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As the dust and din settles after the very successful G20 Summit hosted by India on 9-10 September 2023, it is time to revisit the key outcomes.  The theme of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam- One Earth, One Family, that share One Future- underlined India’s abiding belief in inclusivity and interdependence- also clearly underlining the complexity of the current […]

A PDF version of the report is available here. Executive Summary The era of digitisation may have begun, when the Personal computer became available as a mass market device in the year 1970, when the Altair 8800 was introduced, but it accelerated at great speed in the 2000s, when internet companies figured out how to create […]

The landmark Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, 2023 is finally here, and it comes with some significant changes from the last draft that was put out for consultation last year. DeepStrat had submitted its comments to the draft in January, 2023 and several suggestions have been incorporated. There are several major changes that have […]

Categories: Army, Security

Come winter and Kashmir is transformed into a wonderland – silver and magical, with snow-clad mountains and valleys, frozen rivers, icy wind in the conifers, frosty mornings and sipping of hot kehwah while warming around kangris in the mellowed apricot light of the afternoon. The ethereal beauty has stood the test of time despite the […]

Categories: Defence, Security

On May 24, 2022, at Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) in Tokyo, the four world leaders agreed upon an important initiative which will offer the Quad significant dual-use capability when fully operationalized. There have been repeated suggestions from think tanks across the world for Quad to add demonstrable teeth to address one of its important charters […]

Categories: Cybersecurity, Security

Tackling Retail Financial Cyber Crimes in India is an ethnographic study on problems faced by law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in investigation and prosecution of financial cyber crimes in India. The study draws on complaints filed with Haryana’s unique cyber crimes police station to understand the impact of online frauds on retail digital payments. It is […]

Categories: Intelligence, Security

The Taliban’s rapid advance and capture of Kabul will surely go down in history as an epic blitzkrieg, leaving the Biden Administration confronting the humiliating comparison with Americans fleeing from Saigon. Lacking the firepower of heavy weaponry like tanks, big artillery and an air force, the Taliban has shown staying power, sending another superpower fleeing […]

On the 15th anniversary of Police Reforms Day, here is a question — why hasn’t the Supreme Court (SC)’s order on police reforms, delivered on September 22, 2006, been implemented yet? What are the impediments to reforms aimed at making the police more efficient, free from extraneous influences, and responsive to people’s needs? The first […]

Categories: Defence, Geopolitics, Security

The Taliban has won in Afghanistan. The last bastion of resistance, Panjshir, has fallen. A new Islamic Emirate is set to be established. And the international community is busy making short-term tactical adjustments to cope with the new realities, with some pleased (Pakistan), some wooing the Taliban and vice-versa (China and Russia), and others (including […]

Categories: Intelligence, Security

The seemingly indissoluble encryption debate and the spectre of a comeback of pesky mass surveillance Betaal, the untameable all-knowing mythological celestial spirit, has rekindled the question of accountability of Intelligence. All instruments of democratic governance should be accountable to people is a truism. Intelligence, the inalienable device of government, should not remain immune from such […]

Categories: Intelligence, Security

In his incisive piece, Prabhakar Aloka, a retired IPS officer, who served as special director with the Intelligence Bureau, argues strongly for inclusion of health security as an integral component of National Security. A designated agency should collate medical intelligence (MEDINT)  to forewarn the political executive about a pandemic and suggest counter measures to prevent […]