Articles By S.N. Misra
The Uncertain Terrain of Chief of Defence Staff
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 19 Aug , 2019
John F. Kennedy had said “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion, without the discomfort of thought”. In voicing an opinion on the recently announced creation of a CDS by the PM on the...
India’s Defence Budget for 2019-20: The Disturbing Trends
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 11 Jul , 2019
The General Budget for 2019-20 can be pigeonholed as a ‘wish list’ for infrastructure to propel India to a $5 trillion economy by 2024. The new Finance Minister has sought to change the syntax...
A Road Map for the New Defence Minister
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 08 Jun , 2019
Like Mr. Modi’s googly in the general election, the shifting of Rajnath Singh to the South Block is nothing short of a Chinaman. And the country he has to checkmate in the coming years in terms...
Beyond Defence Deals: The Alchemy of Elections
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 13 May , 2019
There is a consensus that the NDA government (2014-2019) has followed broadly the same path of economic liberalisation as the UPA government during (2004-2014). To be fair to the NDA, they have...
The Joint Venture for AK-203: The Long Term Challenge of Indigenisation
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 15 Mar , 2019
The Army has been looking for a modern assault rifle to replace the INSAS which was inducted in 1994. The army has been generally dissatisfied with the rifle design of INSAS because of its...
The true Import of C&AG report on Rafale
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 01 Mar , 2019
The C&AG report tabled on the Parliament is being considered as a victory by the NDA government and by the opposition too. The ruling party is gung-ho that the auditors have vindicated their claim...
Hosannas to a Gadfly
By: S.N. Misra | Date: 18 Feb , 2019
George Mathew Fernandes was an ace trade unionist, free thinker and a minister, who held portfolios like communication, industry, railways and defence. He organized an All India Railway strike in...
Bharat Ratna for Pranab Mukherjee
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 31 Jan , 2019
Defence is the first charge of a nation’s budget, as it protects a nation’s sovereignty. Sardar Baldev Singh was India’s first Defence Minister. There have been 26 Defence Ministers so far....
The Holy Grail of Indian Judiciary
By: S.N. Misra | Date: 17 Dec , 2018
In delivering the judgement yesterday on the Rafael deal, the Supreme Court has decided not to stir muddy political waters further, but has given benefit of doubt to the government and IAF...
The Discomfort of 'Letter of Comfort' in Rafale Deal
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 07 Dec , 2018
The ongoing case on a petition filed by Mr. Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Prashant Bhushan centres around the major question as to why a letter of comfort has been taken from the French...
Strategic Partnership Vindicated
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 11 Oct , 2018
The Indo-Soviet treaty in 1971 marked a first decisive break with the policy non-alignment which was espoused by Jawaharlal Nehru. The bitter experience of Indo-Chinese war 1962 compelled India...
Lateral Entry in Defence (Finance)
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 18 Sep , 2018
The Ministry of Defence is sui generis amongst all Ministries, as it has to provide the policy architecture to protect territorial integrity and sovereignty of India. Defence expenditure is the...
Heat and Light of the Rafale Deal
By: S.N. Misra | Date: 31 Jul , 2018
India has the dubious reputation of being the biggest global importer of conventional weapons (SIPRI: 2017). Improving our self reliance index from 30% to 70% was one of the avowed road map of...
A Shot in the Arm for Make in India in Defence
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 27 Apr , 2018
The recently concluded DefExpo witnessed two major announcements viz. to increase the order on Rafale for 36 more Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), and awarding contract for Bullet Proof...
Indo-Israel Defence Cooperation: The Road Ahead
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Vol. 33.2 Apr-Jun 2018 | Date: 14 Apr , 2018
Indo-Israel defence relations have followed a very constructive path over the years, with the joint design development and production initiative of MRSAM missiles between the DRDO and IAI, Israel...
Defence Production: Time for Major Policy Reforms
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Vol. 33.1 Jan-Mar 2018 | Date: 11 Apr , 2018
With the NDA coming to power, there has been a renewed effort to energise defence manufacturing. The NDA government has increased the FDI limit to 49 per cent and constituted a committee under...
Defence Budget 2018-19
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Vol. 33.1 Jan-Mar 2018 | Date: 10 Mar , 2018
There was considerable disappointment in the last year’s budget speech of Finance Minister, as there was no mention of the defence outlay. Arun Jaitley has made amends of it this year, by...
Logjam in Indigenous Aircraft Production
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Vol. 32.4 Oct-Dec 2017 | Date: 12 Jan , 2018
There is a swirling discomfiture that the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative, a signature tune of the NDA government, involving a large number of defence projects valued at more than $60 billion, is...
The Offset Policy – A Decade In Retrospect
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Vol. 32.3 Jul-Sep 2017 | Date: 13 Dec , 2017
The offset policy is an important policy statement for the conservative defence manufacturing sector. It has to embrace design, development and manufacturing in its scope and encourage OEMs,...
The Fault Lines of the Rafale Deal
By: S.N. Misra | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 28 Nov , 2017
The feisty Defence Minister Ms Nirmala Sitaraman faced a volley of questions of late about the Rafale fighter deal for 36 aircraft concluded on April 10, 2015 as lacking in transparency as it did...