Indian Defence Review

Battle of Kasserine Pass: Lessons for China

In February 1943, US Forces, under the overall command of Gen Eisenhower, suffered a staggering rout at the hands of much feared Afrika Korps, in the Battle of Kasserine Pass, which holds vital strategic lessons today for the armies in general and China in particular. Even in complete retreat, a much harried Field...

Vice Chiefs Financial Powers – and the intricacies within

The government has enhanced the financial powers of the Army, Navy and Air Force Vice Chiefs five times; from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore for expediting the decision making process involved in the procurements of the Armed Forces. The MoD statement on the issue states, “The Defence Minister has taken this important...

Poppies and Marigolds

The year 2018 marks the centenary of the end of World War I. ‘The War to End All Wars’ or ‘The Great War For Civilisation’ did not achieve what the belligerents or its protagonists imagined. Neither did it end ‘Before Christmas’, as the British expected, nor ‘Before the Leaves Fall’, as per the German...

Battle of Kasserine Pass: Lessons for China

War as a Multi-Dimensional Whole: A Framework for India in a Repolarizing World

As India celebrates the 19th anniversary of Vijay Diwas on 26th July – to mark our victory in Kargil war of 1999, there are much larger questions on Indian security, defence preparedness and military readiness that need to be answered. Couple of years back, in a workshop, a question that I asked to my audience was if...

Pakistan’s Blasphemy against its minorities

Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law is one among the most brutal and discriminatory legislations in the modern world. On the face of it the law prohibits Blasphemy against any recognised religion and provides for punishment ranging from fine to death. In actuality, it is being used to suppress and brutalise the minorities in...

Poppies and Marigolds

Kalashiknov’s for Army – end of fumble?

After decades of fumbling, Indian Army’s hunt for a modern assault rifle appears to be nearing completion, provided MoD doesn’t pullout another rabbit from its hat. According to press reports, a deal between India and Russia is likely to be signed by end of this year , which will enable indigenous production of...

Leadership and Management in the Indian Army

Command of a unit is the last stage wherein a commander is directly dealing with and handling human resources and material. As he climbs up the professional ladder, his responsibilities increase and his focus should shift to managing the environment and troops/units under his command. Since the first escalation in rank...

Sniper Rifles with J&K Terrorists

According to media reports sniper rifles being used by terrorists are those stolen by Taliban from US forces in Afghanistan and then handed over to ISI. These sniper rifles (same as used by NATO forces against Taliban in Afghanistan) have been passed them on to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists. JeM has been given a...

Combat in Cities

Russian citizens gathered in Volgograd (erstwhile Stalingrad) in February 2018 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the conclusion of the Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943), largest confrontation of World War II, in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the...

Soldiers Stoned to Death – Is the Nation Shamed?

Close on the heels of government’s nationwide celebrations of the second anniversary of surgical strikes through ‘Prakaram Parv’ and immediately preceding Army celebrating the ‘Infantry Day’, 22-year old Sepoy Rajendra Singh died of stone-pelting in Anantnag district of J&K. Rajendra was part of a Quick...

Vice Chiefs Financial Powers – and the intricacies within

Indian Army Inducts Its First M777 Ultra Lightweight Howitzers

The Indian Army celebrated receiving its first M777A2 Ultra Lightweight Howitzers (ULH) at an official handover ceremony today, a key step toward the modernizing and strengthening of the Indian Army’s artillery capabilities. The 155mm M777 systems will deploy to their first regiment in 2019. The gun systems, produced...

HTT 40 Successfully Begins Spin Testing

The HTT 40 (Basic Trainer Aircraft) began the most awaited phase of the `spin test’ by successfully entering in to two turn spin and subsequently recovering with the appropriate controls. Two test pilots undertook the first ever spin entry testing today at around 1.30 pm. The aircraft was piloted by Gp Capt (Retd)...

Jammu and Kashmir: Build on the peace constituency with patience and...

The political and security situation in trouble torn Kashmir is showing some unusual trends, fortunately, for the...

China gets tough with Imran Khan, but will side with Pakistan

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan returned empty handed from his four-day visit from China on November 5. The...

The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi

A few months after I had retired and settled down in Chennai, the late S.A. Subbiah, who had succeeded me in Geneva and subsequently became the head of the Sri Lanka division in the headquarters, rang me up from Delhi to say that he was coming to Chennai specially to meet me to discuss about the LTTE. I told him I would meet him in the R&AW guest house where he had planned to stay. After his...

How old CIA reports reveal that China has been repressing Muslims since the 1950s

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently released a 117-page report entitled “Eradicating Ideological Viruses – China’s Campaign of Repression Against Xinjiang’s Muslims;” it gave fresh evidence of Beijing’s “mass arbitrary detention, torture, and mistreatment, and the...

Pakistan-China headed for Massive Shift due to Geopolitical Compulsions

Geopolitical compulsions seem to be bearing down heavily in steering Pakistan- China ‘All Weather Iron Brother Relations’ towards a massive shift in end-2018 whose first indicator has been the less than successful first visit of new Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to...

75 Years Later, Are Lessons From the Bari Incident Still Relevant?

Surprise invariably leads to success in war. On December 2, 1943, the Germans launched an air raid against the Allied naval installation at the Port of Bari, Italy. The raid destroyed nearly all the Allied ships in the port and became known as “The Little Pearl Harbour”. The...

Assad-Kurds alliance can resolve Turkey’s conundrum in Syria

In a major diplomatic win, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to establish[i] a “demilitarized zone” in Idlib to forestall Syrian bombardment against rebels last stronghold. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, suggested[ii] that the de-escalation agreement was similar to other pacts brokered by Russia over the course of the civil war, eventually returning the province to the...