Development of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a fulcrum of the One Belt One Road Initiative through which China seeks to realise the ‘Chinese Dream’ to be a global power and a regional hegemon. The Corridor connects China’s Western Xinjiang with Pakistan’s Makran Coast, traversing through one of the most challenging geographic as well as human terrain that would require extra-ordinary engineering resources to execute, massive amounts to fund and extreme political acumen to manage the untameable societal fissures. That indeed is a tall and complex order. The Corridor brings up a host of strategic adversities to India. While pumping-up Pakistan’s innate anti-Indian dogma and China’s compulsive India-averseness, the Corridor violates India’s sovereignty, even if disputed, over the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and consolidates the duo’s political nexus with conjoined military capabilities against India. India’s problems are further exacerbated when the Initiative consolidates Pakistan’s illegal occupation of North-Western Kashmir and inter alia seals the severance of India’s traditional land connectivity’s with Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics. This Book, besides describing the plans and challenges of construction and gainful management thereafter, highlights that since China believes in crystallising its ‘dream’ with the backing of political, and by implication, military power, it is obvious that the Initiative would have more than just purely economic consequences.
IN THIS VOLUME • The Great Churning: Reset of Global Geopolitical Order – Lt Gen JS Bajwa • Interview with Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari • India’s Expanded Ambit of Defence Preparedness - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • Rightsizing the Army - Lt Gen Prakash Katoch • How prepared is the IAF for a war with China? - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Two Cheers to INS Vikrant - Prof (Dr) SN Misra • Future of Manned Maritime Air Operations - Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan • Yuan Wang 5 Tests India’s Resolve - Ramananda Sengupta • Doing More With Less - Lt Gen NB Singh • The Need for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for the IAF - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Pakistani Taliban is a Volcano Waiting to Erupt - Manish Rai • Pakistan’s action against terrorist groups – Is it sincere or a complete sham? - Dr V Balasubramaniyan • Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi • South Korea is Important in India’s Look East Policy - KN Pandita • Pakistan’s Oppression in Baluchistan - Col Danvir Singh • India’s Aviation Technology Growth Strategy - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Role of Artificial Intelligence in Military Aviation - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Why are parties to Russia-Ukraine war prolonging it? - Maj Gen SB Asthana • The Jihadi-in-Chief is Chief Guest at Sandhurst - RSN Singh • 18 Punjab Operations in High Altitude Terrain of Kargil - Brig Jagbir Singh Grewal
IN THIS VOLUME: • Securing India’s Rightful Place in the Comity of Nations - Lt Gen JS Bajwa • Army Aviation: A Future Perspective - Lt Gen BS Pawar • Air Elements in Special Ops - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Mobile Phones: A Disruptive Military Communications Change - Col NP Singh • A New Kind of Warfare Drones: A Game Changer in Future Conflict - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha • China’s New Constellation in Asia-Pacific: India’s Bind - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • The Russian Shift - Danvir Singh • Technology in Warfare: Is India Lagging Behind? - Sumit Walia • Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft for the IAF - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Private Sector in Aerospace and Defence: An Evolving Success Story - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi • Pushing the Red Line: Analysing India’s Response Post Pulwama - Maj Dibya Satpathy • India: Need for Strategic Culture and Policy Options - Vice Adm MP Muralidharan • Deconstructing the Psycho-Political Profile of a Terrorist - Dr Veena Ravi Kumar
