The tearing hurry to form theatre commands has to be replaced by a balanced and deliberate approach. We need to accept that this process will take time if executed correctly and in the best interests of the Indian armed forces, argues Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Ahead of his first visit to India, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said the United States is looking for new partners and relationships in Asia Pacific region which represents both opportunities and challenges.
A 140-strong Indian contingent is participating with troops from the 25th Infantry Division of the US Pacific Command in Yudh Abhyas 06-02, the second training exercise of its type this year.
'It will be a repeated folly to ever think that China will not attack us.'
The navy finds itself fighting for relevance, with navy planners lamenting that its share of the budget has dropped dramatically.
'New Delhi and Washington are now on the same page, on dealing with growing Chinese assertiveness, across the entire Indo-Pacific region,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy, Chancellor, Central University of Jammu.
The India-Japan joint naval exercises are a strategic signal for China, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'The anti-India biases of the Western elite can be attributed to the unease these privileged nations feel at the rise of Asian nations like India and China.' 'But what ought to shock all right-thinking Indians is that many of our own countrymen/women have joined this chorus,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
BWith a distracted president brooding in the White House, Pompeo seems to think his day has come. He seems to be pushing a personal agenda before a target audience in America, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'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).
'Relations between India and Japan are robust and devoid of either shadow of history or any irritant.' 'In fact, there is plenty of warmth and goodwill earned over history. There are no negatives but only opportunities,' notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
As the United States and China joust for supremacy, India might remain on the sidelines with its limited resources.
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.
Not to be left behind, the armed forces have planned yoga sessions on board warships and even at Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, to celebrate the first International Yoga Day on June 21.
'But India, increasingly, is not that far behind, which is a story I never expected to tell.'
'One must remember that a dragon has a forked tongue,' warns Vivek Gumaste.
All that India must aim for is to match China's military prowess adjusted to equal Beijing's India-specific military capability, argues Vivek Gumaste.
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.
Kalashnikov assault rifles, popular with terrorists and national armies in Asia and Africa, have been given a makeover and a new logo by its Russian manufacturer that has dubbed them as "weapons of peace".
'Amid the frequent cries that the defence budget falls short of what is needed, we tend to ignore the reality that any enhancement in the allocation is just not possible, and the armed forces have no option but to operate within this constraint.' 'So, unless deadwood -- especially manpower -- is identified and eliminated, we simply cannot have a modern military of the type that India needs,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
Pakistan on Tuesday hanged its 100th convict since a moratorium on death penalty was lifted in December last year, prompting rights group Amnesty International to call it as a "shameful milestone".
Arpinder Singh clinched India's first men's triple jump gold in 48 years with a jump of 16.77m in the Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Wednesday.
'The China Pakistan Economic Corridor is Pakistan's number one preoccupation today -- and tensions with India and the $46 billion projects simply do not go together,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Former European champion and an experienced Australian boxer Kerry Hope dared India's knockout king Vijender Singh ahead of their WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight championship title to be held in New Delhi on July 16.
Admiral Sam Locklear heads the US Pacific Command, making him the most powerful military commander on earth. With 60 per cent of the US Navy under him, PACOM oversees 52 per cent of the planet. Locklear is America's military pointsman for 36 countries, including India and China.
The onus today is on China, but it also requires a little diplomatic finesse from India, backed by a modernised armed force, argues BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in this excerpt from his new book, Himalayan Challenge: India, China And The Quest For Peace.
That Australia is ready for a substantive engagement is evident from its 2013 Defence White Paper, which emphasised the need to build stronger defence relations with India, says Ajai Shukla
As the pandemic unfolded, the India-China relationship has come under severe stress. To restore normalcy, agreements between the two countries must be respected scrupulously in their entirety. Where the Line of Actual Control is concerned, any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo is unacceptable, declares External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
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).
American lawmakers and experts called for cutting off aid to the country and listing it as a state sponsoring terrorism.
The United States for the first time has successfully tested a ground-based missile defence system which intercepted a simulated incoming missile over the Pacific Ocean.
Powerful senators write to US Defense Secretary Hagel to support a robust defence relationship with India to achieve shared goals and form an unwavering bond between the world's two largest democracies. Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC
'When you meet Rahul Gandhi, you will know he is definitely the right guy to lead this country.'
'If a 'two-front war' develops, Iron Brother may only turn out to be a drag on the PLA, since Pakistan is in no position to wage a war with India,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Both India and Pakistan are now, for the first time in history, very closely allied and connected with the US -- economically and politically.'
'India appears to have stood its ground on strategic autonomy by resisting US pressure on Russia, China and Iran, but succumbed to the temptation to walk into a tighter embrace in defence cooperation, a high priority of the Trump administration,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Swaraj expressed satisfaction over the agenda of the inaugural dialogue while giving the details of the deliberations.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances