Experts Speak
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October 18, 2019
Modi-Xi Chennai Connect
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The second informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping was held at Mamallapuram (UNESCO heritage) on October 11-12, which Modi termed "Chennai connect".
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October 18, 2019
Seahawks are Coming
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Going by news reports, the Indian Navy is set to acquire 24 x MH60R Seahawk Anti-Submarine Helicopters at a probable cost of $109 million per helicopter – total cost about $2.616 billion.
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October 7, 2019
Visit of Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in India on October 3 on a four day visit. Her first engagement was as Chief Guest in the India Economic Summit by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on October 3-4.
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October 7, 2019
Modi-Trump Bilateral - little gain
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump held a bilateral meeting on September 24 on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly session.
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October 7, 2019
China's 70th Anniversary
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)China's 70th anniversary celebrations displayed its military and economic might with the biggest ever military parade on October 1, even as Hong Kong witnessed massive demonstration on the same day with hundreds of youth battling police and locals also out on the street.
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September 17, 2019
Next Modi-Xi Informal Summit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)As time approached for the second informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2019, China took the despicable step of orchestrating a closed door meeting of the United National Security Council...
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September 5, 2019
20th India-Russia Annual Summit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 20th Annual India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit in Vladivostok, Russia and the 5th Eastern Economic Forum as the Chief Guest on September 4-5.
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September 5, 2019
Exchanging Defence Land
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)During NDA-1, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharanman's unilateral order to open all 62 military cantonments to public made headlines, with political victory parades led by MPs/MLAs marching through cantonments.
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September 5, 2019
Robot Tank, Robot Warship
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In March 2018, a video from CCTV-7 Chinese military channel, posted by the Chinese streaming platform Sohu, showed a PLA soldier driving the Type 59 from an independent computer terminal with a steering wheel to control and drive...
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September 5, 2019
Kamikaze Drones
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In July 2019, news emerged that the US Department of Defense (DoD) wants to purchase the Hero-120 loitering drone (termed "kamikaze" or "killer" drones) from Israel for operations by US Special Operations Forces (SOF).
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August 22, 2019
CDS Finally Coming
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In his characteristic style, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised the nation on August 15 by announcing India will have a CDS to head the Army, Navy and Air Force.
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August 22, 2019
INS 'Sindhuvir' for Myanmar
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)India is to transfer INS Sindhuvir, a Kilo-class submarine, to Myanmar later this year after being refitted indigenously.
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August 8, 2019
PM Modi's Bhutan Visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Bhutan on August 17-18. After assuming the premiership second time, Modi's visit is in line with government's focus on 'Neighbours First' policy; which will further strengthen India's special relationship with Bhutan.
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August 8, 2019
The Chimera of Military Integration
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the Combined Commanders Conference had said, "Reforms within the Armed Forces involve recognition of the fact that our Navy, Air Forces and Army can no longer function in compartments with exclusive chains of command and single service operational plans."
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August 8, 2019
Defence Exports
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Media reports of May 2019 indicated India had relaxed procedures to speed up arms sales to foreign countries.
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July 19, 2019
Japan's US-2i – back on track?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slated to come to India in September-October this year for the annual bilateral summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, discussion has emerged in the media about India procuring...
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July 6, 2019
First Budget of Modi 2.0 - defence ignored
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Budget 2019 of the new NDA government lead by Narendra Modi in parliament on June 5, 2019, with what she described as a 10-year vision.
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July 6, 2019
Puncturing Disability
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There is considerable debate over a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) circular dated June 24, 2019 saying that tax exemption for disability pension will be "available only to armed forces personnel who have been invalidated from service on account of bodily disability attributable to or aggravated by such service and not to personnel who have been retired on superannuation or otherwise".
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July 6, 2019
Second JAI Trilateral at Osaka
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)During the first ever meeting of JAI (acronym for the Japan-America-India Trilateral coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi using first alphabet of each...
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June 15, 2019
100 Day Agenda of the new NDA government
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Concurrent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government assuming charge, the Niti Ayog has announced on May 29, 2019, that government will consider a slew of proposals over the next 100 days to complete unfinished goals of fine-tuning reforms like the bankruptcy code...
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June 15, 2019
When HAL Went Pauper
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Media reports of May 29, 2019 revealed that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had plummeted to a meager 140 crore by March 31, 2019; lowest since 2004.
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June 15, 2019
Modi's Maldives, Sri Lanka Visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Close on the heels of oath taking of Modi-led NDA government on May 30, 2019 attended by heads of BIMSTEC nations, re-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first overseas visit to Maldives and Sri Lanka on June 8-9...
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June 15, 2019
The Education-Radicalisation Connect
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The new NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced it will roll out a plan for modernising madrassa education next month.
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May 31, 2019
BIMSTEC Heads at Modi 2.0 Inaugural
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In a deft move of immense significance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited heads of the Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) nations to the swearing-in ceremony of his new...
