Experts Speak
-
February 21, 2019
Visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS in short) arrived New Delhi on a two-day state visit on February 19, 2019. He earlier visited Pakistan and was scheduled to come to India directly from Pakistan.
-
February 21, 2019
Litigation against Disabled Soldiers
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided to withdraw its appeals made before the Supreme Court against grant of disability benefits to soldiers by various courts...
-
February 1, 2019
Defence Budget 2019-2020
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On January 13, 2019 media quoted the recently released Central Public Works Department (CPWD) Annual Report (2018-19) stating the government plans to construct 44 strategic roads along the border with China and over 2,100 km axial and lateral roads in Punjab and Rajasthan, abutting Pakistan.
-
BREAKING
February 1, 2019
Aero India 2019: Customs duty on import of aircraft
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)It is learnt from some reliable sources that the Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman, did raise an objection to this step by the Department of Customs and has sought reversal of the notification.
-
February 1, 2019
Border Infrastructure – remains neglected
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On January 13, 2019 media quoted the recently released Central Public Works Department (CPWD) Annual Report (2018-19) stating the government plans to construct 44 strategic roads along the border with China and over 2,100 km axial and lateral roads in Punjab and Rajasthan, abutting Pakistan.
-
February 1, 2019
Sniper War
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On January 15, 2019, a cross-border sniper shot killed a Border Security Force (BSF) officer patrolling the border in Jammu's Kathua district. This was the fourth such attack in less than a week; this one being astride the international border (IB) made it a violation of international conventions.
-
February 1, 2019
Game of Disability Pensions
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW), Ministry of Defence, vide its Notification No. 16(3),2017/D (Pen/Policy) dated January 29, 2019, signed by Manoj Sinha, Deputy Secretary to Government of India...
-
February 1, 2019
Microsat-R, Kalamsat launch - and more
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)ISRO's PSLV-C44, carrying India's Military Satellite Microsat-R and Students' Payload Kalamsat, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharkota Range at 11.37 pm on January 24, 2019 after a 28-hour countdown.
-
February 1, 2019
Fortifying Andaman & Nicobar
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Media reports of January 27 state government has "virtually finalised" a 5,650 crore military infrastructure development plan for Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) over a 10-year period.
-
January 28, 2019
Killing the Golden Goose
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)The proverbial "last straw on the camel's back" came on January 17 this year when the Department of Customs issued a notification imposing customs duty on aircraft as well as any other equipment brought into the country for static or flying display at Aero India 2019.
-
January 21, 2019
India and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
By General V.P. Malik (Retd)In April 2015, China and Pakistan signed an agreement to work on a $46 billion (currently valued at $62 billion) China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), generally viewed as the crown jewel of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative.
-
January 16, 2019
Talking to Taliban – and more
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue at New Delhi on January 9, 2019, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat backed talks with the Taliban if they were ready for lasting peace in Afghanistan, saying, "There should be talks with Taliban so long as they don't come up with pre-conditions, so long as they are looking at lasting peace...
-
January 16, 2019
Visit of Bhutan's Prime Minister
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Lotay Tshering of Bhutan, accompanied by Tandi Dorji, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Loknath Sharma, Minister for Economic Affairs and senior officials from the Royal Government of Bhutan, visited India from December 27 to December 29, 2018 on invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
-
January 16, 2019
Chinooks and Apaches are Coming
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The first batch of US-built heavy-lift Chinook helicopters and Apache attack helicopters will commence arriving India in March 2019, just ahead of the general elections.
-
January 16, 2019
Space Diplomacy with Neighbours
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)While the launch of Chandrayan-2 scheduled on January 3 was postponed a second time for unexplained reasons, media headlines of January 4 announced India setting up five ground stations and over 500 terminals in neighbouring countries...
-
January 16, 2019
Fortifying Andaman & Nicobar
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)News reports of January 6, 2019 reveal that Andaman & Nicobar Islands (ANI) will get a new airbase in the Indian Naval Air Station, INS 'Kohasa' near Diglipur (largest town of North Andaman Island with population of 744202 (2001 census) located...
-
January 16, 2019
More military assistance to Afghanistan
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Dr. Hamdullah Mohib, National Security Adviser of Afghanistan, visited India on the invitation of his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval from 3 to 5 January 2019. Both the NSAs exchanged views about developments in Afghanistan.
-
January 10, 2019
Indian Army Land Warfare Doctrine 2018
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Indian Army Land Warfare Doctrine 2018 is required to read in conjunction 'Joint Doctrine of India Armed Forces – 2017', as stipulated on the Indian Army website.
-
January 3, 2019
Revering Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurled the Tricolour in Andaman's Netaji Memorial in Port Blair on December 30, 2018 to commemorate the first flag hoisting by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on December 30, 1943.
-
January 3, 2019
Beyond the Bogibeel Bridge
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On 25 December 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 4.98 km-long Bogibeel Bridge, the longest rail-cum-road bridge on Brahmaputra River. Foundation stone for this bridge was laid 21 years earlier by the then Prime Minister in 1997 though work started only five years later in 2002.
-
January 3, 2019
After BMS and F-INSAS, dedicated OFC stalled
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In 2018, the Army was forced to foreclose the Battlefield Management System (BMS) project due to budgetary constraints. BMS delayed mostly because of the governmental defence-industry was pursued for 13 years, and in which considerable amount of money was invested by the private industry in recent years.
-
January 3, 2019
Agni-IV and Agni-V – closer to fielding
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On December 10, 2018, India successful tested Agni-V one more time, this being the seventh test since its development began past decade and third in 2018. The last test was conducted in June 2018.
-
January 3, 2019
GSAT-11 – boosts Bharat Net Project
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)India's heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 was launched successfully on December 5, 2018 from the Spaceport in French Guiana along with South Korea's GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellite, onboard Ariane VA 246 launch vehicle.
-
January 3, 2019
GSAT-7A makes IAF happy – but holistic approach needed
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On December 19, 2018, India successfully launched GSAT-7A satellite meant for augmenting the existing communications capabilities of satellites utilised by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
-
December 19, 2018
Visit of President Ibrahim Solih
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Maldives President Ibrahim Solih’s three-day state visit to India commencing December 17 was his first foreign visit after becoming President. He was accompanied by the first lady and a high-level delegation including Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, National Planning and Infrastructure...
-
December 19, 2018
Drone Swarms Threat – much catching up required
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which is a statutory body of Government of India, disclosed through a communication on November 9, 2018 that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had announced a 100 crore Swarm Drone Competition.
-
December 19, 2018
ISRO Space Museums and Space Applications
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Speaking to the media on November 26, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan stated ISRO recently discussed a proposal with the Kerala government to set up a space museum in Thiruvananthapuram, to which the state government responded positively and even allotted land for the purpose.
-
December 19, 2018
Defence Minister’s US Visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a maiden 5 day visit to the US that concluded on December 8, 2018. Her visit was concurrent to the ongoing 12 day Indo-US military exercise between the IAF and the USAF in Kalaikunda...
