India has long been motivated to modernize its military, and it now has the resources. But so far, the drive to rebuild has lacked a critical component—strategic military planning. India's approach of arming without strategic purpose remains viable, however, as it seeks great-power accommodation of its rise and does not want to appear threatening. What should we anticipate from this effort in the future, and what are the likely ramifications? Stephen Cohen and Sunil Dasgupta answer those crucial questions in a book so timely that it reached number two on the nonfiction bestseller list in India. "Two years after the publication of Arming without Aiming, our view is that India's strategic restraint and its consequent institutional arrangement remain in place. We do not want to predict that India's military-strategic restraint will last forever, but we do expect that the deeper problems in Indian defense policy will continue to slow down military modernization."—from the preface to the paperback edition

The end of the Cold War era marked a watershed in India's strategic history as it began to shift its strategic worldview from that of a relatively weak player with a defensive worldview to that of a more confident emerging power. The pros and cons of India's power potential have been debated at length in terms of its economic capacities, its expanding strategic horizons, and its internal strengths and weaknesses. But there has been relatively little detailed investigation of its military forces and the ways in which they have responded to the changing environment. This book aims to look closely at the modernization of the Indian armed forces and to ask: How have the Indian armed forces sought to mould themselves in response to the demands of an entirely new strategic setting? How do they view their roles in an increasingly complex world marked by a tightening web of interactions and its attendant frictions? Is the process of modernization under way in tune with the needs of the armed forces and the overall strategic approach of policy makers?

Papers presented at a workshop held at India International Centre on 30th August 2010.

This curated collection examines Stephen Philip Cohen’s impressive body of work. Stephen Philip Cohen, the Brookings scholar who virtually created the field of South Asian security studies, has curated a unique collection of the most important articles, chapters, and speeches from his fifty-year career. Cohen, often described as the “dean” of U.S. South Asian studies, is a dominant figure in the fields of military history, military sociology, and South Asia’s strategic emergence. Cohen introduces this work with a critical look at his past writing—where he was right, where he was wrong. This exceptional collection includes materials that have never appeared in book form, including Cohen’s original essays on the region’s military history, the transition from British rule to independence, the role of the armed forces in India and Pakistan, the pathologies of India-Pakistan relations, South Asia’s growing nuclear arsenal, and America’s fitful (and forgetful) regional policy.

Ever since its creation, China has been claiming territories of numerous countries. There have been wars and clashes, and the usual tone of policy statements has remained assertive. After annexing Tibet, Communist China has described China as a palm with Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal and Ladakh as the country`s five fingers. It is pertinent to note that some maps have even shown Assam and the Andaman Islands as a part of China. The standard tactics of gradual cartographic invasion seems to have been extended to new areas - tentatively, casually first and then with increasing emphasis until the time comes to usurp the quest. Though Chinese White Papers always project a defensive and peaceful attitude, Beijing`s intentions appear deceptive. China`s official media continues to publicise articles that caution India about China retaining the option of initiating military hostilities. In India, China`s prime target, however, there has been scant research on the modernisation of the Chinese Armed Forces and its impact on Indian security. This book is an effort to fill that gap.

Chris Smith explores the evolution of Indian defence policy since 1947. He looks carefully at the domestic dynamics of Indian defence policy. This includes an in-depth analysis of the period 1947-62, which is often ignored by Indian defence analysts, and the performance of the defence industrial base. He concludes that India's defence policy is designed more as one aspect of the quest for great power status than as an attempt to aquire security at an affordable price.

China’s emergence as a global economic superpower, and as a major regional military power in Asia and the Pacific, has had a major impact on its relations with the United States and its neighbors. China was the driving factor in the new strategy the United States announced in 2012 that called for a “rebalance” of U.S. forces to the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, China’s actions on its borders, in the East China Sea, and in the South China Sea have shown that it is steadily expanding its geopolitical role in the Pacific and having a steadily increasing impact on the strategy and military developments in other Asian powers.

The India-Pakistan rivalry is one of the five percent of international conflicts that has been labeled as intractable. Cohen draws on his varied experiences in South Asia as he develops a comprehensive theory of why the dispute is intractable and suggests ways in which it may be ameliorated.

China's rise to global economic and strategic eminence, with the potential for achieving pre-eminence in the greater-Asian region, is one of the defining characteristics of the post-Cold War period. This work offers a basic understanding of the military-strategic basis and trajectory of a rising China, provides background, and outlines current and future issues concerning China's rise in strategic-military influence. The next decade may witness China's assertion of military or strategic pressure on Japan, the Korean Peninsula, India, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, Central Asia, or even on behalf of future allies in Africa and Latin America. While conflict is not a foregone conclusion, as indicated by China's increasing participation in many benign international organizations, it is a fact that China's leadership will pursue its interests as it sees them, which may not always coincide with those of the United States, its friends, and allies. Until now, no single volume has existed that provides an authoritative, comprehensive, and concise description of China's evolving geo-strategy or of how China is transforming its military to carry out this strategy. Fisher examines how China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) remains critical to the existence of the Chinese Communist government and looks at China's political and military actions designed to protect its expanded strategic interests in both the Asia-Pacific and Central to Near-Asian regions. Using open sources, including over a decade of unique interview sources, Fisher documents China's efforts to build a larger nuclear force that may soon be protected by missile defenses, modern high technology systems for space, air, and naval forces, and how China is now beginning to assemble naval, air, and ground forces for future power projection missions. His work also examines how the United States and other governments simultaneously seek greater engagement with China on strategic concerns, while hedging against its rising power. Although China faces both internal and external constraints on its rise to global eminence, it cannot be denied that China's government is pursuing a far-reaching strategic agenda.