Military Mind

CHINESE INTRUSIONS: STRATEGIC OPTIONS FOR INDIA Lt Gen Rajiv Bhalla, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM    China in its latest incursion at Galwan and Pangong Tso Lake areas has only continued with their unstated domineering philosophy and should not come as a surprise to India. The Chinese have mastered the art of ambiguity and deceit and display extreme patience with a long-term perspective in settling disputes. They are ardent followers of the military strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu and put to practice his teachings zealously. Over the years they have successfully achieved their aspirational strategic objectives with their visionary finesse, economic might, dictatorial system, and soft power manipulations. In the late seventies and early eighties when India was vigorously pursuing for early settlement of the border issue, the Chinese put it on the back burner on the pretext of modernisation commitments. However, they continued with their aggressive border activities and patrolling whi...

EXPEDITIONARY CAPABILITIES : A MUST Lt Gen Rajiv Bhalla In a recent interaction with the media, General Bipin Rawat, the CDS mentioned that the Indian Armed Forces are not an Expeditionary Force [1]  and therefore could do with a reduced budget.  In his words,  “Military planners should not be pretending that India’s military was playing a global role. We are not Expeditionary Forces that have to deploy around the globe. We have to guard and fight only along our borders and of course, dominate the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).” [2] The Statement can be read in the backdrop of budgetary cuts that might take place due to the Pandemic crisis. This is probably the first time that Indian Armed Forces have been contextualised with the Expeditionary Forces by a serving four-star General. An ‘Expeditionary Force’ as per the Collins dictionary is a “group of soldiers who are sent to fight in a foreign country”. The term was most commonly used during the two World Wars and has been us...

CDS: GETTING THE PRIORITIES RIGHT  Lt Gen Rajiv Bhalla The announcement of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) by Prime Minster Modi in the course of his Independence Day address to the nation, which came after a long gap post the recommendation by the Group of Ministers (GOM) in their Report in May 2001, provided immense solace to the Armed Forces fraternity. It was amongst the foremost recommendations, not only by the GOM as also by the Lt Gen Shekatkar Committee of Experts. It had long been a perception amongst the Defence Services that HQ IDS was incomplete without a CDS and this appointment would curtail the inter-service differentials. The CDS would also help the services to achieve synergy, which would be the winning factor in a technologically advanced battlefield in a two-front scenario.  The announcement of the retiring Army Chief to become the first CDS did not surprise many as he was a strong contender with his proactive media approach and skillful handling of the sensiti...