'The Indian gung-ho leadership may like to think about it, there should never ever be a doubt in anyone's mind, friend or foe, that Pakistan's operationally ready nuclear capability enables every Pakistani leader the liberty, the dignity and the courage to look straight into the Indian eye and never blink.'
Before migrating into the theatre command concept, it would be worthwhile to study the shortfalls experienced by the Tri Services Command in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and make good the deficiencies, suggests Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Indian and Japanese ships engaged in advanced level exercises in all three domains of maritime warfare -- surface, sub surface and air.
'The 1971 War was our greatest military victory.' 'It had so many stories of exceptional valour and leadership.'
The marathon fourth round of Lt Gen-level talks also focussed on steps for pulling back large number of troops and weapons from rear bases along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
'We are ready to surrender,' Lieutenant General A A K Niazi said over the phone from Dhaka.
"Based on this consensus, the process of disengagement is almost complete. Our efforts will be to take the matter beyond disengagement; but for that, we will have to wait a little longer," he added.
The meeting came after the Indian Army thwarted an attempt by the Chinese Army to transgress into Indian areas near the southern bank of Pangong Tso near Chushul in Ladakh on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
The air defence command is to be rolled out by the beginning of next year and the Peninsula command by the end of 2021, Gen Rawat told a select group of journalists. The Indian Air Force will helm the air defence command and all-long range missiles as well as air defence assets will come under it, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were on Thursday seen having brief exchanges ahead of a media briefing by the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) leaders in Johannesburg.
As India progresses towards formulating its own model of theaterisation, the public must get involved in the debate because in the end, it affects the well-being of the entire nation, asserts Biswajit Dasgupta.
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a five-month bitter standoff in eastern Ladakh.
'Beyond the 'sir' and the 'salute', there was a man who cared about his soldiers and that's what made him a great leader.' Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's grandson Jehan remembers the man who was the soldier's soldier.
China has also announced that it would hold six live-fire military drills in waters around Taiwan.
As news of Hasina's departure spread, hundreds broke into Hasina's residence, vandalising and looting the interiors, providing dramatic expression to the anti-government protests that have killed more than 100 people in the last two days. At the centre of people anger is the Hasina government's controversial quota system reserving 30 per cent jobs for families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war. With volatile crowds taking to the streets -- some clambering on Hasina's father and Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's statue and smashing it with hammers in a lasting image underscoring the fickleness of history -- Army chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman announced that the 76-year-old prime minister has resigned.
Before assuming charge of the CDS, Gen Chauhan paid tributes to India's fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial in the India Gate complex.
As CDS, General Chauhan's primary task will be to implement the theaterisation model to bring in tri-services synergy by rolling out integrated military commands.
The sources said the Indian Army has been on a very high level of alert and is ready to deal with any eventuality in the area.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
India's tactical and operational response demonstrated its ability to prosecute tri-service operations, even without a formal tri-service doctrine or the higher command structure needed to coordinate it, points out Ajai Shukla.
'With continued focus on votes, upcoming by-polls and purchasing politicians, the political hierarchy has little time for national defence.' 'They would do well to heed a veteran scholar, who says, "There will be war with China in the next few years. The next full scale war will have the involvement of Pakistan and terror elements, insurgents and intelligence assets operating inside India",' warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Of the 156 choppers, 66 would be inducted by the Indian Air Force while the rest 90 would be acquired by the Indian Army.
The contracts for the procurement of the platforms and weapons systems were signed in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and defence secretary Giridhar Aramane, under whose guidance these deals fructified, an official readout said.
The Chinese have just one commander for all the forces confronting India. Commanders of all these forces answer to one man, and one headquarter. India, on the other hand, offers a diversity of options that is a military embarrassment in the 21st century. In Arunachal and Sikkim-Bhutan, the Eastern Army Commander is in charge. In the Uttarakhand (central) sector, it will be the Central Army Commander. The Himachal-Tibet border is the domain of the Western Army Commander. And all of Kashmir and Ladakh further on, the Northern Army's. Effectively, an array of at least eight 'three-star' commanders will be arrayed against one Chinese, says Shekhar Gupta.
India also went on an overdrive in expanding its military engagement with like-minded countries in its neighbourhood and beyond in the face of China's relentless attempts to become a regional hegemon and establish its primacy in South Asia.
The area is thickly forested and has been receiving heavy rains since the last three days
The creation of a CDS has got the head right. Issues that were not talked about for years are now being discussed, points out Ajai Shukla.
A retired Indian colonel working with the United Nations was killed in Gaza when the vehicle he was travelling in came under attack in strife-torn Rafah, the 'first international' casualty for the world body since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
This is the first time that a retired officer has been appointed at this position for which a gazette notification was issued to announce the change in rules for the appointment.
'You have been surrounded from all directions, if you want the safety of your troops and your personal safety, we will give you eight hours to make up your mind to surrender.'
Opposition to tri-service structures comes not just from bureaucrats and politicians as the generals like to lament, but equally from within the military. Neither the army, navy or air force chiefs want to relinquish control over their theatre commands, with these cutting edge units placed under some commander who reports elsewhere, says Ajai Shukla.
Air Commodore Nitin Sathe discovers how the IAF trained Pakistani air force pilots, during the 1971 War, which led to the birth of the Bangladesh air force.
This being done by the Indian Army, with an eye on the future, which is focusing on strengthening its combative air assets by procuring attack helicopters.
The 1971 war reaffirmed the importance of inspirational senior leadership in battle and heralded the emergence of a new fighting class amongst officers and men of India's armed forces.
Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (retired) will assume charge as India's new Chief of Defence Staff on Friday, an appointment that is expected to bring the focus back on the implementation of the ambitious theaterisation drive to bring synergy among the three services.
The commander said the situation in the region has been stable and no major "changes or palpable shift of stance has been noted" even as the Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a stand-off in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh.
'Unlike on the western and eastern borders where there is an enemy at the gate, here there is an invisible enemy which is building its own capability and can come into play at a time and place of his choosing.'
The key airbase at Panagarh in West Bengal has been renamed as 'Air Force Station Arjan Singh' in honour of the Marshal of the Air Force, who turned 97 on Friday.
The operations are being carried out in coordination with the railway authorities on the ground, he said.
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