Indian Defence Review

Article 35A: Myths versus Reality

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed considerable political activity in the wake of the scheduled hearing of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A by a three member bench of the Supreme Court on August, 06. The separatists called for mass agitations and hinted at bloodshed in case the constitutional...

Sidhu at Taliban Khan's Oath Ceremony

Imran Khan swearing in ceremony reflected the actual dynamics in Pakistan. The new prime minister was at pains in reading his oath in Urdu. Imran Khan is a Pashtun. Most people in Pakistan have rejected the Urdu language. The only people who are devout adherents to the Urdu language are the mohajirs, who migrated from...

Knock-Knock on SC Door: Writ Petition by Army-men

Before becoming Chief Minister in the PDP-BJP government in J&K, Mehbooba Mufti sitting in opposition was actively demonstrating for removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). She mustered support from various NGOs and human rights activists, and was obviously being propped up and financed by the ISI to do...

Sidhu at Taliban Khan's Oath Ceremony

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...

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...

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...

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...

Article 35A: Myths versus Reality

Knock-Knock on SC Door: Writ Petition by Army-men

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...

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...

Imran is bidding for "New Pakistan"

We cannot help looking somewhat askance when we are told that Imran Khan wants to make a “New Pakistan”. There...

The Need for a Mid-Term Review of the 13th Defence Five Year Plan

The defence planning process has been historically linked to the national five year planning process, which began in...

Tibet and the 'Larger Issues'

Recently the Dalai Lama made some remarks on Jawaharlal Nehru and the Partition of India. Without going into the (unnecessary) controversy, it is interesting to see the views of the first Prime Minister of Independent India on what he called the ‘Tibetan émigrés’ in the early 1950s, three months after signing (without informing the Tibetans), The Agreement on trade and intercourse...

Pakistan New PM-Imran Khan: Nothing Changes

PM Imran Khan, Pakistan’s twenty second Prime Minister sworn on August 18 2018 was not swept into office with a thumping political majority but a cobbled coalition of sorts. Hovering over PM Imran Khan emerging as Prime Minister was an unsavoury reputation that PM Imran Khan’s...

A peaceful, progressive J&K would be the best tribute for Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the great son of India, inveterate nationalist, acclaimed statesman, seasoned politician, hard core optimist, compulsive unifier and great visionary has embarked on his last journey. The grief is universal and eulogies are pouring in from across the world....

The curious case of Demchok

Of course, the Chinese intrusions into Indian territory are not innocent. Solutions are there which lie in the re-opening of the Demchok route. But is China ready to do this? Despite the Wuhan consensus (or ‘Wuhan spirit’) arrived at after the one-on-one meeting between Prime...

Pakistan’s Water Woes: Don’t Blame India

Daily Pakistan of July 29, 2018 carried a very detailed article on the water crisis in Pakistan and it said that the challenges faced by Pakistan in the shape of water scarcity and absence of clean water pose a threat to the very survival of the country and its people. It also said that rapid growth in population, extensive urbanization, traditional agricultural practices and industrialization all have put Pakistan on the path of drought,...