In a recent seminar on ‘Geo-strategic manifestations in Pakistan and implications for India’ at the Punjab University Chandigarh, army commanders of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) and Western Command shared their perspectives. The army commander ARTRAC stated, ‘Peace on the border is difficult to achieve at the tactical level alone. Restoring ceasefire requires statesmanship not brinkmanship.’ On the other hand, […]
In an article in the Business Standard yesterday, Abhijit Iyer Mitra commented that while the budget this year has little for modernization, the fault lies with the army. He defended his argument with examples, most of which were misplaced and ill-founded. In fact, the entire piece appeared to be written without any tactical or strategic knowledge, inputs based on incomplete […]
Till recently Indo-Pak diplomatic squabbles were confined to multiple international forums, including the UN and its agencies. It even involved ministers of both countries on the General Assembly (UNGA) platform. One nation rose to blame the other for their poor record of human rights, the other retaliated accusing the first of even worse performance. There has never been an occasion […]
In a recent reply to a question raised by Mr Chandrashekar, a Rajya Sabha MP, on whether the government was considering grant of Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU) for the armed forces, the MoS Defence replied in the negative, stating that the case was sub judice. In the meanwhile, there has been no action on the part of the MoD to even […]
Is China a genuine friend of Pak or is just claims to be. Its actions at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting prove it is exploiting Pak’s weakness to further its own agenda. During initial discussions of the FATF, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey withstood US pressure and were standing shoulder to shoulder with Pak, in preventing a US […]
Indo-China relations have been witnessing a see-saw effect in recent times. The Doklam standoff had pushed the relations to the nadir. Even at present there are claims that Chinese presence continues in Doklam while it continues developing facilities in the region. India, on the other hand recently reversed its stand and issued instructions that political leaders and public servants should […]
Lord Palmerston had rightly stated, ‘There are no eternal allies nor perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests, it is our duty to follow’. This is clearly coming to fore within our neighbourhood. For India it is an indicator that we need to monitor our region carefully as changing geo-political alignments would have major negative security […]
Both army chief General Bipin Rawat and vice chief of the army, General Sarath Chand, have through various platforms expressed frustration over money allocated in the union budget to the defence sector. The army generals have complained that the allocation hardly leaves anything for modernization and upkeep of the forces. In fact, it did not even cater for inflationary growth. […]
The army chief, General Bipin Rawat, stated in a seminar recently that the army plays a significant role in nation building. He added that a reasonable part of the defence budget is employed for development and providing facilities in remote areas. In most border regions, it is the army alone, which is closer to the locals living there, hence provides […]
President Ashraf Ghani recently gave a call for talks with the Taliban, while addressing an international conference in Kabul. In his call, he offered to allow the Taliban to establish itself as a political party as also work to removing sanctions against them in addition to other incentives. There have been mixed reports following the President’s call. One report stated […]