Conventional Forces
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What Would it Mean for Pakistan to Lose Major Non-NATO Ally Status?
As Pakistan and the United States gingerly engage after the fall of Kabul, distrust continues to inform the relationship. At the same time, both sides appear to want relations to improve beyond the single-point issue of Afghanistan, although Pakistan more…
India’s Strategic Challenges and Prospects for CBMs in South Asia
Over the past four decades, Asia has been a hotbed of geopolitical challenges including—although by no means limited to—localized wars for influence, the use of terrorism as a state policy, shifting nuclear force postures, extremist militant groups, and the rise…
The Escalatory Risks of India’s Integrated Battle Groups
In recent years, changes in the Indian military have made escalatory risks and the nuclear factor loom larger in the event of any military confrontation. These changes are threefold: a shift to integrated battle groups (IBGs) from corps-sized formations, a…
Strategic Stability & Restraint in South Asia
The interplay of global power competition and nuclear weapon states sharing disputed borders continue to make South Asia one of the most volatile regions in the world today. February 2021 marked two years since the 2019 India-Pakistan Pulwama-Balakot crisis, as…
India-China Strategic Competition and the Costs of the Ladakh Crisis
The Ladakh crisis is not over yet. Disengagement from front-line positions, begun with fanfare in February, has since stalled. Chinese troops remain encamped in several positions on previously Indian-controlled territory and talks to dislodge them have been fruitless. Quite apart…
Understanding India’s Defense Budget 2021-22: Expectations Vs. Reality
India’s 2021 Defense Budget is reflective of the Indian government’s current strategic priorities and experiences of the past year. Despite the economic constraints from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, one of the Indian government’s top priorities in 2021 is expected to…