The Calcutta Journal of Global Affairs

The rapid proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is redefining the character of modern warfare, shaping both tactical engagements and strategic doctrines. Once limited to surveillance and reconnaissance, drones have evolved into decisive tools for precision strikes, logistics, and electronic warfare. Their accessibility to both state and non-state actors disrupts traditional power asymmetries, lowers the threshold of conflict, and complicates deterrence frameworks. At the same time, the growing vulnerability of ground forces, infrastructure, and conventional air assets has accelerate...

The Siliguri Corridor—India’s strategic “Chicken’s Neck”—functions as a crucial yet vulnerable land connection between mainland India and its northeastern regions. The corridor, measuring only 22–27 miles at its narrowest point, lies amid Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, making it one of South Asia’s most critical strategic chokepoints. This paper employs a qualitative instrumental case study approach to analyse the corridor’s significance in India’s national security, connectivity, and regional diplomacy. This article sheds light on India’s evolving strategic re...

The ethnic violence of Manipur, which started in 2023, soon after the verdict of the High Court regarding the Scheduled Tribe status of the Meiteis, has continued to rage on. As of November 22, 2024, the conflict has claimed the lives of two hundred and fifty-eight people, along with the displacement of approximately sixty thousand individuals. The poems of Robin S. Ngangom reflect this tragic reality. This article addresses Ngangom’s poetic engagement with the complex conflict breaking out in his state, as he tries to understand what it takes to define a nation and what purpose, if any, the v...

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the use of AI and ML technologies in policing, analysing technologies currently being experimented with or used by police organisations in India and other jurisdictions. In the context of the history of policing and contemporary global discussions on technology and ethics, the article explores the proposal: “AI for Atma Rakshit Bharat”. The analysis of secondary data identifies opportunities for improving how police create value - using AI, in crime prevention and fraud detection, similar to so many other fields already today. The challenges no...

Energy forms one of the ‘core’ national interests of China and each Party Congress has laid heavy weight on it. From ‘energy revolution’ to ‘green development’, each Party Congress has given a clarion call for the development of the energy field in China. China’s energy policy structure involves its Five-Year Plans, energy laws and Party congresses. This paper discusses the energy issue discussed in the Party Congresses, not as an event but as a process. Since the arrival of Xi Jinping at the helm of affairs, China’s Party Congresses have coincided with various other global events like the BRI...

This paper examines India’s direct and indirect approaches to conflict resolution in the present Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam. The paper reveals that the direct approach encompassing counter-insurgency military operations under the AFSPA enforcement has been effective in curbing immediate militant threats but failed to address root causes, perpetuating violence and raising human rights concerns. Conversely, an indirect approach has been adopted, which serves as a more holistic means of ensuring peace and stability. To address the root causes of conflict, governments have initiated thre...

The topic of outsiders or immigrants has emerged as a significant issue within various movements occurring in Northeast India. Migration is a global phenomenon influenced by numerous factors, and understanding the specific characteristics of Nepalese migration to this region is crucial. The Nepalese, a migrant community from Nepal, share similar cultural and religious values with many Indian communities. Factors such as socio-economic and political challenges in Nepal, as well as the opportunities that arose during British colonial rule, facilitated the migration of Nepalese people, who settle...

Illegal immigration into India, especially across the eastern frontier, has been a persistent socio-political and security challenge. The North-Eastern states of India— Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland—bear the brunt of demographic and social pressure due to their geographical proximity to Bangladesh and Myanmar. This report consolidates insights from a high-level round table discussion involving security experts, policymakers, academics, and civil society. It highlights the historical drivers, current challenges, and policy gaps, and proposes actionable solutions to manage illegal immigration humanely and strategically.

In the studies of guerrilla warfare, we still continue to pursue the vexed question of why militarily weaker groups defeat much stronger nations in guerrilla warfare. If war is a game, a bloody event, then why do irregular forces survive against the regular forces? What is so unique about the guerrilla that they could execute their tactics and strategy with inferior weapons against much superior weapons? Despite the experiences of fighting against the guerrillas for a very long time, why are these irregular forces still able to cause serious internal security threats to India? There are fascin...

For decades, scholars have concentrated on women’s empowerment and economic development. This research attempts to deliver an overview of the scholarly landscape. It highlights key trends, collaboration patterns, and emerging themes within the association between women’s empowerment and economic development. This study employs a bibliometric approach, utilising data from the Dimensions database covering publications published between 1994 and 2023. The facts show that the United States heads the way in this field, followed by the United Kingdom and India, which reflect global initiatives to en...

