Valleys and Valour

General In mid-May 2020, Chinese Army launched simultaneous incursions in Galwan River Valley, Hot Springs and Northern bank of Pangong Tso in Laddakh. After protracted military level talks to resolve the issue, China initially agreed to pull back its forces, then procrastinated, and finally withdrew partially in Galwan River Valley. It refused to pull back its troops from Northern bank of Pangong Tso. China also amassed its infantry and mechanised forces in Depsang Plains opposite Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), at Pangong Tso and Spanggur Gap opposite Chushul and in general area of Chumar. DBO and Chushul hold geostrategic importance for India. Spanggur Gap and Rechin La, to its East, provide easy approach to Chinese mechanised forces and infantry to threaten Chushul and to turn the flanks of Indian forward deployments in the region. Magar Hill, Gorkha Hill and Gurung Hill dominate the Spanggur Gap and also provide observation over Moldo base of Chinese Army as also their strategic road comm...

ASIA PORTENDS FOR 2020-2025 “Essaying the excuse of ‘stab in the back’ is the strongest indication of incompetency in geopolitics and military affairs and should logically invite immediate sacking!”  The outcome of two events by November 2020 shall dictate the geostrategic course of Asia for the next five years. First is the survival or downfall of Xi Jinping as China’s President for Life, General Secretary of Communist Party of China and Chairman of Central Military Commission of China. Survival of Xi Jinping beyond November 2020 will be the clearest indicator of China continuing to march on the confrontationist course set by him. The other is the victory or defeat of US President Donald Trump in his Presidential bid for the second consecutive term in November 2020. His victory will signal the continuance of US policy to aggressively challenge China in its backyard of SCS. On the other hand the defeat of the incumbent President will entail a lame duck Presidency till January 2021,...

“Rise of a challenger to an established regional or global power is invariably disruptive of geopolitical peace.” GENERAL In the geostrategic circles, the 21st Century is already being talked of as the Asian century, wherein the dynamics of forces being generated by the rivalry between US and China, and Bharat and China on the other hand, will deeply influence the discourse of international relations the world over. Within Asia the primary factor which is shaping the geostrategic alignments is the energy security needs of China. Since almost a decade one of the most anticipated event horizon in the geostrategic space has been the rise of China as a challenger to US supremacy in Asia and the world at large. History is mute testament to any such climb of a challenger being disruptive to regional and world peace. China’s upsurge is no different. To the student of history it is quite interesting to note great similarities in the ascent of China in Asia and the earlier disruptive rise of Na...

(Updated commentary, as on April 2014, from the author’s standpoint on the key aspects of the original article. The article penned in the second half of 1993 and published in January 1994, has stood the test of time of more than two decades.) Foreign Policy Objectives of Modern China Global Objectives . China has more or less succeeded in achieving Great Power status. Nuclear Weapons and Blue Water Navy . Currently it has the third largest nuclear stockpile and an ocean going navy with two indigenously manufactured aircraft carriers scheduled to join service in near future. Economic Power . The Chinese economy is already second largest in the world and is projected to cross US economy in GDP terms by 2040. It has also developed huge trade surplus against majority of large economies of the world and continues to be one of the most dynamic and fastest growing. Regional Objectives . The influence of China is truly established as the pre-eminent power in Asia. The Shanghai Security Coop...

(Published in Trishul, a Triservice journal of Defence Services Staff College Wellington (India), Volume VI No 2 – January 1994 , and reproduced with their kind permission.) Author’s Note  (Even during my school days I found reading books on military campaigns very interesting. Subsequently as a student of history during my graduate and postgraduate years I found the history of China, Japan and Tibet very fascinating. 1990s was the time when the Indian strategic establishment started shifting its focus from Pakistan to look at China as the long term threat. It came naturally to me to write this article, in 1993, based on almost two decades of my insight on the subject.) Introduction For centuries, China regarded herself as the Central Flowery Kingdom, the only ‘Civilisation’ on Earth, and it’s ruler as T’ien-Tzu, the Son of Heaven. There has been a two thousand years old tradition to view China as the centre of the Universe. All the Chinese leaders from Sun Yat-Sen to Chiang Kai-Sh...

This article is published by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) . Read it here:  https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=310

INDARMY TOUR OF DUTY REFORMS  This article was first published in August 2020 by  the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) - Veteran COL RS Sidhu   BACKDROP The establishment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is the first tranche of the long overdue process of higher Military and Bureaucratic reforms. Infact, between the two, the import of DMA is more far reaching as it brings the Armed Forces into the governance structure of the country for the first time in the history of independent India. As in the first case, there is no formal announcement of the impending Tour of Duty (TOD) reforms. Nor is there any clarity of the contours that shall shape these reforms. From previous experience it may be deduced that the second tranche of the reforms in the lower hierarchy shall be equally far reaching. The TOD reforms seem to have been based on the TOD service in the US Armed Forces. Public statements of ministers and ...

This article is published in the book "UNDERSTANDING CHINA - MODERNISATION OF ARMED FORCES" by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) . Read it here:  https://cenjows.in/monographs

This article is published by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) . Read it here:  https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=235

This article is published by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) . Read it here:  https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=234

This article is published by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) . Read it here:  https://cenjows.in/article-detail?id=230

COVID-19 BIOLOGICAL PANDEMIC OF 2020 AND PORTEND FOR INDIA   Backdrop Worldwide H1N1/09 Swine flu pandemic in 20009-10, MERS Coronavirus outbreak in 2012, Ebola Virus disease in 2013, and Zika Virus in 2015 were the warning signals of a major biological pandemic waiting to happen, which the world ignored at its peril. The early 2020 global pandemic caused by Covid-19 virus outbreak has resulted in almost half the population of the world being quarantined or under lockdown, inducing the largest global economic slowdown. The unfolding events have caught all nations and agencies by surprise, revealing the unexpectedness of such a dramatic scenario. Higher security, administrative and medical setups of Indian state were equally caught off guard, as the much vaunted Disaster Management plans and mitigation infrastructure proved to be inadequate. Much as during the Kargil war, it was the steel shown by the administrative, security and medical, junior leadership at district ...