TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO ‘ONE CHINA’

October 22, 2020

The reason to continue with ‘One China’ despite Chinese perfidy is attributable to weak governments with misguided diplomatic and political outlooks. Perhaps Chinese propaganda and biased Western comparisons have convinced some of us that China belongs to a different league. We might have been under the awe of their military...

DEFENCE CORRIDORS ARE DOORS TO STRATEGIC INDEPENDENCE

October 16, 2020

Achieving strategic independence in defence is an Indian necessity. It is a hydra headed problem. Defence budget and expenditure have reduced drastically. Warfare will be more noncontact and techno-centric. Threat perceptions will change after the current Sino-Indian clash. Import of defence equipment is on a downward trajectory. Self-sufficiency in defence...

Ongoing Sino-Indian logjam: The winter haul

October 15, 2020

The latest round of talks between SinoIndian militaries has ended predictably without a way forward. As winter sets in both sides hunker down to fight the elements more than each other. What is it that each can achieve in winter? What is the element of risk involved in contemplated actions?...

QUADRATIC TENT & THE CHINESE CAMEL

October 10, 2020

Chinese assertion and aggression are steered by Xi Jinping whose personal ambition is greater than the ambition of China and the CCP put together. A ‘China Dream’ and ‘Rejuvenation Plans’ are fine if they are not at the world’s expense. When surreal ambitions reach menacing proportions, they need to be...

MYTHICAL DRAGON, REAL PLA

October 5, 2020

I n any battle, contest or competition, it is important to know your adversary. In a previous article I tried to deconstruct the real China lurking behind the mythical dragon. Time to deconstruct PLA. Xi Jinping is building the strongest military on earth. He is spending a huge part of...

BEIJING’S CCP-LED GOVERNMENT IS A BULL IN CHINA SHOP

September 30, 2020

China’s callousness in allowing the virus to spread and then taking advantage of it at the cost of people at large have not been accepted. What the world saw was Beijing displaying a sense of being ordained to rule the world; whose time had come with the virus. There are...

The Dragon’s mindless growth poses big environmental risks

September 29, 2020

Environmental degradation and pollution are serial stranglers. Environmental degradation began with Mao’s ‘conquest of nature’ idea. The Chinese economy and severe environmental degradation took off together five decades back. China embraced industrialisation and economic progress unhesitatingly. Quick time centralised decision making without due checks and balances was the norm. Polluting...

Mythical Dragon, real China

September 28, 2020

Myths and Reality Xi’s Call: China is real. The dragon is mythical. However we will stick to the real China in this analysis. In May, Xi Jinping called on the PLA to be prepared for wars. He signalled what he was up to and conveyed it. We did not heed...

CORPORATISATION OF OFB: HIGH TIME FOR REAL ACTION

September 23, 2020

The OFB is similar to the Boeing 737 Max aircraft which was flying with the wrong software and ultimately crashed… — Anonymous The recent ‘barrel burst’ of the 155 mm ATAGS gun during trials sets the entire development process back by a couple of years. This is not a first-time...

Sino-Indian logjam: Facts, risks, options and the sum of all fears

September 19, 2020

China may be reinforcing eastern Ladakh with additional troops, but it does not realise that high-altitude warfare is vastly different. Why? Simple. Difference between political and professional armies. Isolated more than ever before, China is already in a trap of its own making. Now, Indian forces should hold tight, maintain...