Breaking News
Breaking News
Revitalising the Strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Being a country with immense potential, India also holds the advantage of geographic centrality that boosts India in its quest for becoming a key maritime power in the Indian Ocean…
Emerging Global Partnership of Democracies
Great power rivalry and global power contestation is witnessing a new phase. Usually, the race for global leadership precedes a conflict involving a large number of countries categorised as allies…
The Dubai Air Show 2021: Opportunities For The Indian Armed Forces?
The Dubai Air Show (DAS) 2021 was held at the Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai from 14-18 November 21 and is the first and largest such event since the cancellation of…
Iran Nuclear Deal: One Last Chance to Salvage it
Iran nuclear talks are set to resume in Vienna on 29 November 2021. The last round of talks, sixth in the series of talks since it commenced this year, were…
New COVID Variant Omicron Triggers Global Alarm
The discovery of a new coronavirus variant named Omicron triggered global alarm on Friday as countries rushed to suspend travel from southern Africa and stock markets on both sides of…
Pakistan I.M.F’d
Pakistanis were ecstatic when Prime Minister Imran Khan said ‘absolutely not’ to a question on whether his country will give bases to US to carry out operations in Afghanistan. Imran’s…
Is War Between Russia and Ukraine Imminent?
Russian troop movements near Ukraine have drawn concern from Kyiv and the United States that it might be considering attacking its neighbour. Here is a look at some of the…
Kashmir : The Negative Spiral Returns
There are certain characteristics in insurgencies or terror campaigns, and the counter operations undertaken to neutralize them, especially in the Indian context. The belief emanating from my Counter Insurgency and…
African Nations Mend and Make Do as China Reduces Funding for BRI
Deep in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, members of the National Youth Service tirelessly swing machetes to clear dense shrubs obscuring railway tracks more than a century old. It's a distinctly…
India’s Dhanush Howitzer: Has The Phoenix Risen?
In an effort towards modernising its Artillery profile, the Indian Army (IA) embarked upon the Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan (FARP) post the 1999 Kargil War, with a vision towards streamlining…
International Affairs
View All
Pakistan and The Paradox of Power
By Sushant Sareen
‘Tourists’ In Belarus Become Refugees in Poland
By Reuters and Chanakya Forum
What’s in the Glasgow Climate Pact?
By Reuters and Chanakya Forum
India-Israel Relations : Venturing Beyond Bilateral
By Daniel Carmon
The General’s Desk
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (R) 
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (R)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
OP-ED
-
Delhi Declaration-Forging a Consensus on Afghanistan
By Kanwal Sibal
-
Decision Time Has Arrived For India
By Prof Madhav Das Nalapat
-
Afghanistan In Turmoil
By General JJ Singh (Retd)
-
Broader Non-security Quad Agenda Serves India’s Interests
By Kanwal Sibal
-
Air India – Ready For Take Off Now; Goodbye Fabian Socialism
By Lord Meghnad Desai
Cockpit Conversation
Cdr Sandeep Dhawan
Cdr Sandeep Dhawan
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
Policy & governance
View All
A Foreign Policy for the Next Decade
A report authored by eight strategic thinkers, including two former foreign secretaries and hosted on the website of the Centre of Policy Research (CPR), entitled ‘India’s Path to Power: Strategy in a World Adrift’ contains several suggestions for extensive change
By TP Sreenivasan
Combating Trans-Border Crimes With Operationally Empowered BSF
The notification of 11 October 2021 from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) amending the area of jurisdiction for Border Security Force (BSF) to carry out search, seizure and arrest has drawn strong reactions from a section of political circles and experts on border man
By B N Sharma
Corporatisation of Ordnance Factories – Overcoming the “Last Great Problem”
With the dedication of seven new units of the Corporatised Ordnance Factories, Ministry of Defence seems to have summited the “last great problems” which to mountaineers denotes a peak that remains unconquered. Professionalising the processes at the Ordnance Fac
By Col (Dr) DPK Pillay (Retd)
The CIA’s New Adaptation Strategy Against China
Earlier this month, the US’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released a story on its official website that stated, “CIA makes changes to adapt to future challenges”. The title of the story is instructive in its usage of the terms “changes to adapt”. This is i
By Dr Dheeraj Paramesha Chaya
Weapon platform
View All
India’s Arjun Mark-1A Vs Pakistan’s VT-4: Rival Chariots of Fire
No manoeuvre machine on land can cause the adversary as much anxiety and fear of being annihilated as can the Main Battle Tank- indeed there is no sound more terrifying than the rumble of steel over battle grounds- the terror of these deadly chariots of fire. -By the A
By Brig Arvind Dhananjayan (Retd)
India’s Rafale vs Pakistan’s JF-17: Who Steals The ‘Thunder’?
