Gurmeet Kanwal

Arms Race Returns

March 07, 2018 Deccan Herald

The early contours of the muscular Trump doctrine can be discerned in three important documents released in the last several weeks by the US government. The US National Security Strategy (NSS), released in December 2017, ...

Jaitley’s Defence Budget Grossly Inadequate to Modernise the Army

February 02, 2018 The Quint

Given the continuously increasing threats and challenges to national security, particularly the possibility of a two-front war, the funds earmarked by the Finance Minister for defence expenditure for Financial Year (FY) ...

What India must worry about in 2018

January 01, 2018 Rediff.com

'China's growing nexus with Pakistan and the two countries' unresolved territorial disputes with India continue to pose a formidable national security threat to India,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal(Retd) The p ...

Raise Cost for Pak’s Rogue Army

December 27, 2017 The Economic Times

On December 23, an officer and three soldiers of the Sikh regiment were ambushed and killed by the Pakistan army in the Rajouri sector of the Line of Control (LoC). Their bodies were reportedly mutilated. The Indian army ...

In Complete Control: Xi Jinping is China’s Undisputed Leader

November 07, 2017 VIF

As had been widely anticipated, President Xi Jinping consolidated his position as the undisputed “core” leader of China at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held at Beijing in the third week ...

Pak’s Time of Reckoning

September 09, 2017 Deccan Herald

The US is clear that Pakistan has been playing a classic "running with the hare, hunting with the hounds" double game in Afghanistan.Gurmeet Kanwal After an embarrassingly long review process, US President Donald Tr ...

Book Review: Fighting to the Muzzle: A Tradition of Valour and Professionalism

September 06, 2017 CLAWS

There can be no doubt that the lion’s share of the credit for the military victory during the Kargil conflict in the summer of 1999, goes to the infantry battalions of the army for their unparalleled grit and determinati ...

Defence deal may repair India-Russia ties

August 03, 2017 Rediff.com

The $10.5 billion arms and equipment deal helped to arrest the recent drift in the 'special and privileged' strategic partnership, observesBrigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd) Defence Ministers Arun Jaitley and Gene ...

India-U.S. Relations: Continuing to Move Forward

July 14, 2017 CSIS

The Joint statement issued at the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first meeting with President Donald Trump in June 2017 resolved to “expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the countries and advance co ...

Tri-Service Special Forces Command: An idea whose time has come

June 14, 2017 The Week

Since the end of the Cold War, the character of conflict has been changing gradually, but perceptibly. While conventional conflict between nation states has declined, sub-conventional conflict, ranging from intra-state c ...

Gaining momentum

May 11, 2017 Deccan Herald

IS Cyber CaliphateIn a dramatic publicity stunt in January 2015, the Twitter and YouTube accounts of the US Central Military Command (CENTCOM) were hacked by a group that claimed to represent the Islamic State. To humili ...

Are we heading to World War III?

April 30, 2017 Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle

President Donald Trump of the United States came out all guns blazing and, in the course of one short week in April, stamped the early contours of his Administration’s foreign policy on the geo-strategic landscape. On Ap ...

Staring down the dragon

February 02 , 2017 Deccan Herald

INDIA-CHINA RELATIONS : China's attempts aimed at the strategic encirclement of India make it necessary to evolve appropriate counter strategies.China’s growing power and influence and its mounting military assertiveness ...

Will General Bakshi be India’s first CDS?

December 19, 2016 Rediff.com

In the present era of strategic uncertainty and rapidly changing threats, no military professional disputes the necessity of a joint planning staff for the planning and conduct of joint operations,' notes Brigadier Gurme ...

Lack of good bulletproof jackets reflects the holes in military modernisation

November 24, 2016 Hindustan Times

After a long wait of seven years the Army has finally begun to get the first lot of the bulletproof jackets (BPJs) that it has urgently been in need of. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar informed Parliament that 50 ...

With another deal stuck, ageing weapons can cost us dear in war

November 07, 2016 The Quint.com

Even as tensions on the Line of Control (LoC) continue to rise, the letter of offer and acceptance (LoA) received by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) from the Pentagon for the sale of 145 M777 howitzers to India expired on ...

Demographic dividend should not turn into a disaster

October 31, 2016 Deccan Herald

India is an ancient civilisation but a young nation state that is still engaged in nation building. The lack of internal cohesion; the tensions generated by the inadequacies in governance and the delivery of justi ...

Cold Start: India’s Pro-active Offensive Operations Doctrine for War in the Plains

Summer 2016 The War College Journal

Cold Start doctrine marks a break with the fundamentally defensive military doctrines that India has employed since gaining independence in 1947. Walter C. Ladwig III ("A Cold Start for Hot Wars? The Indian Arm ...

Rise of the Islamic State: New Threat to Stability

Jan-Jun 2016 Liberal Studies

Potent Threat In one week in November 2015, militants from Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate – also called ISIS, ISIL and Daesh – struck multiple targets in Beirut, Paris and Mali. Earlier, o ...

India-China Territorial Dispute: The Growing Challenge

April-June 2016 Indian Defence Review

China’s Rise is Fuelling Regional Instability China’s unbridled military growth, its assertiveness in dealing with territorial disputes on land and at sea and its quest to acquire naval bases in the northern Indian ...

Indo-US Strategic Partnership: A Force for Cooperative Security in the Indo-Pacific

May-June 2016 Salute

Meeting the Chinese Challenge Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs on March 2, 2016, Admiral Harry Harris, Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Command, called for quadrilateral ...

