Experts Speak
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April 20, 2018
Defence Minister’s Russia visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent three-day visit to Moscow was primarily to attend the Seventh Moscow Conference on International Security. However, she also met the Russian Defence Minister, General Sergey Shoygu in a bilateral meeting, focusing on reinforcing defence cooperation with specific focus on military-technical cooperation.
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April 20, 2018
Defexpo 2018 — Not much headway
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In his speech to the 10th edition of the four-day DefExpo 2018 held in April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the steps taken by his government to open up defence manufacturing to private sector companies...
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April 20, 2018
New Think Tank for military strategy planning?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)This is to make defence preparedness much more than an acquisition-centric exercise. The Committee will reportedly have a cross-ministry mandate, headed by the National Security Advisor (NSA), and members being the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, three Service Chiefs, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) as its members.
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April 16, 2018
A Powerful Impetus for Make in India
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)Production of a fighter aircraft in India through a joint venture, will provide a major impetus to the Make in India programme in the Indian aerospace industry.
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April 4, 2018
Military's manpower shortages
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Responding to questions by two MPs, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently informed Parliament that the Armed Forces had a total shortage of approximately 60,000 personnel excluding those belonging to the medical and dental streams.
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April 4, 2018
The Chinese challenge
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Post being anointed President for life, Xi Jinping told 3,000 legislators of the Chinese Parliament on March 20, 2018, "The Chinese people have been indomitable and persistent.
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April 4, 2018
Hoax call of integrated theatre commands
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Headlines like 'Govt moves on integrated theatre commands; amends rules to bring three forces under single leadership' appearing in the media on March 19, 2018, caused considerable excitement in the public domain.
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April 4, 2018
The fiasco of GSAT-6A
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On March 29, 2018, ISRO launched the communication satellite GSLV Mk-II (GSLV-F08); carrying the 2,140kg GSAT-6A, it took off from Sriharikota and some 17 minutes later the three-stage rocket injected the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
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March 15, 2018
20 Years of Indo-French partnership and Macron’s India visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)France was the first country in the world with which India signed a strategic partnership in 1998; between French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Indian space scientists received initial training in France after Pokhran-II, France recognizing India as responsible nation while balance West blocked out India.
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March 15, 2018
Visit of Vietnam President boosts India-Vietnam strategic partnership
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The three day visit (March 2-4) this year by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang’s was testament to the growing closeness in the bilateral security ties between India and Vietnam. His visit came just few weeks after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to India as chief guest at India’s Republic Day Parade 2016 along with heads of states of all other ASEAN countries.
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March 15, 2018
Indo-US 2-by-2 dialogue
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Post US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2017, congratulating him on India’s 71st Independence Day, the White House announced that India and US will start a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue to enhance “peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region...
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March 15, 2018
MoD shown the mirror
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In end February 2018, public become aware that MoD for once was shown the mirror to recognize its ugly face. According to media reports, MoD had deduced internally that the much publicized ‘Make in India’ initiative is floundering...
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March 5, 2018
Rouhani’s visit boosts Indo-Iranian construct
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived at Hyderabad on February 15, 2018, visited Hyderabad for two days and arrived New Delhi on February 17.
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March 5, 2018
Milan 2018 — Setting China’s Tail Afire?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)‘Milan’ is a multilateral naval exercise hosted by the Indian Navy under aegis of the Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC) on biennial basis. Naturally, it is held in Andaman & Nocobar Islands.
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February 19, 2018
PM Modi’s West Asian outreach
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Palestine, the UAE and Oman, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, while briefing media had outlined that the visit would be of strategic importance in terms of energy and security...
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February 19, 2018
Mujahids to fuel Indo-Pak border more?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)As per recent reports, Pakistan is deploying several battalions of its Mujahid Regiment, along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) to infiltrate terrorists and target Indian security forces. According to intelligence sources, these Mujahid battalions are 641, 647, 654 and 655. Mujahids are equivalent to our Territorial Army and these four battalions now are permanently embodied.
