Faced with a no win situation, elements in Pakistan have so far been, and would continue to calibrate the situation in such a way that a state of stalemate protracts. And, as such a game is played out, the Americans will be permitted to fly their unmanned aerial vehicles and target at their discretion.
The jihadis use stone throwing to draw fire from the security forces and cause casualties so that Kashmir is on the boil for a little longer. The solution to the turmoil is not concessions, but good governance.
In fresh revelations of provocative actions, Canada has denied visas to a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, three serving Brigadiers, a retired Lt General and a former senior Intelligence Bureau official on the grounds that their organisations have been engaging in violence.
Indian Army on Monday lodged a strong protest with its Pakistan counterpart over unprovoked firing from across the border on Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir which left a jawan critically injured.
In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops on Sunday opened fire on six Indian forward posts in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by indulging in firing on six Indian posts from 9 am on Sunday along the Line of Control in Krishnaghati area, 210 kms from Jammu, Brigadier Gurdeep Singh, (16 Corps) said. He said that firing was going on intermittently after Indian troops retaliated.
A regional power struggle between India and China, however muted be it, will be more and more evident as China pushes the envelope to be a greater global player. India must prepare for it, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The shrill politically-driven rhetoric demanding that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be repealed, if allowed to hold sway, may drive us deeper into the dark world of both Islamist terror and the Maoist insurgency, warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Irrespective of SAARC's banal performance audit, it would be at South Asia's peril to accept the idea that SAARC as a framework has little to offer, especially to its poorer members, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
In the Middle East, which is already coping with the Qatar-Saudi Arabia tensions, comes another pressure point.
Gaurav Negi, in his quest to meet the brave men who put their lives on the line to defend India, tracked down Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri. Chandpuri is the real-life hero who inspired Sunny Deol's character in the acclaimed film Border.
To get back into reckoning and ensure India's interests are given their due in Afghanistan, we need to evaluate a new mix of soft and hard options, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'China has made rapid advances into Myanmar.... Radars have been reported to have been erected on Myanmar's west coast to monitor Indian missile tests.'
Contradicting the Centre's announcement that 35,000 troops were sent out of the border state, the Army on Monday said personnel were only relocated as per security demands and that there was no major pullout.
Gogoi was detained by police in May following an altercation when he was allegedly trying to enter a Srinagar hotel with an 18-year-old woman.
Violating the ceasefire, Pakistani troops fired rockets and used heavy machine guns on Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Whilst politicians promise to uphold the honour and interests of our soldiers, the very opposite is being done, says Karan Thapar.
The global jihadi network is under pressure but it needs a long-term strategy to keep it in control, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
As it stands now, the ChonAn incident will perhaps come to pass without a major fallout. However, as and when young Kim Jong Un ascends to power in North Korea a period of greater assertiveness may be anticipated in the North's nuclear agenda, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan's Paktika and Khost provinces, thereby allowing militants to escape or seek reinforcement from the other side of the Pakistan border clearly exposes the US intentions, says a security expert.
Pakistani troops fired 15 under-barrel grenade launcher rockets on five Indian forward defence locations from its eight border posts along the LoC in Krishna Gati sub-sector of Poonch district at around 1815 hours on Saturday night, Brigadier General Staff, 16 Corps, Brig Gurdeep Singh told PTI on Sunday.
Taliban terrorists have on Saturday night held 10-15 hostages, including security personnel, hours after launching an audacious attack on Pakistan Army's headquarters in nearby Rawalpindi that sparked a fierce gun battle in which a Brigadier and five other armymen were killed.
After being indicted by the Armed Forces Tribunal for showing bias against a Brigadier and falsifying the accounts of the Kargil war, Lt Gen Kishan Pal on Thursday said he had "not fudged any war reports" and whatever he wrote about the battle was "unbiased".
With the Armed Forces Tribunal indicting a top officer for falsifying Kargil war reports and showing bias towards a brigadier, the army said it will take action on the issue after analysing the verdict.
Pakistan intelligence agencies have warned that militants may use an explosives laden vehicle to target the US Embassy in Islamabad. According to an intelligence report, two stolen vehicles, one of an army officer and the other owned by the Pakistan Navy, are likely to be used in the terror attack.
Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar, a former operative of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, has said that the US must directly talk to Afghan Taliban chief and his protg Mullah Omar to resolve the political situation in Afghanistan.
'In the absence of any further testing of nuclear warheads, it is essential to focus upon the associated structures of nuclear defence.'
In yet another violation of the ceasefire, Pakistani troops fired nearly 135 rounds on Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Sunday night, but there were no casualties.
'Only when India's adversaries are convinced that India has both the necessary political and military will and the hardware to respond to a nuclear strike with punitive retaliation that will inflict unacceptable loss of human life and unprecedented material damage, will they be deterred,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'China is mindful of the fact that it is not confronting the Indian Army of 1962. But the sabre rattling will continue.'
The best course of action for India remains to work within the space it has created in Myanmar and not make the junta too apprehensive, while still trying to nudge for greater political reforms, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd)
With Maoist insurgents offering more lethal battles, police battalions will need a transformation to standards very close to infantry units. Even with the best equipment and training, they will not succeed if they do not have a dynamic leadership, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Twenty years ago, over 50 days in the summer of 1999, the Indian Army fought some of the toughest battles in the annals of military history to evict the Pakistan army from Kargil. The battle to recapture Tiger Hill was a major turning point in the Operation Vijay campaign, points out Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The separatist resurgence in Balochistan is thwarting Pakistan's plans to build CPEC projects to optimally utilise Balochistan's energy reserves,' points out Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The Indian security set-up should look at the way the American security is organised and learn from it, says Brigadier S K Chatterji.
The security forces have killed a dozen militants in three separate gunfights in Jammu and Kashmir till Saturday.
elhi must expand and intensify its dialogue with countries like Russia, Germany and Japan -- all of whom have enormous stores of experience, financial resources as well as determination -- to enhance both goodwill and leverage, so that it is ready to play an active role to fill in the vacuum when the US-NATO-led troops' draw-down begins.
Security personnel on Friday night foiled an infiltration bid, after a brief encounter with militants along the Line of Control in Balakote area, nearly 190 km from Jammu. Troops patrolling the forward area along the Line of Control in Balakote in Poonch district observed some movement of militants and opened fire on them, said Brigadier General Staff, 16 Corps, Gurdeep Singh. Firing started from across the border, resulting in an exchange of gunfire for a brief period.
'There is no option but to successfully defeat the terrorist organisations inimical to India's national security and determined to create a communal-sectarian schism with a view to destabilising India on behalf of the ISI and the Pakistan army.'
The Pakistani military on Friday claimed its forces have entered the important Taliban stronghold of Makeen in South Waziristan even as gunmen injured an army brigadier and his driver in an audacious attack in the federal capital.
Nitin Gokhale pays his tributes to one of the finest armies of the world ahead of the 62nd Army Day on January 15, 2011
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