IN THIS VOLUME: From the editor : • Is the World Coming Apart at the Seams? – Lt Gen JS Bajwa - Editor Indian Defence Review • Militarisation of Space: Imperatives for India – Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Terrestrial Electronic Warfare: The IAF’S Unexplored Option? – Sqn Ldr Vijainder K Thakur • The Rafale is finally on IAF inventory – Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja • Advances in Military Helicopters – Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Trends in Aerial Weapons: Smart and Lethal – Gp Capt Joseph Noronha • AMCA and LCA MK II: Challenges and Options – Air Marshal Anil Chopra • INDIA’S AEROSPACE INDUSTRY: Structure, Strategies, Policies and the Road Ahead – Prof (Dr) SN Misra • 70 Years of China’s Independence: Its Message to the World – Danvir Singh • Orientations of National Defence–II – Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • Relevance of Arthashastra in the 21st Century – Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan • Time for a Final Payback! – Sudip Talukdar • Is Pakistan Mainstreaming Lashkar-e-Toiba Again? – Dr V Balasubramaniyan & Dr SV Raghavan • North East Peace Accords – Lt Gen Prakash Katoch • Aerospace and Defence News – Priya Tyagi • Thales: A Proud Partner of the Indian Air Force – Mr Emmanuel de Roquefeuil • Attack on Saudi Oil Facilities: An Assessment – Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja • India must support Iran not clerics regime – RSN Singh • Book Reviews
IN THIS VOLUME • The Great Churning: Reset of Global Geopolitical Order – Lt Gen JS Bajwa • Interview with Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari • India’s Expanded Ambit of Defence Preparedness - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • Rightsizing the Army - Lt Gen Prakash Katoch • How prepared is the IAF for a war with China? - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Two Cheers to INS Vikrant - Prof (Dr) SN Misra • Future of Manned Maritime Air Operations - Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan • Yuan Wang 5 Tests India’s Resolve - Ramananda Sengupta • Doing More With Less - Lt Gen NB Singh • The Need for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for the IAF - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Pakistani Taliban is a Volcano Waiting to Erupt - Manish Rai • Pakistan’s action against terrorist groups – Is it sincere or a complete sham? - Dr V Balasubramaniyan • Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi • South Korea is Important in India’s Look East Policy - KN Pandita • Pakistan’s Oppression in Baluchistan - Col Danvir Singh • India’s Aviation Technology Growth Strategy - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Role of Artificial Intelligence in Military Aviation - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Why are parties to Russia-Ukraine war prolonging it? - Maj Gen SB Asthana • The Jihadi-in-Chief is Chief Guest at Sandhurst - RSN Singh • 18 Punjab Operations in High Altitude Terrain of Kargil - Brig Jagbir Singh Grewal
IN THIS VOLUME: Military Modernisation in the Absence of a National Security Doctrine - Lt Gen JS Bajwa Rafale Deal - Untying the Knots - Air Marshal Anil Chopra Modernisation of Army Air Defence - Maj Gen AK Mehra Visualised Indian Artillery Considering Threats from China and Pakistan - Maj Gen PK Chakravorty Aviation: The Future is Unmanned - Air Marshal Anil Chopra Revamping the IAF’s Trainer Fleet - Gp Capt B Menon The Eagle, The Dragon, The Elephant and The Bear - Col Anil Athale Restructuring the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) - Col NP Singh Bull in the China Shop: The Indian Army vs The PLA - Brig Deepak Sinha China’s Reclamation of Islands in the South China Sea: Implications for India - Maj Gen PK Chakravorty Militarization of South China Sea: Offence-Defense Paradigm - S Rajasimman India’s Nuclear Submarine Programme - Rear Adm AP Revi India’s Air Defence: Is it Capable? - Maj Gen AK Mehra Make in India in Defence Production: Challenges & Opportunities - DC Srivastava KAMOV: The Make in India Defence Deal - Dr SN Misra What S-400 will bring to the Indian Ground-Based: Air Defence Capability? - Lt Gen VK Saxena Make in India: Problems and Prospects for the Aerospace Industry - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi Nurturing Military Institutions: For the Good of the Nation - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee Ending the World’s Worst Atrocities: Darfur - Anant Mishra Myanmar Elections and Impact on the Region - Danvir Singh Spectre of ISIS’ Cyber Jihad Pandemic - Maj Gen AK Chadha