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February 19, 2018
JeM attacks rouse MoD
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Continuing terrorist attacks, especially the recent ISI-backed JeM terrorist attack of Sunjwan Army Camp in Jammu appears to have roused the MoD into action. The Ministry okayed 1,487 cr to boost the security of Army camps on Saturday, February 12 - same day as the terrorist attack on Sunjwan Army Camp...
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February 19, 2018
Terrorist attack on Sunjwan military camp
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On February 10, 2018, the army camp at Sunjwan in Jammu was attacked by JeM terrorists in early hours of the morning. Sneaking in, the terrorists entered family quarters of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and firing began at 5 AM. The encounter continued over three days resulting in the death of five army personnel including two JCOs, and seven injured including civilians. Three terrorists were killed.
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February 19, 2018
The Faux Pas in Maldives
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The strategic importance of Maldives to India needs no emphasis; located in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives archipelago comprising 1,200 coral islands lies next to key shipping lanes which ensure uninterrupted energy supplies to countries like China, Japan and India. But happenings in the recent past indicate, Maldives has been sucked into the gravitational pull of China, away from India, just like Nepal.
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February 19, 2018
Perimeter security of military establishments
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Post the terrorist attack on IAF’s Patahnkot airbase on January 2, 2016, the MoD had appointed a committee headed by Lt Gen Phillip Campose, then Vice Chief of Army Staff, to review the security set-up for the military bases and suggest ways to improve it. The Committee found gaping holes in the security set up of many installations and submitted its report to the then Defence Minister in May 2016.
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February 5, 2018
Indo-ASEAN relations – Get strategic boost
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Republic Day 2018 was unique and very special with 10 leaders of ASEAN nations gracing the occasion with ASEAN completing 50 years of its formation and India completing 25 years of India-ASEAN partnership that commenced in 1992.
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February 5, 2018
Artificial Intelligence in Defence
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The next level of strategic cooperation between India and Japan has become apparent with the news that India and Japan are to work together to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in the defence sector.
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February 5, 2018
India in Australia Group – Looking at NSG
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)January 19, 2018 saw India becoming a member of the Australia Group. The Australia Group restricts trade in materials used to make chemical and biological weapons.
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February 5, 2018
Coming – Long range BrahMos
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)When India successfully test-fired its nuclear capable Agni-V ICBM on January 18 this year, China had made no official statement, but after the December 2016 Agni-V test China had stated it hoped India's testing of the nuclear-capable Agni-V ICBM...
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February 5, 2018
Navy's minesweeping capability – Going kaput
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Military strategy demands the ability to present adequate force wnenever and wherever threats emerge in quick time. Ironically, India appears happy with moving from crisis to crisis.
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February 3, 2018
Defence Budget 2018-2019
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Defence Budget for 2018-2019 stands at 2,96,511.41 cr (1.58 per cent of GDP).
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January 19, 2018
Visit of Israeli Prime Minister
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's six-day visit to India has very smoothly taken India-Israel relations to the next level.
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January 19, 2018
ISRO's centurion leap
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)ISRO launched its 100th satellite in space on January 12, 2018 as its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40) successfully placed 31 satellites in two different orbits in one of the longest missions.
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January 19, 2018
China's military base in Maldives
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)An article in the China Daily during 2014 stated China plans to build 18 "Strategic Support Bases" in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), outlining a blueprint for the establishment of 18 Chinese "Overseas Strategic Support Bases" like in Djibouti, Aden, Salalah, Seychelles, Gwadar in Pakistan etc.
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January 9, 2018
Trump Twitter-bombs Pakistan
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The dawn of New Year in Pakistan was twitter-bombed by US President Donald Trump accusing Pakistan of double-dealing by saying, "The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.
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January 9, 2018
Neglecting welfare — Affecting soldier's morale
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)A recent editorial in a national daily titled 'An Unhappy Army' states that unflattering information on the internal "atmosphere" in the armed services is seldom made public: the bad-for-morale argument serves to keep things under wraps.
