Non-Traditional Security
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    • About Centre

    The Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Centre conducts critical research and analyses in wide-ranging areas like the SDGs, climate change, water, food and energy nexus, low-intensity conflict and the Arctic region. Challenging orthodox thinking and bringing in unconventional ideas, the Centre, has well-established experts with notable publications engaged in addressing the knowledge gaps, facilitating discussions, and interfacing with varied stakeholders. The Centre publishes the bi-monthly NTS Digest covering climate, food, energy and water issues. Members frequently lecture at military and training institutions and share their views at various national and international forums. As part of public awareness and sensitisation, they regularly contribute to mainstream newspapers and appear in media channels. The NTS Centre Coordinator served as Co-Chair of the Think20 Task Force of the G20 on ‘Accelerating SDGs: Exploring New Pathways to the 2030 Agenda’ during India’s G20 Presidency.

    Current Projects

    Centre members are working on inter-disciplinary projects like the ‘Indus Waters Treaty: Changing Dynamics and India’s Options’, ‘Human Security Policy for India’, and ‘Impacts of Climate Change in the Himalayan Region’. Areas of output include India’s SDGs targets, India-EU cooperation on climate change, India-Nepal cooperation on energy security, India’s climate adaptation and renewables approach, India-US maritime collaboration, and AFSPA and the Northeast region.

    Members

    BBIN Sub-Region: Perspectives on Climate-water-Energy Nexus

    • Publisher: Pentagon Press
      2023
    Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) are home to 21 per cent of the world’s population. With projected economic growth in the BBIN countries, a consequent increase in the demand for electricity and heavy dependence on fossil fuels are expected despite the pitch for renewable energy. The region also faces unprecedented climate change, particularly in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, the cradle of major sub-continental rivers, and where melting glaciers, unpredictable weather conditions, and rainfall patterns are affecting the life of millions and instigating frequent natural disasters. Since 2014, India has tried to maximise sub-regional interaction with the aim of promoting cooperation in the economic, social, cultural and scientific fields. This has opened new thinking and opportunities, complementing the pace of globalisation and liberalisation. The fear, of course, is that this approach can easily dissipate in the face of security complexities and political difficulties.

    The climate-water-energy nexus is now a familiar concept in the resource management debate requiring long-sighted approaches that help avoid maladaptive pathways and, as a tool, to anticipate the tilt and balance of the nexus resources and the nature of their interactions. The nexus as a policy approach brings together the concept of ‘security and sustainability’. However, the framing of the nexus around a scarcity crisis narrative often pushes states towards control and possessiveness of the resources rather than driving them towards stability and durability solutions. Beyond this framework, a more nuanced political–economy understanding of the BBIN sub-region is essential.

    • ISBN: 9788195189458 ,
    • Price: ₹ 995/-
    • E-copy available
    Uttam Kumar Sinha
    2023

    A Study of the Kural: Concepts and Themes

    India has a live, longstanding, and multiple traditions of secular texts and treatise on statecraft, not only in Sanskrit but also in Dravidian traditions in Tamil. For a total picture of Indian civilization and culture there is need to explore texts other than just Sanskrit. In this category there is a powerful and compact text in Tamil from south India called the Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar, also known as the Kural.

    P. K. Gautam
    2021

    Indus Basin Uninterrupted: A History of Territory and Politics from Alexander to Nehru

    • Publisher: Penguin Random House India
      2021
    The Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan marks six decades, but carries the reflection of several thousand years of history. Indus Basin Uninterrupted, with an easy narration and rich archival material, brings alive a meandering journey of peace, conflict and commerce on the Indus basin. The Indus system of rivers, as a powerful symbol of the passage of time, represents not only the interdependence and interpenetration of land and water, but equally the unfolding of political identities, social churning and economic returns. From Alexander's campaign to Qásim crossing the Indus and laying the foundation of Muslim rule in India; from the foreign invaders and their 'loot and scoot' to the Mughal rulers' perspective on hydrology and water use; from the British 'great game' on the Indus basin to the bitter and bloody Partition; and finally, as a historical pause, the signing of the Indus Waters Treaty—this book is a spectrum of spectacular events, turning points and of personalities and characters and their actions that were full of marvel.
    • ISBN: 9780670094486,
    • Price: ₹. 799.00
    Uttam Kumar Sinha
    2021

    The Nitisara by Kamandaka: Continuity and Change from Kautilya’s Arthashastra

    This study compares Indian traditions of statecraft in Kamandaka’s Nitisara, or the Elements of Polity, with the earlier foundational root text of Kautilya’s Arthashastra. There are commonalities, dissimilarities and uniqueness in the texts. However, key values and concepts across time do not seem to have changed and remain relevant even today.

