Indian Defence Review

Western support for Russian opposition

The growing pressure on Russia from Europe every day does not lead to support for street protests and a wave of discontent among Russians, as well as to mass opposition demonstrations, no matter how much we would like to. Sanctions, support for the street opposition, and public threats against Moscow are having the...

Corporatisation of OFB and Bolstering Military Industry Capability

Introduction Atmanirbhar Bharat has been touted as an umbrella concept (2014) for promoting efficiency, competition and resilience in the Indian industry, providing level playing field to the private sector, improving value addition and pre-empting imports in areas where domestic industries can fulfil the requirement....

Fissures Developing in Sino-Pak Relations?

In his letter to Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang written in May last year to commemorate 70 years of Sino-Pak friendship, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan mentioned how “Our time-tested relationship is built around lasting values of mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual understanding.” But just two months...

Western support for Russian opposition

Fissures Developing in Sino-Pak Relations?

Pakistan: Wages of ‘Keeping Snakes in the Backyard’

It was in 2011, when former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had warned Pakistan about the dangers of providing safe sanctuaries and sustenance to terrorists by saying that “you can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours.” She further added that “Eventually those snakes...

Managing a Congested Airspace over the Future Battle Area

The number of platforms and projectiles in the Tactical Battle Area (TBA) has increased exponentially. The friendly and adversary aerial systems are not only increasing in numbers, but are also of a variety of sizes from micro UAVs to large aircraft and they are also travelling from very slow speeds to many times faster...

Does the World need Ethical Weapons?

Artificial intelligence-powered weapons have radically transformed the battlefield. But can, or should they also be made to follow ethical rules? Although many nations still practice the tried and tested military tactics and techniques of World War II vintage, major powers, particularly the US, China, Russia and Israel,...

Increasing Retirement Ages vis-à-vis Savings in Defence Spending & Pension: A Discussion

Introduction & Acknowledgements Study of military history in our Defence institutions appear to dominate our thought process so much that we appear to ignore other realities of the present, even the recent past. One such is the ephemeral proposal of reducing the outgo on pay and pensions in the Defence budget by...

Kashmiri Pandits offered three choices by Radical Islamists

On Jan, 04, 1990, a local Urdu newspaper, Aftab, published a press release issued by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, asking all Pandits to leave the Valley immediately. Al Safa, another local daily repeated the warning.These warnings were followed by Kalashnikov-wielding masked Jehadis carrying out military-type marches openly....

India needs to Forcefully respond to Chinese Psychological Operations

Winters used to be looked upon as a lie-low time along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. In present times, the extreme cold conditions are utilised by China for launching sophisticated information battles and psychological operations. This year the intensity seems to be more than normal. In India there is an...

Indo–Pacific Oceans Initiative

Concept of Indo-Pacific Eminent historian and scholar Radhakumud Mookerjee in his seminal work on Indian Shipping, while tracing the history of maritime activities of Indians from historic times, brought out that India was linked with all major movements in the world which had influenced the history of mankind. In his...

Corporatisation of OFB and Bolstering Military Industry Capability

Indigenous IJT Completes Six Turn Spin

The Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), designed and developed by HAL for stage –II training of IAF pilots has successfully demonstrated the capability to carry out six turn spins to the LH and RH sides. The aircraft was piloted by Gp. Capt HV Thakur (Retd) and Gp. Capt A Menon (Retd). Given the right resources and...

C4ISR and Autonomous Capabilities

A military leader, as a pre-condition, must be able to exercise Command and Control (C2) over the forces subordinated to him if he is to accomplish his mission. The United States (US) Department of Defence defines C2 as the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached...

Kashmir Media at Crossroads

One thing which stands out about media in Kashmir is that journalism here isn’t predominantly a family business....

Impending Russian Attack on Ukraine?

World is waiting with bated breath. When will Russian offensive to annex Ukraine commence? Very large number of well...

Opening up Jammu and Kashmir

When Pakistan closed its airspace for Indian flights after the 2019 Balakot airstrike, it was largely seen as defensive measure against any similar punitive action and also a political maneuver to placate domestic resentment.However, since Islamabad maintained that besides uprooting some trees, the Indian Air Force strike had caused no other damage whatsoever, it was widely expected that this...

Issuing of Religious Permit to Kill Former Afghan Soldiers!

Radio Zamaneh has obtained to documents. The Taliban leadership office seeks religious permission to kill former government soldiers and employees. These documents show that the Taliban are trying to justify the punishment of soldiers and employees of the former government...

Pakistan National Security Policy a Flawed Exercise

Pakistan has recently released a public version of its National Security Policy (NSP) document. The document has been authored by Moeed W Yusuf, who was earlier, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning,...

No Breakthrough in 14th Round of Military Level India-China Talks

There was no breakthrough in the 13-hour marathon military level talks between India and China on 13 January 2022 with Beijing showing reluctance to complete troop disengagement at a friction point in eastern Ladakh while refusing to discuss steps to diffuse the bigger problems of...

History of Israel-Palestine Conflict

Prelude to the Middle East Crisis Modern day Israel or as it is popularly known as “The Promised Land” has been repeatedly conquered and passed on from one ruler to another from 700 BCE onwards. The history of Palestine, as it was called archaically, is that of the region between The Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River. The area today is present day Israel and Palestine. The region is the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and has been...