The Indian Army is making incremental, but confused, progress in upgrading its depreciated artillery profile that has languished gravely since the import of Bofors howitzers in the late 1980s as per Rahul Bedi in Hindu in 2014. In 2020, the same Hindu reports that the Defence Ministry will introduce import embargo on 101 items.

The current Sino Indian standoff has highlighted the lack of a suitable tank for high altitudes.The tank is required not only for defending our territory but also for carrying out any offensive into China. Unless we pose a credible offensive threat to China, our territory will always be subject to salami slicing. Having a light tank in adequate numbers in Eastern Ladakh and Sikkim is mandatory.

The Modi Govt is in a fix today, not because of the negligence of previous regimes but because of its own deliberate neglect of the military. We have failed to learn lessons

An interesting anecdote doing the rounds among military veterans’ groups on social media pertains to an incident just after the 1971 war.

On the first anniversary of the effective abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A and the administrative reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir – truly landmark political decisions – year-end stock taking is being done with a fine tooth-comb.