'The Chinese are only about 160-170 km behind.' 'It will not take much time for them to bring their troops back, considering that they have better infrastructure -- and the weather is now favourable.' 'They can move in much faster as the terrain favours them.'
'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).
Access to Sabang Port will allow the Indian Navy to dominate Malacca Strait more effectively, reports Ajai Shukla.
The entire gamut of China's activities is aimed at keeping India on tenterhooks, cause fatigue to its troops and keeping its security system unstable, so that it cannot play a meaningful role in international geopolitics as an effective partner of the US and Japan, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
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.
Distinguished scientist and Director of Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), K Jayaraman said Bharat Dynamics Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, is currently producing 50-60 indigenously-developed Akash missile per month.
Internal strife and tribalism is endemic to Afghanistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last month.
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has come to an end with passengers' families being informed that the effort to find the plane has been suspended.
Major Suman Gawani, who served as a UN Peacekeeper in South Sudan, is the first Indian to receive the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. 'On seeing the Indian flag on my uniform,' she says,' the locals would get very excited and say, 'Hindi, Hindi'.'
China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarising its man-made islands in the past few years, which it says it has the right to defend.
As two recently declassified Intelligence Bureau reveal that the Jawaharlal Nehru government had spied on the family of Subhas Chandra Bose for nearly two decades, one of India's political mysteries takes centrestage. Rediff.com reproduces this 2006 report in which Sumit Bhattacharya reported that a website claims that Netaji, in fact, did not die in an air crash, as was being believed, and that Netaji had escaped to Russia.
'Neither will China -- at least for now -- because its troops are deployed in equal strength.' 'We are negotiating at equal terms right now and it's a game of patience.'
The US is not in a forgiving mood for being humiliated in such a manner by an insurgent force and made to look 'loser' internationally, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Singh apprised the Japanese leaders about Islamabad's 'evil design' on Kashmir at a time when Pakistan has decided to internationalise the issue.'
The CH-47F version of the Chinook that India is buying from the United States is a high-tech marvel.
Importers will now have to provide sufficient proof to the domestic customs authorities that the goods being imported have a minimum 35 per cent value addition in the country from which it is being exported to India.
To rise quickly in the PLA's hierarchy, you need to be close to Xi Jinping. Retired RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade on the changes in China's military leadership.
At any time, there is a need to operationally deploy two aircraft carriers in the vast Indian Ocean, asserts Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
The hike in the budget is the lowest increment in recent years apparently due to the heavy disruption caused to its economy by the COVID-19, according to the official media.
In bilateral interfaces relations with China have also to be given due weight, opines Premvir Das
As the PM completes three years in power, figures show that the spending on foreign travel has reduced as compared to his predecessors -- Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
'Whether it is the One Belt One Road project or building relationships in the Indian Ocean Region -- supposedly our area of concern -- the Chinese are seriously outpacing us,' points out Vice-Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
It is the surprise element of the unheralded shutters, who could pose a bigger threat to his medal aspirations at next month's Commonwealth Games.
'It is imperative to restore the dignity and authority of the services chiefs. Erosion of this has resulted in lowering of service efficiency. It is also time to end the practice of taking seniority as the sole criterion for appointing chiefs.'
The agreement would divert China's attention and keep them busy in the Pacific theatre, probably resulting in a reduction in threat perception in our area of interest in the Indian Ocean, notes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Flypasts, bands, helicopters dropping flowers over hospitals treating coronavirus patients are cute ideas for an Akshay Kumar film.' 'But when lakhs of workers at the lowest rung of the employment ladder would still be walking back home, this is the true 2020 equivalent of 'let them eat cake,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'And this mirror imaging is the most dangerous thing because it leads to tremendous misunderstandings.'
'The government must make clear once and for all that promotions in the Indian Army are not the right of individuals, but a privilege given in accordance with role and function.'
'Our strategy should be to 'hold the line' in the north on the Sino-Indian land frontier, but maintain and, if possible, enlarge India's current edge in the maritime south.'
According to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent, think tank dedicated to shifting the world's focus to peace as a positive and tangible measure of progress, India ranks 143rd
China's behaviour in the post-pandemic geopolitical landscape which may determine the Quad's future trajectory, notes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The Islamic State militants have released a second video of British journalist John Cantlie in less than a week which shows him warning US-led coalition against carrying out military operations against his captors.
'There are major implications for India. Though there was a transparently thin attempt to project the troop reduction as intended to promote peace, the downsizing is actually part of plans to streamline and strengthen the PLA, capable of defending China's national interests at home and abroad,' says Jayadev Ranade.
'The creation of Pakistan was integral to Britain's grand strategy.' 'If they were to ever leave India, Britain's military planners had made it clear that they needed to retain a foothold in the NWFP and Baluchistan because that would provide the means to retain control of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.'
However, Denmark said it is difficult to conclude on the real intention behind this.
India and China met and spoke a lot this year, but failed to produce any meaningful results.
China on Wednesday said the US' naval and air incursions in the artificial islands in the South China Sea will be counter-productive leading to "miscalculation" and "crisis", as Beijing summoned the American ambassador to protest the US Navy's sailing of a warship into the disputed waters.
'India should think big: About how in a multi-polar world, India can indeed be one of the poles, rather than being a secondary power that has to worry about 'alignment' with one of the poles. A G3 in other words, India should look to getting others to align with itself rather than the US or China,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Narrowing of differences on competing territorial claims along the un-demarcated LAC might take weeks, if not months, of hard-nosed negotiations. Without some give and take on both sides, the impasse will be hard to resolve, observes Virendra Kapoor.
