Punit Gore

Punit Shyam Gore (MA Defence and Strategic Studies) is an alumnus of the School of Internal Security, Defence & Strategic Studies of the  Rashtriya Raksha University, Gandhinagar (an institution of national importance) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 

The Shahzad Bhatti Network

In a major victory for India’s zero-tolerance counter-terrorism policy, national security agencies have dismantled the Shahzad Bhatti Network, a Pakistan-based, ISI-backed terror syndicate. [i] The massive multi-state crackdown, executed on August 12 ahead of Independence Day, has thwarted plans for coordinated subversive attacks across major urban centres. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the…

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Evolving Trends and Strategic Approaches in India’s Counter-Narcotics Architecture

The narcotics trade has fundamentally mutated in 2026. We are no longer witnessing the fragmented, opportunistic smuggling rings of the past, what we are confronting is the institutionalization of illicit economies. These transnational syndicates possess a level of structural maturity that allows them to weaponize globalization, co-opting legitimate supply chains, deploying advanced operational security, and…

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Pakistan’s Kashmir Narrative Meets Reality

“Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and hence an integral part of India” In international politics that states often learn the hard way that Narratives can shape perceptions, but they cannot indefinitely substitute for realities, Governments may invest decades constructing diplomatic positions, refining talking points, cultivating international constituencies,…

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The Jihadi Drug

The Captagon earned its grim nickname as the Jihadi Drug not through exaggeration, but through its documented role in the battlefields of the Middle East.[i] Originally developed in the 1960s as a pharmaceutical containing fenethylline (a synthetic stimulant that metabolises into amphetamine and theophylline), it was intended to treat conditions like narcolepsy and depression. By…

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Better than ever ?

“We must make it work, and never mess it up”[i] In the spring of 2026, with West Asia still convulsed by conflict and global energy arteries under strain,[ii] U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a two-day summit in Beijing.[iii] Far from marking a fundamental transformation in international politics, the meeting…

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Is the Gunpowder Age Dead?      

For five hundred years, the fundamental DNA of infantry warfare has relied on one remarkably crude trick: harnessing a violent chemical explosion to throw a piece of metal. From matchlocks to modern assault rifles, the soldier has always been tethered to gunpowder. As of April 2026, however, a genuine technological shift is unfolding. The People’s…

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The Indian Navy’s Tactical Triad: Dunagiri, Agray, and Sanshodhak

On March 30, 2026, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers executed an unprecedented triple-hull delivery to the Indian Navy in Kolkata, serving as a definitive metric of stabilizing domestic shipyard throughput. This concurrent handover of the Project 17A guided-missile frigate Dunagiri, the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft Agray, and the Survey Vessel Large Sanshodhak signals a…

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The Breaking Point     

The events unfolding in late March 2026 regarding Israel’s national security architecture offer a profound, real-time case study in doctrinal failure and systemic exhaustion. When IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir issued a stark warning to the Israeli security cabinet that the military is going to collapse in on itself,[i] it sent shockwaves…

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How China and India are Navigating Abnormalities

In an era of global instability, Asia’s giants are taking divergent strategic paths. China is aggressively scaling advanced, multi-domain military assets to project hegemonic power across the Indo-Pacific. Meanwhile, India is radically restructuring its military-industrial base, prioritizing absolute self-reliance (Aatmanirbharta) and integrated theatre commands to achieve unshakeable strategic autonomy by 2047.

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