Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

The theme of the drill is “Preparation and Cooperation on Counter-terrorism among SCO Member States’ Militaries.” It is slated to be held from August 22 to 29 at Comprehensive Training Field No. 255 in Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk, Russia. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) military drill in Russia next month will see triple the number of Chinese troops in comparison to that of India. While India has selected a little over 200 troops for the drill, China's People's Liberation Army will send 743 officers and men to participate. "The main subjects include field reconnaissance, joint fire strike, counter-terrorism operations in residential settlements. The PLA will send 743 officers and men to participate," Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense said on July 26. The exercise named "Peace Mission 2018" will see the participation of over 3,000 troops from India, Pakistan, Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ta...

As the Supreme Court is set to hear petitions challenging validity of Article 35A of the Constitution, separatists and mainstream leaders alike have warned against any change in the special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik on Sunday deliberated on the possible outcome of the court hearing and called for a strike on August 5 and 6. Similarly, National Conference president and three-time CM Farooq Abdullah asserted none would be allowed to fiddle with "our political status and honour". Article 35-A confers special rights and privileges on permanent residents of J&K and debars non-residents from buying land or property, getting a government job, voting in the Assembly elections and availing state-sponsored scholarship. "We are wary of serious assault launched against the people of Kashmir by the powers in New Delhi by challenging Article 35A in Indian Supreme Court. The attempt to change the d...

Earlier this year, the Indian Army had expressed its deep disappointment on its defense budget allocation, expressing concern that the funds would not be adequate to make crucial purchases. Similar sentiments were echoed by the country’s navy and air force. New Delhi (Sputnik): India has outpaced China in its military expenditure in terms of the country's national income, as well as government spending, India's Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday. However, the overall defense expenditure of China was more than three times that of India last year.  "India's military expenditure in 2016 and 2017 was 2.5% of gross national product (GDP) in comparison to 1.9% of China," Nirmala Sitharaman, India's minister of defense, said in Parliament on Wednesday.  The current dispensation in New Delhi has been facing severe criticism from opposition leaders and defense analysts for allocating less than the requisite amount for the modernization of the armed forces. The Finan...

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday that India is in talks with Bangladesh over deportation of Rohingyas living illegally and the process will begin after getting status report from the states where they are living illegally.  Responding to a specific query in Rajya Sabha during Question Hour by Anand Sharma about talks with Bangladesh over the issue, he said that there has been a discussion between the Indian and Bangladeshi External Affairs Ministers on the issue.  He said right now in the country Rohingyas are in many states and the centre has issued advisory for identifying, numbering and taking biometrics of them.  "The states has been asked also to ensure that they left with no documents so that they can claim for citizenship in future. This advisory has also been issued to the states," he said, adding that after getting reports from the states, these will be sent to the Ministry of External Affairs.  "Then our External Affairs Minister will tal...

In September 2017, speaking at a seminar, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that the “supremacy and primacy” of the Army must be maintained. “The Navy and Air Force will play a very major role in support of the Army which will be operating on the ground, because no matter what happens, we may be dominating the area or the air, but finally war will be won when we ensure territorial integrity of the nation,” he explained. This kicked up a stormy debate that the Army, in seeking primacy, does not understand the transformation in the nature of warfare. There are today five equally important dimensions – land, sea, air, space and cyberwarfare, which will contribute to success in war. The emphasis in future will be on non-contact warfare and the clash between large armies is a thing of the past. Looking at China, our main strategic competitor, it is argued that the main focus on warfighting must switch to the Indian Ocean, through which flow 80 percent of China’s energy supplies. The Chine...

The last time India had a government with a single party majority in the Lok Sabha, it was ousted on the back of a formidable political campaign that centred around a defence deal. The leader of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, is looking for another defence deal that could provide an opening for his ascent to power in 2019. Gandhi wants to exploit the Narendra Modi government’s Rafale deal the way V.P. Singh milked the Bofors deal in 1989. During Friday’s no-confidence motion in Parliament, Gandhi raked up the Rafale deal once again. His allegations against the government are three-fold: a) large-scale cost inflation in the deal after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government demitted office; b) non-existence of a secrecy pact between the governments of India and France as the defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been claiming; and c) cronyism in awarding the offset contracts under the deal. It is time to look at these charges one by one. The charge of a disproportionate co...

When it comes to undersea naval fleet, Indian Navy’s submarine strength is way ahead of its neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh, but pales in comparison to China. As per a report by Naval Analyses, India has 15 conventional submarines (SSKs), two nuclear-powered submarines (SSBs) with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles (SSBNs) and one nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) INS Chakra. In terms of both quantity and technological advancement, China’s submarine fleet drastically outperforms India’s. The Dragon has a total of 78 submarines, which include six advanced JIN-class SSBNs armed with missiles with a range of 7,200 km. Besides, China has 14 nuclear-powered submarines and 57 conventional ones. China’s fast-expanding strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean Region has been India’s bugbear and to counter the threat, New Delhi has been scurrying to establish naval bases overseas. In February, India signed a pact with Seychelles to establish naval infrastructure. During his visit to Oman, Prime ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hit back at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for accusations against the government on national security issues and asked him to abstain from ''childish statements" such as describing surgical strikes as 'jumla" (rhetoric slogan).  During the no-confidence motion against the Modi government in Lok Sabha, Gandhi had earlier in the day accused the government of "lying" to the nation on the issue of sharing details of the Rafale jet deal and had called the prime minister a "bhagidaar" (collaborator) in cases of alleged corruption, not a "chowkidaar" (guard).  "We must abstain from making childish statements on sensitive issues," Modi said during his reply to the motion, moved by the BJP's former ally TDP. Modi also said the surgical strike against Pakistan-based terror camps must not be called a 'jumla' as it would amount to insulting the security forces.  Modi said he cannot imagin...

As the Trump administration pushes the sale of American weapons as a key part of its plan to grow the economy, America has already eclipsed its overall defense trade total from last year. In an interview with Defense News, Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, said that through the first two quarters of this fiscal year, the U.S. has signed $46.9 billion in weapons sales to foreign partners and allies — smashing past the $41.9 billion figure from all of fiscal 2017. Hooper pointed to the messaging from the administration about arms sales, including the recently implemented Conventional Arms Transfer policy, as helping drive that situation. “Defense exports are good for our national security, they’re good for our foreign policy. And they’re good for our economic security. And as the administration and our leadership has said, economic security is national security,” Hooper said during the Farnborough International Airshow on July 18. “So I think the o...