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Political will and military power
- August 12, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen (Dr) Prakash Menon (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Military, Strategic Affairs
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Military history often knocks on contemporary doors. Galwan, Kongka La, and Pangong Tso that were areas of military contestations in 1962, with Depsang also thrown in, are emblematic of the present Sino-Indian border crisis. It was HG Wells who said, “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” India doesn’t seem to have learnt this lesson. In its signature style, China has used military power to grab control of unoccupied areas and called it as an act of self-defence.
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Need Bravery not Bravado
- July 31, 2020
- Posted by: Brig Deepak Sinha (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Europe, Foreign Affairs, Rest of the World, SAARC, Strategic Affairs, USA, West Asia
In the preface to his insightful work, Generalship: Its Disease and Cure, British military tactician Major-General JFC Fuller quotes an apocryphal tale told to him by a member of the French General Staff. “At the battle of Waterloo, Colonel Clement, an infantry commander, fought with bravery; but unfortunately, was shot through the head.
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QUAD 2.0 or TIANXIA
- July 29, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen PR Shankar (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Foreign Affairs, Rest of the World, SAARC, Strategic Affairs, USA, West Asia
Gordon Chang says ‘Xi, thinks everyone should acknowledge not only Chinese hegemony but also China’s rule,… China’s ruler has both the right and responsibility to rule Tianxia, or all under Heaven’! Does the world want to be in this Chinese hell? If not, it needs the QUAD. It is a global imperative.
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The China-Iran link could be a Geopolitical Game-changer : The Stakes for India
- July 28, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Foreign Affairs, Military, Strategic Affairs, West Asia
The Covid 19 pandemic has paralyzed the world and created geopolitical opportunities galore. In consequence pin pricks, pressure points and strategic messaging have all become the order of the day.
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Beijing’s Strategic Messaging shifts to West Asia
- July 21, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Strategic Affairs, West Asia
All these years, many analysts wondered why China was so tentative about expanding business and strategic links with Iran in a bigger and more transparent way that would convey its clear disagreement with the US policy on Iran. The US re-imposed sanctions after it pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, but some short-term concessions were available to nations such as India and China that obtained much of their energy needs from Iran.
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5G and Chinese Trojan Horses
- July 21, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen PR Shankar (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Strategic Affairs
These days 5G and Huawei is in the news. Most people ask – why it is such a big affair? In most conversations about ‘5G’ it seems that it is wiser to say ‘Haan Ji’ and let it pass. However what is happening about Huawei and Chinese electronic surveillance and data theft is insidiously significant. It is part of the Multi Domain War which is being waged by China.
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It is no longer Pakistan seeking Chinese support for its adventurism as much as it is the other way around. India must prepare
- July 20, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Foreign Affairs, Military, Pakistan, Strategic Affairs
While India has long considered the potential of a two-front war with Pakistan and China, it was only in 2009 that a keynote address at a seminar in Delhi, by the then Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, forced a serious re-evaluation. The debate regarding India’s capability to fight a war in which there is full collusion between China and Pakistan has generally remained inconclusive.
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India’s Geopolitical and Geo-Economic Crossroads
- July 18, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen (Dr) Prakash Menon (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Military, Strategic Affairs
The ghosts of Doklam have emerged with vengeance in Ladakh, with updated satellite images providing irrefutable testimony of China’s ongoing military preparations in most of the Doklam plateau that it has occupied. India’s acquiescence to China’s military occupation was a strategic turning point which signified that China understood that the politico-military dynamics on Northern border provided potential pressure points for periodic doses to keep India on the leash. Ladakh was waiting to happen and one can expect many recurrences unless India takes a stand that disabuses China of the notion that India can be coerced.
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The Middle-Aged Kingdom’s Last Gambit
- July 17, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen PR Shankar (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Strategic Affairs
Why is China doing what it is doing? Two recent articles highlight the dichotomy of the situation. The article ‘China Talks of US Decoupling and a Divided World’ highlights the views of Zhou Li, a high ranker in CCP. He cautions China to prepare for – shrinking external demand, disruption of supply chains, coexistence with coronavirus over the long term, an outbreak of a global food crisis (in China?) and a resurgence of international terrorism (Tibetan and Uighur?).
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China’s Arrogance and Aggressiveness : The Big Picture
- July 14, 2020
- Posted by: Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia (Retd)
- Categories: ASEAN & ARF, China, Strategic Affairs
The Incursions and Galwan: The unprecedented pre-meditated violence at Galwan on June 15 by Chinese troops shattered a 45 year-long ‘Peace and Tranquility’ along the India China Border, thus changing the very dynamics of not only managing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but the growing trust and relations between the two Asian giants. The situation continues to remain sensitive as both countries build up their military power along the border, again a first after 1962, defending their respective positions and narratives.
