The finance minister hiked the total defence expenditure from Rs 203,672 crore in FY 2013-2014 to Rs 229,000 crore for FY 2014-2015. Though the increase appears substantial, it is insufficient to undertake the military modernisation necessary to meet the emerging threats, feels Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The horrific terrorist attack in Paris has been described as the copycat version of the 2008 Mumbai assault by security experts who believe that the incident will be a game changer for how the West looks at the threat terrorism presents to all.
The next big destination for IS in South Asia could be India. In India, the SIMI-IM network can provide the logistics for an IS staging area, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The PM's vision of a lean, agile, mobile and technology driven force requires more than 1.7 percent of GDP that it now gets.
Fourteen years after they last met, the directors general of military operations of India and Pakistan on Tuesday held an over two-hour-long meeting at the Wagah border to ease tensions and ensure peace on the Line of Control.
'Surely, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not be able to pay or compensate the Russians for deployment and use of Russian men and equipment,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'A new doctrine now needs to be evolved for a new situation, and the army will do it.' 'You won't see more Kashmiris driven in front of army columns.' 'Nor will the army massacre hundreds, Dyer style,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'The Pakistanis were lulled adequately to provide one of the fundamental prerequisites for successful execution of such an option: Surprise.' 'The other requisite: Deception in terms of selection of areas for launch/time of offensive action,' explains Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The recent postings and promotions of three-star generals in the Pakistan Army have propelled some of former chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's favourites to traditionally important positions
Amid a spate of incursions by China in Ladakh, its troops are also resorting to tactics like preventing the Indian army from patrolling posts in this sector along the border, which is well within India's territory.
'Ajit Doval has done a splendid job in handling the Pathankot attack and certainly helped save heavy destruction of critical air force assets,' says Abhay Jere.
No account of the 1962 war could be complete without Maxwell's authoritative analysis. Which is why we are reprinting this article which was run on Rediff.com in June 2001.
With a massive final push, which began mid-November, Syrian forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad took over the last remaining rebel strongholds in the historic city of Aleppo on the night of December 12. They only won a ruined city and ruined lives.
'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 defence ministry on Friday scrapped a scam-tainted tender worth over Rs 6,000 crore to procure 197 light helicopters from foreign vendors and decided to allow indigenous players to manufacture these choppers for the armed forces.
Jaitley can make his innings -- notwithstanding its likely length -- to be a watershed tenure, or just add to the image of the MoD drifting rudderless, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'Omerta is a work of true moral force; it is, at the risk of sounding fancy, a motion picture for our times,' says Sreehari Nair.
'For India, the phase of pure restraint has passed.' 'Restraint has failed to reform Pakistan or rein in terrorism,' says Vivek Gumaste.
'She has to get the funds, cut through bureaucratic flab, speed up modernisation, ensure planned acquisitions stick to timelines, make organisational changes and ensure the military is capable of performing the task that it is given,' says Brigadier S K Chatterjee (retd).
Exactly 50 years ago, the first Indian team, led by Manmohan Singh Kohli, reached the summit of Mount Everest. As Kohli and his team are felicitated to mark the anniversary, he reminisces on the event that continues to inspire generations of Indian mountaineers. Payal Mohanka reports
Tarun Vijay visits 20 Durga Puja pandals in five towns in Bangladesh and comes back impressed.
The escalating situation in the Kashmir valley is the vanguard actions of global jihad, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd). And in this battle, he believes, perception management operations will be just important as operations to neutralise the terrorists.
'What needs to be pursued as the operations progress is a degree of reconciliation amongst the other parties, less the more orthodox Al Qaeda affiliates.'
'The defence minister needs to focus on human resources-related issues at the same pace in 2017 as he did on acquisitions in 2016,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
We would like that people come directly to us rather than resorting to the social media or other means, Gen Rawat said.
'Already, there is talk of a possible extension for Raheel Sharif in the context of his perceived sterling, but incomplete work in the war against terror, as also the cleansing of crime and extortion networks in Karachi,' says Rana Banerji.
With no announcement on One Rank One Pension coming from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his nearly 90-minute speech at the Red Fort on the 69th Independence Day, ex-servicemen who have been protesting at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi say they have been betrayed by the BJP-led government.
All the hostages killed during the 12-hour siege by Islamic State terrorists were foreigners, with most being Italian or Japanese.
Yaariyan may be targeted at a young audience but every single teenager who chooses to watch it will be insulting their own intelligence, writes Paloma Sharma.
'The combination of the LeT and the ISI is the most dangerous terrorist challenge in the world because it carries a real and present danger of provoking nuclear war.'
The 7th CPC places the Indian Police Service (and, almost in passing, the Indian Forest Service) on a level with the Indian Administrative Service, leaving the military out in the cold.
More than half-a-century after humiliation in the 1962 war, India is still not prepared to take on the Chinese dragon. Every now and then, that dragon flexes its muscles, reminding India the threat persists, says Virendra Kapoor.
The military will now demand further pay and promotion parity with civilians
'Pakistan thinks it is winning this low intensity conflict.' 'It is a serious observation. Half the battle is convincing your adversary that he cannot make headway.' 'A lot depends on how the internal professional management of the army and the handling of situations that are bound to rise sooner than later in his command, are done.'
'Clearly, there is a wide gap between the stated intentions of China's top leadership to improve relations with India and the PLA's aggressive border management,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
In super-human acts of valour, Havildar Abdul Hamid personally knocked out five tanks over two days, effectively derailing the enemy offensive in the 1965 Indo-Pak War. 'Decades later, I realised not only how much the nation owed to this great son of India but also that my entire family was probably alive thanks to him,' says Vijay Dandapani.
'Unni swung up his MP5 and fired a burst across the atrium. The bullets hammered into the wall. Then he bounded up the stairs leading to the other set of doors opening into the Palm Lounge. It was a terribly risky move because he didn't have a buddy to cover him.'
'The era of conventional wars is almost over in the Indian context.' 'In such a scenario, special forces could play a decisive strategic role in the spectrum of conflict.'
While the Indian Government was aware of it, it tried to play it down and instead referred to it as genocide against the Bengali community in Bangladesh so as to avoid an outcry from the leaders of the then Jan Sangh, the predecessor of the today's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, says Gary J Bass, author of the book The Blood Telegram: Nixon Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide, which recently hit the book stores.
'India-US defence pacts are seen by many analysts as a subtle move to jointly contain China's growing militarism, especially in the strategic Indian Ocean Region.'
