Tension between India's civilian and military leadership has steadily increased over the past few months and now appears to be at the highest it has been in decades. In his latest fusillade, the chief of army staff, General V K Singh, has said that he was offered a Rs 14 crore bribe by a retired army officer in order to clear the purchase of a set of armoured vehicles.
The Supreme Court's non-intervention in the age row in a substantive manner has not cast any blemish on the integrity and professionalism of Army Chief Gen V K Singh. But it does cast a blemish on his image in the eyes of his jawans and junior officers, writes B Raman
The army chief said that India needs to broaden its understanding of national security and must examine non-traditional threats like pandemics "de-novo" as they have the potential to inflict severe damage on the country. "We need to act and prepare ourselves accordingly."
Virtually indicting former Army chief and Union Minister Gen V K Singh, the Armed Forces Tribunal on Friday quashed the court martial of Lt Gen P K Rath who was punished for his alleged role in a land dealing in West Bengal.
The petition, likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday, sought the court's direction to the Director General of Military Intelligence to withdraw its June 6 policy to the extent that it orders all the members of the Indian Army to delete their accounts from Facebook and Instagram and 87 other applications.
Army Chief General V K Singh has told the Supreme Court that he was treated by the government in a manner which reflects total lack of procedure and principles of natural justice in deciding his age.
The Pakistan Army chief will not like to place himself in a position where he has to overthrow the elected head of state and the supreme commander of the armed forces, says B Raman
Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma on Monday visited the Tangdhar sector of the Line of Control in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.
Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, whose appointment as Army chief had kicked up a row, on Thursday took over as the next head of the 1.3 million strong force succeeding Gen Bikram Singh who is retiring.
At a time when the defence ministry was considering his date of birth issue, Army Chief General V K Singh had approached the prime minister's office seeking its intervention in the matter.
India's Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh opened secret talks with Pakistan Army chief 10 months ago to build on the cricket-inspired diplomatic thaw between the two countries, a media report said on Saturday.
Following the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, criticism of Pakistan Army Chief inside the country has grown. His close ties with the Barack Obama administration has not gone down with the army. But will Pakistan's most powerful man be overthrown? B Raman analyses
There have been serious acts of omission by the COAS as well as by the defence minister and these amount to a serious case of dereliction of duty, says B Raman
At a time when China is trying to make its foray into South Asia, India should use its shared history to strengthen its ties in the region, says Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Lt Gen P K Rath, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff-designate, was on Friday found guilty by an Army court martial in the Sukna land scam, becoming the highest ranking serving officer to be convicted for corruption.
General Bajwa gets inputs from his senior officers, but he has the final word, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani has promised jobs for former Taliban fighters.
The award for Major Gogoi is seen as a backing of the action.
General Rawat said Indian forces will face the PLA troops if they come again in Doklam.
The Indian Army on Monday celebrated the Infantry Day, marking the landing of first batch of troops in Kashmir 67 years back to push back Pakistani troops, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying tributes to the martyrs who dedicated their lives to protect unity of the country.
'The Indian armed forces not only ensure protection of human rights of our own people but also of adversaries and deal with Prisoners of War as per the Geneva Conventions'
'By convention, the prime minister is technically kept in the loop for the DG, ISI's appointment.' 'It remains to be seen if Prime Minister Imran Khan is able to indicate any preference by then,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
General Ehsan Ul Haq, former director of the Inter Services Intelligence, has urged the United States to stop demonising the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and pressuring Pakistan to go after it, saying it's not a priority for the Pakistan army.
The seventh round of military talks between India and China held on Monday was "positive and constructive", and both sides agreed to earnestly implement the understanding reached by their leaders to not turn differences into disputes, a joint statement by the two armies said on Tuesday.
The team of 21 Rashtriya Rifles had entered the house of a civilian to prevent a hostage situation when they came under attack from the terrorists who had already reached there. While the four army personnel and the police Sub Inspector lost their lives in the encounter, the civilians trapped in the house were safely evacuated.
Responding to Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor's statement that the Indian Armed forces were ready to fight Pakistan and China simultaneously, Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervz Kayani said the situation in the region could get out of control due to such "dangerous adventurism".
The navy finds itself fighting for relevance, with navy planners lamenting that its share of the budget has dropped dramatically.
Army chief General Naravane said the ongoing dialogue will sort out all the perceived differences between the two countries.
Officials in the government, whether in the Civil Services or the Armed Forces, follow the laid down guidelines, and release information as quickly as possible. The media will not then 'overplay' the events.
Slain Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had asked the Pakistan Air Force to be ready for attacking India's nuclear facilities, when reports surfaced in 1990 that United States, Israel and India were planning to strike Pakistan's nuclear establishments.
It would perhaps have been better for Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh to have been elevated to the top post by the new government, notes R S Chauhan.
The high court conducted the hearing in-camera after the counsel for the Centre requested for it on the ground that it was a very sensitive decision taken by the Army and the inputs cannot be made public.
It is the first highest level face-to-face meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May.
This was the first time General Rawat flew in the home-made fighter jet, known for its agility, being the smallest and lightest multirole supersonic fighter jet in its class.
'If one puts the context of what Xi Jinping said at the UN about not wanting a 'hot or cold war with any country', one realises that his speech was quite bizarre.' 'The world does not expect such statements from China, a nation aspiring to be a superpower.
The high court said he has a choice to make and asked him to delete his FB account as the policy to ban the use of social networking platforms for army personnel was taken keeping in view the security of the nation.
'They will try more rounds of military level talks and move it to the diplomatic and political domain to see if there is a possibility of a solution -- and like the CDS said if that does not happen, we are prepared.'
Army chief General M M Naravane on Tuesday hoped for an amicable resolution of the military standoff with China in Ladakh through talks based on 'mutual and equal security' even as he said India will have to be prepared to deal with a 'two-front' threat scenario due to the potent and collusive threat from China and Pakistan.
'The Chinese can't be trusted hence the need to verify and re-verify.'
Kovind is the first president to visit the Siachen base camp since the visit of the then president APJ Abdul Kalam in 2004.
