The army rejected Jawan Sindhav Jogidas's allegations that he was forced to be a Sahayak as a punishment.
'The sky is the limit for what all could be done at an air base to neutralise terrorists. Good proactive local leadership and delegated operational effort would be key to ensuring that a handful of terrorists cannot hold a whole air base, and by extension, the whole nation to ransom,' says Group Captain P I Muralidharan (retd).
In a first such step for a central armed police force, the Central Reserve Police Force has decided to honour its jawans and officers killed in action with the prefix 'Shaheed' in their names.
'We will have to wait till the snows melt in June/July 2016 before we can get a clearer idea of whether Pakistan intends to get serious about ending support for cross-border terrorism,' says G Parthasarathy, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan.
'A couple of hours before the H-Hour, the Kupwara division opened small arms and mortar fire on posts opposite its area of operation.' 'This was a diversionary tactic.' 'As Pakistani forces began to react to the firing, special forces teams began to slowly cross the LoC into PoK.' Nitin Gokhale reveals how planning for the surgical strikes began hours after the Uri attack.
'An operation such as the Mumbai attacks, which needed expert technical assessment, money and time to prepare, could not have been carried out without the knowledge of the ISI's leadership.'
The UN Security Council has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a threat to peace and security, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon deciding to deploy an "unprecedented" emergency health mission to combat the outbreak that has impacted the lives of millions.
Pervez Musharraf is contemplating a political front with jihadi groups to contest Pakistan's next election. Should the jihadi groups win a few seats, terrorist outfits will gain legitimacy in Pakistan, warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Niranjan's lungs got punctured due to the impact of the blast of a grenade that was kept in the pocket of a slain terrorist and the officer died before being taken to hospital.
While some say an agreement was reached over the Panama Papers, others suggest that Nawaz Sharif may have handed the CPEC to the military in exchange for his survival.
'But India, increasingly, is not that far behind, which is a story I never expected to tell.'
'Not a single soldier should be left behind in enemy territory.' Nitin A Gokhale's fascinating account on how the Indian Army conducted the daring and successful cross-border operation last September.
Did the human drama provoked by the Japanese invasion of Burma and the Indian exodus from Rangoon inspire director Vishal Bhardwaj's forthcoming epic?
Coming down heavily on Pakistan, President Pranab Mukherjee has said unless it dismantles the terror infrastructure on its soil, there is no scope for progress in talks between the two countries.
Gandhi had on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of "hiding behind the blood of soldiers".
Questioning the timing of the remarks, the BJP demanded a statement from former PM Manmohan Singh and former defence minister A K Antony on the issue.
Seven people, including two police officers and a terrorist, were killed as the Punjab Police's elite Special Weapons and Tactics team and the Indian Army were carrying out a massive operation in the Gurdaspur district to flush out terrorists who went on a rampage attacking a bus and a police station complex.
'India has to judge what Pakistan says to us, not what they say to a domestic audience,' a source tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com, explaining why India-Pakistan talks remain on track despite discordant noises from across the border.
'In my tenure as a military chief and president of the country, we were succeeding. We were able to bring India to the negotiating table,' he said.
The case posed unique challenges, such as a lot of evidence having blown to pieces in the suicide attack and seven accused being subsequently killed in encounters. However, the central agency used forensic tests including DNA profiling of the meagre evidence to breach the dead ends.
'Pakistan has responded with appropriate contempt -- hrowing our national dignity into the waste paper basket.'
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).
'Jihadi outfits backed by the ISI are now prepared to attack targets not just in J&K, but also in Punjab. This signals an escalation in the range and scope of cross-border terrorism, which cannot be ignored,' says Ambassador G Parthasarthy, former high commissioner to Pakistan.
A lack of understanding on how to tackle the Maoist challenge is adversely affecting security operations on the ground and not the inefficiency or inability of the security forces to put pressure on the Maoists, says former Chhattisgarh top cop Vishwa Ranjan.
In bilateral interfaces relations with China have also to be given due weight, opines Premvir Das
The defence ministry will review all cases of blacklisted firms as it prepares a new list of such entities following the new policy unveiled by it which is a mixture of heavy fines and graded banning.
'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.'
'Some Pakistani generals are saying -- a little more so now than before -- that the biggest threat to Pakistan is not external -- not India -- but internal.' 'The proof of that will be their change of policies and that is going to be the challenge,' Rakesh Sood, one of India's most distinguished diplomats, tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
'Modi's brilliance seems to be in combining Indira Gandhi's 'feel' for the Indian pulse and Narasimha Rao's cynicism.' 'By the time the Opposition leaders caught up with Modi over the 'surgical strikes', he had already moved on,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
'If you destroy the assets in Pathankot, you degrade the combat potential of India; you degrade the war potential of India.'
Russia has handed over to India the final batch of three Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopters under a previously signed contract even as it gets ready to ink yet another deal for another 48 such choppers.
The Pampore attack in Jammu and Kashmir "appeared to be" the handiwork of Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror outfit, Central Reserve Police Force Director General Prakash Mishra said.
'Islamabad receives billions in aid from the US but continues to harbour terrorists,' he said.
The attack was claimed by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) which said it would not tolerate 'any Chinese military expansionist endeavours on Baloch soil'.
China is distributing millions of controversial updated maps to its military in the first upgrade in 30 years, reportedly reinforcing its claims over Arunachal Pradesh.
Experts trace the reasons for the 26/11 attacks to the Pakistan's military interest in three key areas: Kashmir, Afghanistan and nuclear armaments.
We would like that people come directly to us rather than resorting to the social media or other means, Gen Rawat said.
'This is what we train for: That one chance to deliver a blow so lethal that the enemy will constantly think about it when planning any misadventure.'
Trump said Putin would have been happier if Clinton had won as this would have made America weak.
'If the almost literally heart-stopping Suez block has any positive outcome, it is to be hoped that it will accelerate the setting up of a fab (perhaps Taiwanese) in India,' asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.