'It is purely based on real-time hard intelligence.' 'Timing is important. When you are attacking at 3.30 am, then everybody will be in the academy of terrorists.' 'If you attack at 10 am then someone will be out, so timing is very important.' 'Therefore, 3.30 am is the time when every terrorist is sleeping.'
'Given the present force levels, India cannot fight and win.' 'India can't hope to terminate the conflict on India's terms and impose the nation's will upon the adversaries,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Missile's range to cover China, West Asia, South East Asia and large parts of Africa
After a 7-year hiatus, Pakistan Monday showcased its growing military might, including tactical nuclear missiles and fighter jets, at a joint tri-service parade to celebrate the National Day in a symbolic show of strength in the war against the Taliban.
'The Chinese thought India would back off. 'They did not expect such a firm Indian response to their expansionist manoeuvre.'
The AH-64E Apache is one of the world's most advanced multi-role combat helicopters, and is flown by the US army.
'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.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Having been an air warrior myself for three decades, I am sure the IAF has all the info in place to be divulged at the right time,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
'India is not going to accept whatever the Chinese say. That is not going to happen.'
This is the first such incident along the border with China that Indian armed forces personnel have been killed after a gap of nearly 45 years.
'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.
'After a strategic pause though, Beijing will revive its policy of slowly creeping towards acquiring sovereignty over the South China Sea.'
'A seniority-based system created a situation where officers in the higher rank would know, years in advance, who amongst them would be the chief at some future date and the rest would not have a shot at the highest post!' 'Out of this idiotic concoction was born the media created myth of 'line of succession', as if the Indian Army was some kind of monarchy.'
Tawang wears its history -- and also its present -- with ease. The flourishing town, with restaurants selling everything from noodles to dosas and locals returning home to new business prospects, shows little sign of the tension building up at the border about 40 km away to the north.
Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria's plan includes building 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft in quick time to fill the light fighter vacancies left by the retirement of MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters.
'Pakistan's recent utterances and tendency to use pinpricks to try our patience appear reminiscent of 1965. We are a strong nation, emerging stronger,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'Unlike the Chinese army that has been largely a peace time force, the Indian Army is a battle hardened force,' explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has asked the Indian Air Force to focus on safety and conservation of available resources as he interacted with top commanders in New Delhi just days after India decided to buy 36 Rafale jets.
Among others, China is developing the strategically located Gwadar port in Balochistan, which is aimed towards having a military presence, says a Pentagon report
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.
When a Chinese warship entered Japanese waters, the Indian commander called on China to maintain discipline at sea. Dr Rajaram Panda explains the significance of the Malabar exercises between India, Japan and the US.
Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam lists the major operational takeaways from the 1971 War in his new book 'India's Wars, A Military History, 1947-1971'.
Asked about the continued tensions along the border and whether the PLA troops action was anyway related to the disagreements with the Indian government's plan to lure business out of China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said both the countries were in diplomatic contact over the face-off between their troops.
At least a couple of Chinese military helicopters were spotted flying close to the un-demarcated Sino-India border in the area after the fierce face-off on May 5 following which a fleet of Sukhoi-30 jets of the Indian Air Force too carried out sorties there, the sources said.
'The list of things to be done or added or removed will keep growing and it will be a while before the emerging models settle down into lasting structures,' predicts Umesh Shrikhande, CEO, Taproot Dentsu.
Swaraj expressed satisfaction over the agenda of the inaugural dialogue while giving the details of the deliberations.
This was announced by External Affairs Spokesman Vikas Swarup in New Delhi on Sunday.
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
'Even if your soldiers are Sunny Deol and Vicky Kaushal, Pakistanis are no Johnny Walkers.' 'The one lot who never takes them lightly is India's professional soldiers.' 'That's why they keep winning the real wars,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Offensive operations to capture objectives across the LoC to eliminate terrorist launch pads and deny the use of the most dangerous routes of infiltration, are likely to be limited to brigade-level attacks.' 'These limited operations are unlikely to escalate to war across the international boundary,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The Indian ships' participation in MALABAR-16, a maritime exercise with the US Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, reflects the vital strategic importance of the region to India.
The navy finds itself fighting for relevance, with navy planners lamenting that its share of the budget has dropped dramatically.
Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh to be appointed chairman of chiefs of staff committee in January, Lt Gen Anil Chait to head army, say sources
Fake or exaggerated news against the forces and the administration are feeding public anger, often leading to violence.
In addition to the attack helicopters, the contract also includes fire control radars; Hellfire Longbow missiles; stinger Block I-92H missiles; night vision sensors and inertial navigation systems.
'In the present era of strategic uncertainty and rapidly changing threats, no military professional now disputes the unavoidable necessity of a joint planning staff for the planning and conduct of joint operations so that integrated operations can be planned 'top down',' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Disciplinary action is being taken against two officers in the shooting down of the chopper.
In the lead up to this week Indo-US Strategic Dialogue, for which United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, will be coming to Delhi, the Indo-US defence engagement is even more intense than usual.
'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.