Historically, the moniker of ‘fighter aircraft’ came into use much after the advent of such machines. The British Royal Flying Corps (the Air Arm of the British Army in World War I, until the Royal Air Force formally came into existence in April 1918) and later
By Brig Arvind Dhananjayan (Retd)
JADC2: Spearheading All-Domain Operations
Source:news.usni.org Hypothetical Scenario (04 July 2028). A North Korean ICBM is launched from outside Pyongyang. 10 seconds into the launch, its heat ejecta is picked up by a US surveillance satellite. The Pentagon seeks inputs from Commander of US Forces Korea (
By Brig Arvind Dhananjayan (Retd)
Robotic Weapons – A Moral Dilemma
Autonomous weapon systems – commonly known as killer robots – may have killed human beings for the first time ever last year, according to a recent United Nations Security Council report on the Libyan civil war. History could well identify this as the starting poin
By Reuters and Chanakya Forum
Defence & Strategy
View All
Confronting the Global Hegemon
Global problems require global solutions is an oft quoted truism. It is equally a fact that notwithstanding the acquisition of ever increasing economic and military power and the spread of one’s influence to countless countries the unbridled ambition of some nations
By Lt Gen Kamal Davar (Retd)
LAC : China’s Strategic Misadventure
China reinforcing her strategic misadventure along the India - China Line of Actual Control (LAC) passed a new ‘Land Border Law’ on 23 October 2021, effective 01 January 2022. The timing of the passing of the Law has a direct correlation with ongoing standoff betwee
By Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia (Retd)
Deliberate Loss of War by the US to Taliban
According to the international media, “The fall of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021 happened quicker than it was expected. The passport and visa agencies got overwhelmed when the Taliban took over all the main cities of Afghanistan one by one”. However, should I rather
By Mursal Noorzai
LAC – Condescending China Faces a Resolute India
The 13th round of talks at Moldo (Chinese side), on 10 October 21 between Lt Gen PGK Menon, Corps Commander 14 Corps and his counterpart the South Xinjiang Military District chief failed to make any further breakthrough in the 17 month long ‘Standoff’. A disengageme
By Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia (Retd)
Tackling Chinese Technological Advantage
"China has won the artificial intelligence battle with the United States and is heading towards global dominance because of its technological advances”. When the Pentagon’s former software chief Nick Chaillan made this claim, it felt as if the whole world had come c
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
Delhi Declaration-Forging a Consensus on Afghanistan
The meeting of the National Security Advisers in New Delhi on November 10 had multi-layered significance. The initiative underlined India’s national security equities in Afghanistan. These equities are undeniable given the history of the subcontinent, the reality o
By Kanwal Sibal
Battle of Rezang La
The annals of the Indian Army are replete with stories of bravery and uncommon valor. And then there are stories of courage so overwhelming that it is almost impossible for the human soul to even comprehend that such men walked the face of this very earth. On a freezin
By Major Gaurav Arya (Retd)
Confronting the Global Hegemon
Global problems require global solutions is an oft quoted truism. It is equally a fact that notwithstanding the acquisition of ever increasing economic and military power and the spread of one’s influence to countless countries the unbridled ambition of some nations
By Lt Gen Kamal Davar (Retd)
Drone Attack on Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al Khadimi Will Complicate Iraq’s Complex Politics
For fairly long the attention of the world has been focused on Afghanistan and the various shenanigans related to the Taliban 2.0. A presumption seemed to prevail that all was quiet in the Middle East. With the US drawing down its forward presence, relative attention an
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
Decision Time Has Arrived For India
It was Regis Debray who wrote that "we are never contemporaneous with the present", and that the past intrudes and succeeds in diluting our understanding of the realities of the moment. This has long been witnessed in the Lutyens Zone, where policy prescriptions from a
By Prof Madhav Das Nalapat
LAC : China’s Strategic Misadventure
China reinforcing her strategic misadventure along the India - China Line of Actual Control (LAC) passed a new ‘Land Border Law’ on 23 October 2021, effective 01 January 2022. The timing of the passing of the Law has a direct correlation with ongoing standoff betwee
By Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia (Retd)
Strike China and Save the World: Part 2 – Manufacturing Reality