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January 9, 2018
Jiwani PLA base — Major strategic gain for China
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)According to a recent report in The Washington Times, China is constructing its second overseas military base in Pakistan at Jiwani in the Gulf of Oman, as part of a push for greater power projection capabilities along strategic sea routes.
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January 9, 2018
Defence Budget 2018-2019 — Another negative in actual terms?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Defence Budget 2018-2019 is to be unveiled shortly. What will be allocated to the Armed Forces is awaited with trepidation considering successive defence budgets...
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January 8, 2018
Visit of Israeli Prime Minister - Expectations
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit India commencing January 14.
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January 8, 2018
CPEC glitches temporary - But violence to continue
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)First signs of hiccups in the nearly $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, inked during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Pakistan in April 2015...
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January 8, 2018
The 3D Revolution
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)From 1984, when Chuck Hall of 3D Systems Corporation developed the first working 3D printer, the 3D industry has progressed at an unbelievable pace.
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December 4, 2017
Republic Day Parade 2018 will be special
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)That Republic Day Parade 2018 will be special is probably an understatement. Never have 10 heads of states been invited to this event, which India has done this time...
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December 4, 2017
Ivanka Trump boosts Indo-US relations
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The 8th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), jointly hosted by the US and India and attended by 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors and eco-system supporters from 159 countries was held in Hyderabad from 28 to 30 November, 2017.
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November 15, 2017
India, US, Japan, Australia quadrilateral kicks off
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)November 12, 2017 witnessed the first meeting of officials of India, US, Japan and Australia meeting at Manila, giving shape to security cooperation...
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November 15, 2017
Continued US military assistance to Pakistan is unfortunate
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)When President Donald Trump unveiled his new Af-Pak policy on 21 August 2017 through a televised speech, he was most direct in telling Pakistan how it has been playing the double game with the US.
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November 15, 2017
Joint Training Doctrine
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)As a follow up to the ‘Joint Doctrine, Indian Armed Forces - 2017’ in April this year, the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) has now issued...
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November 15, 2017
Nirbhay-BrahMos Combo — Nemesis of adversaries
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)December 21, 2016 was bad for India when the trial test of the nuclear-capable ‘Nirbhay’ long-range cruise missile failed for the third time. According to DRDO officials, “The booster engine in Nirbhay’s first stage started working. The missile lifted off from its launcher.
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November 15, 2017
The Doodle of Indo-Pak talks
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Much speculation is in the air that Indo-Pak talks are round the corner and that foreign pressure will make Pakistan slowly come around. Nothing could be farther from the truth despite Pakistan’s sweet pill of granting wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet him.
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November 8, 2017
Afghanistan via Chabahar — Strategic move
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran in May 2016, The trilateral engagement between India, Iran and Afghanistan was historic, expanding avenues of trade for India with Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Russia through the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).
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November 2, 2017
Thumbs Up for the Rotary Wing – Indian Navy
By Rear Admiral Sushil Ramsay (Retd)The Indian Navy is facing acute shortage of the Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH) for replacing its aging fleet of Chetak helicopters for the frontline Frigates and Offshore Patrol Vessels with small-decks and aircraft carriers, as also for the shore based flights to extend support out at Sea for the smaller ships not designed to carry NUH.
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October 23, 2017
Defence Minister's Diwali in Andaman & Nicobar Command
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's two day visit to the Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC), and spending Diwali with the troops and families was a nice gesture.
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October 17, 2017
Visit of James Mattis — And Indo-US Defence Cooperation
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)US Secretary of Defence James Mattis arrived on a two-day visit at New Delhi on September 25 to hold talks with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He is the first cabinet rank official under the Trump administration to visit India.
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September 20, 2017
Modi's Myanmar visit – And the Rohingya issue
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Myanmar on September 5 for a two–day visit on his way back from the 9th BRICS Summit at Xiamen in China.
