Indian Defence Review

Bharat Ratna Vajpayee: An Assessment

On 25 December 2014, the govt. announced the award of nation’s highest civil honour of Bharat Ratna to Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is an honour that should have come to him much earlier, the moment he became ill and left active politics. Not giving him this honour in the long ten years rule is one of the blots on...

His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the news again

Surprisingly, exiled spiritual Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama said on 8 August at an event in management institute of Goa that Partition would have been averted had Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah become the first prime minister of India. “Mahatma Gandhi was very much willing to give primeministership to...

Beyond Cyber Protection and TECHINT

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman acknowledged that the defence sector is more prone to cyber threats and there is need to safeguard the country’s cyberspace from possible attacks, while addressing a workshop for formulating Cyber Security Framework on Jun 19, 2018, organized by the Department of Defence Production...

His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the news again

Imran Khan: A pawn in the hands of troika

After clearing all hiccups, it is now finally confirmed that Imran Khan alias ‘Taliban Khan’ will be sworn as Prime Minister of nuclear-armed Pakistan, a nation of 207 million, with an economy inching towards financial disaster and perennial conflicts on its borders due to continued dependence on terrorism as the...

STA-1 – What should India expect?

There is jubilation in India over the US granting the Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) that will ease export controls for high technology product sales to the country. This comes two years after the US recognized India as a “major defence partner” in 2016. India is the only south Asian nation to be given the...

Beyond Cyber Protection and TECHINT

NAMAS-II procurement for defending Delhi

Media reports that Delhi is to get a missile shield “soon” that will be akin to that of Washington and Moscow. Going by past experience, the “soon” could be any number of months, even years. This time perhaps it could be little faster since the US has been specified as the source of procurement. The Defence...

Modernisation of the IAF’s Helicopter Fleet

The IAF began with US helicopters in the fifties and expanded gradually to include license-built French and Soviet helicopters. The circle is coming round once again with planned induction of the Chinook heavy-lift and the Apache attack helicopters, both of US origin. However, the Chetak/Cheetah family are tottering on...

Bharat Ratna Vajpayee: An Assessment

Social Media: emerging threat to internal security

In the insurgency hit Kashmir valley, spread of social media and cell phones has created the phenomenon of ‘flash crowds’ at the site of encounters. In addition media like face book and you tube are being used to great advantage to carry out propaganda. Burhan Wani, whose killing led to the current bout of violence...

Article 35A is injurious to entire India

On 6th August, the Supreme Court would be hearing a petition against the sanctity of Article 35A in relation to Jammu and Kashmir. This article is not part of the Constitution. This article was not passed by the Parliament. This article was inserted by a presidential order in 1954. This article is therefore...

Ballistic Missile Interceptor AAD Successfully Flight Tested

DRDO conducted the successful test of the Ballistic Missile Interceptor Advanced Area Defence (AAD) at 1130 hrs today from Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. The endo-atmospheric missile, capable of intercepting incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 25 kms was launched against multiple simulated targets of 1500 km class...

India Joins Select Club of Deck Landing of Fighter Aircraft

India has joined the select club of US, Europe, Russia and China having the capability of Deck Landing of fighter aircraft. The LCA Naval Prototype 2 (NP2), piloted by Capt Shivnath Dahiya safely executed the first contact of the arrestor hook system with Arresting wire at moderate taxi-in speeds on location at the...

Maiden Ground Run of First Green ALH Dhruv Mk-III for Indian Coast Guard

HAL Conducts Maiden Ground Run of First Green ALH Dhruv Mk-III for Indian Coast Guard; First Time A Contract with ICG on PBL Support The first green helicopter earmarked for Indian Coast Guard has completed its build with installation of basic systems and had a successful maiden ground run here today. It was handed over...

Indo-Pacific's Centrality in US National Strategy and Indian Position

Indo Pacific security and stability in 2018 occupies a centrality in US National Strategy stands unambiguously...

The Challenges of AI-enabled Underwater Platforms

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is likely to acquire a new type of submarine by the early 2020s....

A new broom in Pakistan: Will Imran follow a different tack with India?

A new broom in the form of Pakistan’s likely new Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to sweep clean simply because his political bristles are hard and straight. His upbeat messaging about his governing philosophy generally and India-Pakistan relations particularly are to be noted with a measure of circumspection. The question is how soon those bristles would wear off. In 2014, basking...

Repression in Xinjiang

It was a rare admission. On July 23, The Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) admitted that the Party imprisons ‘extremists’, educate them and reform their religious thoughts in Xinjiang. Ma Pinyan, a research fellow at the Xinjiang Academy of...

Nepal: Five Months of Oli’s Rule: A Disappointment?

K.P.Oli took over as Prime Minister in mid February. It is still too early to judge his performance in five months of his rule. Yet, all indicators point to a disappointing performance. The dissatisfaction of both the Press and the Public with the government are very palpable...

Afghanistan: The Game That Wasn't Great

“A nation’s culture resides in the heart and in the soul of its people” – Mahatama Gandhi Never in the history of mankind, has a country been so devastated and exploited by strong external powers like Afghanistan. In the name of expanding one’s colonial kingdom or...

How China's Tightened Control over Think Tanks is Impacting its Foreign Affairs

China is growing everyday into a more powerful State. It is at least what we are told by the world media. To paraphrase Napoleon, the world is trembling as China has awakened (the French Emperor would have said “China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will shake the world.”). Is it really so? China is discovering that every coin has two sides and while the powerful, often land-grabbing side is over-present in the...