The study titled 'Indian Unsafeguarded Nuclear Program' published by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad is co-authored by four nuclear scholars, including Adeela Azam, Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Ali and Sameer Khan.
General T N Raina was an iconic Indian military leader whose contributions to the nation should be more widely known, notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Days before Narendra Modi arrives in the US to speak at the UN, meet Barack Obama, gupshup with the likes of Nadella, Pichai, Zuckerberg, and address desis in Silicon Valley, his ministers will help set the commercial and strategic tone for the prime minister's visit.
The nation has the fifth largest defence budget in the world, at $52.5 billion in 2017 ($51.1 billion in 2016), overtaking the UK whose defence budget fell from $52.5 billion in 2016 to $50.7 billion in 2017.
"The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions," he said.
Five longtime Republicans -- K V Kumar, Puneet Ahluwalia, Suhail Khan, Ajay Kuntamukkala and Harry Walia -- have been named to the GOP's Asian Pacific American Advisory Council.
'Those who worked with him or came to know him rated him as one of our best, with a sharp intellect, unfailing courtesy and ready wit.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan fondly remembers Ambassador B S Prakash, wonderful human being, unusual diplomat and long-time Rediff.com columnist, who passed away into the ages on Monday, October 4, 2021.
'The strategy has to be restoring order in one part and countering the very effective propaganda through a very nimble monitoring and response system,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain, who retired as the General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps.
'India has the potential to reduce its trade deficit with China by $8.4 billion in FY21.'
'Crucial intelligence was obtained by a R&AW operative from a couple of moles inside the camps four days before the Balakot operation.'
A group of public health experts, including doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences and members from the national taskforce on COVID-19, have said that mass, indiscriminate and incomplete vaccination can trigger emergence of mutant strains and recommended that there is no need to inoculate those who had documented coronavirus infection.
Diplomats agree that amid stormy relations with China and Pakistan, Modi has posted impressive foreign policy successes, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'The military aim in a future conflict, if it can't be avoided, should be to cause maximum damage to the adversary's war waging capability and capture limited amount of territory as a bargaining counter,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
India is the birthplace of four major world religions -- Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is home to the world's third largest Muslim population, a diverse community of sects that includes Sufis, Shia, and Bohra. Roughly three per cent of India's citizens are Christian, and notably, Christians are the religious majority in three of India's 29 states, she said.
Wang Junzheng, Tibet's new Communist party boss, is on a number of sanctions lists by the US, Britain, the EU and Canada, for his tough role in Xinjiang, aimed at China's Uyghur ethnic minority, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and distinguished China expert.
Pakistan would want to take full advantage of the situation to direct Taliban trained terrorists into the Kashmir Valley, alert Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'It is unrealistic to expect that security dilemmas and strategic distrust to disappear or even diminish any time soon,' says Rup Narayan Das.
The Paris-headquartered FATF said Pakistan should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies
Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, who commands the 'Fire and Fury' 14 Corps, has the experience and talent to face down the Chinese challenge. The general is a rare combination of thinker and tough-minded doer, observes David Devadas.
'If deterrence through India's conventional superiority is to be established now, then India will have to escalate to a point where its greater resources make the difference.' 'This is, to put it mildly, both difficult and dangerous and thus inadvisable,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
'The one aspect which no Indian military thinker would wish to see emerge is a LoC type of posture at the LAC.' 'The LoC is manned for 750 km and terrorist infiltration has led to the creation of a virtual fortress along its entire length.' 'Something mirroring this at the LAC is going to be expensive although deployment everywhere is not warranted there.' 'However, given the complete trust deficit, there appear few alternatives,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Despite four disarmament section talks and six strategic dialogues between the two foreign ministries, China's intransigence on recognising Indian nuclear status resulted in no confidence building measures in the nuclear field between the two, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
The $10.5 billion arms and equipment deal helped to arrest the recent drift in the 'special and privileged' strategic partnership, observes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Unless each attack drone can be neutralised, India will be literally deploying elephants to stamp out ants -- and the ants may still survive! points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The US attacked China for its aggressive moves against its neighbours, including "instigating" a deadly confrontation with India in eastern Ladakh
'The hardliners in Delhi are in for a big disappointment,' predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India's main security concern now is an assertive China, which does not acknowledge its status as a global player, and not the increasingly decrepit state of Pakistan, according to an American think-tank.
Former ambassador to India Frank Wisner is convinced that "the United States cannot pursue its interests in the world without cooperation with India, and India will not achieve her essential interests without cooperation with the US."
PM Modi also called for a strong action plan for combating extremism.
Weeks after confusion over three Mauritius-based funds whipsawing shares of Adani group firms, billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday said that "twisted narrative" seems to imply that companies have regulatory powers over their shareholders and can compel disclosures. Shares of port-to-energy group nosedived last month after reports that accounts of three of the six Mauritius-based funds that have invested most of their money in Adani group firms had been frozen by the national share depository. The three funds owned about $6 billion of shares across the conglomerate.
In recent days Indian corporate houses are increasingly acquiring companies in Latin America and Europe. But on the other hand these companies are not efficiently managed.
To mobilise private capital in the clean energy sector, the US has agreed to place a field investment officer in India apart from hosting a series of events to overcome strategic barriers in accelerating institutional and private financing.
'Even if the BJP does not come to power, the system has changed.'
In the rights issue, the company is offering one share for every 15 shares held at Rs 1,257. The rights shares are expected to be listed on the BSE and NSE on or around June 12.
70-plus years after Independence, 'Hindu India, metamorphosised as 'Hindutva India', is proving the British right -- and for all the wrong reasons. Mohan Bhagwat should have answers for the why of it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The reforms include relocation of 229 officers from the Army headquarters, creation of a new post of deputy chief for military operations and strategic planning.
'Gwadar has the potential to facilitate PLAN's operations in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.' 'Reports of China setting up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar to monitor US and Indian naval activity and shipping traffic through the Straits of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea lend credence to this,' says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
India has told China not to "shift goalposts" and "confuse" managing the border affairs and restoring peace at the frontiers with the larger issue of the resolution of the boundary question, which is dealt with by different designated mechanisms.
China is in no hurry to disengage at the border and the region and international community is moving on. The spectre of a long haul in Ladakh haunts India, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A massive drone strike on the world's largest crude-processing facility operated by Saudi Arabia's Aramco has driven oil prices to their highest level in nearly four months. The attack has knocked out over half of Saudi Arabia's production as it cut 5.7 million barrels per day or over 5 per cent of the world's supply.
