Lieutenant General (Retd) Gautam Banerjee, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, was former Chief of Staff, Central Command, former Commandant of the Officers' Training Academy, Chennai. He is now Senior Fellow & Editor at the Vivekananda International Foundation.

Contributions 
Russia-Ukraine War: A Game of Vain Military Venture? Military Theories Unheeded Traditionally, over the centuries, the Russians have been the pioneers of original military strategic thinking. Even the world’s leading military thinkers, mainly the Prussians/Germans and British, have been ...

India: Gearing Up for National Defence Covenant of Defence Modernisation In a welcome change from the past, particularly in the post-Doklam 2017 period, the nation is witnessing a coalescence of sensitivities on matters of national defence. This is a welcome attitudinal change ...

Pandemic Factor in Military Organisation Curse of the Pandemic All-pervasive adversities brought about by the Covid-19 Pandemic have occupied, seized in fact, the universal human consciousness in a manner seen never before. That is only to be expected when the Pandemic has turn...

Fore-warning that could not be Heeded In mid-April of 2013, with Xi Jinping regime in saddle, the PLA set up a camp nearly 19 kilometres west of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near the Raki Nala in India’s strategically sensitive Depsang Plains part of Eastern Ladakh. The intrusion c...

Monographs/Compendiums 
The Course of China’s Military Modernisation and Defence Reforms, 2018-2020 … according to her own admission, “China faces no threat”. It is therefore a matter to consider as to why China requires such a massive military establishment, a humungous power-bank which, even if intrinsic to its ‘barrel of gun’ ideology,...

VIF Papers 
Indian Military: Adapting to New Age Strategic Paradigm … for some years before India’s military modernization bears fruition at the field level, the Indian military, having committed to its rigorous oath, has little option but to defend the nation by harnessing what resources that might be available ...

The Larger Cause of National Defence: The CDS and Defence Reforms … there are many hurdles to cross in our endeavour to reform our system of national defence to meet the parameters of the nation’s military threats, technological and industrial capacities and fiscal affordability… The CDS … would be just one...

Afghanistan Manoeuvres: Sense and Nonsense of Talking to Taliban … every stake holder for Afghanistan’s democracy, stability and progress appreciates the severe consequences of the Taliban assuming power … also understand that even in a power sharing arrangement between the legitimate, democratic Government ...

Consecration of China’s ‘New Period’ People’s Liberation Army A Home Run of Military Modernisation At the dawn of Year 2016, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) officially promulgated the commencement of the final phase of restructuring of its apex setup for management of national defence as well a...

The Communist Party-Army Equation in China Preamble In republican scheme of matters, warfare is the ultimate political recourse that is to be prosecuted to seek conditions for advantageous settlement of external disputes. Conversely, in communist theology, military force is but an i...

Book Published / Book Reviews 
Indian Armed Forces in 2047: At The Centenary of Independence The 75th Year of Independence is a milestone in India’s march towards a sovereign dispensation characterised by freedom, peace, and prosperity. In that endeavour, the preservation of territorial sanctity, economic sovereignty and political relevanc...

Management of India's Military Prowess: Issues and Aspects Conceptualising the foundations of national defence and organising a conformingly robust military structure is a humungous task of extremely complexities. Even nations who possess pristine strategic vision and deep rooted military culture find it pra...

A Decade of Discourse on Defence Matters This book is a compilation of 30 pioneering papers on issues connected with India's national defence. These papers are a part of the vast repository of VIF publications over the past decade of its functioning as a strategic think tank with the purpos...

Selected Essays from the Vivekananda International Foundation Over the past decade, the VIF has charted an academically independent path of research and analyses. The Foundation has thus been disseminating a vast stream of analyses of key developments and decision dilemmas concerning the nation to its wide circ...

China's Great Leap Forward II 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 Xin...

VIF Briefs 
Chief of Defence Staff: A Far-reaching Decision … Institution of a body of military professionals to participate in defence policy-making at the apex level, duly empowered in highest level advisory as well as management roles, is a call of strategic wisdom. This call must be attended to with ala...

Either Side of Historical Conclusions: Evidences and Interpretations … historical narratives should be right, as far as possible accommodative of duly qualified civilisational memories, and so balanced and trust worthy … dignified or infamous, balanced historical narratives bring great advantages to the society, t...

Contact Us