After nine months of uncertainty in Ladakh, high levels of tension and every possibility of a breakout of armed exchanges on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), comes an announcement of disengagement by both China and India. In fact, the disengagement has already begun.

Consequent to various proactive measures adopted by the Indian government, the prevailing situation in J&K is largely in our favour. Pakistan will endeavour to alter the situation negatively and exploit to calibrate it to its advantage.

At the outset let me admit that neither the title nor the theme of this essay is an original. I have borrowed it from the doyen of Indian military institutions, the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, recently made more famous by the book “The Wellington Experience: A Study of Attitudes and Values Within the Indian Army,”

When Joe Biden was elected as the US President a little over 10 weeks ago, all doubts about major changes in American foreign policy were dismissed on the assumption that in national policies, things do not work that way.

Most strategic minds are currently in ‘analysis overkill’ and unable to assess much further on the Ladakh standoff.

Six years ago, was the 50th anniversary of the Indo-Pak Conflict 1965. Even as a second-generation officer and having served 40 years in the Indian Army, I thought I did not know enough about the strategic aspects of the war except the part involving operations in J&K; that essentially meant the Battle of Haji Pir.

The Army Chief, General Manoj Naravane in his Army Day press interaction confirmed that the Indian Army is prepared to remain deployed in additional strength in Ladakh due to the current standoff with China.

Many people are trying to make sense of the recently concluded elections to district development councils (DDCs) in Jammu & Kashmir, a practice that does not exist anywhere else in the country.

There was a time 25 years ago when many of the fortunate ones from the Indian Army who served with UN forces in Africa loved to break journey in Dubai to shop around a bit and fill up suitcases of goodies for their families.

Many do not agree with the ‘clash of civilisations’ theory of Samuel P Huntington but there can hardly be a doubt about the fact that there has been a churn within the Islamic world since 1979.