Episodes

  • Looking Back, Looking Forward

    Looking Back, Looking Forward
    Dec 28 2020
    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 nei...
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    55 mins
  • CPEC

    CPEC
    Nov 23 2020
    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, sen...
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    56 mins
  • The Chinese Military Challenge II: Military Innovation and Emerging Strategic Technologies

    The Chinese Military Challenge II: Military Innovation and Emerging Strategic Technologies
    Oct 20 2020
    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 spac...
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • The Chinese Military Challenge I: The Conventional Balance

    The Chinese Military Challenge I: The Conventional Balance
    Oct 2 2020
    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...
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    49 mins
  • In the trenches: Women in the military

    In the trenches: Women in the military
    Sep 18 2020
    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 Hic...
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Agitated Waters: Securing the Indian Ocean

    Agitated Waters: Securing the Indian Ocean
    Sep 11 2020
    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 Unive...
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    49 mins
  • Hidden Costs, Open Challenges: India’s economic dependence on China

    Hidden Costs, Open Challenges: India’s economic dependence on China
    Sep 2 2020
    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. Fo...
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    40 mins
  • Border and more: Talking India-China ties

    Border and more: Talking India-China ties
    Aug 24 2020
    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 ...
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    38 mins