IN THIS VOLUME: • Securing India’s Rightful Place in the Comity of Nations - Lt Gen JS Bajwa • Army Aviation: A Future Perspective - Lt Gen BS Pawar • Air Elements in Special Ops - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Mobile Phones: A Disruptive Military Communications Change - Col NP Singh • A New Kind of Warfare Drones: A Game Changer in Future Conflict - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha • China’s New Constellation in Asia-Pacific: India’s Bind - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • The Russian Shift - Danvir Singh • Technology in Warfare: Is India Lagging Behind? - Sumit Walia • Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft for the IAF - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Private Sector in Aerospace and Defence: An Evolving Success Story - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi • Pushing the Red Line: Analysing India’s Response Post Pulwama - Maj Dibya Satpathy • India: Need for Strategic Culture and Policy Options - Vice Adm MP Muralidharan • Deconstructing the Psycho-Political Profile of a Terrorist - Dr Veena Ravi Kumar
IN THIS VOLUME: Doklam: India at an Inflection Point in its Quest for Regional/Global Power Status - Lt Gen JS Bajwa (Editor) Directed Energy Weapons: Game Changer Or A Damp Squib? - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha Advances in Technology: Battlefield Helicopters - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Space: The Force Multiplier For Air Power - Air Marshal Anil Chopra MiG-35, F-16, Gripen or Better Choice? - Sumit Walia Look Long, Look Deep: China’s Airborne Warning and Control Systems - Gp Capt Ravinder Singh Chhatwal Our Armed Forces: Do We Take Them Seriously? - Sanjiv Khanna China’s ‘Contentious’ Path To War? - Anant Mishra Balancing Politics and Power: Prognosis of China’s Military Build-up - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee Embrace the Future of Kashmir - Lt Gen Subrata Saha Resurgence of Ulfa (I) in Assam: Implications for Internal Security - Indrajit Sharma & Dr N Mohandas Singh Naval Combat Systems: Evolution and Future Perspectives - Cmde Arun Kumar Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi Deepening India-Israel Ties: Changing Landscape of the Indian Defence Sector - Ketan Salhotra Indo-Israel Relations: Make with India - Tamir Eshel Strategic Partnership with Private Players: An Overview - Danvir Singh Pax Britannica Whittled Down to an Island Kingdom: (Intrigues that Built an Empire: Intrigued by Wheels of History) - Lt Gen PG Kamath North Korea - A Delinquent State? - Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja The Offset Policy - A Decade in Retrospect - Dr SN Misra Pakistan for Balochistan, not Balochis - RSN Singh Army’s Battlefield Support System: Fielding Initially Planned by 2017 could take Another Decade - Lt Gen Prakash Katoch China has done India a Favor - Dr Amarjit Singh Shekatkar Committee Report: Genuine ‘Reforms’ or Cosmetic ‘Re-grouping’? - Gp Capt TP Srivastava Who made North Korea a nuclear power? Dr A.Q. Khan? - Sumit Walia
IN THIS VOLUME: • As India Consolidates its Comprehensive Power - Lt Gen JS Bajwa INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT : • Securing the Indian Skies - Gp Capt AK Sachdev ------------------------------------------- • Air Defence Of India: Evolving Options - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Surviving Stealth: Responding to Low Observable Combat Jet Threat - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha • Disorientations of National Defence - I - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • Responding to War and Warfare in the Sixth Wave of Innovation (2020-2045) - Navneet Bhushan • Aircraft Carriers and the Indian Maritime Calculas - Relevant and Essential - Commodore CP Srivastava • Unveiling the ISI -Terrorist Nexus - Philip B Haney & JM Phelps • Emerging Technologies in Contemporary Ocean Warfare - Abhinav Dutta • The Way Ahead: Making India Self Reliant in Defence - Danvir Singh • Emerging Technologies for Sixth-Generation Combat Aircraft - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Capability Enhancement Programme: A Cost Effective Approach to Modernisation of Land Systems - Lt Gen NB Singh • The Relevance of Geography and History: In the Maritime Domain -Dr Sundaram Rajasimman • The Indian Navy as an Instrument of Foreign Policy - Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan • Article 370 and Pakistan’s Nuclear Bombast - Lt Gen (Dr) JS Bajwa • CDS - will it include comprehensive reform? - Lt Gen Prakash Katoch
