While we seem to want soldiers on short-term engagement, warfare itself is getting more technical and needs skilled manpower. The world has seen the dismal performance of armies that rely on short tour of duty soldiers or have outsourced war to 'contractors' in Afghanistan and now in Ukraine, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Gen Singh, who is accompanied by a high-level military delegation, is scheduled to meet a number of high-ranking dignitaries of Peoples Liberation Army and Central Military Commission during his visit from November 21-24.
The president said China would never allow "any people, organisation or political party to split any part of Chinese territory out of the country at any time, in any form."
'There are major implications for India. Though there was a transparently thin attempt to project the troop reduction as intended to promote peace, the downsizing is actually part of plans to streamline and strengthen the PLA, capable of defending China's national interests at home and abroad,' says Jayadev Ranade.
The Central Committee members on Sunday elected a 25-member Political Bureau which picked the Standing Committee members to govern the country.
The 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army, the world's largest, adopts a more aggressive posture with massive structural revamp.
India is committed to further developing friendly and cooperative relations with China, says Parrikar in Beijing.
Observers say China should re-address its policies towards India or else it will continue to face flare-ups increasing the tensions between the two countries at a time China's increasing tension with the US over Taiwan and the South China Sea besides the downturn in the Chinese economy which is hit hard by the zero-covid policy.
Dr Jaishankar, right, appears to look away from Wang Yi, second from right, at the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 14, 2023.
Currently, the reserve forces are under the dual leadership of military organs and local Communist Party committees and they would be brought under the control of the ruling party and the CMC from July 1, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
'A hotline between the Chinese and Indian military establishments is essential if the possibility of conflict is to be minimised.' 'When relations are uneasy, even minor incidents can spiral out of control,' warns former senior RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Wasim Qadir, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidate who defeated PML-N's stalwart Sheikh Rohail Asghar from Lahore's National Assembly-121 constituency, joined the PML-N after a meeting with Maryam Nawaz, daughter of the party supremo Nawaz Sharif, at her residence.
To rise quickly in the PLA's hierarchy, you need to be close to Xi Jinping. Retired RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade on the changes in China's military leadership.
The Election Commission has issued a notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her prima facie 'completely false, provocative and intemperate statements' against central armed police forces deputed on election duty in the state, saying her remarks are demoralising the personnel.
General Zhao Zongqi is well known in India for having commanded the Chinese troops during the Dokalam episode. Zhao knows every inch and corner of the Indian border, at least the Eastern and Central sectors, including the Naku La area which witnessed fist-fights between Indian and Chinese troops in April/May. Claude Arpi introduces us to the PLA generals masterminding the Chinese aggression in Ladakh.
Durve argued that the word 'secret' is nowhere in the exemption clause under which information could be denied to an applicant.
Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe's, China's new defence minister's, first guest of honour could be his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman.
However, the Army, in a statement, said since Singh's cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot injury, no guard of honour or military funeral was provided, in accordance with the existing policy.
The outfit suggested that the government amend the Information Technology Act to classify all such content as pornography, which people should only be able to access by punching in their Aadhaar details or their fingerprints. Archis Mohan reports
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state -- but China views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve unification.
The three main political parties in Pakistan on Sunday intensified their efforts for the formation of a coalition government after it became clear that the coup-prone country faced a hung Parliament after general elections marred by allegations of rigging.
China has been taking "incremental and tactical actions" to press its claims at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India and has unsuccessfully sought to prevent New Delhi from deepening its relationship with the US during and subsequent to the standoff, the Pentagon has said in a major report on China's military modernisation.
Present vice chief Lt Gen BS Raju would be succeeding Lt Gen AS Bhinder who is superannuating on February 28 at the South Western Army Command.
With the PMO itself spearheading a re-evaluation, the Director General of Defence Accounts has been asked to justify its earlier contention that the 'slab based' system would benefit a larger number of disabled veterans -- something the army flatly denies, reports Ajai Shukla.
A new military rank system had been introduced for the PLA, but all soldiers must always obey the Communist party, reveals Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
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.
It is worrisome that salaries are consuming as much expenditure as equipment.
'We failed as a country because those who should have been there to say goodbye did not show up.'
The government has allowed the Enforcement Directorate to share information about economic offenders with 15 more agencies, including SFIO, CCI and NIA, a move that will expedite nailing of law-breakers. The finance ministry notified changes to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on November 22. Through the notification, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which deals primarily with cases of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws, would be able to share data with a total of 25 agencies, including the 10 specified earlier.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked the People's Liberation Army to be combat ready to win a "regional war" and make sure that all decisions from the central leadership are strictly followed.
An exclusive white paper by the Jamestown Foundation claims that the powerful figures arraigned against the President include former Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and current Vice-President Wang Qishan, The Hong Kong Post reported.
The Pay Commission process is symptomatic of a national crisis within the Indian state.
Bilawal has said the reality is that his party does not have a mandate to form a federal government.
India has opposed the CPEC project and protested to China as it is being laid through PoK.
It is the country's second aircraft carrier, after the Liaoning, and the first to be made domestically.
The official cited it as an example of 'how the Chinese military is trying to resolve issues through dialogue mechanisms'.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa discussed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with China's Central Military Commission Vice-Chairman Xu Qiliang when he visited the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi with a high-level delegation on Monday
Addressing the centenary celebrations of the Communist Party of China at the historic Tiananmen Square, Xi in over an hour-long address also said that integrating Taiwan with the Chinese mainland is a historic mission of the ruling party.
Pakistan's powerful Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif's visit to Beijing comes in the backdrop of assertions by Pakistan that it will raise its concerns at the international level over India's successful test of supersonic interceptor missile.
Xi, 68, holds China's all three power centres -- General-Secretary of the CPC, Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission which is the overall high command of the military, and the Presidency is set to complete his second five-year tenure next year.
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