Volume 9, Issue 3 (September 2025)

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
fascinating questions in guerrilla warfare which continue to pose serious questions
in military studies. In the case of India, guerrilla warfare has existed for centuries
- tribe against tribes, ruler against rulers, even today India faces serious security
challenges from the guerrillas. One of the largest armed forces in the world, militarily
well-equipped for any challenges coming from conventional warfare, still struggles in
countering the guerrilla, as in this warfare the outcome of the war doesn’t usually
depend on the investments of conventional forces alone. Even the strategic weapons
and superior weapons that deterred the adversaries and avoided conventional war
could not apply much of its doctrine in guerrilla warfare. In this article, the author
explores some of the historical practices of guerrilla warfare, analysing what has
changed to draw lessons for India while engaging in fighting against the Guerrillas.

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 enhance the understanding of women
and its economic implications. Moreover, the explicit finding that fiscal policies are
not gender-neutral but can be powerful tools for Women’s Economic Empowerment
(WEE), with examples demonstrating direct causal links to increased female labour
force participation and reduced unpaid care burdens, indicates that governments
possess significant, often underutilised, policy levers beyond direct gender-specific programs to foster female economic empowerment.

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 states of Manipur
and Mizoram in India.

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, agricultural products, handicrafts and untapped natural resources. The
high level inter-dependency of geographical features and economy of the state resulted
into a great economic depression during the peak period of militancy in the valley.
The negative economic growth of J&K led to numerous challenges, including rising
unemployment, overpopulation and depletion of limited resources. The changing
socio-economic dynamics incited many local youth to join terrorist organisations. For the civil population, even meeting basic needs have become a pressing concern. Terror
groups taking advantage of this situation to entice youth to join their outfits with fake
promises of better lives. This analysis highlights how geography/physiography has
played a pivotal role in the proliferation of terrorism through exploiting the economy,
which is widely dependent on geography.

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 power strategies and the implications thereof for economic autonomy and
policy space in the Global South. The research points out the urgent need for more
balanced, open, and multi-aligned development partnerships. By offering an elaborate
familiarity with the evolving world, this research offers valuable information to
policymakers, researchers, and development practitioners to help navigate impending
challenges and to promote inclusive, sovereign, and sustainable development in the
21st century.

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 India from 18-19 August 2025 to hold the 24th Special Representatives’ Meeting on India-China border question, ahead of Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra
Modi’s upcoming visit to China to attend the Summit meeting of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization from August 31 to September 1, 2025, breathes in fresh
hopes and aspirations for a more balanced and harmonious India-China bilateral
engagement, given the several initiatives that have been planned for execution at the
political, diplomatic and military levels. This comes as an important development
in world politics at a time most appropriately suited for the reconceptualisation and
recalibration of India-China mutual equation, against the backdrop of recent shifts
in international power politics, like the sudden dip in India-United States trade ties
in the face of what India calls ‘unreasonable’ tariff imposition by the United States,
or the unexpected closer engagements between India and Russia, to name a few, The
research paper here seeks to explore and probe into some of the newly emerging facets
of India-China bilateral negotiations and attempts to suggest a possible direction of
their future engagements.