IDR Blog
India Pays Dearly for Poorly Negotiated Arms Deals
It has recently been reported in the Israeli press that India paid more than double the amount for the purchase of three AWACS aircraft from Israel in March 2004. These aircraft were earlier being sold to China for US $358 million but the deal had to be aborted under US pressure. Subsequently, India agreed to buy them for US $1.1 billion–a...
Why start with demilitarising Siachen?
The talk of demilitarising the Siachen Glacier which was on the back burner for a long time suddenly hit centre stage after a tragic snow avalanche buried all the 140 odd personnel of the Pakistan Army in their forward base at Gayari on 7 April 2012. In a visit to the area a few days after the incident, Pakistan’s Army Chief mooted the idea...
What the Armed Forces Expect from DRDO?
At the outset, I would like to say that there is a need to unequivocally highlight the importance of the DRDO in the Navy’s scheme of things, and our sense of pride in your achievements. What we are proudest of is the symbiotic relationship that has evolved between our two organisations at all levels. This relationship has not come about as...
Blacklisting Foreign Vendors
India has a penchant for blacklisting foreign arms producers without considering negative effects it has on India’s military preparedness. This is the reasons why recent reports of irregularities in the procurement of seven Barak anti-missile defense systems and 200 missiles from Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd (IAI) have caused serious...
What the Indian Army needs to learn from Modi
Now that the euphoria over Narendra Modi’s win has subsided, it is time to explore the feasibility of discovering a replicable model of his campaign that can be applied to the Indian Army. To most, it will appear to be a preposterous proposition – even a superficial glance shows that Modi and the army are at diametrically opposite ends of...