Indian Defence Review

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...

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...

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It is unclear just how many combat squadrons the IAF effectively has because some of the 31 remaining squadrons will be withdrawn from service over the next few years.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....

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...

Nepal: More into Dragon’s Jaws

Post the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal on October 12-13, a news item titled ‘Xi Jinping Defeated in Nepal, Threatens to Smash Opponents into Pieces’ created quite a flutter. It elaborated that Xi wanted to sign an extradition treaty for Tibetan refugees in Nepal which Nepal refused and Xi...

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

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...

Remembering the undefeated Sarvatra (Lt Gen) Sagat Singh – Part-2

Sagat’s talent for war reached its pinnacle in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. He was the commander of 4 Corps based in Tripura and 4 Corps operations are a classic case study (and will remain so) for officers at every level in the chain of command. One wonders how did they manage to advance 110 miles in 13 days over 5 water...

War against India by Professional Petitioners

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...

FATF credibility is at stake: How many more shades of grey for Pakistan?

Instead of downgrading Pakistan to the ‘blacklist’ from its ‘grey list,’ the Financial Action Task Force...

India should not forget its history

“India should not forget its history,” Bhutto observed on the eve of the India-Pakistan conflict in 1950. Indeed, India has a sad history of centuries of subjugation imposed by the power of the sword. The invaders came, both across the land frontiers and the sea, and each time, however stout the defence, Indian armies were crushed. The successive wars were lost not because our armies...

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...

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;...

Baghdadi and his impact on India

Abu Bakar al – Baghdadi seems to have died finally if we trust the announcement made by the US President Donald Trump. Baghdadi, carrying a reward of $ 25 million on his head, had proclaimed the creation of an Islamic State, captured huge chunks of land in Iraq and Syria and was...

How Xi Jinping crossed the Nepal hurdle

When Chinese President Xi Jinping boarded his Hongqi limousine in Mamallapuram, he was on his way to the airport and Nepal. Official Chinese media had announced that he would sign an extradition treaty à la Hong Kong with Nepal, partly to squeeze the Tibetan refugees living in the erstwhile Himalayan kingdom. Kathmandu warned It was presumed that the 10-hour stop in Kathmandu would be a cakewalk for the all-powerful general secretary of the...