    P. K. Gautam
    2019

    Asian Strategic Review 2017: Energy Security in Times of Uncertainty

    • Publisher: Pentagon Press
      2018

    The world is entering an era with increased global demand for energy, price volatility, and rising concerns about environmental burdens and the global impact of climate change. Directly or indirectly, these factors have given rise to related concerns such as deregulation and geopolitical uncertainties. Moreover, the challenges related to the energy issue go beyond scientific or technological aspects and extend to access to resources, regional conflicts, pricing and energy infrastructure management.

    • ISBN: 78-93-86618-28-3,
    • Price: ₹ 795/- , $27.95/-
    • E-copy available
    Jayant Prasad and Shebonti Ray Dadwal
    2018

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    Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Strategic Cultural Roots of India’s Contemporary Statecraft

    Debates around the existence of a strategic culture in India have tickled the minds of scholars in International Relations for a long time, with a critical precedent set by George K. Tanham (1992), through Indian Strategic Thought: An Interpretive Essay, written for the RAND Corporation. Tanham refers to the incoherence in India’s strategic behaviour and concludes that strategic thought is by far absent in India. Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Strategic Cultural Roots of India’s Contemporary Statecraft by Kajari Kamal puts an end to all these debates.

    Hima Mishra
    January-February 2024

    Energy Alternatives

    There is today no energy shortage. The highly publicized energy crunch in the United States following the Arab Israeli 1973 war was artificial,Footnote1 and should a country be willing to pay prevailing prices, it can have as much energy as it wants. The energy equation is made-up of three factors: availability, reliability and price. The immediate problem is of price, and to a lesser extent of reliability.

    Ravi Rikhye
    May-June 2023

    The Formation of the Indian Diaspora

    The Indian Diaspora is one of the world’s largest overseas groupings. The Diaspora is considered India's 30th state with over 30 million overseas Indians. This article outlines the main strands of its formation, from the first movement of indentured workers and subsequent phases of migration of skilled professionals to the West and of workers to the Persian Gulf. They remain the single–largest contributor of foreign exchange and development in the country. Understanding its formation is an essential step for studying the Diaspora and engaging with it. This article aims to do that.

    D. Padma Kumar Pillay and T.K. Manoj Kumar
    July 2021

    A Comparison of Kamandaka's Nitisara and Kautilya's Arthashastra: Statecraft, Diplomacy and Warfare

    Kamandaka’s Nitisara was composed after the classic and the only surviving root text of Kautilya’s Arthashastra. Both the texts are important milestones in Indic heritage and tradition of political science. They share many fundamental and enduring similarities in concepts and vocabulary. There are also dissimilarities and some unique features such as Kamandaka’s strategy of Upeksha (neglect, diplomatic indifference) reused and revived during the Indian freedom struggle.

    P. K. Gautam
    July-September 2021

    From Energy Security to Energy Dominance: US’ Blending of Politics and Economics

    In the aftermath of the successful ‘America First’ or ‘Make America Great Again’ presidential election campaign, President Trump’s era inaugurated the realm of energy politics. It began with the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the lifting of the US export ban on crude oil. So far, it has been featured in setting aside President Obama’s climate change mitigation policy, which emphasized regulation, discouraged oil and gas development, and denounced the extensive exploitation of natural resources.

    Vasileios Balafas and Efstathios T. Fakiolas
    March 2020

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    China’s Economic Growth and ‘New Quality Productive Forces'

    China is seeking to drive ‘green’ and sustainable economic growth through high technology manufacturing and R&D investments.

    Opangmeren Jamir
    August 01, 2024

    Assessing US Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) Claims in the Arctic

    The US Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) claims in the Arctic brings into question the legitimacy of established mechanisms like UNCLOS and CLCS.

    Bipandeep Sharma
    July 10, 2024

    Harnessing Cutting-Edge Technology: Lessons from Project Beta

    India's pursuit of Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence technology is a multi-faceted endeavour, requiring strategic vision, robust collaboration, sustained investment and a commitment to innovation.

    D. Padma Kumar Pillay
    May 29, 2024

    Critical Minerals for Energy Transition: Linchpin or Risk?

    The race to climate neutrality must be guided by responsible practices and environmental stewardship is paramount.

    Nandakumar Janardhanan and Kentaro Tamura
    April 15, 2024

    Harnessing the Potential for Defence Cooperation through Defence Attachés

    India's evolving defence diplomacy reflects its growing strategic ambitions.

    D. Padma Kumar Pillay
    April 12, 2024

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