Articles By VK Shashikumar
The Great Afghan Betrayal: A Palace Coup?
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 24 Sep , 2021
In a series of articles exclusive to Canary Trap, investigative journalist, VK Shashikumar stitches together accounts of staff members who worked in President Ashraf Ghani’s administration. This...
Lessons from Sri Lanka's War
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 24.3 Jul-Sep 2009 | Date: 19 Nov , 2014
Terrorism has to be wiped out militarily and cannot be tackled politically. That’s the basic premise of the Rajapakse Model. Conduct of Operations This is how the Sri Lankan government...
The Rajapaksa Model of Combating Terror
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 24.4 Oct-Dec 2009 | Date: 16 Oct , 2014
Mahinda Rajapaksa, President, Sri Lanka spoke to VK Shashikumar of the Indian Defence Review on a range of issues on August 7, 2009, in an exclusive interview. The Rajapaksa Model of combating...
The Subverted Indo-Bangladesh Border : I
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 24.2 Apr-Jun 2009 | Date: 07 May , 2014
Operation Zero Line Investigates the gateway of terror in the East – the 4,095 km (2,979 km land border and 1,116 km riverine border) long India-Bangladesh border, half of which is along West...
Gaps in Maritime Security-I
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 24.1 Jan-Mar 2009 | Date: 16 Sep , 2013
INS Viraat Cross border terrorism has taken an entirely new dimension. The Indian security establishment is on high alert to tackle the newest frontier of terror – Maritime Terrorism. The...
Police cannot take on Maoists
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 25.4 Oct-Dec 2010 | Date: 25 May , 2013
The latest flash-point between The People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army or naxals in the Lakhisarai forests of Bihar is a tell-tale indicator of the state of preparedness of the Indian police and...
China-Pak spy web in Northeast
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 25.4 Oct-Dec 2010 | Date: 12 Jun , 2012
India’s Defence Minister, circumspect at most times, surprised senior army officers by publicly admitting that China was demonstrating “increasing assertiveness”. He was addressing the...
The India factor in Afghanistan
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 23.3 Jul-Sep 2008 | Date: 14 Jan , 2012
In 2001 US and its allies launch the war against terrorism after the world is stunned by the horrific terror on the WTC twin towers in New York. Seven years later Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar...
Pakistan's export of fake currency via Nepal
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol. 23.4 Oct-Dec 2008 | Date: 13 Jan , 2012
At most places along the 751 km Bihar-Terai contiguous no-man’s land on the India-Nepal border are dirt tracks. Solitary signpost marks the international boundary here. On one side is Bihar, on...
Indian built Zaranj-Delaram Highway under Taliban Control
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 01 Oct , 2011
The Zaranj-Delaram highway in Afghanistan built by India and handed over to the Afghan government on January 22, 2009 is now under Taliban control. Within two years of the commissioning of this...
Gaps in Maritime Security-II
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 24.1 Jan-Mar 2009 | Date: 02 Aug , 2011
Revamping Coastal Security Apparatus: Considering the inadequate coastal security infrastructure along the vast and porous Indian coastline the issues relating to registration of boats,...
Gaps in Maritime Security-III
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 24.1 Jan-Mar 2009 | Date: 02 Aug , 2011
The Customs Department: There is a Customs office at every major fishing centre. Strictly in accordance with the rules and regulations and in accordance with its charter of activities, every...
The Subverted Indo-Bangladesh Border : III
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 24.2 Apr-Jun 2009 | Date: 28 Jul , 2011
BSF Jawan checking the fence on Indo-Bangladesh border Cattle Smuggling and Terrorism: Let’s come straight to the point. The cattle-smugglers of West Bengal, their knowledge of the border...
Operation Nandigram: The Inside Story
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 23.1 Jan-Mar 2008 | Date: 29 Dec , 2010
A Primitive Territorial Conflict Nandigram is like any other town in Marxist West Bengal. Even the new in-your-face CPI (M) flags look familiar. Narrow proletarian streets, packed with walking...
The Subverted Indo-Bangladesh Border : II
By: VK Shashikumar | Issue: Vol 24.2 Apr-Jun 2009 | Date: 21 Nov , 2010
Illegal Migrant 1, Name Withheld: “We paid the dalals (human traffickers). The amount varies depending on the security environment extant on that day when the illegal crossing over has been for....