Gunners Shot

Disappearing K Word When article 370 was abrogated on 05 Aug 19, Pakistan and its Prime Minister Mr Imran Khan went ballistic. They predicted war and nuclear holocaust. They predicted mass bloodshed when restrictions were lifted in Kashmir. They promised to stand by their Kashmiri brethren through thick and thin. They predicted an Intifada. In sum, a lot of headwinds were expected from Pakistan in the long run when seen beyond the short-term high decibel screeches emanating from their National news and media channels. However, all these dire predictions have not come true. Far from coming true, if one reads Pakistani newspapers, the ‘K’ word is conspicuous by its absence.   It is not a one-day or a T20 kind of a phenomenon. Scour the newspapers of the entire month of January and the best part of December. It appears as if vanishing cream has been applied on reporting on the ‘K’ factor. If one stops looking for the K factor and see other headlines, one

This  is essentially a throw back on my article which examined the Question  Is China  A Superpower?   https://palepurshankar.blogspot.com/2020/01/is-chinas-power-super-by-lt-gen-p-r.html     China is India’s Number One Enemy. George Fernandez, India’s Defence Minister 1.       In 2002 the topic of my dissertation during the Higher Command Course was ‘ China’s Growing Clout in International Affairs with Particular Reference to its Political, Economic and Military Roles in the Post-Cold War Years ’ . I stumbled upon it a few days back and took time to read it again. Reading it gave me a sense of déjà vu in many ways. Many things have not changed and what the world saw two decades back is only being played out.   While the entire world is waiting for Superpower China to emerge out of itself, there are features which have not changed at all. In this context I have re-produced extracts from the dissertation and put them in current context. After all, as someone sai

Defexpo 2018 at Chennai IIT Madras entered the field of defence on its own steam in Apr 18. It established a stall in the Defexpo 2018 in Chennai. Many of its students and faculty got their first exposure to the exciting world of aerospace and defense. It even held a seminar in the event. However, the seminar was poorly attended since it was a last-minute inclusion, and many did not even know that IIT Madras was going to hold a seminar. Since then things have changed and IIT Madras has traversed some distance. The Institute is participating in the forthcoming Defexpo 2020 at Lucknow with a much bigger footprint. Intervening Activities The two years in between have been all about taking small steps but with a lot of enthusiasm. The Institute participated in several events to formulate its thoughts so that some original ideas could bubble forth. The Institute started collaborating with the Tamil Nadu Government to establish the Defence Industrial Corridor. To