Policy Options for Trans-border Covert Operations

Aug 2016 Defence and Security Alert

Surgical Strikes across the India-Myanmar Border Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said at a function in New Delhi on May 21, 2016 that pro-active options must be exercised to meet threats and challenges to nationa ...

PM Modi’s plain speak on Balochistan, POK and Gilgit-Baltistan has rattled Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Army

September 01, 2016 India Strategy

New Delhi. Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi on India’s Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised Pakistan for supporting cross-border terrorism and obliquely criticised human rights vio ...

India Will Talk To Pakistan, But Only About Terrorism

August 27, 2016 The Quint

Modi’s New Pakistan Doctrine• India’s new policy on Pakistan clearly articulates that state sponsorship of terrorism is not acceptable.• Separatist groups cannot be given a back-door entry into negotiations as a third pa ...

Managing the Rise of China and its Collusion with Pakistan

August 17, 2016 Deccan Herald

India’s foremost national security challenge in the 2020-30 timeframe will be to successfully manage the rise of a militarily assertive China. Its feverish quest for a ‘favourable strategic posture’ will hamper the ab ...

Kashmir doesn't need guns, it needs a healing touch

July 10 , 2016 DailyO.in

Kashmir doesn't need guns, it needs a healing touchThere has been absolutely no progress in striving to reach a political solution acceptable to all the stakeholders in the ValleyGurmeet KanwalIn a grotesque turn of even ...

Defence: New FDI norms will aid indigenisation

July 3 , 2016 Deccan Herald

In the third week of June 2016, the government tweaked the norms for FDI in the defence sector to encourage multi-national corporations (MNCs) to invest in the production of weapons systems and defence equipment in India ...

Pampore attack: Pakistan doesn't want peace with India

June 29 , 2016 DailyO.in

The ambush of the CRPF bus near Pampore on June 27, 2016 by LeT operatives and the spurt in encounters with terrorists in Kashmir Valley recently show that Pakistan’s proxy war against India is continuing unabated. ...

The historic blunder of India no one talks about

June 18 , 2016 DailyO.in

ShareIn the last week of May 2016, Afghanistan, India and Iran signed a tripartite agreement under which India will develop the Iranian port of Chabahar and link it with Afghanistan via the Zaranj-Delaram highway that ...

Why India needs a national security strategy

June 17 , 2016 Rediff.com

Unlike other democracies, India does not have a formally declared national security strategy. The threats and challenges to a country's national interests in the prevailing geo-strategic and regional security environm ...

Thanks to Modi, a new symphony in India-US defence partnership

June 10 , 2016 DailyO.in

The newspaper headlines highlighted the shedding of the "hesitations of history" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outstanding speech to the joint session of the US Congress. The TV networks waxed eloquent on the numbe ...

NYT editorial attacking India's NSG claims shallow and ignorant

June 5 , 2016 DailyO.in

In a partisan and condescending editorial (No Exceptions for a Nuclear India, June 4, 2016) on India's application for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), The New York Times has written: "Membership ...

US’ Pakistan policy is hurting India-America ties

May 25 , 2016 DailyO.in

The Armed Services Committee of the United States Senate has recommended the allotment of USD 800 million to Pakistan by way of Coalition Support Funds for 2016-17, but made a portion of the military aid – USD 300 mil ...

Preparedness, military modernisation need govtt’s attention

May 25 , 2016 Deccan Herald

In the remaining years in power, the Narendra Modi government must address the ‘critical hollowness’ plaguing defence preparedness. The words ‘critical hollowness’ were used by former Army Chief V K Singh in a letter ...

Defence Budget 2016-17: Needed more Funds and Timely Spending

February 28 , 2016 VIF India

At the end of the third quarter of Financial Year (FY) 2015-16, 40 per cent (Rs 37,000 crore out of Rs 93,675 crore) of the capital budget of the armed forces remained unspent. As it will not be possible to spend all of ...

Changes in Defence Procurement Policies to Boost Make in India

February 23 , 2016 The Quint

In a meeting scheduled to be held on 23 February, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Manohar Parrikar will give approval to major changes regarding the policy on blacklisting of defence manufacturers, who vi ...

High on Aspirations (On the PM’s address at the Combined Commanders Conference)

February 19 , 2016 Deccan Herald

In a clear sign that long-neglected maritime security interests are gradually gaining prominence, the Navy hosted the President and the prime minister in less than two months. As many as 71 Indian ships and 50 navies of ...

Why India suffers from the Panipat Syndrome

February 12 , 2016 Rediff.com

'We rarely choose to fight when the threat is still a nascent threat.''When we do fight, we fight when the invaders reach Panipat and are preparing to knock on the gates of Delhi,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).In ...

For National Security’s Sake, Govt Must Push for Military Reforms

February 4 , 2016 The Quint

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said in March 2015 that he was giving himself three months to create the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). He said, “Integration has to be there and Chief of Defence Staff is a m ...

Get Pro-active, India

January 17 , 2016 The Week

Like the attacks at Gurdaspur and Udhampur in 2015, the terrorist attack on the airbase at Pathankot is another point on the continuum of the Pakistan Army-ISI sponsored proxy war to bleed India through a thousand cuts. ...

The Indian Soldier is a Role Model for the Nation: An Army Day Tribute

January 15 , 2016 Indian Defence Review

The Indian soldier is a role model for the people of India. Scrupulously honest, positively secular, completely apolitical, with an ethos of working hard, simple needs and frugal habits, he is the epitome of courage and ...

General O P Malhotra – A Personal Remembrance

January 12 , 2016 Indian Defence Review

After he took over as the Army Chief in June 1978, as a proud Gunner, General O P Malhotra’s first visit was quite naturally to Devlali – the home of the Gunners. On the evening of his arrival, the Gunners Amateur Dramat ...