The land border between Myanmar and the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram is porous and restive. Thousands of civilians from Chin and Sagaing poured over the Indian border into Manipur and Mizoram to escape armed conflict between junta troops and rebel forces that followed the military’s seizure of power in a February 2021 coup d’état. These developments have raised concerns about the security of the shared border. Drawing upon media and government reports published from February 2021 onwards, this paper examines the implications of the exodus of Chin fleeing Myanmar to the two Northeastern...

Geographical landscape of Jammu and Kashmir ( J&K) supported the non-state actors in sustaining terrorism in the valley. Physical features also pose a serious challenge to the armed forces of India in mitigating militancy in the region. It is essential to examine how the terror groups have strategically exploited geography to advance and facilitate their violent activities. All the major terror attacks are planned and executed by taking into account geographical information to inflict the maximum possible casualties. This is in a region where the economy is mainly dependent upon tourism, agric...

The 21st century has witnessed the cataclysmic shift of global power through newly rising geopolitical powers and the transition to multipolarity. The current study critically analyses how rising powers, particularly through initiatives such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), are remaking economic relations, affecting political stability, and reshaping the sovereignty of developing and underdeveloped nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Through thematic analysis of secondary data and case studies, the research brings into focus structural dependencies created through global powe...

In the rapidly evolving dynamic context of global politics, Asia has risen to be at the centre of economic, military and strategic engagement in the arena of international relations. The key players in this transformation are Japan and India, both of which have a distinct civilizational identity of their own, with different civilizational ethos and values as well as different ideologies backing their foreign policy vision. Their legacy of distinctive historical backgrounds suggests that they are not confined to the traditional Western frameworks of realism and liberalism. While Japan’s post war identity has been shaped by pacifism and reliance upon the US, India has had its contemporary values rooted deep in its traditional socio-cultural ethics and the path of non-alignment. Japan’s foreign policy has been described as an ‘abnormality’ in international relations, due to the antimilitary nature of the state, which was vastly different from the Western countries’ approach.

This year 2025, marks a significant event in the history of India-China bilateral relations, as both countries celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, dating from April 1, 1950. History all along stands witness to their evolving relationship, where both nations have seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Yet, at this crucial watershed moment, both India and China seem to be envisioning a new future for themselves, quite unexpected and even fortuitous in the views of some. The recent visit of the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Wang Yi to Indi...

This report covers key insights from the “Dialogue 2025” event jointly organised by CENERS-K and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, focusing on the complex interplay of global and regional geopolitics, security, and geoeconomics in an era of profound uncertainty. Speakers consistently highlighted a challenged world order, marked by great power rivalries, economic coercion, and persistent conflicts. India, referred to as Bharat, has adopted a posture of “strength, restraint, and strategic foresight,” asserting its national interests and demonstrating a “fundamental shift in posture” in dealing with regional threats. The discussions underscored the declining influence of a rules-based international system, the re-emergence of 17th-century concepts like raison d’état and balance of power as primary drivers of state behaviour, and the increasing fragmentation of the global landscape. Challenges for India include eanaging complex relationships with major powers (US, China, Russia) and navigating an inimically tough neighbourhood (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal), while leveraging its economic growth and technological prowess.

India and China stand out as two of the world’s most ancient, continuous, living geo-civilizational spaces, rightfully claiming historic bilateral association of over two millennia; an association which had been founded primarily upon profound links of Buddhist interconnectivity, and regular cultural and trade exchanges. However, with India and China’s evolution into modern-day nation states, and a contemporaneous tectonic shift in international political reconfigured tendencies, these former day ‘pre-colonial Buddhist brothers’, soon became ‘post-colonial political neighbours’, with much of t...

The porous and unregulated borders of northeast India serve as the main facilitator of all the problems faced in northeast India, like insurgency, illegal immigration, and drug issues. This article aims to find the correlation between border management efforts and the security threats that are faced in the border areas. Both qualitative and quantitative data are collected and observed thoroughly by the researcher. It has been found that there is a general negative correlation between border management efforts and security threats faced in the border area.

Geopolitics examines how geographic features, resources and socio-economic aspects influence regional politics. Geopolitics also includes the study of real-world decisions made by politicians, their political alliances, and other leaders in various geographic settings.1 The recent reestablishment of political order in Bangladesh marks a pivotal shift in South Asia’s geopolitical terrain. The study aims to analyse the geopolitical situations between India, Bangladesh, and neighbouring countries. This research endeavours to elucidate the consequences of Bangladesh’s political instability on Indi...

Throughout history, the maritime domain has been a crucial space in establishing new and emerging powers shaping regional dynamics and the larger security architecture. The great power competition today is no different. The emergence of the Indo-Pacific as a new geographic space—bringing together the Indian and the Pacific Oceans—represents the new strategic reality of the twenty-first century. The Indo- Pacific, therefore, is a new domain in India’s foreign policy engagements, representing a shift in New Delhi’s strategic and security environment, expanding its threats solely from its contine...