Valleys and Valour

                                                                         Akhand Bharat REVISITING INDIAN MILITARY THEATRE COMMAND REFORMS “ The best way forward for India to unbalance China’s coercive military posture along the northern land border, is to pivot the battlefield centre of gravity to the Indo-Pacific maritime region . ” – Col RS Sidhu   Backdrop 2019 turned out to be a watershed year in India’s future outlook of itself in the geopolitical space. The Budget 2019-20, presented on 05 July 2019, contained a declaratory statement   to make India a US Dollar 5 trillion economy by 2024-25 . In immediate aftermath, on 15 August 2019, the Prime Minister announced the government intent to create the appointment of Chief of Defense Staff (CDS). Thereafter the wheels of the gove...

  US ISRAEL ATTACK ON IRAN – PART II THE BATTLE OF NERVES AND NARRATIVE “ If a battle gets prolonged against a determined adversary adept at waging asymmetric warfare, then the decision matrix gradually shifts from the domain of qualitative and quantitative technological prowess to the arena of battle of nerves and the ‘power of narrative ’. ” – Col RS Sidhu Backdrop The battlefields of Vietnam of the 1960s, Afghanistan of the 1980s and again in the first two decades of 21 st century, are standing testimony to the decisive role of ‘ nerve of the leadership ’ and the ‘ power of narrative ’ in asymmetrical conflict. The former is decisive in inducing the leadership succumbing to ‘ battle fatigue ’, while the ‘ power of narrative ’ renders the adversary ‘ hors de combat ’ by striking at the roots of the support base. Though the ongoing conflict of US and Israel against Iran is still in its early days, the role of the ‘ power of narrative ’ is already gaining centre sta...