IN THIS VOLUME: From the editor : • Is the World Coming Apart at the Seams? – Lt Gen JS Bajwa - Editor Indian Defence Review • Militarisation of Space: Imperatives for India – Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Terrestrial Electronic Warfare: The IAF’S Unexplored Option? – Sqn Ldr Vijainder K Thakur • The Rafale is finally on IAF inventory – Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja • Advances in Military Helicopters – Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Trends in Aerial Weapons: Smart and Lethal – Gp Capt Joseph Noronha • AMCA and LCA MK II: Challenges and Options – Air Marshal Anil Chopra • INDIA’S AEROSPACE INDUSTRY: Structure, Strategies, Policies and the Road Ahead – Prof (Dr) SN Misra • 70 Years of China’s Independence: Its Message to the World – Danvir Singh • Orientations of National Defence–II – Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • Relevance of Arthashastra in the 21st Century – Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan • Time for a Final Payback! – Sudip Talukdar • Is Pakistan Mainstreaming Lashkar-e-Toiba Again? – Dr V Balasubramaniyan & Dr SV Raghavan • North East Peace Accords – Lt Gen Prakash Katoch • Aerospace and Defence News – Priya Tyagi • Thales: A Proud Partner of the Indian Air Force – Mr Emmanuel de Roquefeuil • Attack on Saudi Oil Facilities: An Assessment – Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja • India must support Iran not clerics regime – RSN Singh • Book Reviews
IN THIS VOLUME: India’s Extended Neighbourhood in Turmoil: Afghanistan - A Vacuum or a Vortex? - Lt Gen (Dr) JS Bajwa INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT Directed-Energy Weapons: Mirage or Reality?: Light at the end of the Tunnel - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha ----------------------------------------------- The Sead Challenge: Trends in Threats to Surface-Based Air Defences - Col Mandeep Singh China’s Growing Defence Exports in Asia: Challenge for “Make in India” - Air Marshal Anil Chopra Who were the Mysterious ‘Tibetan 419 Troops’ in 1962? - Claude Arpi India’s National Security Options in a Penta-Polar World - Scenario 2030 - Navneet Bhushan The Concept of Theatre Command in the Indian Context - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Proxy War: should India Actively Enter into this Realm to Achieve its National Interests? - Col Mridul Kamal Gaind In Pursuit of the FRCV Pipedream - Lt Gen (Dr) NB Singh Hindustan Aeronautics Limited: The Need for Privatisation - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Forum Army 2021: Some Salient Points and Takeaways - Lt Gen (Dr) VK Saxena India’s Wait and Watch in Afghanistan: The Strategic Space - Danvir Singh Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi The Great Afghan Betrayal: A Palace Coup? - VK Shashikumar INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW ARCHIEVE Studies in Low-Intensity Conflict: The Tibetan Rebellion - IDR Research Team
IN THIS VOLUME: • Today’s Era is not of War - Lt Gen (Dr) JS Bajwa • Rethinking the Politics of Airpower - Gp Capt PK Mulay • How should India Exploit Space for Military Advantage? - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Operational Capability of LCA Tejas Variants - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems: Existential Threat to Humanity? Brig Arvind Dhananjayan • Kabaddi, Kaluchak and OP Prakram: Did India Dither? Lt Gen JBS Yadava • Significance of Joint Maritime Exercises - Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan • Role of the IAF: In Possible Conflagration in Ladakh - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Air Superiority or Air Denial: The Truth about the Air War in Ukraine - Gp Capt PK Mulay • India-US Military Exercises and China’s Woes - Dr Rajasimman Sundaram • Countering China’s Global Secret Police Stations - Dheeraj Paramesha Chaya • Turkey’s Rise in the Security Sphere - Danvir Singh • Ukraine War: Russia’s Winter Strategy or Admission of Defeat - Col Utkarsh Singh Rathore • Escalating the level of crisis and widening geo-political Divides hitting vulnerable afghan people hard - Neelapu Shanti • Cost of National Defence Index (CNDI) - Navneet Bhushan • Quantum Technology: Gartner’s Hype Cycle and its Implications for National Security Policy - Dr Sharad S Chauhan • Aerospace And Defence News - Priya Tyagi • Tighter China-Saudi Embrace - Lt Gen Prakash Katoch • Book Review
