One of the much awaited announcements of the recently concluded Chinese “Two Sessions” was the Chinese defence budget. With some commentators predicting another double digit rise in line with what has been the norm for the last two decades, the...
Unspent Funds
At the end of the third quarter of Financial Year (FY) 2015-16, 40 per cent (Rs 37,000 crore out of Rs 93,675 crore) of the capital budget of the armed forces remained unspent. As it will not be possible to spend all...
Overview of State of Readiness
There has been much focus on capital procurements regarding artillery guns, fighter aircraft and submarines for fighting wars in the future. These are no doubt essential to ensure that the nation is...
Bolstered by its robust surface, undersea and aerial capabilities, the Indian Navy staged a spectacular maritime pageant off the eastern seaboard, as it hosted its International Fleet Review (IFR) 2016 earlier this month. As many as 50 countries...
Present-day Relations
Indo-Israeli relations are on the upsurge. Leaders of both the countries have no qualms in accepting the ever-increasing bonhomie between the countries under the two governments. Till recently, it was mostly...
In his address to the Chiefs of Staff and the Commanders-in-Chief of the armed forces on board the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya on December 15, 2015, the Prime Minister made a rare statement on India’s defence policy. The PM lauded the...
For years, the India-US defence partnership has been more about symbolism than substance. While the two countries conduct a spate of joint exercises across the three services, the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and...
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s public announcement downsizing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the grand military parade on September 3, 2015, was a major event. It signalled that the final stages of reform and reorganization of the PLA...
The strategically significant Joint India-US Naval exercise MALABAR-2015, hosted by India between October 14 and 21, 2015, conducted in the Bay of Bengal, in many ways, illustrates the growing multi-faceted military cooperation between...
During his first year in office, Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar gave a free hand to the army to act pro-actively on the LoC. He led from the front and worked closely with the leadership of the armed forces, the bureaucracy and his...