The 2017 Prof M.L. Sondhi Prize for Inter-national Politics was awarded to the Inter-national Strategic and Security Studies (ISSSP), Bengaluru, and was received by its Director, Prof. Rajaram Nagappa at New Delhi's India International Centre on October 5, 2018. Others present at the function were Trustees of the M.L. Sondhi Memorial Trust Madhuri Santanam Sondhi, Vivekananda L. Sondhi and Lalit Mansingh, and scientist Dr V. Siddhartha, who gave the Citation.
Prof Sondhi's interest and contributions towards the nucelarisation debate were recalled as well as his commitment to a regional and global peace order.
In his address Prof Nagappa stressed the difficulties in curbing the proliferation of ballistic missiles in nuclear weapons states, and problems created by overcrowding in space.
Technological innovations in the weapons and defence field were occurring at an accelerated pace, and though enhancing certain aspects of national security, these created legal and regulatory problems for the international community, he said.
As for space, it was very much crowded with debris, with an estimated 19,000 floating objects as of today; this constitutes a challenge for the global community. Prof Nagappa suggested that India should collect such data independently and that universities and amateur astronomers could be involved.
Prof Nagappa also touched on the dangers arising out of new methods of artificial intelligence, surveillance and attack. Today it is accepted that cyber threats are unavoidable and systems vulnerable; so the stress has to be on resilience and recovery, he said.
The address was followed by a lively Q&A session.