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September 20, 2017
Parrying ToT – US Defence firms spoof Make in India
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)It is well known that US firms Lockheed Martin and Boeing are bidding to enter the 'Make in India' initiative for supplying combat jets and military equipment to India.
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September 20, 2017
Indo-Japanese Strategic Partnership boosted
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Indo-Japanese relations have always been special. Even during the recent Doklam standoff, it was Japan's envoy to India Kenji Hiramatsu who said there should be no attempt to change the status quo on the ground by force; categorizing the crisis...
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September 20, 2017
Indo-Russian defence ties – Waning is misnomer
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Even as the armies of India and US are engaged in joint military two-week exercise 'Yudh Abhyas 2017' to hone their skills in counter insurgency and counter terror operations under a joint brigade headquarters at a military base in Washington...
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September 13, 2017
No Nonsense Approach of the New Defence Minister
By Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd)So while the enthusiasm of the Defence Minister to interact with the Service Chiefs is most welcome and is praiseworthy, we recommend that she should pay more attention to the Department of Defence Production, the Ordnance Factory Board...
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September 12, 2017
Various challenges facing the new Defence Minister
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Mrs Sitharaman holding independent charge of Ministry of Commerce & Industry did have an overview of the pathetic state of equipping of the military; the chapter on defence on official website of Ministry of Commerce & Industry in 2014...
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September 4, 2017
Lady at the Helm of Affairs
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)The challenges before the new Minister of Defence are formidable. Given her track record, the Indian armed forces are full of hope for better days ahead!
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September 4, 2017
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman as Raksha Mantri
By Rear Admiral Sushil Ramsay (Retd.)Appointment of Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, September 03, 2017 as the Defence Minister of India was welcomed as a refreshing news.
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September 4, 2017
New Defence Minister
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman has been appointed as the next Defence Minister. She is not the first lady holding this appointment since Indira Gandhi also held this portfolio, same as Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh Today. But she certainly is the first 'full-time' lady Defence Minister of India.
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September 4, 2017
President Trump's Af-Pak Policy
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Pakistan's has been playing the double game successfully all these years despite US and NATO military commanders in Afghanistan pointing out what the ground situation was; implying terrorist sanctuaries inside Pakistan must be destroyed.
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September 4, 2017
Selective Military Reforms – Why not holistic?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Based on recommendations of the government-appointed Lt Gen D B Shekatkar Committee "Enhancing Combat Capability and Rebalancing Defence Expenditure of the Armed Forces", government has approved 65 of the 188 Committee recommendations mainly pertain to Army that included redeploying 57,000 personnel.
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September 4, 2017
Doklam Pullback – Advantage Modi
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There is no doubt that the simultaneous pullback from the Doklam standoff by the Indian Military and the PLA is advantage Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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August 22, 2017
The Doklam Standoff
By Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd.)In all cases of boundary disputes between two countries, the sticking points evolve on the basis of historical records and differing perceptions of the boundary lines because of the inaccuracies of the old surveys and/or the mental conditionings of the people...
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August 21, 2017
The Doklam spill
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Never had one heard of any military in the world stooping so low as to indulge in stone-pelting.
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August 21, 2017
Indo-US Defence Cooperation – Geostrategic elevation
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The US Departments of Defence (DoD) and State Department, in a recent joint report to their Congress, said, "We see a growing convergence with India on our strategic outlook for the region, and we view India as an increasingly important regional security partner within and beyond the Indo-Asia-Pacific region."
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August 11, 2017
Confronting the Dragon
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)The need of the hour is for the Indian armed forces to be prepared to meet with the challenges of a two-front war in the worst case scenario.
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August 10, 2017
Enhancement of Defence Budget 2017-18
By Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd.)A few days ago there was a report in the media regarding non-availability of certain categories of ammunition which was causing great concern among the Services...
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August 10, 2017
Rejuvenation – A Crying Need for India's Submarine Fleet
By Rear Admiral Sushil Ramsay (Retd.)There is an emerging view that despite the approved programmes for rejuvenation, India is unlikely to have a credible submarine fleet by 2030 to match the emerging prowess of China in this segment of maritime power.
