Valleys and Valour

  SPRINGING THE ‘THUCYDIDES TRAP’   “ In contentious times, analysing deeds and recognising patterns in key events is a surer way for an observer to timely deduce the likely turn of events. ” – Col RS Sidhu   ‘Thucydides Trap’ On 14 th of May 2026, the paramount leader of China, Xi Jinping during his Summit with POTUS Donald Trump in Beijing, used an interesting catchphrase by calling upon the two countries to transcend the ‘ Thucydides Trap ’ . The axiom ‘ Thucydides Trap ’, refers to the inevitability of war when the rise of a challenger threatens the supremacy of an established power. This expression is named after Greek historian Thucydides, who first propounded this principle in the context of geopolitical challenge by Athens to the supremacy of Sparta, resulting in the long drawn out Peloponnesian Wars in ancient Greece during the 5 th century BCE. By using this phrase in context of the adversarial relationship between China and the US, Xi Jinping ...

  RUMINATIONS ON REINTEGRATION OF MECHANISED FORCES “ The mechanised forces, with their inherent potential to shift the battlefield centre of gravity by their very presence, are the decisive arm in land battle, from the high altitude plateaus down to the plains, deserts, and the littoral regions. ” – Col RS Sidhu   Backdrop The Directorate General Mechanised Forces (DGMF) was established in 1986 by amalgamating the Directorate of Armoured Corps and the Mechanised Infantry Regiment, newly raised in 1979, after detaching the latter from the Directorate General of Infantry. Incidentally, the decision of 1979 to amalgamate the Mechanised Infantry battalions into a new Regiment was vehemently opposed by both the Corps of Infantry and the Armoured Corps . This opposition led to several attempts to disband the Regiment in the first two decades of its existence. Reversion of battalions to erstwhile parent regiments, reassigning ICVs to ASC transport battalions with perm...