Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

Sri Lanka — stunned by a spate of terror attacks— has sought assistance from India’s elite anti-terror commandos for operations as well as investigation against local terror cells.  Colombo has informally reached out to New Delhi over dispatching NSG commandos, sources said. India, however, as a matter of principle does not want to send troops to a foreign land out of own volition and would rather wait for a formal request, sources added.  A crack team of counter-terror NSG commandos has been put on standby in Chennai following Friday raids in Sri Lanka in which 15 persons were killed.  A home ministry official said: “Considering expertise of NSG in post-blast investigations, we have asked them to be on standby. They will be assisted by their seniors from New Delhi. Over 100 commandos of the counter-terror and counter-hijack squads of the NSG have been based at the hub. The final decision to deploy them for assistance in the neighboring country will be taken by the foreig...

The UK Friday said it was optimistic that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar will soon be declared a global terrorist by the United Nations even as it called for "verifiable" and "irreversible" action against terror groups by Pakistan. British High Commissioner Sir Dominic Asquith, talking to reporters, also said that Britain was actively involved in bringing down the temperature between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack and subsequent developments. On overall ties with India, Asquith said the UK would like to further intensify relations with India post-Brexit as it was looking for deeper bilateral trade and investment ties. He said the UK was keen on a Free Trade Agreement with India and that post- Brexit, his government was going to ease immigration norms for students. Asked about listing of Azhar as a global terrorist, the British High Commissioner said, "We are waiting to see whether the country (China), which has been resisting it...

The arrest of Yasin Malik, the chief of the JKLF led to condemnation by several persons including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minster, Mehbooba Mufti and also the foreign office of Pakistan. Mehbooba appealed to the government to release Malik due to his poor health. Further a shut down was also called in J&K to protest his arrest. Malik has without a doubt been one of the notorious players in Kashmir. His cases date back to several decades back and over the years, he has successfully dodged the law, while continuing to propagate in favour of Pakistan. The cases against him are not ordinary. They range from acts of terror, causing unrest. In fact a 30 year old case, in which he was accused of killing Indian Air Force Officials was also re-opened. His name has cropped up in terror funding cases since 1995. Moreover he is also an accused in the abduction of Mehbooba Mufti's sister. Malik, whose organisation JKLF was banned last month by the Centre, is also facing two CBI cases...

Citing the example of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that killed nearly 300 people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India is now virtually “terror-free”. Addressing an election rally at Pimpalgaon in Nashik district, Modi said: “Scores were killed in Sri Lanka when terrorists struck at the innocent Christians peacefully engaged in prayers in churches, yesterday (Sunday).” “What was the situation in India prior to 2014? There were regular terror strikes in Maharashtra, Ayodhya, Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country. The (then) Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government just mourned and kept crying about Pakistan.” “But after coming to power in 2014, your ‘Chowkidar’ changed that strategy and rammed the terrorists inside their dens and the result is before all to see,” he said, referring to the February 26 Indian Air Force strikes in Balakot, Pakistan, after the February 14 Pulwama attack which killed 40 CRPF troopers. Militancy is now practically...

A Central Reserve Police Force constable in Jammu and Kashmir earned a lot of praise recently after he went beyond the line of duty to save the life of a local woman.  A 25-year-old woman was facing severe complications while delivering her baby and had lost a good bit of blood. However, 53rd Battalion's Gohil Shailesh decided to help out the woman by donating his own blood to meet the deficit. The family of the woman, a resident of Gulshan, contacted CRPF Madadgaar, when the woman started facing severe blood loss. "Madadgaar" is a distress helpline for the residents of Kashmir facing medical emergencies, managed by the CRPF.  An update of the incident was posted on CRPF's official Twitter handle with the the caption, "The relation of blood." The handle also posted images of the constable as well as the new born baby and wrote, “His blood saved a mother, a child, a family and created a bond for life”.  The now viral images have been garnering a lot of love a...

Japan and the US have a big role to play in getting India into the strategic Indo-Pacific region, something which has not found much favour with China, a new book has claimed.  The book was launched on Wednesday by the Institute of South Asian Studies, a think tank in the prestigious National University of Singapore, explaining the need to see the Pacific (especially Western Pacific) with the Indian Ocean linked as one region by the inclusion of South Asia, particularly India, as one strategic theatre.  The 329-page book, “India's Eastward Engagement: From Antiquity to Act East Policy,” is authored by S D Muni, professor emeritus at the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and Rahul Mishra, a senior lecturer at the Asia-Europe Institute of the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.  The region, which stretches from the west coast of India to the western shores of the United States, represents the most populous and economically dynamic...

