Articles By Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch
Revamping India’s Defence Sector
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 26 Nov , 2022
The essence of military endeavour in battle is to pose asymmetric threats to which an adversary has no credible response. Such asymmetries can be created through differentials in technology,...
Pathankot Operations: A Grand Success
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 13 Jan , 2016
The venom spilt over the conduct of ground operations in eliminating six Pakistani terrorists who had infiltrated into the Pathankot air base is astonishing. There was an unfortunate tendency to...
Maoist attacks: Hunters become the Hunted
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 20 Apr , 2015
In yet another ambush by the Maoists in Sukma District, seven policemen of Chhattisgarh’s Special Task Force (STF) were gunned down and 11 were injured at Pidmal village near Dornapal in Sukma...
J&K: Addressing Security Concerns in a Changing Environment
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 09 Mar , 2015
After the successful holding of elections yet again in J&K, and the establishment of a new government in the state, the stage is set for allowing political initiatives to complete the...
A Lesson in Ethics by an Army Officer
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 30 Jan , 2015
It was the summer of 67. I was all of sixteen years old, had just finished my schooling from a prestigious boarding school and was on a sabbatical working out what to do with my life. My father...
Military Courts: Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Intervention
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 21 Jan , 2015
On 6 January 2015, the National Assembly of Pakistan approved the 21st Constitutional Amendment and Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2015. The President of Pakistan, Mr Mamnoon Hussain, gave assent...
Anti Naxal Operations: Initiative must be Regained
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 10 Dec , 2014
On the morning of 1 December, 14 CRPF personnel including two officers were killed and over a dozen injured in an ambush carried out by the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) of the CPI...
Review of Policy on FDI
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 02 Sep , 2014
The recently released Press Note 7 of 2014, dated 26 August 2014, notifies the changes brought about by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)...
Why start with demilitarising Siachen?
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Net Edition | Date: 04 Jul , 2014
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 is looking at a long-term disaster
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 02 Jul , 2014
On Sunday, 15 June 2014, a press release from Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR), announced the launch of “Operation Zarb-e-Azb”, to clear North Waziristan Agency (NWA) of...
Pakistan: On the Edge
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 15 Apr , 2014
In the 2013 elections in Pakistan, all the mainstream political parties emphasised their commitment to seek a durable peace with the Tehrik-e-TalibanPakistan (TTP). A peace deal is off course a...
Pakistan: Prospects for 2014
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 12 Feb , 2014
The conflict within Pakistan has multiple dimensions. Three of Pakistan’s four provinces, Baluchistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continue to be plagued by violence, and FATA is, for the most...
Leadership Changes in Pakistan: Portents for the Future
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 11 Dec , 2013
Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani finally demitted office on 28 November 2013, ending weeks of speculation. General Raheel Sharif has replaced him, marking an important change...
Teeth to Tail Ratio: Looking beyond the Obvious
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 03 Nov , 2013
` For India, a country struggling to find its soul after centuries of foreign domination, the primary strategic objective would of necessity, remain the human development of its people. While...
Pakistan: Peace remains a Chimera
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 13 Sep , 2013
The successful holding of elections in Pakistan earlier this year marked a significant forward movement in the country’s politics with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) handing over power to the...
Looking beyond the DBO face off
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 21 May , 2013
With the Chinese removing the four tents pitched in Indian Territory at an altitude of 17,500 feet, a few kilometers South of Daulat Beg Oldi(DBO) in the Depsang Plains in Eastern Ladakh a...
Countering IEDs: Training remains the Key
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 13 Mar , 2013
On 22 February, eight persons, including six policemen, were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists at Majhauliya village in Bihar’s Gaya district. This marked the first major land mine...
Lessons from Latehar
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 02 Feb , 2013
On 07 January 2013, ten police personnel were killed in an ambush in the Karmatiya Forest of Latehar District. Nine of the killed were from the Central Reserve Police force (CRPF) and one was...
Ethnic Violence in Myanmar: Impact on India
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 11 Dec , 2012
Ethnic violence has once again flared up in Myanmar’s Rakhine state which due to the communal overtones of the conflict could have potential security implications for India. Myanmar has a small...
Future Wars Require Strong Army Aviation
By: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch | Issue: Courtesy: CLAWS | Date: 27 Jan , 2012
The Raksha Mantri, while speaking at a seminar organised by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies last year, said that the government was aware of the pace of military modernisation by countries...