo is locked in a regional dogfight with Beijing to maintain control over the skies over the Sea of Japan. The new Japanese aircraft could be based in part on the technologies being matured on Mitsubishi’s X-2 ATD-X stealth fighter concept demonstrator. The X-2 prototype is set to take to the skies for the first time in days, reports Reuters. “They have begun exploratory engagement to look at our capabilities,” a source with a Western defense contractor told the news agency. “There is no policy decision and no program of record for the next fighter. There is only some discussion that, logically, there will be a fighter at some point.” Japan needs to replace i

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Poncahot Source- The National Interest Authors- Truong-Minh Vu , Nhung Bui How Vietnam’s foreign policies will change after January’s 12th Party Congress has been a subject of vibrant debate in recent weeks, especially because the party congress has consolidated the power of party conservatives, led by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Some commentators have espoused the view that the reappointment of Mr. Trong will lead Vietnam to lean more towards China, due to the two countries’ shared Communist ideology and political system. The leadership reshuffle, which also involves the retirement of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, would allow leaders to reemphasize the security of the Communist Party over economic reform and nationalism. According to a recent commentary in the National Interest, this could mean that Vietnam’s pivot to the United States might come to an end under the new leadership, despite positive developments in recent years