There are reports in the media about the home and defence ministries reviewing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and seeking to dilute some sections of the same. This is to cater for comments made by the supreme court, demands by the PDP and NC as also a few expert committees. Similar attempts had been made by the government […]
Nitin Gadkari, the union minister for shipping in an address in Mumbai last week, questioned the authority of the navy in blocking a proposal for a floating jetty in Malabar Hill of Mumbai. He went on to state, ‘Where is the navy at Malabar Hill? A mindset has developed to create roadblocks in projects. Bring the project before me. We […]
Background Over the years, despite a collection of ceasefire agreements, violations along the LoC continue to rise. These increased from 152 in 2015 to 820 in 2017. Infiltrating militants killed in 2015 were 30 and in 2017 they were 59. Foiled attempts rose from 18 in 2015 to 33 in 2017 and Indian army soldiers killed in J and K […]
In an article 07 Jan 18 and subsequent tweets, Chidambaram, the former home and finance minister, wrote that the present strategy of a ‘hard stance’ adopted by the government in Kashmir will never lead to a political solution. His views were based on data indicating that terror strikes have not reduced, while the killing of terrorists and losses of security […]
The recent international debate over Trump announcing the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the shifting of his embassy there, resounded in the UN. The UN security council voted 14:1 on the issue, with the US being compelled to use its veto for the first time in years. There was also a vote in the General Assembly, […]
Introduction President Donald Trump unveiled his National Security Strategy (NSS) last week. He announced his views on it, which is a departure from his predecessors. The Goldwater Nichols act mandates every US President to declare their NSS on a yearly basis. Most presidents issue one or two during their entire tenure (even if it spans two tenures of eight years). […]
The DRDO director general (BRAHMOS), Mr SK Mishra, while speaking during a session on ‘Role of DRDO in making India a world class defence hub’ justified high imports of military equipment. His reasoning was the existing security environment of the neighbourhood, wide weather variations in various parts of the country and our history of importing equipment. In his opinion, wide […]
As we celebrate Vijay Diwas, victory over Pakistan in 1971, it is time to retrospect. The 1971 war was a decisive victory. It concluded when Lt General AAK Niazi, then governor of East Pakistan, signed an unconditional surrender in Dacca on 16 Dec 1971 and Pakistani forces comprising of 93,000 soldiers, surrendered to the Indian army. Paintings of the surrender […]
A topic gaining prominence across the nation and being debated in multiple forums, mainly by political parties, is nationalism. It has been in the limelight since events criticizing the nation and supporting Afzal Guru began unfolding in JNU. Leading political parties have been blaming one another for changing the concept of nationalism on frivolous grounds, including religion. Despite orders from […]
Information on the armed forces flag day was for the first time well spread across the nation employing every medium, mainly social. While the event did have good coverage and possibly reasonable contributions flowed, however, the very concept and methodology of its conduct needs a revisit. It has followed a laid down schedule since 1949, with an increased emphasis this […]