Agitated Waters: Securing the Indian Ocean

In the final episode of Armchair Strategist's opening season, we end with a conversation with our colleague Dr Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, Distinguished Fellow and Head of Nuclear & Space Policy Initiative at ORF, on some key national security questions of the year: what's next for India and China at the border and the broader relationship; US elections and consequences for US-China, US-India, and the Indo-Pacific; whither the India-Russia relationship; and where India stands in its neighbourhood. 

With a range of connectivity and infrastructure projects across Pakistan, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a crucial foothold for the PRC in South Asia and a gateway to the Indian Ocean. As China projects power beyond its borders and into Pakistan, what security and defence implications does it hold for India? To answer this question, we have with us today Dr Tara Kartha, a strategic affairs expert who's spent 17 years at the National Security Council Secretariat, and Andrew Small, senior transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund's Asia program. 

In this episode of Armchair Strategist, we’re taking the conversation beyond the conventional military balance and looking at advancements India and China have been making in emerging technologies that will be key to next generation warfare.

We are joined by Elsa Kania from the Centre for New American Security, who specialises in Chinese military strategy, innovation, and emerging technologies, and Kartik Bommakanti, a Fellow with ORF’s Strategic Studies Programme, currently working on space and military issues.

Follow Elsa Kania on Twitter: @EBKania
Follow Kartik Bhommakanti on Twitter: @KartikBommakan1
Follow Ritika Passi on Twitter: @ritika_passi
Follow Angad Singh on Twitter: @zone5aviation

Share your feedback on: podcasts@orfonline.org

India-China tensions on land show no signs of abating, and the maritime space is also increasingly contested. As competition between the two Asian powers heats up, Armchair Strategist is exploring how their militaries stack up. We are joined by Dr Oriana Skylar Mastro from Stanford University, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the Wilson Centre, and Dr Arzan Tarapore, a research scholar at Stanford, and non-resident fellow with the National Bureau of Asian Research. Oriana focuses on Chinese military and security policy, while Arzan specialises in Asian security affairs, particularly India.

Follow Dr Arzan Tarapore on Twitter: @arzandc
Follow Dr Oriana Skylar Mastro on Twitter: @osmastro
Follow Ritika Passi on Twitter: @ritika_passi
Follow Angad Singh on Twitter: @zone5aviation

Share your feedback on: podcasts@orfonline.org

Women in uniform are not a rarity in India -- think police and paramilitary services. However, when it comes women in the armed forces, we've been witness to milestones one at a time, the most recent one being the Supreme Court’s judgment earlier this year mandating all branches of the military to allow permanent commission for women.

In this special episode, we have with us Wg Cdr Anupama Joshi from the first ever batch of women commissioned in the Indian Armed Forces, and Flt Lt Mandy Hickson, a former fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force, to discuss experiences, attitudes, and combat roles. 

Follow Flt Lt Mandy Hickson on Twitter:@MandyHickson
Follow Ritika Passi on Twitter: @ritika_passi
Follow Angad Singh on Twitter: @zone5aviation

Share your feedback on: podcasts@orfonline.org

The Indian Ocean is the lynchpin in India's Indo-Pacific vision. Some 80% of global seaborne trade passes through the Indian Ocean Region, including critical energy supplies for both India and China. The past decade has seen significantly expanded Chinese presence in the IOR, upping the stakes for India in its maritime back yard.

To break down the political, economic and strategic dimensions of this challenge, Armchair Strategist is joined by Dr Joshua T White from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University and Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Darshana Baruah, visiting fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and non-resident scholar with the Carnegie endowment for international peace.

Follow Dr Joshua T White on Twitter: @joshuatwhite
Follow Darshana Baruah on Twitter:@darshanabaruah
Follow Ritika Passi on Twitter: @ritika_passi
Follow Angad Singh on Twitter: @zone5aviation

Share your feedback on: podcasts@orfonline.org

Even as the India-China border dispute has now acquired an economic dimension, the asymmetric economic relationship between India and China already exposes India to certain security and strategic risks.

This week, Dr Priya Chacko from the University of Adelaide and Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu’s China correspondent, join Armchair Strategist to discuss how deep the India-China economic interdependence runs, what the resulting security and strategic risks are, and how best to mitigate them.

Follow Ananth Krishnan on Twitter:@ananthkrishnan
Follow Ritika Passi on Twitter: @ritika_passi
Follow Angad Singh on Twitter: @zone5aviation

Share your feedback on: podcasts@orfonline.org

Even as New Delhi faces the immediate challenge of defusing tensions at the border, it also faces the necessary task of re-thinking its engagement with China, eyes wide open. Has Galwan been the push it needed? What options are available to New Delhi, and what stumbling blocks will it face, to not do "business as usual' with China?

This week, Dr Jabin Jacob from Shiv Nadar University joins Armchair Strategist to discuss the evolving India-China bilateral relationship in view of the current border conflict.

Follow Jabin Jacob on Twitter: @jabinjacobt
Follow Ritika Passi on Twitter: @ritika_passi
Follow Angad Singh on Twitter: @zone5aviation

Share your feedback on: podcasts@orfonline.org

The recent border crisis has not only shifted India’s gears with respect to China, but also elicited interesting responses from Washington and Moscow. Early US tentativeness gave way to more vocal support with President Trump directly calling out Chinese aggressiveness. Meanwhile Moscow brought India and China to the table for a three-way conversation between the foreign ministers, even as it approaches hefty defence deals with New Delhi. 

This week, Tanvi Madan from the Brookings Institution and Emily Tamkin, US editor for The New Statesman, join Armchair Strategist as we zoom out a little to explore how these key external partners – the US and Russia – impact the India-China balance of power. 

Follow Tanvi Madan on Twitter: @tanvi_madan
Follow Emily Tamkin on Twitter: @emilyctamkin
Follow Ritika Passi on Twitter: @ritika_passi
Follow Angad Singh on Twitter: @zone5aviation

Share your feedback on: podcasts@orfonline.org

In our first episode of Armchair Strategist, we kick things off with the topic du jour – India and China facing off in Ladakh. The crisis has seen the first fatalities at the Line of Actual Control in 45 years, and despite talks of disengagement, there’s clearly a long way yet to go.  

We discuss the unprecedented confrontation with Lt Gen HS Panag, a former Northern Army Commander with years of experience in this very area, facing both China and Pakistan. Listen in for details on the situation at the border, the challenges of geography, and what India can expect in the coming months. 

Follow Lt Gen HS Panag (R) on Twitter: @rwac48
Follow Ritika Passi on Twitter: @ritika_passi
Follow Angad Singh on Twitter: @zone5aviation

Share your feedback on: podcasts@orfonline.org