Unstable environment

January 2 , 2016 Deccan Herald

For the mostly bitter India-Pakistan relationship, the year gone by ended on a positive note when the prime ministers of India and Pakistan met at Lahore on Christmas Day. While the Narendra Modi-Nawaz Sharif meeting its ...

Preventing another Pathankot: A soldier's solution

January 2 , 2016 Rediff.com

'Attempts at long-term rapprochement have been rather feeble from both sides. The primary cause of the lack of progress is that these efforts do not appear to have the support of the Pakistan army,' says Brigadier Gurmee ...

India-Russia Defence Cooperation: Strategic Partne

December 23 , 2015 CLAWS

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week, he will carry with him a proposal to acquire five units of the Russian S-400 air defence missile system, the acquisition of which was ...

'Defence contracts of Rs 90,000 cr signed'

December 12 , 2015 Deccan Herald

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has just completed one year in office, has given a free hand to the army to act pro-actively in response to cease-fire violations on the LoC. He convinced the Cabinet Committee on S ...

Fighting the Islamic State: Role of the P-5 Nation

November 23 , 2015 IDSA Comment

In the course of one week in November 2015, militants from Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate – also called ISIS, ISIL and Daesh – struck multiple targets in Beirut, Paris and Mali. Earlier, on Octo ...

Cohesion in fighting IS

November 20 , 2015 Deccan Herald

Upping the ante against the Islamic Caliphate proclaimed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, President Francois Hollande of France has ordered large scale air strikes in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris. President Barack Oba ...

The Islamic State and ‘New Terrorism’

November 16 , 2015 CLAWS

Terrorism is not an enemy. It cannot be defeated. It's a tactic... We're not going to win the war on terrorism. General William Odom, US Army, on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal programme, November 2002 Growing Influe ...

Defence Minister’s One Year Positive Record

November 14 , 2015 VIF India

During his first year in office, Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar gave a free hand to the army to act pro-actively on the LoC. He led from the front and worked closely with the leadership of the armed forces, the burea ...

ULFA Leader Anup Chetia’s Return Will Aid Assam Pe

November 13 , 2015 The Quint

ULFA ‘general secretary’ Anup Chetia has been handed over to India by the Bangladesh authorities. His repatriation has come six months before Assam’s Assembly elections and is likely to aid the flagging peace process. It ...

It’s Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif who Pulls String

October 22 , 2015 The Quint

De-Facto Ruler• Gen Raheel Sharif, Pakistan’s army chief seems to be keen for a fifty-fifty partnership in governance• Chief of Army Staff overrules Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on several occasions• After talks with Tali ...

Pakistan Atrocities in PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan

October 9 , 2015 CLAWS

In keeping with the Modi doctrine, India continues to talk tough with Pakistan over Kashmir. Responding to Nawaz Sharif’s four-point peace initiative (demilitarisation of Kashmir, formalisation of cease-fire, affirmation ...

OROP Only Partially Implemented: Open Letter by Veteran to PM Modi

September 5, 2015 The Quint

Dear Prime Minister,Thank you for honouring the commitment that you made under the Tricolour from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day. You and the Raksha Mantri deserve to be complimented.Though it took over ...

Negotiations with Pakistan: A New Policy

September 25 , 2015 CLAWS

The message delivered by External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj to Pakistan was firm and unambiguous: with a gun held to our heads, do not dictate terms; and, stop meeting the Hurriyat leaders. Consequent to this diktat, ...

The general who saved Punjab in the 1965 War

September 7 , 2015 Rediff.com

Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh, GOC, Western Command, disobeyed the then army chief and took on a superior Pakistani armoured column. The Indian Centurion tanks outgunned the more modern Pakistani Patton tanks in the ...

OROP Only Partially Implemented: Open Letter by Ve

September 6 , 2015 The Quint

Dear Prime Minister,Thank you for honouring the commitment that you made under the Tricolour from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day. You and the Raksha Mantri deserve to be complimented.Though it took over ...

Defence Procurement: Learning from Experience

July 15, 2015 Vivekanand International Foundation

On May 1, 2015, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, appointed a 10-member committee headed by former Home Secretary Dhirendra Singh, to review the defence procurement policies and procedures and to recommend fresh guideli ...

‘Hot Pursuit’: Capability, Ramifications must drive Policy Options

June 11, 2015 The Quint

On the intervening night of June 8th and 9th, the Indian army and air force launched two surgical strikes to eliminate the Naga and Manipuri extremists responsible for several incidents of violence on Indian territory. I ...

India and US sign 2015 Defence Framework Agreement

June 10, 2015 India Strategic

During the Narendra Modi- Barack Obama Summit on January 25, 2015, India and the United States had agreed to renew the 10-year Defence Framework Agreement that had been signed in June 2005. The renewed agreement was sign ...

Strategic Preparedness Must

April 30, 2015 Deccan Herald

Within the space of a few hours after the devastating Himalayan earthquake on April 25, the Government of India sprung to the aid of the people of Nepal with Operation Maitri, a large-scale rescue and relief operation. O ...

China’s Emerging Doctrine and Military Modernisation

March 21, 2015 VIF

When Asia’s leaders meet at the annual East Asia summit to discuss geo-strategic and economic issues of common interest, most of the discussions on the sidelines of the summit are centred on China’s aggressive posturing ...

Budget 2015: What finance minister Arun Jaitley should do for defence

February 23, 2015 Dailyo

While preparing to present the Budget for FY 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha on February 28, the finance minister would have doubtlessly had to wrestle with many competing demands, including worrying about increasing the defenc ...

