Citing China's example, he said a powerful military will enhance India's strategic clout.
'We should not worry too much about Indian capabilities, both military and otherwise.'
'Past experience shows us that cross-border strikes have not prevented Pakistan from continuing with further terror attacks.'
'Our equations with China require engagement and not confrontation; its interfaces with Pakistan and with some other South Asian neighbours also add to the complexities,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her American counterpart Mike Pompeo have agreed to reschedule the postponed '2+2 dialogue'.
'There are reports of political dissent mounting on Xi Jinping's handling of the Wuhan fallout.'
The new minister must commit himself to supporting long-term defence plans or else defence modernisation will continue to lag and the growing military capabilities gap with China will assume ominous proportions, warns Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her American counterpart James Mattis reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.
US Secretary of State Micheal Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis will travel to New Delhi next month for the 2+2 dialogue.
'Defence does not new 'planning commissions'; it needs an implementation commission.'
'There is a consensus within the Indian security establishment -- at least among those who draw their conclusions from data instead of speaking from nationalist sentiment -- that India lacks the offensive capability to defeat Pakistan in a short war.'
New Delhi's growing defence partnership with Tokyo could take wing with the US-2 (Utility Seaplane Mark 2), a one-of-a-kind amphibious aircraft that has Indian naval planners goggle-eyed.
The announcement of McMaster's ouster, who the White House said had a "good working relationship" with Trump, is the latest in a string of high-profile White House departures since President Trump took office in January 2017.
'Amid the frequent cries that the defence budget falls short of what is needed, we tend to ignore the reality that any enhancement in the allocation is just not possible, and the armed forces have no option but to operate within this constraint.' 'So, unless deadwood -- especially manpower -- is identified and eliminated, we simply cannot have a modern military of the type that India needs,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
United States president-elect Donald Trump's tweet for strengthening and expansion of country's nuclear arsenal is indicating a major policy change as against the Obama Administration which had pushed for reduction and ultimately elimination of nuclear weapons.
Sleuths of security forces and secret service agents have converged on the city and huge make-shift iron walls have come up several blocks around the convention's location.
'India must close the missile technology gap with both China and Pakistan as early as possible, or else the credibility of India's nuclear deterrence will remain suspect,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Ahead of the crucial talks between President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, the United States has indicated flexibility in its troop drawdown schedule from war-torn Afghanistan to help it fight the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
'We need to be in a perpetual state of aggression, and able to swiftly change the goal posts to keep Pakistan in a state of imbalance,' argues Sanjeev Nayyar.
The government's initial promise and energy seems to have dissipated.
'If we play our cards right, we may even benefit from the competition between the US and China as seen from increased investment from each of these countries into India.' 'The size of our market gives us an important lever of power which we shall have to play adroitly and intelligently,' points out Ambassador Gautam Bambawale -- who served as India's envoy to China -- in the Professor V M Dandekar Memorial Lecture 2019, delivered on March 8, 2019 in Pune.
'Perhaps the biggest indication was its striking decision in November to delink LeT from its aid certification process.' 'The administration decided that the US, in order to send military aid to Pakistan, would not need to certify that Pakistan is cracking down on LeT.' 'Perhaps the administration was trying to offer a carrot -- in effect, we're backing off on LeT, but in return we expect you (Pakistan) to go after the Haqqanis.' 'Either way, the optics were dreadful for the US given that Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest a few days after the US move.' 'The US reacted angrily, but eventually it moved on, and refocused on its core concern: The Afghan-focused terror groups.'
Every demand of the armed forces remains essentially anchored to 1964 and its fulfilment or otherwise largely a function of money availability
It is time the new government, unencumbered with the burden of past, initiates a wide ranging review and open debate on the security issues to rectify our short term and long term shortcomings. It has taken some wise steps but has to go beyond this to identify the structural weakness and create systems, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
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