With ambitious generals knowing that political patronage might be rewarded, a worrying era of politicisation of the military looms ahead, observes retired Colonel Ajai Shukla who has known Generals Rawat, Bakshi and Hariz for a long time.
'The obsession of the Pakistan army with India leads to several destabilising things. Support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Support for groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, that have attacked India. Every time you get an attack like that there is a possibility of a war. And then the build up of the their nuclear arsenals. Chances of a nuclear weapon landing in the hands of a terrorist group, or a nuclear war breaking out, are tiny. But they are higher here than anywhere else in the world.'
'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.
Trump is the first nominee of a major party in over a century to have no experience whatsoever of any political, administrative or military office.
Opposition to tri-service structures comes not just from bureaucrats and politicians as the generals like to lament, but equally from within the military. Neither the army, navy or air force chiefs want to relinquish control over their theatre commands, with these cutting edge units placed under some commander who reports elsewhere, says Ajai Shukla.
India on Friday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi II missile, with a range of 350 km, from a test range near Balasore as part of a user trial by the Army.
'If you invest your entire capital in talks, you cannot abruptly change gear and decide on war.'
Agni-IV missile is equipped with 5th generation onboard computer and distributed architecture. It has the latest features to correct and guide itself for in-flight disturbance.
Inducted into India's SFC in 2003, Prithvi II, the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme is now a proven technology
'History will repeat itself after a decade or so and historians will point to the folly of May 2017 as the event that sowed the seeds of another 9/11,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
He was the army commander who planned Operation Bluestar. As army chief he planned Operation Brasstacks which rattled the Pakistan army. General K Sundarji was brilliant, ambitious and controversial, remembers Rahul Bedi.
Were the May 1988 nuclear tests a success? 20 years after Pokharan, a look back at those decisive atomic tests through the eyes of someone who knew.
India on Tuesday successfully test-fired for the second time in two days its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, from a test range at Chandipur.
India on Monday successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile -- with a strike range of 350 km -- from a test range at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha.
However, Trump sought to dismiss the charges by saying that these "Washington elites" should look for answers on why the world has become a mess.
'Openness is a great weapon in the armoury of more open societies. That's why the fight with Pakistan isn't just about India be six times bigger, but equally bitter and insecure Pakistan,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
The deal which is worth 7.87-billion (Rs 58,363 crore) comes with a saving of nearly 750 million (Rs 5,611 crore).
'Since each chief single-mindedly pursues his service's interests in the competition for turf and in core matters such as budget share. The CDS, therefore, must act as an "honest broker" whose decisions serve the broader national purpose, rather than narrow service interests,' says Ajai Shukla.
What is so honourable in defending or dis-honourable in not defending the 'Johnson line' in Aksai Chin? That is a question that needs to be asked to the Indian shouting brigade. The Chinese also need to be asked as to why they wish to implement the 'MacDonald McCartney' line drawn by British Imperialists? asks Col (retd) Anil Athale.
The sinking of INS Sindhurakshak is the worst accident in India's 47 years of submarine operations history and a big setback to its submarine operations, reports RS Chauhan
The Nobel Prize for Malala may have caused deep divisions across the globe and disturbed the peace, while the award to OPCW, though not without critics, may have served the cause of peace by eliminating a weapon of mass destruction from the face of the earth, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,' Trump said.
At no other time has a single meeting of the leaders of two democracies been so critical and hazardous.
'For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror.'
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claims that ISI got hold of bin Laden in 2006 after paying bribes to some of the tribal leaders
After weighing all the costs and benefits, the next administration is likely to reduce and restructure assistance to Pakistan but not to end it altogether, says Daniel S Markey.
'The crisis-hit brand needs to react, and react without sounding outraged or angry. '
Two US warships fired at least 50 cruise missiles at the Ash Shai'rat airfield in Homs province in western Syria, from where the US administration believes Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad fired the chemical weapons against his own people, media reports said.