Delhi Results: The People have Voted for New Politics

February 23, 2015 Dailyo

Aam Aadmi Party – 67; BJP – three. Almost completely unbelievable. Without warning, without notice, a super cyclone has swept across Delhi’s political landscape.The people of Delhi have rejected the politics of old – the ...

Aero-India: UAVs as force multipliers on future battlefields

February 18, 2015 Deccan Herald

Bengaluru will host Aero-India 2015, the 10th Edition of the popular air show, from today (Wednesday) till February 22. Though not as glamorous as fighter aircraft, one of the key technologies that will be displayed ...

Adding Wings to India’s Firepower

February 14, 2015 Financial Express

As the 10th edition of Aero-India gets underway in Bengaluru (February 18-22, 2015), attention will be focused on big-ticket deals like the long-pending multi-billion dollar acquisition of the MMRCA by the Indian Air For ...

Beyond the Modi-Obama hugs, a solid India-US partnership

January 27, 2015 Rediff.com

'It was statecraft that came out on top and clearly outweighed the optics,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd). 'And this is the first time the US has formally recognised the threat India faces from terrorist organisat ...

India-Russia ties: Strategic cooperation to transactional relationship

January 22, 2015 Deccan Herald

The attention of the nation is focussed on President Obama’s visit as the chief guest for this year’s Republic Day parade since the announcement was made. In the bargain, the recent visit by President Vladimir Putin of R ...

India-US strategic partnership

January 19, 2015 The Tribune

President Barack Obama's forthcoming visit as the chief guest on Republic Day is likely to give a fresh impetus to the Indo-US strategic partnership. While the relationship is substantive and broad based, the impressive ...

An Agenda for India’s new Defence Minister

December 12, 2014 Vivekanand International Foundation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed Mr. Manohar Parrikar as India’s new Defence Minister. The Minister will require all his management skills to set the right priorities for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the a ...

Parrikar prioritiesFrom procurement to production,

December 8, 2014 India Today

Almost six months after being sworn in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally appointed a full-time defence minister. As chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar was known for his dedication, competence, decisiveness a ...

No easy fixes in India-China relations

Sept 26, 2014 Deccan Herald

India must strive for an early resolution of the territorial dispute, so that it is left with only one military adversary.Gurmeet KanwalEven as President Xi Jinping was being entertained by prime minister Narendra Modi o ...

Xi must rein in the PLA from running its own foreign policy

September 18, 2014 Rediff.com

There is a wide gap between the stated intentions of China's top leadership to improve relations with India and the PLA's aggressive border management posture.The big ticket item on the table during Xi Jinping's visit wi ...

A full-time boss

August 9, 2014 Deccan Herald

Union Finance-cum-Defence Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Modi government’s first budget on July 10, 2014. The allocation for defence was increased by about 12.5 per cent over the previous financial year from Rs 203, ...

Getting Aggressive on Defence

May 26, 2014 Indian Express

While the new government will have its hands full dealing with socio-economic and governance issues, one of its key priorities will be to manage India’s multiple external and internal security threats and challenges bett ...

How measly spending may jeopardise India security

February 20, 2014 Rediff.com

The funds allotted for defence expenditure by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the interim budget are inadequate to meet the growing threats and challenges facing the country, for undertaking modernisation of the armed ...

A feel-good agreement with China BDCA fails to address the root cause of face-offs on border

December 7, 2013 The Tribune

A close examination of the BDCA reveals that it falls substantially short of removing the anomalies and impracticalities of the previous agreements that have not worked well, including the Agreement on Maintaining Peace ...

Defence Technology Indigenisation: Need to go beyond Lip Service

September 19, 2013 IDSA (ISSUE BRIEF)

IntroductionIn recent months, the Defence Minister, A K Antony, has been repeatedly exhorting the armed forces to procure their weapons and equipment from indigenous sources. It is a well-established fact that no nation ...

Modernising the Army’s Tactical-level Communications Systems

September 10, 2013 Indian Defence Review

India is likely to spend approximately US$ 100 billion (Rs 250,000 crore) over the next ten years on defence acquisitions. However, most of this expenditure will be on weapons platforms like main battle tanks, 155 mm art ...

DPakistan’s Afghan challenge National security remains a major concern

June 11, 2014 The Tribune

IN a historical first, an elected civilian government in Pakistan surprisingly survived its full term of five years – even though its record was uninspiring. Elections were held reasonably smoothly and the transition to ...

Security challenges require more funds

April 3, 2013 The Tribune

THE funds allotted for defence expenditure by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram for the financial year 2013-14 are inadequate to meet the growing threats and challenges facing the country, for modernisation of the armed fo ...

Peace, stability in Afghanistan

January 25, 2013 The Tribune

AT the Tokyo summit that concluded on July 8, 2012, donor nations pledged $16 billion up to 2015 for the socio-economic development of Afghanistan. The 70 nations that participated in the summit sent a strong message to ...

HarperCollins Publishers India

December 27, 2012 CLAWS Web Journal

The battle hardened Indian army, the fourth largest in the world, has been led by many able Chiefs, but few of them have made the effort to record their experiences for posterity. Nor have many naval and air force chiefs ...

Demilitarisation of Siachen

December 26, 2012 The week

The Siachen conflict is one among the several territorial disputes between India and Pakistan. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had approved the occupation of the Saltoro Ridge, west of the Siachen Glacier, by the Indian Arm ...