IN THIS VOLUME: The Prime Minister at Shangri La: Reading between the Lines for a National Security Strategy - Lt Gen JS Bajwa (Editor) INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT : Awakening to National Defence: Hope at Last? - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee ------------------------------------------- Combat Potential of the IAF for a Two-Front War - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Future of Air Dominance - Air Marshal Anil Chopra Maritime Crime and Terrorism - V Adm Muralidharan Countering Stealth Aircraft Technology: The Race to See through “Invisibility” - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha Future Military Helicopters - Design & Development - Lt Gen BS Pawar Future Aerial Weapons - Air Marshal Anil Chopra Towards a more Vigorous Make-in-India in Defence Manufacturing - Prof (Dr) SN Misra & Sanjaya Ku Ghadai India and the New Great Game in Central Asia - Martand Jha Can the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation bring India and Pakistan Closer? - Col (Dr) PK Vasudeva India-Indonesia Ties: Chinese Elephant in the Room - Jabin T Jacob Terror: Lessons from Paris and Beyond - Brig Pradeep Sharma Leadership and Management in the Indian Army - Lt Gen Mohinder Puri Jammu & Kashmir: The Way Forward - Brig Anil Gupta Emperor Lalitaditya: One among India’s Greatest Soldier-Statesmen - Col Tej K Tikoo Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi War as a Multi-Dimensional Whole: A Framework for India in a Repolarizing World - Navneet Bhushan India’s Defence Budget and Military Modernisation - Air Marshal M Matheswaran In Search of a Rifle: Ministry of Defence Goes Globe Trolling - Col Danvir Singh Head Hunters in Kargil-Naga Regiment - Sumit Walia
IN THIS VOLUME: Propping up Proxies: India’s Inimical Neighbourhood – Lt Gen JS Bajwa (Editor) ---------------------------------------------------- INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT Indian Air Force: 2025 – Air Marshal Anil Chopra ---------------------------------------------------- PLAAF: Rising Challenge for the IAF – Gp Capt B Menon Pakistan Air Force Today: Implications for India – Gp Capt B Menon LCA Tejas: The never ending wait! – Air Marshal Anil Chopra The IAF and its need for close Air Support – Sqn Ldr Vijainder K Thakur Need for an Indian Marine Force – Col JK Achuthan Taiwan – Why Shy Full Relations? – Lt Gen Prakash Katoch India - Taiwan Relations: A Comprehensive Security Perspective – Tien-Sze Fang BRICS: A Strategic Self Appraisal – S Rajasimman India’s Military Might: The Real Truth – Lt Gen Amarjeet S Chabbewal Flexible Reach: Balancing the IAF’s Air Transport Fleet – Gp Capt Joseph Noronha Future of Rotary Wing Craft – Gp Capt AK Sachdev Aerospace and Defence News – Priya Tyagi No place to Hide: Latest Developments in Air Defence Missiles – Gp Capt Joseph Noronha Will advances in UAVs Edge out Manned Aircraft? – Gp Capt AK Sachdev What Ails India’s Defence Industrial Complex? – Lt Gen Prakash Katoch MSMES in Defence Production: A Neglected Sector – Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja Russian Domination of the Syrian Battleground – Danvir Singh Petro-Jihadism: The Conspiracy within the Imperishable War in the Arab World – Maj Lal Ananth Splintering Naxalism in India: Maoism or Money? – V Balasubramaniyan
IN THIS VOLUME: China Unleashes An “Indian Spring”!! - Lt Gen (Dr) JS Bajwa INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW INTERVIEW Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari ---------------------------------------------------------- Aircraft Carriers In Hypersonic Missile Age - Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha USS Connecticut (SSN-22): I am not that Innocent! - Dr Rajasimman Sundaram Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative - Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan QUAD - Turning Into Eastern NATO - Air Marshal Anil Chopra The Re-Incarnation Of INS Vikrant - Dr Krishna S Dhir The Australian Submarine Landscape: Takeaways for the Indian Navy - Cmde CP Srivastava Air Wars: Evolution and Application in the Indian Context - Lt Gen KK Khanna Does The World Need Ethical Weapons? - Ramananda Sengupta Managing A Congested Airspace Over The Future Battle Area - Air Marshal Anil Chopra C4ISR And Autonomous Capabilities - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Corporatisation Of OFB And Bolstering Military Industry Capability - Prof SN Misra Combining The Best Of Man And Machine: Threats and Challenges - Lt General VK Saxena Aerospace And Defence News - Priya Tyagi India China LAC Face-Off: The Battlespace - Danvir Singh Politico-Military Strategy For The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Perspective - Dr Nigel Raylyn D’Silva March 1971 - Political Chess Played By Army Generals - Sumit Walia
