Indian Defence Review

Defence for the 5 Trillion Indian Economy

The “challenging but realizable” desire/target/goal/ambition of India becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25 from the existing USD 2.69 trillion economy, as articulated by our finance minister[i], is a worthy thought. Whether, how, and in what configuration (equitable or much more skewed wealth distribution...

Election of Rajapaksa rings alarm bells in India

In keeping with the trend world over, Sri Lankans have also chosen a hard-liner as their next President, though the voting pattern is divided with the minorities voting overwhelmingly against him and the majority Sinhalese voting in his favour. Rajapaksa would be the latest nationalist leader swept to power across the...

Should Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s installation as Sri Lanka’s President worry India?

Even though the recent election of Gotabaya Rajapaksha as the president of Sri Lanka has brought Indian anxieties to the fore (because of his pro-China leanings –and the leverage China has over India vis-à-vis Colombo’s cordiality quotient with Beijing –which, places it- much ahead of New Delhi, India is not that...

Election of Rajapaksa rings alarm bells in India

Should Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s installation as Sri Lanka’s President worry India?

After Baghdadi What ?

For 1300 years or so, the caliphs, or the “successors”, took pride in developing the Islamic community that the Prophet Muhammad had left behind. The Caliphs were far from being rigid and inflexible; while a few were Islamist, but they loved music (anathema to the IS); had a passion for not just reading the Koran and...

Defence for the 5 Trillion Indian Economy

Strength Lies in Numbers: Rebuilding the Combat Fleet of the IAF

It is unclear just how many combat squadrons the IAF effectively has because some of the 31 remaining squadrons will be withdrawn from service over the next few years. They probably do not measure up to the yardstick of 16 aircraft per squadron plus two to four as reserves and hence may have limited operational value....

Cadre Restructuring in Indian Army

According to media reports, the Indian Army is in the process of undergoing cadre restructuring. In the case of officers, two officers per battalion are being reduced, which will total up to an overall reduction of some 4,500 officers. In 1995, Japan’s Self Defense Forces went in for a 10% manpower cut across the...

War against India by Professional Petitioners

Recently, the Supreme Court after some length of time rejected the plea of professional petitioners with regard to the acquisition of Rafale aircraft. Also very recently an Indian journalist Sunanda Vashisht, a survivor of 1990 purge of Kashmiri Hindus from the Valley had the opportunity to present her case in the US...

Ayodhya Verdict upholds Idea of India

The landmark “Ayodhya Verdict”: the unanimous judgement delivered by the learned five-judge constitutional bench of the nation’s revered “Temple of Justice” headed by the Honourable Chief Justice of India (CJI) on the historical day of 9 November, 2019 has brightened the global image of our great nation by...

North East Peace Accords

As the government deadline of October 31, 2019 for final settlement to the Naga dispute approached, there were reports of talks with NSCN (IM) running into rough weather. But then came good news of NSCN (IM) coming on board ‘without’ a separate Naga constitution but with a ‘conditional’ flag. Latter reportedly...

UAVs & UCAVs: The Next Generation Threat

The evolving UAV threat poses a significant challenge to all ground forces. Of the emerging combat force multipliers, UAVs are unique in their integration with existing systems as it requires little more effort. Relative to other reconnaissance platforms, UAVs are both technologically attainable and affordable. The...

Technology in Warfare: Is India Lagging Behind?

There are more than 250 government or private drone developers or manufacturers in China. Some are working closely with technical universities and the government. China is investing heavily in Swarm Technology and Artificial Intelligence. With the rapid rate of development and astonishing test results, China appears to...

The Way Ahead: Making India Self Reliant in Defence

On May 31, 2017, in a major policy reform intended to promote ‘Make in India’ in defence manufacturing, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the much-anticipated Strategic Partnership model for the Indian private sector. The model, whose concept was first suggested by the Dhirendra Singh Committee in its July...

So-called bi-partisan US Congressional Hearing on J&K stands exposed

A remarkable narration by Sunanda Vashisht, on Pakistan sponsored barbarism in Kashmir in 1990 that led to the...

The Archives of Leh

As an aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, the former State of Jammu & Kashmir has...

European Union Delegation stands with India with respect to Kashmir

The ruling BJP led NDA Government took a major political decision of amending the Constitution by abrogating Article 370 that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status and bifurcating the State into two Union Territories that formally came into being on October 31. Garish Chander Murmu and R K Mathur assuming the office of Lieutenant Governors of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh...

Can BRICS lead the world?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 11th BRICS summit on November 13-14 in Brasilia, Brazil. After 10 years of success, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) are looking to expand their role in the world. BRICS is spread over four continents and its...

The truth about Ladakh’s Shaksgam: Correcting historical wrongs in J&K

Soon after India reorganized the former state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) into the new Union Territories (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, China went ballistic. Geng Shuang, a spokesman of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the media: “China deplores and firmly opposes...

Women empowerment in J&K: The course is set, momentum holds the key

“Five women from Jammu and Kashmir pass out from OTS and become Officers of Indian Army.” It is this kind of news headings that one wishes to see emanating from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in times to come. Why only the Army, one would like to see women playing a...

Why India's Northern Borders are Threatened

In the months to come, the 4056-kilometrre long India-China border will be in the news; probably for wrong reasons. Despite last month’s ‘Chennai Connect’ between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping at Mamallapuram, Beijing continues its aggressive stance on Ladakh; the formation of two separate Union Territories for J&K and Ladakh seems to have irritated Beijing no end. A sore point for China Geng Shuang, a spokesman of...