Peace and Stability in Afghanistan: The Role of Neighbours

December 26, 2012 IDSA

At the Tokyo summit that concluded on July 8, 2012, donor nations pledged USD 16 billion up to 2015 for the socio-economic development of Afghanistan. The 70 nations that participated in the summit sent a strong message ...

Reforming national security decision-making

September 20, 2012 The Tribune

Force structures must be configured on a tri-service, long-term basis to meet future threats and challengesSNIPPETS from the report of the Naresh Chandra committee on defence reforms have been appearing in various newspa ...

Tackle China with firmness

December 8, 2011 Asian Age

The real issue that needs to be debated is not whether India’s policy towards China is weak or strong; the issue is whether the policy promotes India’s national interests. China is rapidly emerging as a hegemon in Asia. ...

Ayo Gorkhali! The war cry that has done us proud

November 20, 2011 The Times of India

A week ago, 2/5 GR (FF) - the Second Battalion of the Fifth Gorkha Rifles, Frontier Force - popularly known as the 'VC paltan', celebrated its 125th anniversary. The famous battalion is called VC paltan because of the th ...

India-Myanmar Strategic Cooperation

October 2, 2011 USINPAC

The winds of change are blowing across Myanmar. Elections of a sort have been held and Ms Aung San Suu Kyi has been released. President Thein Sein recently invited her for direct talks, with which she expressed satisfact ...

Troubles increase for the US-Pak relationship

September 27, 2011 USINPAC

The post-Osama phase of the US-Pakistan relationship is proving to be extremely turbulent. The swift US reaction to the attack on its embassy in Kabul and the killing of the chief Afghan government negotiator, former pre ...

Wars in mountains Capacity building needed for future conflict

August 12, 2011 The Tribune

THE key geo-strategic challenges in South Asia emanate from the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and on the Af-Pak border; unresolved territorial disputes between India and China, and India and Pakistan; and the almost un ...

China’s Defence Policy: Speak softly but carry a big stick

June 24, 2011 USINPAC

China’s Defence Policy: Speak softly but carry a big stickGurmeet KanwalAs part of its efforts to appear transparent about its intentions and to dispel its image of a reclusive regime shrouded in secrecy, the Chinese gov ...

US needs viable Afghan exit plan

June 12, 2011 Sunday Times (of India)

There are probably few people in the United States who understand the American foreign policy better than Henry Kissinger. So, when the former secretary of state, who changed the balance of power in Asia with his "shuttl ...

China preparing Tibet as future war zone

June 3, 2011 Deccan Herald

The bonhomie at the Hainan BRICS summit notwithstanding, China’s massive infrastructure build-up in Tibet is causing concern to the government of India. Defence minister A K Antony has spoken in parliament of the rapid d ...

Worst-case scenario: Implosion

May 29, 2011 The Times of India

Pakistan's civil society is gradually being torn apart by radical extremism and its powerful army seems incapable of stemming the rot. The daring attack by terrorists of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on the naval a ...

What can India learn from Operation Osama

May 3, 2011 Hindustan Times

What is the main lesson for India from the spectacular military operation conducted by the CIA and the US Special Forces? Nations that are too moralistic and legalistic in dealing with the complex challenge of state-spon ...

Afghanistan: No Cause for Hope

April 11, 2011 USINPAC

The unending conflict in Afghanistan poses the foremost threat to regional stability in Southern Asia. Although President Obama has tripled the number of US forces to 100,000 in the two years he has been in office,,this ...

HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION IN LIBYA

March 25, 2011

The ongoing struggle of people across the Arab world to get rid of military dictators and tyrannical monarchies has led to a new debate about the efficacy of the emerging doctrine of humanitarian intervention. For exampl ...

India Attempts at Conflict Resolution: A Balance Sheet

March 16, 2011 USINPAC

The ultimate aim of a nation's armed forces is to deter war; fighting and winning is necessary only if deterrence breaks down. As the primary underlying cause of future conventional conflict on the Indian sub-continent i ...

The Dragon Bares its Fangs China Increasing Defence Expenditure is a Cause for Concern

March 7, 2011 USINPAC

While India's defence budget for financial year (FY) 2011-12 has remained unchanged in inflation-adjusted real terms (1,64,425 crore, US$ 36 billion), the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China has been given a 13 ...

Defence and Strategic Affairs Blog

February 1, 2011 USINPAC

The Jasmine revolution in Tunisia is only the latest manifestation of the power of the people to decisively compel dictatorial forces to yield. In February 1986, the Philippine people had brought down a dictatorship and ...

South Asia and beyond Raging conflicts

January 5, 2011 Deccan Herald

The regional security in South Asia is marred by Afghanistan’s endless civil war, despite the induction of additional Nato troops. From the point of view of international peace and stability, 2010 ended on a positive not ...

Strategic stability, tactical aggression

December 25, 2010 Pioneer

The Wen Jiabao visit proved to be a watershed in Sino-Indian relations because both sides have struck a mutually assured development paradigm despite retaining the option for conflict. As for the border dispute, it’s lef ...

Where is the Strategy?

November 27, 2010 Indian Express

According to a recent KPMG report, India is likely to spend up to $100 billion on the purchase of military equipment over the next 10 years. During the last decade, India acquired T-90S main battle tanks, the USS Trenton ...

Indo-US Defence Cooperation: Set to Chart a New Trajectory

November 23, 2010 IDSA COMMENT

During his recent visit to India, President Obama said all the right things and touched Indian hearts with his sincerity and humility. Was the appealing vision of his pleasing words symptomatic of glib political rhetoric ...

