Gunners Shot

Also published @  https://thedailyguardian.com/dealing-with-dragon-effectively/  and  @  https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=387 This article mirrors historical cracks which promise to be repeating themselves in future. It is not directed at any individual, appointment or political party.    Undissuasive   In 1971 India was a poor country with strong Armed Forces. It halved Pakistan, created  Bangladesh and cocked a snook at USA. Seventh Fleet threatening to intervene in Pakistan’s favour was taken in stride. In 2020 India is a rich country. Despite having large, internationally respected, well trained and battle hardened Armed Forces our territorial integrity is at stake. Our ill equipped forces have not been able to dissuade either China from unilaterally altering status quo at the LAC or Pakistan from interfering in our internal affairs with impunity for decades. Our dissuasive ability is obviously low. Leveraging China out enta...

Also published @  https://thedailyguardian.com/e-paper/25-august-2020/  page 7 and  @ https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=381                                     The Sino Indian standoff is logjammed. All talks and parlays are leading nowhere.  Progress is incremental. The long haul will be a test of Indian stamina. Meanwhile experts - national and international as also military and civilian say that India is greatly disadvantaged.  They cite the comprehensive national power of China. It is relatively huge and leaves India with very few options. The  situation is not easy.  It is going to take a lot of effort to restore balance. However one has to view it in a wider perspective with attendant implications to understand where we actually stand. It is only then that we can really chart out the course ahead. China The Chinese have some territorial gain in Pangong Ts...

Also published @  https://thedailyguardian.com/kashmir-a-future-reflection/   and  @  https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=383                                    It is more than a year since the abrogation of Article 370. A lot has been said. Commentaries commemorating the anniversary abound.  Some experts painted deterioration. Some painted no change. Some expressed hope in the incremental change. Major events have occurred in the bygone year. One. The onset of the Wuhan Virus, which turned the world upside down. Two. Chinese aggression in Eastern Ladakh. Three. Pakistan’s economy has fallen off the cliff. A few fundamental truths have also emerged. The UT of Ladakh is contended and will not like go back to status quo ante. The opinion in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir is mixed. Jammuites  miss the privileges of Article 370. However they also do not want to go back to th...

Also Published @   https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=376 and  https://thedailyguardian.com/china-fishing-in-troubled-pak-waters-to-needle-india/  Figure 1 Water Vs Population   Beggars can’t be choosers. However, they do have a choice  of place for begging. Yesterday, Pakistan begged at the US, Saudi and Gulf street corners. Today it is the Chinese, Turkish, and Malaysian street corners. Pakistan can beg for everything, but no one can give it water .  Pakistan is going to be a ‘DRY’ frontline geostrategic pivot as it plummets into absolute water scarcity. Under this cloak, Pakistan and China have hastened the deal to build the Diamer Bhasha dam on R Indus in Gilgit Baltistan. It is being touted as Pakistan’s ‘Three Gorges’ to eternally ensure water security.  There is nothing farther than the truth. The dam represents Sino Pak collusion with an unmistakable Chinese Military Civil Fusion stamp.  This is not a water scarcity alleviation...

Also published @   https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=372  And  https://thedailyguardian.com/defence-acquisition-needs-to-be-streamlined-now/ The Indian Army is making incremental, but confused, progress in upgrading its depreciated artillery profile that has languished gravely since the import of Bofors howitzers in the late 1980s as per Rahul Bedi in Hindu in 2014 . In 2020,  the same Hindu reports that the Defence Ministry will introduce import embargo on 101 items. It includes three types of 155mm guns which were part of the ‘ confused progress in our depreciated Artillery’ ! Something has changed? In six years, we have inducted or in the process of inducting four 155mm guns – M77 ULH (FMS/ Govt to Govt), K9 VAJRA Self Propelled gun (Buy Global), DHANUSH towed gun(Buy (OFB)) and SHARANG upgunned 155mm guns (BUY (Indian)) and are developing the ATAGS (design and development). Different routes, different categorizations, different guns, different technologies ...