Gunners Shot

This was a very interesting discussion I had with Mr Sree Iyer on understanding China from a different non military non economic perspective. The Q&A session indicated to me that we need to study far more and increase our awareness of the country in case we have to deal with it more effectively.   

In this episode, Aadi and I discuss the outcomes of the QUAD summit and implications thereof    

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us . It was Charles Dickens who had written this in The Tale Of Two Cities. I could call this the Tale of two Indias.    India is in a sweet spot. Everything is going for it. One could argue that the best of the times are of long term nature and lie ahead for India. On the other hand, the worst of the times are transitory and will be soon behind us. India is the fastest growing economy with the highest GDP growth rates, yet its markets are bleeding like never before and the rupee is losing value ceaselessly. The country has huge wheat surpluses which are being exported yet food prices in India are sky rocketing like never before. Indian diplomac...

Aadi and I discuss some more issues regarding the on going QUAD Summit    

    In January a top Chinese economist has remarked “Given the serious economic slowdown we are currently facing, the day China surpasses the U.S. is moving away, not coming closer’. This was recently echoed by Kevin Rudd, ex PM of Australia in an interview. It prompted me to take a different look at the whole issue.      The Ukrainian war has degenerated into a long drawn hybrid affair. Its aftershocks are likely to continue to create more pain for the world through rising inflation on the sheet anchor of energy and food grain shortfalls. As this plays out the focus is back on China. A Covid struck China whose economy is visibly slowing has grown more aggressive than it was imagined. Its aggressiveness is visible on the LAC also with a new bridge being built on  the Pang Gong Tso. There are many questions and many prophecies as to where China is heading. The inscrutability of the Chinese system inhibits a reasonably clear prediction.   ...

Aadi and I discuss the various aspects of the forthcoming QUAD Summit

The news that one US Dollar  has crossed two hundred Pakistani Rupees is a landmark in the history of the nation’s descent into chaos. In the past year the Pakistani rupee has lost 25% of its value and in just about a month it has lost 7%. Pakistanis have termed this double century as the blackest day in their star crossed history. Why would they not do so?  When the country's import bill had increased by 20 per cent in one month, and the prices of edibles, such as lentils, powder milk and tea are getting out of reach of the common man, it has to be one of the blackest days. Pakistani intellectuals had been warning the nation  for decades about what lay in store  if their begging bowl syndrome remained unchecked. That day has arrived. What next?    From an Indian perspective the ‘what next’ question has to viewed in two contexts. The long term effect on Pakistan itself and the future of the nation. The other context is of course the fall...

The QUAD summit is to take place shortly in Japan. It signifies the coming of QUAD in many respects. The physical signalling to China that the event is happening in its close proximity in Japan carries significance. The fact that South Korea is now planning to join the QUAD is also very important. Besides this, other countries have started seeing QUAD as a reality to counter China and have started looking towards it for a leadership role in the region. Overall, there is no doubt left that the QUAD is here to stay and grow. That is a factor which has started to weigh heavily in China’s think tanks and there will be some to and fro response to these developments.    One of the predictable responses is to weaken the QUAD and induce self-doubts in the structure. That attempt is already playing out. Chinese strategists have always believed that a strong  U.S.-India relationship is suspect in the long run. They have always believed and enunciated that India is the weakest ...

Aadi and I discuss the Ukraine war which is turning out to be one without an end. This painful war is going to degrade but continue. We discuss the various facets of this degradation in this episode.     

  Pakistan the land of Shaheeds, Ghazis and Niazis was the ultimate geopolitical Zebra. Fast paced, agile and surefooted on the international stage. Always the audacious centrepiece. Weaving a web of deceit around its adversaries who were to made look like dumb donkeys. When Imran Khan remarked that ‘if you paint a donkey with stripes it does not become a zebra’ and ‘lighting is everything’, he was speaking an essential truth of Pakistan. The ‘Gyan’ is that how you see an animal or how it looks depends on the lighting. When seen from brighter shades of light, the animal resembles a  Zebra. When seen from a darker shade of light it is a good old donkey. Whenever Pakistan made the move of a Zebra its fault lines were always visible like the stripes of the animal.  However many times the perceptions also changed depending upon the lighting and the lens through which one saw Pakistan. The other day I read an article on  Pakistan’s new fault lines . The article ...

Refs :-  https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2021/oct/doc202110501.pdf https://www.gunnersshot.com/2022/04/agnipath-insiders-view-from-outside.html https://www.gunnersshot.com/2022/04/agnivirs-of-agnipath-bottom-up.html https://www.gunnersshot.com/2022/04/the-curious-case-of-missing-cds-by-lt.html https://www.gunnersshot.com/2022/02/where-is-indias-second-cds-by-lt-gen-p.html Many articles have appeared on the post of the CDS being still vacant. Many articles have appeared on the proposed tour of duty concept of enrolment of soldiers for short tenures of three and five years. The CDS and Tour of Duty have a seminal connect in the defense, security, and well-being of our nation. This is not a fancy statement stemming from fertile imagination. One look at the way the Ukraine war is going for the Russians will give out all answers faster than skeletons tumbling from a cupboard.     If Russia is losing the war slowly and steadily it is because of tw...