Column: Use that buying clout

October 27, 2010 Financial Express

Over the next five years India will spend over $50 billion on defence acquisitions. Among the weapons systems and equipment to be acquired, the big ticket items will include the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (Admiral ...

Time is ripe for the resolution of Kashmir issue

October 9, 2010 Deccan Herald

Almost 100 stone-pelting youth have died in the Kashmir Valley since June 2010 and many more have been injured in police firing. The ongoing agitation is slowly spilling over to some of the areas south of the Pir Panjal ...

Comprehensive Military Doctrine for Future Conflict

September 1, 2010 Geopolitics

As a growing regional power, India’s unstable strategic environment, unresolved territorial and boundary disputes with China and Pakistan and continuing internal security challenges pose serious threats to national secur ...

De-fanging the Armed Forces Special Powers Act

August 12, 2010 Geopolitics

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has come in for some sharp criticism in recent years. Its provisions are being reviewed at the highest levels and a decision by the Cabinet Committee on security is expected sh ...

So, what will the Kashmiri people accept?

August 11, 2010 Rediff.com

After very hard and acrimonious bargaining they will ultimately settle for unadulterated autonomy, which will allow them the right to rule themselves, within the Indian Union…Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears to have ...

The Pakistani Army: Still the Conductor of Pakistan

July 29, 2010 OpinionAsia.com

The revelations on WikiLeaks about the damage done to US, NATO and Indian interests in Afghanistan by the sinister nexus between the ISI, Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, and the various factions of the Taliban s ...

Why India needs Myanmar on its side

July 26, 2010 Rediff.com

'China has made rapid advances into Myanmar.... Radars have been reported to have been erected on Myanmar's west coast to monitor Indian missile tests…' Senior General Than Shwe, Myanmar's head of State, is currentl ...

IDSA COMMENT Strategic Stalemate in Afghanistan

July 19, 2010 IDSA Website

When the next Afghanistan Conference begins at Kabul on July 20, the United States (US) and its NATO/ISAF allies will have little to show by way of success in counter-insurgency operations. Eight and a half years after t ...

Justice for a Kargil hero

June 2, 2010 Deccan Herald

Brig Devinder Singh foresaw that Pakistan could launch major intrusions along the LoC in Kargil sector. The ghosts of Kargil keep coming back to haunt the army. However, a recent judgment of the main bench of the Armed F ...

Defence Doctrine Facing up to war on two fronts

March 4, 2010 The Tribune

THE Army Chief, Gen Deepak Kapoor's statement during the Army Training Command doctrine seminar in end-December 2009 that the Indian Army must prepare for a "two-front war" stirred a hornet's nest. Pakistan's Foreign Min ...

Need to modernise army communications

February 26, 2010 Deccan Herald

Communication systems will need to provide real time transmission of images. It emerged during the recent Defexpo at New Delhi that India will spend US$ 50 billion (Rs 250,000 crore) over the next five years on def ...

India ignored at Afghanistan summit

February 1, 2010 Rediff.com

Despite having invested $1.2 billion (about Rs 55,000 crore) in efforts aimed at Afghanistan's post-Taliban reconstruction, India [ Images ] is being treated as an also ran in the ongoing Afghanistan summit at London [ I ...

Waziristan: New battleground in war against terror

December 23, 2009 The Tribune

The myth of the invincibility of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in its South Waziristan stronghold has been busted by the Pakistan army. However, Operation Rah-e-Nijat (path to salvation or deliverance), launched in ...

Close Air Support to Land Forces New thinking is needed

September 2009 India Strategic

The importance of “close air support” to the land forces (increasingly called air-to-ground strikes) in winning modern wars is sometimes underrated. It is well known that just a few missions of fighter ground attack (FGA ...

Tunes of glory

July 5, 2009 Financial Express

In ‘The March Ahead’, the author establishes himself on the canvas of the great churning period in Indian history and reflects on his journey from the water world of Nabinagar in today’s Bangladesh to the Indian Military ...

ARTILLERY Delays Plague Modernisation

June 16, 2009 DNA

Since January 2008, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued three global tenders to revive the long-delayed plans to modernise the Indian artillery. Tenders were issued for 155mm guns and howitzers for the mountains, th ...

Apocalypse soon?

June 16, 2009 DNA

Expressing concern over Pakistan’s rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal, General Deepak Kapoor, India’s chief of army staff, recently called on the international community to prevail on Pakistan to cap its warheads at prese ...

Flawed intelligence gathering Need to revamp the system

April 24, 2009 The Tribune

THE Kargil Review Committee headed by Mr K Subrahmanyam had analysed the many shortcomings plaguing India’s intelligence acquisition, analysis and dissemination system. Though most of its recommendations were accepted by ...

India has the Edge Bruised in NWFP and FATA, Pakistan Army is in no Shape for

January 17, 2009 Sahara Time

Pakistan has consistently failed to convincingly end terrorism emanating from its soil because India continues to shy away from exercising hard options, which include punitive military strikes. Large-scale conventional c ...

Military options are never easy

December 29, 2008 Rediff.com

One month ago dastardly terror attacks in Mumbai led to the death of almost 200 people, including 30 foreigners and 17 security forces personnel, while hundreds others were injured. However, precious little has been ...

End of an Era Defence technology apartheid is over

December 15, 2008 The Tribune

INDIA is likely to spend over $50 billion on defence acquisitions over the next five years. Among the weapon systems and equipment to be acquired, the big-ticket items will include the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya ( ...

No stealth hazards

December 11, 2008 Hindustan Times

The 'confinement' of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and the arrest of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba's (LeT) chief commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi suggest that the Pakistan government is cracking down on terrorist outf ...

