The creation of a CDS has got the head right. Issues that were not talked about for years are now being discussed, points out Ajai Shukla.
This will be the first instance since Independence that two of the three service chiefs will be the government's chosen men.
'The leverage created by the Indian military must not be lost.'
Before migrating into the theatre command concept, it would be worthwhile to study the shortfalls experienced by the Tri Services Command in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and make good the deficiencies, suggests Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The Centre held that seniority is not the sole criterion for selection.
'The Indian Navy has sufficient combat power in areas of interest to India that can quickly scale up operations if the need arises.' 'This includes all the choke points leading into the Indian Ocean as also areas within.'
The search for the missing Malaysian airliner under India's 'Operation Searchlight' has been expended to the Bay of Bengal area 900km west of Port Blair by the navy, the defence ministry said on Friday.
Access to Sabang Port will allow the Indian Navy to dominate Malacca Strait more effectively, reports Ajai Shukla.
'If the almost literally heart-stopping Suez block has any positive outcome, it is to be hoped that it will accelerate the setting up of a fab (perhaps Taiwanese) in India,' asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
Given Prime Minister Modi's emphasis on "sharp(ening) coordination" rather than "joint command", analysts are guessing that a four-star permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee is likely, with the title of CDS, if not the functions and five-star rank, reports Ajai Shukla. Ajai Shukla reports.
The Bay of Bengal base will house nuclear submarines and aircraft carrier
Investigators were on Sunday examining a flight simulator found at the home of a pilot of the missing Malaysian plane with 239 people on board, as they refocused on "those in the cockpit" who knew how to avoid detection by radars.
'We should build a military with the capability to fight today's war on priority -- balancing it with the requirements of the future,' says Lieutenant General Anil Chait, one of the Indian Army's most cerebral thinkers who recently retired as chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, in his agenda for the new defence minister.
Cyberspace is a battleground as important as the traditional domains of air, land, sea and space, says US Defence Secretary Ash Carter, who visits India next week.
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.
Kuala Lumpur's delay in roping in India to help track the missing aircraft is an indicator that New Delhi must redouble its diplomacy and capacity demonstration in East Asia, feels Nitin Pai
The failure to restructure our armed forces in line with contemporary needs 14 years after the Kargil war will impose strategic costs beyond just delays and scandals, says Nitin Pai
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