Just imagine a video of Chinese authorities brutally assaulting and arresting Chinese citizens who have a credit rating below certain criteria, appearing on Sina Weibo. In no time this video would be viral on WeChat, DouBan, YouKu, and several other Chinese social media
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
Pakistan’s Fresh Terror Push in Jammu & Kashmir – India on Alert
In Rawalakot of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), when Waqar entered his village on August 23, hundreds of Jaish terror recruits welcomed him in a cavalcade with repeated firing in the air. The giant speakers arranged in the village screamed “Mubarak ho” amidst celeb
By Aditya Raj Kaul
Strike China and Save the World: Part 1 – The Timing
Employing force to contain aggression is a well-known strategy. The timely dominance of an aggressor can save a nation from a very painful future. India has seen this first hand in the last 1000 years or so. In the recent past too, with the collapse of the Soviet Union,
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
Contextualizing The Poonch Operations : Time Delay in Completion is Inevitable
The recent operations against terrorist presence in the Bhata Dhurian forest area north of the Rajouri – Surankote road in the Poonch sector, began on 11 October 2021. It almost immediately led to a contact with an undetermined number of terrorists in which five brave
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
ASEAN Turns the Heat on Myanmar
At an emergency ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) on 15 October 2021, the ASEAN ministers took an unprecedented decision. This was to almost exclude Myanmar from the next summit proceedings. The ASEAN second summit of 2021 is scheduled for the last week of October. Tradi
By Gurjit Singh
How Long Can The Taliban 2.0 Last
The lightning speed with which the provincial capitals in Afghanistan, starting early August, fell in quick succession, leading the Taliban fighters to Kabul by mid August 2021, belying all predictions of various security analysts and western intelligence agencies – w
By Colonel Deepak Kumar
‘Insufficient Actions Against Terrorists’-FATF Verdict Continues to Bleed Pakistan
There were no surprises coming out of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary which concluded in Paris on October 21. Pakistan had hoped that it would be taken out of the ‘jurisdictions under increased monitoring’ or the grey list, but also expected was that
By Sushant Sareen
Migrant Workers on Hit List – Silent Majority of Kashmir Needs to Speak Out
Apart from the beautiful landscapes, endowed with heavenly mountains and hills, springs, mesmerizing water bodies and conflict, the valley of Kashmir is known for its hospitality across the globe. The Kashmiri beauty always doesn't lie in Mughal gardens, but rather in
By Mudasir Dar
Afghanistan In Turmoil
Afghanistan is a paradox, it is a nation but at the same time it is not a nation. It comprises many ethnically different tribal groups who speak different languages and dialects, have fierce tribal loyalty, customs and traditions. Pashto and Dari are the most commonly u
By General JJ Singh (Retd)
Corporatisation of Ordnance Factories – Overcoming the “Last Great Problem”
With the dedication of seven new units of the Corporatised Ordnance Factories, Ministry of Defence seems to have summited the “last great problems” which to mountaineers denotes a peak that remains unconquered. Professionalising the processes at the Ordnance Fac
By Col (Dr) DPK Pillay (Retd)
Pakistan – America’s Blind Spot
September 2001, a tall man with a privileged background and radical ideas sent aircrafts smashing into American buildings and pride, killing nearly 3000 Americans in the process. The US immediately rang up its old friend from the Cold War era, Pakistan, and announced fr
By Major Manik M Jolly (Retd)
Deliberate Loss of War by the US to Taliban
According to the international media, “The fall of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021 happened quicker than it was expected. The passport and visa agencies got overwhelmed when the Taliban took over all the main cities of Afghanistan one by one”. However, should I rather
By Mursal Noorzai
The CIA’s New Adaptation Strategy Against China
Earlier this month, the US’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released a story on its official website that stated, “CIA makes changes to adapt to future challenges”. The title of the story is instructive in its usage of the terms “changes to adapt”. This is i
By Dr Dheeraj Paramesha Chaya
Broader Non-security Quad Agenda Serves India’s Interests
The debate whether the Quad serves India’s security interests is current in strategic circles. More questions on its utility have been raised after the announcement of the Australia-UK-US (AUKUS) defence pact. Our approach towards Quad has always gone beyond security,
By Kanwal Sibal
Challenges of Disaster Management in India
13 October each year is marked as the day that celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face. It’s only appropriate that we in India use
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
Narcotics And Terrorism: The Love Affair!