Tackling Pakistan Should it become necessary, many military options are available to the Government

December 6, 2008 An India Today Group daily newspaper

The rock solid electronic and circumstantial evidence that is now available about the origins, methodology, execution and minute-to-minute control in respect of last week’s Mumbai terror attacks clearly establishes the c ...

Guilty Before Being Tried!

November 30, 2008 Sunday Pioneer

Lt Col Shrikant Pasad Purohit of the Army's Intelligence Corps is “suspected” of terror. Yet, most television news channels and some newspapers violated all norms of journalism and went to town with malicious headlines: ...

Safety of Nukes Are Pakistan’s Nuclear Warheads in Danger of falling into Jihadi Hands?

November 15, 2008 Sahara Time

Due to the resurgence of Islamist fundamentalist forces and the army’s inability to fight them effectively, Pakistan is facing a grave internal security crisis as radical extremists gradually gain ground. Consequently, t ...

Indian Army Urgently needs to Enhance its Counter-intelligence Capabilities

November 10, 2008 An India Today Group daily newspaper

In a dubious first for a scrupulously apolitical army with time-tested secular credentials, Lt Col P S Purohit of the Intelligence Corps is “suspected” of having been involved in helping the perpetrators of the terror at ...

Pakistan: problem of failed leadership

October 22, 2008 Deccan Herald

Political turmoil, internal instability and a floundering economy make for a deadly mix.Deeply embroiled in political turbulence, internal instability and serious trouble on its western border, Pakistan appears to be hur ...

Regiment of Artillery: Firepower keeps the Peace

October 2008

"Ultima Ratio Regum" – the cannons were always thee “last argument of kings!” Though Babur is generally credited with being the first one to use artillery in India in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526, recent research ...

Maritime Cooperation: Indian Navy’s Gallant Effort

September 25, 2008

Over the last two decades, in keeping with its growing stature as a regional power, India has shown enhanced interest in international military-to-military cooperation, including maritime cooperation. Defence cooperation ...

The Lankan Tigers’ Air Attacks Threat to Region

September 2008

Two Czech-built Zlin Z-143 light aircraft of the Tamil Tigers are reported to have carried out an air raid against a Sri Lankan army artillery gun position soon at 1.43 AM on the night of April 26/27 at Weli-Oya, 280 km ...

Post-Musharraf Pakistan: At the Edge or Over?

August 27, 2008 Opinion Asia

Pakistan’s descent into uncertainty continues inexorably and the month of August proved rather eventful for the country.At the top of the list, General Musharraf finally realised that the leading political parties, the p ...

Ugly Stability: Failing to Read the Danger Signals in Kashmir

August 18, 2008 South Asia Monitor

Jammu and Kashmir is on the boil again and this time India mostly has its own sectarian politics to blame for the steadily deepening crisis. The informal cease-fire on the Line of Control (LoC), which had held up fairly ...

N-deal hangs in balance Whether it is McCain or Obama, Indo-US nuclear deal will see more downs than ups.

June 10, 2008 Deccan Herald

The lack of political consensus has almost checkmated the UPA government’s most important foreign policy and national security initiative – the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. Despite the irrefutable lo ...

Indian Army Vision 2020

May 11, 2008 The Tribune

Harper Collins India, New Delhi, 2008, 342 pages, Rs 495Calm, methodical and clear in tone, detail and argument, Gurmeet Kanwal lays out a vision for an Indian Army of the future, constrained only perhaps by a lingering, ...

The increased allocation for defence in Chinese budget has a message for India

March 13, 2008 Deccan Herald

While India’s defence budget for financial year 2008-09 has been hiked by only five per cent in inflation-adjusted real terms to Rs 1,05,000 crore ($26.4 billion), the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China has been giv ...

Defence cooperation: Need for a considered approach

March 2, 2008 The Statesman

Defence diplomacy is a potent instrument for promoting national interests. As India grows in stature, it will need to utilise defence diplomacy to the fullest extent to enhance its national interests. The overall vi ...

Pakistan's future under Musharraf

December 4, 2007 Deccan Herald

Musharraf's reaction to the crisis of internal instability can only be viewed as strategic folly. General Musharraf’s swearing in as a civilian President, his decision to lift the emergency on December 16th and his offer ...

What does the Post Emergency Worsening Situation in Pakistan Portend for India?

November 25, 2007 Sahara Time

The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), an autonomous New Delhi-based national security think tank, held a day-long seminar on the Emerging Situation in Pakistan: Implications for Indo-Pak Rapprochement on November ...

Indian Border Security: Poor Management in Evidence

November 25, 2007 Sahara Time

With a landmass of sub-continental proportions, India occupies a predominant strategic position in Southern Asia and dominates the northern Indian Ocean with a coastline that is 7,683 km long and an exclusive Economic Zo ...

LTTE’s growing air power A threat to regional security

October 29, 2007 The Tribune

THOUGH the Tamil Tigers have been steadily losing ground to the Sri Lankan armed forces this year, the ‘Tiger Air Force’, the air arm of LTTE, has been gaining strength. On October 22, the LTTE launched a pre-dawn coordi ...

A nuclear Iran is not in India’s interest

August 20, 2007 The Tribune

IRAN continues to relentlessly pursue its goal to enrich uranium despite the entreaties as well as threats of the international community. For India this has led to diplomatic arm-twisting that is undermining the country ...

Demilitarisation of the Siachen Conflict Zone: An Idea whose Time Has Come

June 20, 2007 Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies

The Indo-Pak rapprochement process has been floundering for over one year and is in serious need of some resuscitation. Though the two foreign secretaries met at Islamabad in March, nothing substantive was achieved. The ...

