Indian Defence Review

Article 371: A mirror of sensitivity of Indian federalism

As a part of Chapter XXI of the Constitution of India, Article 371 grants temporary, transition and special provisions to 11 States – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka. The idea was to meet the unique needs of these States or regions of...

Wuhan to Chennai and China’s ‘Choga’ Game

Our media appears quite content over China indicating that the Kashmir issue may not be a major topic of discussion during the forthcoming second informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media on September 17, “As for Kashmir...

Drone Attack on Saudi Oil Installations: Need to assess the failure of Air Defence Systems

In a continuum of the its attacks designed to hit Saudi Arabia at its most vulnerable, the Houthi rebels carried out a massive drone attack on the strategic Saudi oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais, just 50 km. from Bahrain. The attack was reportedly carried out deep inside Saudi Arabia by ten drones. The drones were...

Wuhan to Chennai and China’s ‘Choga’ Game

Drone Attack on Saudi Oil Installations: Need to assess the failure of Air Defence Systems

Evolving India-Japan Defence Cooperation

Post World War II Japan had no autonomy in defence and, India and Japan have had diplomatic relations since 1952 wherein their relationship saw different trajectories, especially during the Cold War. In 2010, India and Japan initiated a 2+2 dialogue involving Secretaries and Vice Ministers from their Foreign and Defence...

Politics and the Military

History bears witness that a strong, sovereign and independent state has always been backed by a strong army, in today’s context military, yet paradoxically, the military is a threat in being for the ruling elite and polity; the spectre of the ‘man on horseback’. Therefrom follows the requirement and doctrine of...

Creating the CDS – Not the What but the How

Two recent announcements by the government – creation of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) for the armed forces and merger of public sector banks – though diametrically opposite in context, have a common concept; bringing about synergy so that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. While the merger of banks being...

Indian Air Force inducts eight Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopters

Boeing formally handed over eight of 22 AH-64E Apache helicopters to the Indian Air Force at the Air Force Station, Pathankhot. Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, Chief of Air Staff, officers from the Indian Air Force and officials from Boeing attended the induction ceremony. The Apaches arrived at the Air Force Station,...

Article 371: A mirror of sensitivity of Indian federalism

Valley Traders on Terror Radar - and what is needed

No sooner did NSA Ajit Doval state that not one bullet had been fired in J&K past one month, two Urdu-Punjabi speaking terrorists struck at the house of wholesale fruit trader Abdul Hamid Rather in Sopore, Baramulla district on September 7. Two and half year old baby-girl Asma Arshid Jan was shot in the right leg with...

Integrating Madrassa Education

It is no secret that the deep state of Middle East and the West were behind the installation of Mohamed Morsi as President of Egypt following the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. Morsi led the ‘Freedom and Justice Party’ launched by the radical Sunni-islamists outfit ‘Muslim Brotherhood’, which latter described as...

Autonomous Aerial Weapons & Platforms

The modern military drone was the brainchild of John Stuart Foster Jr., a nuclear physicist and aero modeling hobbyist, who in 1971, had the idea that these models could be applied to building weapons. He drew up plans and by 1973, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) had built two prototypes. They were...

Russian Helicopters presents Mi-171A2 and Ka-226T intended for India at EEF

As part of its joint exposition with the Buryat Republic, Russian Helicopters Holding Company (part of Rostec State Corporation) will present its latest civilian helicopter Mi-171A2 and Ka-226T light-weight multi-purpose helicopter, which are planned to be supplied to India, at the Eastern Economic Forum in...

Rafael expands operations in India and announces New Facility with Astra

Astra Rafael Communication System (ARC), a Joint Venture between Astra Microwave Pvt Ltd. and RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. of Israel, inaugurated their state-of-the-art facility at Hardware Technology Park, Hyderabado. The occasion was graced by Shri G Kishan Reddy, Hon’ble Minister of State, Home Affairs, in...

Army roots for a new, vibrant Ladakh post reorganisation

The monumental decision taken by the government of India to amend Article 370 of the constitution and simultaneously...

Jammu and Kashmir: Look to the future

It is a month and a half since the decision to reorganise the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories...

Iranian Air Defences

On August 22, 2019, Iran unveiled Bavar-373 air defence system. Reportedly based on the Russian S-300, Iran claimed that the long-range air defence missile system was superior to both the US Patriot and the Russian S-400 missile systems. Coming just weeks after the shooting down of a US RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz, the operationalization of Bavar-373...

J&K: What Pakistan can do and how India should respond

The change in status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir carried out in the most legitimate and constitutional manner is essentially an internal matter of the Indian nation. What is galling here is the undesirable and disgusting interference that is being attempted by neighbouring...

India must rethink its Balochistan Policy

That Balochistan, the resource-rich southwestern province of Pakistan, has never been in the news nor captured global attention the way that Kashmir has is perhaps testimony to the PR capabilities of the Pakistani deep establishment. Or is it that since Balochistan was not an...

Appointment of Chief of Defence Staff: A Historic Decision

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rousing Independence Day address delivered from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort covered many issues relating to reforms and development in India. Among the several key announcements made by the Prime Minister was the creation of the post of...

Kashmir As "Disputed Territory" Bogey Fades into History- 2019

Kashmir as ‘Disputed Territory’ bogey nauseatingly maintained by Pakistan ever since 1947 and permissively perpetuated by past Indian Governments due to political timidity faded into history on August 05 2019 when PM Narendra Modi BJP Government steered through Indian Parliament by overwhelming majority for abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of State into two Union Territories. In 2019, it must be understood that in terms of...