Why are some movie star kids given free tickets on a cruise ship ferrying from Mumbai to Goa? This is basically a modus operandi for creating a constituency of consumers and building an ecosystem for drugs. The drug consumers are not narco traders, but they are victims.
By Binay Kumar Singh
Air India – Ready For Take Off Now; Goodbye Fabian Socialism
The sale of Air India to Tata Sons is not any ordinary privatisation. It is ‘ghar wapasi’ in more sense than one. Air India which began as Tata Airlines pioneered by the great Indian entrepreneur JRD Tata in 1932 was one of the earliest airlines in the world. Just a
By Lord Meghnad Desai
Indian Air Force – Game Changers in the Current Geo Strategic Scenario
“The one who controls Aerospace will control the planet Earth” was well established by the 1950s. The major powers began spending greater sums on aerospace. Air offers speed, range, accuracy, and lethality for achieving military effects. Air power and future of all
By Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retd)
Exclusive-Cash airlifts planned to bypass Taliban and help Afghans -sources
By Robin Emmott, John O'Donnell and Jonathan Landay BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As desperate Afghans resort to selling their belongings to buy food, international officials are preparing to fly in cash for the needy while a
By Reuters and Chanakya Forum
The Malabar Exercise of Quad
The international community today is fraught with various destabilizing factors, such as armed conflicts, unilateral claims to change the status quo, terrorism, and large-scale natural disasters. How can we solve these issues? How can we ensure a secure world for the pe
By NAKAYAMA Yasuhide
Exclusive-Afghan central bank drained dollar stockpile before Kabul fell – document
By John O'Donnell and Rupam Jain FRANKFURT/MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Afghan central bank ran down most of its U.S. dollar cash reserves in the weeks before the Taliban took control of the country, according to an assessment prepared for Af
By Reuters and Chanakya Forum
Japan’s ‘Shadow Shogun’ Abe Assured Clout Over Next PM Fumio Kishida
Japan's former premier Shinzo Abe wasn't running in this week's ruling party poll to pick the country's next leader but the victory of his one-time foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, means Abe and his conservative base are the winners, their policy clout assured. Abe's
By Reuters and Chanakya Forum
Tumbling Evergrande Caged Tech Giants: China Much Desperate More Dangerous
"War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means.” ― Carl von Clausewitz, On War An ancient Chinese stratagem advises military leaders: “Loot a burning house.” The trick is easy and self-explanatory — attack when your oppo
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
The General’s Desk
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (R)
Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (R)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
By Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
OP-ED
-
Delhi Declaration-Forging a Consensus on Afghanistan
By Kanwal Sibal
-
Decision Time Has Arrived For India
By Prof Madhav Das Nalapat
-
Afghanistan In Turmoil
By General JJ Singh (Retd)
-
Broader Non-security Quad Agenda Serves India’s Interests
By Kanwal Sibal
-
Air India – Ready For Take Off Now; Goodbye Fabian Socialism
By Lord Meghnad Desai
Cockpit Conversation
Cdr Sandeep Dhawan
Cdr Sandeep Dhawan
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
By Cdr Sandeep Dhawan (Retd)
