Indian Defence Review Jan Mar 2019 Vol 34 1

IN THIS VOLUME: World Sans a Global Policeman: Turmoil as Us Exits - Lt Gen JS Bajwa (Editor) INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT : India’s Defence Forces: A 5 Years Review - Danvir Singh Modernisation of the Indian Air Force - Air Marshal Anil Chopra UAVs & UCAVs: The Next Generation Threat - Lt Col Mukund Bhardwaj Deconstructing the Rafale Ambiguity - Sumit Walia Tibet Infrastructure: New Panacea for the Middle Kingdom? - Claude Arpi Xi Jinping’s World-Class Military: Not Only Fights, But also Wins Wars - Dr Amrita Jash From Teaching to Learning a Lesson: China’s Nightmare in Pakistan - Dr Sundaram Rajasimman Unmanned Platforms in the IAF: The Need to Bolster - Gp Capt AK Sachdev ‘Make in India’ and the Indian Aerospace Industry: Quo Vadis? - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Indo-US Military Ties in the Regime of Air Power - Air Marshal Anil Chopra Is China Preparing for a conflict with India? - Gp Capt Ravinder Singh Chhatwal Did India ever formulate a Kashmir Policy? - RSN Singh Afghanistan: Thinking in Terms of Hindu Kush - Dr Sundaram Rajasimman Defence Forces and National Budget - Lt Gen Harwant Singh Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi

The articles in CLAWS Journal (Summer 2021) mainly assess the changing nature of India’s national security paradigm from the vantage of global, regional, and internal security threat perspectives and offer insights on what needs to be done to safeguard India’s national interests—both regionally and globally.

CLAWS Journal Winter 2020 is a “Special Issue” that holds significance in many ways. Contextually, it highlights the commemorative spirit of the 15 Years of Excellence of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, and conceptually it puts forward an understanding of China in the current dynamic vis-à-vis India, from a wide range of perspectives, especially from India, United States, Bangladesh, and Australia.

IN THIS VOLUME: • Securing India’s Rightful Place in the Comity of Nations - Lt Gen JS Bajwa • Army Aviation: A Future Perspective - Lt Gen BS Pawar • Air Elements in Special Ops - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Mobile Phones: A Disruptive Military Communications Change - Col NP Singh • A New Kind of Warfare Drones: A Game Changer in Future Conflict - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha • China’s New Constellation in Asia-Pacific: India’s Bind - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee • The Russian Shift - Danvir Singh • Technology in Warfare: Is India Lagging Behind? - Sumit Walia • Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft for the IAF - Air Marshal Anil Chopra • Private Sector in Aerospace and Defence: An Evolving Success Story - Gp Capt AK Sachdev • Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi • Pushing the Red Line: Analysing India’s Response Post Pulwama - Maj Dibya Satpathy • India: Need for Strategic Culture and Policy Options - Vice Adm MP Muralidharan • Deconstructing the Psycho-Political Profile of a Terrorist - Dr Veena Ravi Kumar

This book studies India’s evolving naval engagements with other nations of the Indian Ocean region. It traces the growth of the Indian Navy and discusses its role as an instrument of meeting national objectives, particularly for furthering foreign policy. The volume analyses themes such as Indian Navy’s (IN) transition from a brown water to blue water force, Indian maritime debates and doctrines, naval ‘bridge-building’ missions, and Sino-Indian maritime competitions. It examines Indian Navy’s regional roles within the broader framework of its diplomatic objectives in particular regions and looks at how keen regional states are to accept India as a crisis manager and would allow it to build a regional maritime security architecture. The author also discusses state control over naval diplomatic roles and investigates if Indian Navy can effectively hedge extra-regional, mainly Chinese, involvement in the Indian Ocean. An important study of India’s naval prowess, this book will be indispensable to students and researchers of political science, international relations, maritime and naval studies, strategic studies, geopolitics, defence studies, conflict studies, diplomacy, Indian Ocean studies, South Asian studies and those interested in India-China maritime rivalry.

Intensifying geopolitical rivalries, rising defence spending and the proliferation of the latest military technology across Asia suggest that the region is set for a prolonged period of strategic contestation. None of the three competing visions for the future of Asian order – a US-led ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, a Chinese-centred order, or the ASEAN-inspired ‘Indo-Pacific Outlook’ – is likely to prevail in the short to medium term. In the absence of a new framework, the risk of open conflict is heightened, and along with it the need for effective mechanisms to maintain peace and stability. As Asia’s leaders seek to rebuild their economies and societies in the wake of COVID-19, they would do well to reflect upon the lessons offered by the pandemic and their applicability in the strategic realm. The societies that have navigated the crisis most effectively have been able to do so by putting in place stringent protective measures. Crisis-management and -avoidance mechanisms – and even, in the longer term, wider arms control – can be seen as the strategic equivalent of such measures, and as such they should be pursued with urgency in Asia to reduce the risks of an even greater calamity.

The first book by a former Indian naval intelligence officer on Sino-India relations, India’s Maritime Strategy provides a unique insight into the Indian Navy, tracing its post-independence growth and discussing its transformation and future in the 21st century. In the context of the rise of China’s maritime power in the Indian Ocean, this book provides a nuanced view of the extent and scope of India’s maritime reach and the effect of this on Sino-Indian competition. Challenging the view that by developing a favourable environment alone, India could seek to maintain its balance of power with China, it is argued that despite durable bilateral security ties with most regional states, India’s maritime aspirations to be the primary net security provider for the region are unsustainable in the long term. This book presents a comprehensive coverage of India’s bilateral maritime security engagements with all the Indian Ocean regional states, as well as the US, France, UK and Russia. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Indian and South Asian politics, international relations and maritime security.

This book examines how bilateralism and multilateralism serve as cornerstones in bringing countries together to enhance regional cooperation. It explores the unfolding dynamics of bilateral and multilateral relationships in South Asia and looks at how factors like the absence of shared identities or common threats from external sources, a lack of trust, and suspicion are manifesting as obstacles for regional cooperation. With case studies from various constituent countries, the volume studies themes such as economic cooperation in South Asia, connections through sub-regional initiatives, migration and refugee problems in the region, SAARC and terrorism, the Pashtun factor in Afghanistan–Pakistan relations, India’s interests in ASEAN and BIMSTEC, the nuclear dynamics of India–Pakistan relations, India–Bangladesh connectivity issues, Sri Lanka as a troubled island nation, and Afghanistan’s relations with the Kashmir Valley. It discusses the implications of these long-standing issues that have stood as impediments to regional cooperation and bringing new perspectives to enable greater understanding and probable solutions. A comprehensive and accessible volume, it will be useful for scholars and researchers of international relations, international trade, South Asian studies, SAARC, regional development, international and multilateral trade, political studies, geo-politics, strategic and defence studies, and peace and conflict resolution.