Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee

“What perturbs me greatly is the fact that not only India has once before lost her independence, but she lost it by the infidelity and...

The Cause of National Sovereignty Traditionally, India has sought to preserve her sovereignty and territorial integrity through reliance on political accommodations and harmonious diplomacy. Even...

“Right, as the world goes is only in question between equals in power; while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what...

“Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.” — Norman Cousins Key Neighbours: Innately Animus Inter-state and regional level political, economic and hegemonic rivalries have ever...

“Whatever needs to be maintained through force is doomed” — Henry Miller China’s Quest The People’s Republic of China (PRC) identifies its primary interest with...

Clausewitz had prophesized that it was mandatory for a nation’s political leadership to possess a fair understanding of the profession of arms. For the military...

So far we have attributed the PRC’s military build-up to its likelihood of turning into a regional tormentor. Indeed, it is wise to be circumspect....

The Hoary and Sublime‘Wisdom of China’ Scholars and strategists across the globe have always wondered at the excellence of China’s hoary strategic Wisdom. This is...

“If you do not have a strategy, you’re part of someone else’s strategy” – Alvin Toffler There are individuals and groups of socio-political inclinations in...

In convening the Review, the MoD has treaded a path of wisdom and it needs to be congratulated on this initiative. But to ensure that...

It is said that morale makes a soldier, sailor and airman victorious against extreme and unforgiving odds. Therefore it comes as a surprise that while...

It needs no revelation that there is widespread consternation within the strategically committed community, the intelligentsia and the media over the growing obsolescence and declining...

Over the following decades, while the nation’s military capability went through cycles of rise and fall depending upon the degree of the Government’s geo-strategic naivety,...

“Don’t hit at all if it is honourably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft”. – Theodore Roosevelt Burden of Strategic Thinking India’s strategic...

There is no hope of a resolution of the India-PRC border dispute unless it is grossly in favour of China. It would, therefore, be wise...

 “Sadly, the society is not usually ruled by great men, but small ones whom circumstances have brought into positions of power”. (Purpose of the following...

“The only thing harder than getting new things into the military mind is to get the old ones out”, - Liddel Hart Focus of Thinking...

It is historically recognised that the conduct of war has much to do with intellect, creativity and initiative. From this angle, it is imperative to...

The Indian Army remains handicapped in terms of its war making potential and lack of military infrastructure along the ever-vulnerable Indo-Tibet Border. The military men’s...

The vice-like grip of Pakistan’s nuclear choreography is so mesmerising that India seems to be unable, or unwilling, break free of the spell it has...

“Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from defeat” – Jean-Paul Sartre After many years, the nation’s retrieval of...

The Maoist rebellion is a phenomenon, an adverse one of course, in which bands of armed local inhabitants, led by firebrand ‘area commanders’, assume a...

It will take years to streamline the archaic system of higher defence management in India. Meanwhile, trapped in the complexities of the geo-political adversities, India’s...

By age-old convention, most wars have various forms of tactical operations undertaken under one overall plan - set-piece, irregular and Special Operations, for example. Indeed,...

Alongside the troubles concurrent and brewing, there are hopeful signs of matured realisation and some improvements in the situation. History proves that such improvements in...

Having murdered the leading Congress party functionaries in Chattisgarh and celebrating that macabre act like the savages do, the Maoists have now elaborated their ‘hit...

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high ... Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.” —Tagore...

Professional soldiers mutilate none, dead or alive, enemy or friend. Indeed, a martyred enemy is an object of sombre empathy and deep veneration. Pakistan Army...

It was a red letter day for the DRDO when the Agni V ICBM was successfully test fired on 19 Apr 2012. Indeed, it was a...

Playing a ‘soldier’ has always been a very enticing engagement amongst children. Even grown-ups of prominent status like the tag of being a ‘military- man’,...

“When there is everything to fear, be unafraid. When without resources, depend on resourcefulness”, - Sun Tsu. The territorial dispute in the Trans-Himalayan Region is...

Our narrative of the 1962 border conflict is but a list of self-deprecating ‘never dos’. A force of just three weak Brigades in the Eastern...

Military leaders at all levels have to girdle up to protect the exclusivity of the military establishment from attempts of misguided, even if unintentional, dilutions...

“Therefore, soldiers do not have a constant position, water does not have a constant shape, and to be able to attain victory in response to...

Personnel Management: As discussed above, misplaced notions of ‘equivalency’ between the soldiery and the civilian establishment has led to the Army becoming top heavy and...