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The recent spate of scams has so exhausted the fund of public outrage, that the die-hard votaries of peace with Pakistan (at any cost) have found the time opportune to shamelessly resile from...

Private Military Companies

By: Al J. Venter |Issue: Book Excerpt: War Dog: Fighting Other People's Wars | Date: 23 February 2011

The term “private military companies” or, as some prefer, “private security companies,” has only recently entered the lexicon. The issue became pertinent to a lot of Americans when the...

Offsets: an Indian perspective

By: Maj Gen Anil Kumar Mehra |Issue: Vol. 23.4 Oct-Dec 2008 | Date: 23 February 2011

J. Brauer and J.P. Dunne in their article “Arms Trade Offsets and Development.” Africanus [South Africa] Vol. 35, No. 1 (June 2005), pp. 14-24,opine: “Arms importing countries’ offset...

The critical battles of Helmand and Kandhar

By: Maj Gen GD Bakshi, (Retd) |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 23 February 2011

The year 2010 was crucial for the final outcome in Afghanistan. There were two major changes in the military leadership. The highly regarded, Special Forces Commander, Lt Gen Stanley McChrystal...

Uncle Red adds to China's nervousness

By: B Raman |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 22 February 2011

“Go, go, go! Forge on ahead. “The awakened lion is roaring. “It will smash corruption, and bury the dictatorship. “Mighty Egypt has no room for clowns. “With no equality or human rights,...

Chinese and Korean companies attacked by Libyan protesters

By: B Raman |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 22 February 2011

Resentment over the comfortable life-style of foreigners working in Libyan projects as compared to the poverty of Libyan workers seems to be playing a role in the current turmoil in Libya. This...

Don't throw India to the wolves

By: RSN Singh |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 22 February 2011

The abduction of an IAS officer RV Krishna in Orissa and the seeming capitulation of the state has made the people of India feel vulnerable and insecure. If the swap of terrorists with the...

Civil War in Libya: Gaddafi uses Pak & BD Mercenaries?

By: B Raman |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 21 February 2011

Basic Data (From Bbc) Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has led since 1969 Population 6.5m; land area 1.77m sq km Population with median age of 24.2, and a literacy rate of 88% Gross national income per...

Modernisation of Defence Forces

By: Bharat Verma |Issue: Vol 21.4 Oct-Dec 2006 | Date: 21 February 2011

India will pay heavy price in the long run, if it continues to compromise its superiority in military power balance vis-à-vis China and Pakistan. Both, China and Pakistan have a diabolical plan...

Net-Spawn Campaign Unnerves Beijing

By: B Raman |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 21 February 2011

Anti-Chinese Communist Party dissidents based abroad have unleashed a web campaign against the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In hundreds of messages directed to the Chinese...

India-China Relations: Some Reflections

By: Kanwal Sibal |Issue: Vol 23.1 Jan-Mar 2008 | Date: 21 February 2011

India’s China policy has been marked by friendship, sentimentalism, fear, diffidence, brinksmanship, wishful thinking and engagement. This mixture of attitudes reflects the complexity of the...

Trends in Military Leadership

By: Lt Gen SC Sardeshpande |Issue: Vol. 23.4 Oct-Dec 2008 | Date: 19 February 2011

“The sense of grievance among armed forces that the civilian bureaucracy has short-changed it and this is reflected in the hierarchy laid down in the pay commission is both sad and dangerous....

Sino-Indian border imbroglio

By: Lt Gen MC Bhandari |Issue: Vol. 23.4 Oct-Dec 2008 | Date: 19 February 2011

China launched full scale invasion on India in 1962. In fact, Chinese invasion had commenced way back in 1906 when it maneuvered and succeeded in concluding the 1906 Convention in Calcutta. In...

Bahrain: A Nervous Watch

By: B Raman |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 19 February 2011

BASIC DATA (From BBC) King Hamad, 61, a Sunni, has been in power since 1999 Population 800,000 (70 per cent Shias); land area 717 sq km, or 100 times smaller than the Irish Republic Ranks 48...

Antony Asks Forces to gear up to Fight Cyber Wars

By: IDR News Network |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 18 February 2011

The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony has called upon the Armed Forces to be vigilant against emerging cyber threats. Addressing the centenary celebrations of the Corps of Signals here today, he...

Pakistan's Offensive-Defence Strategy

By: RSN Singh |Issue: Book Excerpt: The Military Factor in Pakistan | Date: 18 February 2011

Speaking at the launch ceremony of the Agosta 90 B submarine (PNS Hamza) in November 2006, Musharraf said that Pakistan follows a strategy of ‘defensive deterrence’, which, he clarified,...

Probity in Defence Procurements

By: Maj Gen Mrinal Suman |Issue: Vol 22.3 Jul-Sep 2007 | Date: 18 February 2011

Defence deals the world over are regularly subjected to intense scrutiny and investigations. Aspersions are often cast about lack of probity and underhand dealings. In Transparency...

Himalayan Rivers: Geopolitics and Strategic Perspectives

By: Claude Arpi |Issue: Vol 23.2 Apr-Jul 2008 | Date: 17 February 2011

On October 7, 1950 the PLA’s Second Field Army marched into Eastern Tibet to ‘liberate’ the Roof of the World. Several factors can explain this move. A few days after the beginning of the...

China 'outsources' its war against India

By: Col Rajinder Singh |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 17 February 2011

While India keeps dithering in her resolve to tackle China firmly, her Northern neighbor has been steadfastly moving towards making India a non-entity in global affairs. China has adopted a no...

Victory in Modern War?

By: RSN Singh |Issue: Net Edition | Date: 16 February 2011

Before the Second World War, wars were fought for territory, resources, or both. In these wars, victory was easy to be defined and discerned. There were distinct symbolisms like hoisting of...