Creeping instability around India

June 4, 2007 IN PERSPECTIVE

Shaping a peaceful environment through selective intervention calls for hard policy options, writes GURMEET KANWAL. India’s regional security environment is characterised today by instability owing to the rise of Islamis ...

Foolish Noises to Cover up History

May 20,2007 SaharaTime

Normally print and TV media do stellar work in the national interest by exposing corruption, financial scams, fake killings and other wrongdoings by politicians, officials and policemen. However, sometimes the freedom of ...

Rotten politics behind police atrocities?

May 09, 2007 Economic Times

Yes it is, but the malady runs much deeper. A diabolical nexus between India’s self-serving politicians, the servile bureaucracy, the trigger-happy and medal-hungry police forces, unscrupulous businessmen, hardened crimi ...

Does Siachen have Major Strategic Significance?

May 8,2007 SaharaTime

Defence Minister A K Antony visited Siachen Glacier on 5 May 2007 and reiterated the official position on demilitarizing the zone of conflict by saying; "India is ready for a solution. But from the very beginning, our po ...

Lessons from LTTE strikes

May 1, 2007

The LTTE air raid brings out several lessons for both Sri Lanka and India. The Sri Lankan government can ill-afford to ignore this new threat. It must invest in better air defence coverage of Colombo international airfie ...

Lessons from LTTE’s Air Strike

April 7, 2007 PTI Feature

By successfully executing a spectacular nocturnal air raid on the Katunayake air base near Colombo on March 27, 2007, the LTTE has demonstrated that its rudimentary air wing has finally acquired teeth. This military-styl ...

Pervez Runs into a Rough Patch He needs to relent on his own people’s right to civil liberties

April 1, 2007 Sahara Time

The Pakistani people are living through turbulent times and, General Musharraf, the self-styled President, is under tremendous pressure. The United States-led anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan has shaken Pakistan’s ...

IN PERSPECTIVE Gains for both US and India

March 30, 2007 Deccan Herald

Indian technology, energy and economy will benefit as sanctions wind down. The Indo-US nuclear deal, signed in July 2005 at Washington D C, has been criticised on many grounds in India, the US and ...

India Lacks Offensive Punch Integrated Planning is the Bottom Line for Winning Wars in the Himalayas

March 11, 2007 Press Trust of India

The role of modern armed forces is to prevent conflict through deterrence and if it does break out, to fight and win – on the adversary’s territory. Future wars on the Indian Sub-continent are likely to be limited wars. ...

West Asia in Turmoil

March 10, 2007 Press Trust of India

Today, more than at any other time in modern history, West Asia in turmoil is a barometer of the world’s political climate. Though the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, not much has changed in West Asia. Israel is ...

Musharraf under siege: Endgame for Pakistan’s Military Regime

March 7, 2007 Asian Tribune

The Pakistani people are living through turbulent times and, General Musharraf, the self-styled President, is under tremendous pressure. The United States-led anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan has shaken Pakistan’s ...

Joint Operations in the Mountains

February 7, 2007

The role of modern armed forces is to prevent conflict through deterrence and if it does break out, to fight and win - on the adversary's territory. In any future war that the armed forces are called upon to fight in the ...

India's Reactive Strategic Culture must Change

December, 29 2006 Asian Tribune

Alexander of Greece, the Scythians, Genghis Khan, Mahmud Ghazni (17 times), Mohammed Ghori, Timur the Lame and the Mughals, among others, all invaded India through the Khyber Pass. But, like it is said of the Bourbons of ...

Lingering dispute with China India must strive for an early settlement

Decemebr 13, 2006 The Tribune

Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India was only the latest in a continuing series of high-level political exchanges. Political and economic relations have not been better since the 1962 war. Mutual economic depende ...

No Map in Sight: The India-China Boundary Dispute

November 22, 2006 OpinionAsia.org

Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India is the latest in a continuing series of high-level political exchanges between both countries. Political and economic relations have not been better since the 1962 war. M ...

Hu Jintao's Visit: More Form than Substance

November 21, 2006

In their summit meeting on November 21, 2006, President Hu Jintao of China and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed 13 agreements to further consolidate India-China relations. The most noteworthy aspect of the summit was ...

Musharraf's shoddy attempt to rewrite military history

October 9, 2006

General Pervez Musharraf's brazen attempt in his memoirs "In the Line of Fire" to whitewash the Pakistan Army's defeat during the Kargil conflict with India has once again focussed attention on the events of the summer o ...

America’s Summer of Discontent

August 30, 2005 Indian Express

One grieving mother camping outside the ranch where President Bush is on vacation has made her countrymen sit up and introspect about the war the US is waging in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan, mother of army specialist Casey Sheeh ...

India: Need for an Air Assault Brigade and Rapid Reaction Force

August 1, 2006

India will need to raise and maintain small expeditionary forces in a state of readiness to further its national security and foreign policy objectives. When the Taliban came to power, a perplexing question was what Indi ...

Uncle Sam’s bear hug

July 16, 2006 Chandigarh, India

THROUGH most of the Cold War and for over a decade after it ended, the phrase that best described Indo-US relations was “estranged democracies”, coined by Dennis Kux, a former US diplomat. The two democracies, the world’ ...

Siachen Conflict and the Indo-Pak Rapprochement

July 12, 2006

Visiting Research Scholar, Cooperative Monitoring Centre, Sandia National LaboratoriesDespite all the recent parleys, Indo-Pak relations are still stuck in the quagmire of deeply ingrained mistrust and a politico-diploma ...

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