In this volume: Coup in Turkey Now in A Coop | Lt Gen JS Bajwa Fifth Generation Aircraft: Battlefield Air Support Mission | Air Marshal Anil Chopra Unmanned Full Scale Fighter Targets for Training and Ucav Technology Development | Sqn Ldr Vijainder K Thakur Women Join the Fighter Stream of the Iaf: Will it Work? | Gp Capt Joseph Noronha First Param Vir Chakra | Sumit Walia Military Aviation and the Indian Air Force | Dr Narender Yadav The Contours of Iddm: A User’s Perspective | Lt Gen VK Saxena Challenges to the Indo-Us Defence Relationship | Abhinav Dutta Aerospace and Defence News | Priya Tyagi About Wars of the Future | Artsrun Hovhannisyan Decision-Making in War: Recalling India’s Military History | Brigadier Amar Cheema China’s Maritime Strategy: Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) | Bharat Lather Is Indianess Reasserting in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir? | RSN Singh Indian and Chinese Covert Efforts | Nicolas Groffman Home Minister in Pakistan: Take Action Against Terrorists and Countries that Support Them | Danvir Singh Decommissioning of Ins Viraat | Danvir Singh Potent Indigenous War Unfolding in Jammu & Kashmir | Brig Narender Kumar China – The New Aerospace Power | Gp Capt AK Sachdev Sino-Pak Collaboration – Military Aviation | Air Marshal Anil Chopra Success Breeds Stunning Success: The Story of India’s Space Endeavour | Gp Capt Joseph Noronha Book Reviews
ndian Defence Review (IDR) had earlier, in 2011, published a Book titled “Threat from China” edited by Late Bharat Verma. Team IDR felt that since May 2014 when the National Democratic Alliance government took over the reins of governance in India bringing in a more focussed, dynamic and assertive approach in conduct of its foreign relations, it was necessary to review the security paradigm between India and China. Moreover, around the same time there had been a tactile parallel change in leadership at the helm in China too. During the preliminary discussions there were strong views from a certain section of the community of academic scholars and diplomats that China was not an existential THREAT. However, the military community felt that the People’s Liberation Army’s substantive military modernisation manifested such a THREAT. The academic and diplomatic community did feel that there was surely a CHALLENGE in dealing with an assertive rising China – more relevant with a decline of US interest in Asia. To accommodate both views the Title was thus revised to “China – Threat or Challenge?” The Book is a compilation of articles written and published in the IDR since May 2014. Some articles are by Authors who were requested to express their contrary views on the subject so as to present to the Readers broad based views of various Authors across the spectrum on issues impacting India-China bilateral relations. The final verdict, of course, lies entirely with the discerning Readers.
Development of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a fulcrum of the One Belt One Road Initiative through which China seeks to realise the ‘Chinese Dream’ to be a global power and a regional hegemon. The Corridor connects China’s Western Xinjiang with Pakistan’s Makran Coast, traversing through one of the most challenging geographic as well as human terrain that would require extra-ordinary engineering resources to execute, massive amounts to fund and extreme political acumen to manage the untameable societal fissures. That indeed is a tall and complex order. The Corridor brings up a host of strategic adversities to India. While pumping-up Pakistan’s innate anti-Indian dogma and China’s compulsive India-averseness, the Corridor violates India’s sovereignty, even if disputed, over the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and consolidates the duo’s political nexus with conjoined military capabilities against India. India’s problems are further exacerbated when the Initiative consolidates Pakistan’s illegal occupation of North-Western Kashmir and inter alia seals the severance of India’s traditional land connectivity’s with Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics. This Book, besides describing the plans and challenges of construction and gainful management thereafter, highlights that since China believes in crystallising its ‘dream’ with the backing of political, and by implication, military power, it is obvious that the Initiative would have more than just purely economic consequences.