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August 10, 2017
Pakistan – in US terror spotlight
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The US has listed Pakistan among the nations providing "safe havens" to terrorists, saying terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and JeM continued to operate, train, organize and fundraise inside the country.
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August 10, 2017
China conquers Hambantota
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Sri Lanka's Hambantota port has been officially transferred to China for 99 years by the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
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August 10, 2017
Switching military uniforms to Khadi would be retrograde
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)According to a media reports, the Khadi Villages Industries Commission (KVIC) had requested the Armed Forces to consider using Khadi uniforms for security personnel, and the Ministry of Defence has sent specifications of military uniforms to the KVIC.
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August 10, 2017
Additional defence allocation of Rs 20,000 crore will only bridge partial criticalities
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)As per media reports, the MoD has sought an "urgent" additional allotment of Rs 20,000 crore for combat readiness of Armed Forces.
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August 10, 2017
UAV swarming – Needs focus
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Coinciding with China's military parade to mark the 90th birthday of the Peoples Liberation Army, China's first batch of unmanned aerial vehicles conducted live fire drills.
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July 31, 2017
Beyond the 18th Vijay Diwas
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)The 18th Vjay Diwas will be celebrated with the usual aplomb on July 26; wreath laying, homage and tributes to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in evicting the treacherous enemy.
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July 31, 2017
CPEC – China's yokel of terror
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)According to Pakistani media, there was a major attack on Pakistan Navy at Jiwani in Gwadar on June 19 when four gunmen on two bikes ambushed a vehicle of navy officers when they were on a routine round. The attackers opened indiscriminate fire killing one officer and wounding five.
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July 31, 2017
Malabar 2017 – Guilty conscience pricks China
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)During Malabar 2016 conducted in the Western Pacific, the Chinese media had gone ballistic alleging that the "Malabar naval exercise involving the Indian, US and Japanese navies is designed to "target" China's submarines in the East and South China Seas and to back America's Asia-Pacific rebalance strategy".
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July 31, 2017
Souring Iran-Pakistan relations
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)The decline in Iran-Pakistan relations is continuing, the major reason being the same as in India-Pakistan and Afghanistan-Pakistan relations; Pakistan sponsored terrorism. In May this year, Iran warned Pakistan that it would hit terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan if the Pakistani Government does not confront militants who carry out cross-border attacks.
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July 31, 2017
Special Operations Division
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)At the recent two day Unified Commanders' Conference held on 10-11 July, Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra apprised the audience that the Defence Cyber & Space Agencies and Special Operations Division (SOD) will soon become a reality.
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July 7, 2017
PM Modi's Historic Visit to Israel
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)Prime Minister Modi's visit to Israel from July 4 to July 6 was historic being the first Prime Minister of India to visit Israel. If the Israeli paper 'Marker' wrote on June 28 "Wake up: the most important PM of the world is coming", Modi's visit...
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July 7, 2017
Defined Strategic Partnership boosting Make in India – but much work remains
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)Defining the 'Strategic Partnership' (SP) took some 18 months after the Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) 2016 was released. The private industry that had been waiting with baited breath, responded immediately.
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July 7, 2017
Another ISRO Milestone – more to follow
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)As the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket's XL variant lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 9.29 AM on June 23, carrying earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 series weighing 712 kg and 30 co-passenger satellites...
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July 7, 2017
Chahabar – and US-Iran tensions
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)The trilateral engagement between India, Iran and Afghanistan during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran in May 2016 was historic, expanding avenues of trade for India with Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Russia through the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).
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June 30, 2017
A Historic Meeting
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)The historic meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump is expected to propel the relationship between India and the US to greater heights.
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June 29, 2017
Modi-Trump Meet – amidst Modi's 3-Nation Tour
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump on June 26. Modi's US trip starting June 25 was part of his three-nation tour commencing with Portugal.
