The way ahead for India and Pakistan The Statesman 16 Mar 2021 The DGMO’s of Pak and India announced ceasefire, negotiated by high level backchannel diplomacy between the Indian NSA and senior Pak army officers, is currently holding. It is possibly the first time that India bypassed the Pak political leadership and discussed options directly with their army. It […]
Are the armed forces serious on theatre commands? CLAWS 15 Mar 2021 Addressing the Combined Commanders Conference, Rajnath Singh stated, ‘We are working towards increasing jointness in the armed forces. The optimal utilisation of our resources and rationalisation of manpower holds the key to jointness and better coordination between the forces.’[1] He added, ‘Our enhanced defence capabilities will allow […]
Increasing cyber threat The Excelsior 10 Mar 2021 The New York Times (NYT) in a recent article blamed a Chinese hacker group called ‘RedEcho’ for the failure in Mumbai’s power grid on 12 Oct last year which led to a power failure, stopped trains on tracks and hampered those working from home. The NYT claimed that this was possibly […]
Self-interest must guide India in Myanmar The Statesman 09 Mar 2021 In Myanmar, the army took over the country in a coup on 01 Feb, removing the elected government. Myanmar had previously remained under army rule from 1962 to 2011. Democracy in the country was still fragile, with the army controlling the shots from behind. The elected government had […]
A complicated Pak-Afghan scenario Bharat Shakti 03 Mar 2021 The US National Security Advisor, Jack Sullivan, spoke to his Afghan counterpart, Hamdullah Mohib, and stated that the US would support the peace process in an effort to achieve ‘a durable and just political settlement and permanent ceasefire.’ He also added that the US will review the peace deal reached with […]
China cannot accept body bags The Excelsior 04 Mar 2021 The Global Times, China’s official mouthpiece, commenting in an article of 20th Feb, post the announcement of Chinese casualties in the Galwan Clash, stated, ‘While the Chinese are mourning for the four young soldiers killed in last year’s border conflicts with Indian troops after China officially revealed the details […]
Power the best vaccine for peace on the borders The Statesman 02 Mar 2021 Indo-China disengagement in Ladakh is progressing smoothly. Post successful disengagement in Pangong Tso, talks are underway to enforce the same in other sectors. De-escalation and de-induction would follow disengagement. Confidence exists within the Indian security establishment that it will be implemented across all friction points […]
Entry and exit- decoding the Chinese game CLAWS 25 Feb 2021 The disengagement process in Ladakh is well underway. This will be followed by de-escalation and finally de-induction, ending, hopefully, the most serious crisis which engulfed the country in recent times. Northern army commander, Lt Gen YK Joshi, mentioned in an interview that occupation of the Kailash Ridge was […]
Indian Americans or just Americans NAAD Feb 2021 Since the swearing in of the Biden administration in the US, there has been a spate of discussion in Indian media on the number of Americans, with Indian descent or connections with India, who form part of the team. Apart from Kamala Devi Harris, who is the Vice President, reports state […]
Economic dimension key to QUAD success The Statesman 23 Feb 2021 The virtual foreign ministers meeting of the QUAD, hosted by the new US administration, last week, signalled a strong message to China. India for the first time used the term QUAD. Apart from its standard comments on freedom of navigation, there was also a reference for supporting ASEAN […]