The exploits of the 71 Mountain Brigade – “The Brigade of the Year” begins with its having the lush green hills of Nagaland to fight the war of Liberation of Bangladesh shoulder to shoulder with the Mukti Bahini. From the time it left its location in Limakong (MANIPUR) till it finally settled down in Barrackpore, it went through eight formations in a short period of seven months moving from place to place. The Brigade was the first to enter Bangladesh from the North and the first to take the surrender and return to India. This formation did the longest advance in the shortest possible time and according to the Pakistanis “the entire action went with the precision of a clock work and according to the Book”. It was the integral brigade of 9 Mountain Division, which was placed under command of 8 Mountain Division for insurgency operations. From there it moved to defend the 1,200 mile-long Siliguri Corridor and then with a stroke of luck got converted into the Independent Brigade Group for the duration of the war. It reverted to its original self and was looking after Calcutta in aid of civil authorities in 1972 after the war. Thereafter, it finally managed to be an integral part of 6 Mountain Division. This book is primarily addressed to the younger lot of officers, since at the brigade level small unit actions assume significance and bring out tactical lessons useful to the young officers. The author has made an endeavour to place the actions of the Brigade in its proper perspective by covering what was generally happening all around. This has been done in order to bring out that no actions are fought in isolation in a conventional warfare. In fact this may even be true for a nuclear war. This book, which is the only one of its kind as far as unit and sub-unit actions in Bangladesh were concerned, will be of interest to students of military history and to every unit of the Indian Armed Forces .
IN THIS VOLUME:- What Obstructs India’s Quest for the Stat us as a ‘Power’? – Editor Lt Gen JS Bajwa Manoeuver Warfare: Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 – Lt Gen JBS Yadava Air Space Control: Challenges and the Way Ahead – Air Marshal Anil Chopra Revival of Maritime Outlook in Modern India: The Role of Km Panikkar – Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power – Rajiv Malhotra Apache and Chinook: Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Helicopter Fleet – Gp Capt AK Sachdev Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems: Existential Threat to Humanity? – Air Marshal Anil Chopra Challenges of Integrated Air Defence – Gp Capt AK Sachdev Integrated Logistics Command: Need for a Capability – Centric Kernel – Lt Gen NB Singh Has China Pressed the United States Against the Wall? – Ivaylo Valchev Weaponisation of Emerging Technologies: Staring at an Armageddon – Col RN Ghosh Dastidar Is India Paying the Price for Abandoning Tibet? – Col Tej K Tikoo Myanmar: Strategic Hiatus – Lt Gen Sanjiv Langer China’s Spectre on Bhutan – Lt Gen Prakash Katoch Aerospac e and Defence News – Priya Tyagi Is India Heading into a ‘Chabahar Dilemma’? – Capt Edwin Jothirajan India Must Shed Its Good Boy Image – Dr Rajasimman Sundaram US Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Taliban, Pakistan and India – Danvir Singh Pakistan Shifts Goal Post from 370 to 35A – Brig Anil Gupta Book Reviews
Kargil: Turning the Tide, is a gripping account of the operations of 8 Mountain Division, which was tasked to evict the enemy from the Drass-Mushkoh Sector during Op Vijay. Coming from the pen of Lt Gen (then Maj Gen) Mohinder Puri, who led the division during the operations, the book is as authentic an account of the operations as one can hope to have. Written in a racy style, the book vividly captures the emotions and sentiments of a soldier; the apprehensions and fears of the leaders, and finally the joy and ecstasy of a hard won victory. The book, covering a wide spectrum from attacks at platoon level to issues impinging on national security, will be of immense value to all military professionals. Civilian readers will find the accounts of various close quarters, hand to hand battles fought in the extremely challenging and hostile environment of rugged high altitude terrain, inclement weather and an entrenched enemy, very engrossing and moving. A very high casualty count of 268 killed and 818 wounded, coupled with a rich haul of gallantry awards – three Param Vir Chakras, eight Mahavir Chakras, and 42 Vir Chakras – operations of 8 Mountain Division are a saga of fortitude, exceptional bravery, and exemplary junior leadership, which will undoubtedly swell any Indian’s heart with pride.
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