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June 26, 2017
Guardians for the Indian Navy
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)There is considerable optimism in India that the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump will usher in a new dawn in the relationship between India and the US.
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June 23, 2017
New Indigenous Bullet Proof Jacket for Forces
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)In an article titled 'Bullet Resistant Vests' in April this year, it was reported in these columns that Amrita University, Coimbatore is offering highly advanced technology bullet proof jackets (BPJs) and the proposal titled "Development of Hyper Velocity...
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June 23, 2017
QCG - flogging the dead horse?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)The Pakistani media is upbeat with the news that Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to continue with the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) established for talks with the Taliban in order to bring them into the reconciliation process. Obviously, Pakistan wanted to show some sort of diplomatic 'victory' after Chinese President Xi Jinping snubbed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by not granting him te customary meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan...
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June 23, 2017
AUSINDEX-17 - why should China bellyache?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)AUSINDEX-17, the joint India-Australia naval exercise was conducted from 13 to 17 June in the Indian Ocean. Every time India conducts / participates in bilateral / multilateral naval exercises in the Indo-Pacific, China goes bellyaching.
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June 8, 2017
PM Modi’s 4-nation tour
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his four nation tour to Germany, Spain, Russia and France on May 29, it was reported that his main focus would be bilateral cooperation on economic (in backdrop of India having passed GST Bill...
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June 8, 2017
Another giant leap with GSLV Mk III
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)When India fired the high thrust cryogenic engine CE-20 launching GSLV Mk-III in its first experimental flight from Sriharikota on june 5, it was a monumental leap drawing the curtain on what the US sanctions prevented ISRO from doing in 2003, even as the US seeks strong ties with India in wake of all round Chinese aggression.
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May 30, 2017
Strategic Partnership Model — Game changer?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)On May 20, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley finalized the broad contours of the Strategic Partnership (SP) policy.
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May 30, 2017
New Defence Procurement Organization
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)According to recent media reports, government is mulling setting up a new autonomous organization, 'Defence Procurement Organization' (DPO), to be created within the MoD to deal exclusively with procurement for the Armed Forces as recommended by a committee headed by Dr Pritam Singh...
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May 30, 2017
Ransomware — Beware!
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)WannaCry or WannaCry 2.0 the ransomware that struck globally some 150 countries last month affected some 200,000 PCs worldwide.
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May 30, 2017
Empowering DIPP — or weakening defence?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)Considerable confusion prevails about whether the proposed Defence Procurement Organization (DPO), as a follow up to the Dr Pritam Singh Committee recommendations, is to be 'all encompassing' in matters of defence procurement, which it actually should be.
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May 30, 2017
Next level Cyber War
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)The news about IAF's Sukhoi SU-30 gone missing near India-China border has been making headlines.
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May 25, 2017
Well begun...and miles to go — NDA@3
By Rear Admiral Sushil Ramsay (Retd.)After what was termed as a lost decade as far as building up the strategic assets from the national security perspective, during May 2014, India witnessed the...
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May 25, 2017
Defence modernisation in three years of NDA rule
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd.)The three services had suffered prolonged neglect in respect of modernisation in the period 2004 to 2014 owing to a number of factors.
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May 25, 2017
NDA's achievements in defence sector in three years
By Lt General V.K. Kapoor (Retd.)The Modi government which completes three years on 26 May 2017 is planning to celebrate their achievements by putting out a report card giving out statistics...
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May 25, 2017
Defence in 3 years under NDA II
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)On May 26, 2017 the NDA II government completed three years in office. Last three years have seen India rising in economic strength and making way for greater say on the world stage.
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May 20, 2017
US nudges Pakistan — Wee bit only
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)The US National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has blamed Pakistan for deteriorating India-Pak relations and warned that the ties might worsen further if another "high- profile" terrorist attack emanates from across the border this year.
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May 20, 2017
Beyond ICJ ruling on Kulbhushan Jadhav
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd.)The unanimous verdict by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) staying the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Yadav was on expected lines because Pakistan had violated India's right, provided under the Vienna...