Even as Washington is wooing New Delhi, India is seeking to buy Russian-made military hardware. The most recent deal would see the purchase of more than 450 tanks from Moscow for $1.93 billion, and it's not even the biggest one. The purchase of 464 T-90MS main battle tanks, approved last week, will further expand the large stock of Russian-designed and manufactured weapons in India's arsenal. The country is one of the primary customers for Moscow’s arms.  Another, even more significant contract – worth $5.43 billion – was signed last October, when India ordered five S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. Delivery is expected by 2020. The cutting-edge air defense system is capable of intercepting and destroying targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers and can engage up to six targets simultaneously. India has signaled it would go ahead with the purchase regardless of the US laws seeking to sanction any country that buys Russian military hardware. T-90 Main Battle Tanks :: Ind...

Thirty-five years ago in April 1984 India flew a helicopter-borne task force to the Siachen Glacier and set foot the first soldiers who would shortly thereafter spread out into the inhospitable glaciated terrain and occupy heights up to 21,000 feet to firmly plant the Indian Tricolour on the adjacent Saltoro Ridge. Before that Pakistan had already commenced its attempts to assimilate the territory as its own by sending mountaineering expeditions and patrols into the icy wasteland; India discovered that only in 1978. The arduous wait of six years was prompted by uncertainty about the ability of the Indian Army to hold its own operationally and logistically at a scale of heights which would soon classify Siachen as the highest battlefield in the world. It was a question of taking the first step with huge risk to occupy a glaciated wasteland which many continue to the day to call a monumental waste of resources and precious human lives. Over the last five years, I have managed to sneak in...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday warned Pakistan saying that the neighbouring country knows that if they commit third mistake after Uri and Pulwama, they will have to pay a heavy price. “What used to happen earlier? Terrorists used to come from Pakistan, attack us and Congress government used to cry before the world that we’ve been attacked. But this is new India. When terrorists attacked Uri, brave soldiers of the country conducted surgical strike there. When they committed the second mistake in Pulwama, we entered their home and conducted airstrike. (Udhar walon ko bhi samajh mein aa gaya hai ki agar teesri galti hui to lene ke dene padd jaenge),” PM Modi said while addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad. Referring to the air strikes by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Balakot, Modi said, “Pakistan and its supporters have been threatening us for long with its nuclear capability but the IAF called its bluff with its strikes. Those days are gone when India would give in to ...

India’s trade deficit with China has come down by $10 billion, from $63 billion in 2017-18 to $53 billion in 2018-19, a welcome development for the Narendra Modi government as the general election gets under way. Trade deficit between two countries is the difference between the value of their exports and imports. The India-China trade deficit stems from the fact that India’s imports from China in 2018-19, for example, valued $53 billion more than what it exported. “Whopping reduction trade deficit with China. Unprecedented. Exports increased substantially. Result of high level engagement, strategic planning,coordination with stakeholders,market research,sustained efforts,constant monitoring,hand holding with exporters #leadership @narendramodi,” said Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu in a tweet Friday morning. Although the India-China trade deficit registered a marginal decline a couple of times over the past 10 years, the fall has never been as much as seen in 2018-19. It h...

China is trying to create its own globally decisive naval force through the ambitious multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative, the Pentagon has told the US Congress, warning that Beijing's "unfavourable deals" strangle a nation's sovereignty like an Anaconda enwrapping its next meal.  Touted as President Xi Jinping's pet project, China is vigorously pursuing the Belt and Road initiative (BRI), offering billions of dollars of loans for infrastructure projects to different countries as it looks to expand global influence.  "China's Belt and Road Initiative in particular is blending diplomatic, economic, military, and social elements of its national power in an attempt to create its own globally decisive naval force," John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations, told members of House Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on Thursday.  "China's modus operandi preys off nations' financial vulnerabilities. They contract ...

India’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defence systems, via a deal signed last year and worth $5.43 billion, has unnerved Pakistan, with Foreign Minister Shah Mohammed Qureshi describing the S-400s as destabilising weapon systems which could affect the region's strategic stability. Delivery of the first S-400 system is likely to take place in 2020. Expressing his apprehension about the arms purchase by India, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mohammed Qureshi has called on global powers to be "mindful" of their responsibility in terms of arms supplies to the region. "The introduction of new destabilising weapon systems, such as the S-400 anti-ballistic missile system, could further accentuate challenges to strategic stability. They can encourage a misadventure by an adversary, under a false sense of security," FM Shah Mohammed Qureshi said on Wednesday in Islamabad. Last October, India inked a $5.43 billion defence contract with Russia to purchase of five S-400 air...

The debate which saw MPs from across the political parties join in the call for an apology, also led to wider questions about Britain’s approach to the massacre and the darker moments of colonial history. The British government has failed to use the opportunity of a parliamentary debate on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to apologise for the atrocity, with a foreign office minister referring to potential “financial implications” as one of the issues to be considered. However, Mark Field, the Minister for Asia and the Pacific, said he recognised the “strong and compelling case,” for Britain going beyond the deep regret already expressed by the UK relating to the events of April 13, 1919 when hundreds were killed and more than 1,200 injured after British troops led by Reginald Dyer opened fire on a peaceful gathering. Field told MPs at the Westminster Hall debate called by fellow Conservative MP Bob Blackman that his “orthodox” views made him reluctant to apologise for things that had happ...