Lessons from the Russian experience.
When the industrial-age armed forces of a welfare state undergo reform and restructuring, the pain is felt by the large number of officers made redundant by the exercise.
The plan seeks to transform an impoverished, unwieldy conscript army built to fight a protracted war in Europe into a more nimble, battle-ready force [...]
Lessons for India from dismissal of senior Russian military officials failing aptitude test.
Via Joshua Keating [HT: The Acorn] from RIA Novosti comes the story of reform of Russian military. It involves discharging a large number of senior military officials for failing an unplanned aptitude test.
A large number of senior Russian military officials are to be [...]
Any military action against Pakistan has to be preceded by diplomatic breakthroughs.
All war represents a failure of diplomacy. ~Tony Benn
The Acorn explains why surgical strikes across our western borders are a bad idea today. Subramanian Swami, someone to be quoted with great caution and trepidation, talks about the actions India must undertake before executing such [...]
…of US strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Obama Kashmir Thesis continues to ruffle feathers in India. It has now drawn a sharp rebuke from another renowned Indian commentator, K Subrahmanyam. He warns Obama to Lay off Kashmir, as the Obama theory allows Pakistan to get away with mischief on both the fronts — Afghanistan and [...]
…raise some serious questions for India (and the US).
The Chinese economic juggernaut in the last decade has been driven by a burgeoning manufacturing sector, questions about quality-control and copying overseas technology notwithstanding. If the displays at the Zhuhai airshow 2008 are an indicator, Beijing is trying to expand its manufacturing reach to cover the military [...]
…with upgrading weapons of Soviet origin.
The Polish defence minister was on a three-day state visit to India to further “a long tradition of friendship and cooperation in various fields including Defence Production and Supplies”. Now Defense News [via Russian daily Kommersant] reports that—
India’s military authorities are interested in getting the assistance of Polish military to [...]
Some high-level telephone calls… a secret rendezvous… between US and Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff… at Helsinki…
Is it like going back in a time warp? Fortunately, only the superficial similarities bring the feeling of déjà vu about the pre-Berlin Wall era.
The United States and Russia on Tuesday sent their top military officers to this neutral [...]
As per the just released US Congressional Research Service Report [pdf], the direct overt US aid and military reimbursements to Pakistan during the years 2002 to 2008 are nearly 12 billion USD. The total security related aid — 8869 million USD and the total economic related aid during the period — 3129 million USD. [...]
Earlier post on the subject :A potboiler… off the Somalian coast
Somalia is a failed state with no central government and over 3,000 miles of coastline. NATO reports that there have been seven new piracy-related incidents including two hijacks during the past week itself and nine vessels are now being held by Somali pirates for ransom. [...]
Even the best of Hollywood scriptwriters will fail to match the plot and sub-plots in the drama playing in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. If this NYT report [HT: Nitin]is something to go by, the plot includes:
Somali pirates… Ukrainian arms… originally a load of cars for Syria… Weapons destined for southern Sudan [...]
…as a basis for EU-India engagement (and in India’s national interest).
In the lead up to the EU-India summit that commenced in Marseille today, Richard Gowan, in an op-ed at the European Voice, makes a strong but unusual case for engagement between EU and India.
It may be better for the EU to base a partnership with [...]
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his talk with the reporters at New York:
We cannot wait any longer to turn the G8 into the G13 or G14, and to bring in China, India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil.
And George Bush, in his final address to the UN General Assembly also spoke about reforming the UN. [...]
At the Indian National Interest, Afghanistan is the flavour of the month. The latest issue of Pragati – The Indian National Interest Review focuses on a very topical issue — Should India send troops to Afghanistan? Download the copy of latest issue of Pragati here and join in the debate; on one issue that might [...]
[Let us start with a couple of reports dealing with the British army's problems in retaining officers. The first one is an extract from a report of May 2007 in The Telegraph.]
The majority of Army officers have considered resigning because of continuous operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Ministry of Defence survey has admitted.
Two-thirds of [...]
Shiv Aroor at LiveFist has a series of blogposts revealing the reality behind the successful BrahMos missile project.
Part 1 — Why Russia won’t induct BrahMos
Well, last month, Moscow forwarded an unsolicited note to the Indian government, after the issue was taken up suo moto by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in December 2007. In [...]
The story of Ayni airbase has been one of missed opportunities for the Indian establishment. Rahul Bedi brings out the reasons behind Tajikistan almost spurning Indian offer to establish its first military outpost in Central Asia.
Mounting uncertainty over India’s continued presence in its sole overseas military facility in Tajikistan was largely due to New Delhi’s [...]
International Herald Tribune on suicides in the US Army.
As many as 121 U.S. Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007, a jump of about 20 percent over the year before, officials said Thursday.
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USC Center on Public Diplomacy has an interview with Matt Armstrong, the author of the widely visited and referenced blog MountainRunner.
The bulk of my [...]
Demolishing the myth of “historical ties” and “strategic partnership that has stood the test of time”.
Noted defence analyst Ajai Shukla, in his column for the Business Standard (reproduced here on his blog Broadsword), has highlighted the changing paradigm of the Indo-Russian relationship. He also suggests that India has been unable to come to terms with [...]
Many in India criticise the US as a fickle and untrustworthy ally but what have they got to say about the Russians? The Russians are more mercantile than the US now and trust, credibility and promises have no meaning in Putin’s Russia. It is high time India stopped looking at its relations with Russia through the prism of Soviet era agreements and expect reciprocal goodwill for bailing out Boris Yeltsin by signing redundant defence deals. A resurgent and assertive Russia is a hardnosed bargainer where there is no place for sentimentalities of a bygone era.
The Indian relationship with Russia has a chequered history and the outstanding Rupee debt fund available to the Russians further queers the trade relationship. Time has come to jettison the six-decade old bilateral relationship, more so if does not serve Indian interests in the long run. By opening discussions on extending beyond 2010 their military cooperation pact, India is further tying up its future to a strategic relationship with this aggressive geopolitical player. If India doesn’t assert its independence and non-alignment now, the costs will be too heavy for the Indian establishment to bear in the future.
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