Nobody bothered to articulate the upsides; instead, the four-year tour of duty and denial of life-long pensions got played up.
Job-seekers for government and related opportunities found that their future was at risk, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
'At 1.58% of GDP, the defence budget is one of the lowest since the Chinese aggression of 1962.' 'The government of the day has lost sight of the fact that defence of the country is as important as its growth,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'While all would agree on the need to be ready to launch cross-border strikes on terror camps, there is sharp disagreement on how best to do it.' 'Through IAF fighters, or surface-to-surface missiles?' 'Or should army Special Forces be created to do the job?' 'If air strikes are the agreed priority, additional funding must be made available for the purchase of fighters and missiles.' 'If it is to be Special Forces, the army must be facilitated in raising a Special Forces Command,' notes Ajai Shukla.
India's nuclear strategy, which has traditionally focused on Pakistan, now appears to place increased emphasis on China, the two experts claimed.
With his eye on next year's Party Congress, Xi Jinping is using the CCP's centenary celebrations to publicise the benefits for China from its leadership, and boost his image and contribution to China's rise, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
After spending 40 years in the Indian Army, Lieutenant General Subrata Saha marches into the electoral battlefield as the BJP candidate from Rashbehari.
Instead of "the dragon and the elephant compete with each other", "the dragon and the elephant dance together, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
Hoping to get a bigger slice in the pie of massive Indian defence modernisation efforts, the US has said the level of its willingness to share defence technologies with India has never been higher than it is now.
As Navy chief, Admiral Singh's immediate priority will be to expedite the long-delayed modernisation of the Indian Navy, including by inducting new warships, submarines and aircraft.
'The debate is not whether the Indian defence apparatus is in a state of disrepair, but whether it is capable of securing the defence of the country if any envisaged threat becomes real.'
'The defence minister is stuck in the trivial and frivolous with a clerical mindset merely to prove his so-called 'honesty" overlooking the primary aim of adding sufficient military muscle and firepower to the defence services,' says Bharat Verma.
Rs 275 cr payment to Tata Power (SED) blocked for putting Indian part
'Overlying his idealism was a hatred of war and of all things military. He gave no deep thought to politico-military matters and this prevented him from making sound security decisions.'
Xi ordered country's 2.3 million-strong military to be absolutely loyal to the party, to focus on how to win in wars, to pioneer reforms and innovation, to scientifically manage commanding a unit, to lead troops in accordance with the strictest standards and to take the forefront in complying with laws and regulations.
India will establish a joint mechanism with China in the next few months to resolve border issues while taking steps to modernise its military infrastructure in the face of Beijing "aggressively" shoring up its defence set up along the Line of Actual Control, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Tuesday.
As defence minister, Singh's most crucial challenge will be to speed up the long-delayed modernisation of the three services besides ensuring overall coherence in their combat readiness.
Stressing on the 'Make in India' initiative, a Ministry of Defence appointed committee has recommended enhanced private sector involvement by granting manufacturers tax and import concessions.
As India goes ahead with its plan to modernise the armed forces, US has pitched for India to buy defense equipments from American companies. "We think we have the finest military hardware in the world, and if India is upgrading its defense capabilities, they should buy American," State Department spokesman, P J Crowley told reporters.
In an address to the air warriors on the occasion of the 89th Air Force Day, the Chief of Air Staff also said that the IAF must demonstrate to the nation that external forces will not be allowed to violate its territory.
He praised the PLA's combat readiness.
The State Council, China's cabinet, has proposed the country's top legislature approve a 247.7 billion yuan (29.98 billion US dollars) national defence budget for 2005, a hike of over 12 per cent.
The report also revealed that the United States was still king with its expenditure representing about 40 per cent of the total Global Defence budget. India overtook Saudi Arabia and Russia to become one of the top five defence spenders globally.
"In an unprecedented move, the ministry of defence (MoD) has decided to delegate substantial financial powers to the Armed Forces for undertaking works for perimeter security of sensitive military installations," the ministry said in a statement.
China was a major focus during talks between United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Indian political leadership during his two-day visit.
The song, called 'Battle Declaration' focusing on winning wars, was posted on the People's Liberation Army daily's website last Thursday. It is the first PLA-made hip-hop video, the state media reported on Tuesday.
When China protested strongly over the August decision on J&K -- not once but twice -- we ignored it. And to compound matters, we simply turned our back and walked over to the 'Quad' alliance with the US, upgrading it to ministerial level, and thereafter began following the American footfalls on Taiwan and COVID-19 to taunt and humiliate Beijing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Military sources said the research ship Shi Yan 1 forayed into Indian waters in September but was forced to retreat after it was suspected to be involved in spying.
'Let us not, with all our drive for modernisation of the armed forces, send the forces to battle this time with second rung leadership,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
If the initial analysis of this YJ-21 is correct, then China becomes the first country in the world to operationally field such a missile from a naval vessel.
Presenting the Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal also said Rs 35,000 crore has been given under the One Rank One Pension scheme in the last three years.
'Once the military starts to draw up plans for using nuclear weapons, then nuclear weapons could be used earlier in a crisis than otherwise.'
A source in the Russian military-industrial complex told Russian information agency RBC that Russia and India are now reaching an agreement on changing the conditions of the 2004 contract for the carrier's overhaul, the paper said.
The president said China would never allow "any people, organisation or political party to split any part of Chinese territory out of the country at any time, in any form."
'In the Balakot operation, we had technology on our side, and we could launch precision stand of weapons with great accuracy.'
The Trump Administration's consideration in this regard comes months after a successful meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump at the White House on June 26.
Indian elections are won and lost on 'negative' imageries and campaigns - but not certainly on 'negativity' as a political trait and electoral creed, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'In the case of an India-Pakistan confrontation, the Chinese may undertake more than just posturing, thereby constraining us from deploying adequate forces for decisive results,' warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
He asserted that India has never been an aggressor and the Indian Armed Forces are perceived as defenders of humanity and peace across the world.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday indicated that the post of Chief of Defence Staff could be a reality soon, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked defence reforms as a priority and stressed that "jointness at the top" was a need long overdue.
French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, with about 12 Rafale jets on board, will arrive in India this week to take part in the 10-day naval exercise 'Varuna'.
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