Experts Speak
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September 7, 2018
Visit of Chinese Defence Minister
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Commenting on multiple transgression by the across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) including a major one in Sikkim post the informal summit in Wuhan between Prime Minister Narendar Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Claude Arpi...
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September 7, 2018
ISRO's Manned Mission – and more
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)During his address from Red Fort on 15 August 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would launch a manned mission in space in the year 2022 - the 75th Independence year.
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September 7, 2018
Is Imran Khan another Musharraf
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Imran Khan is the second Pathan to be elevated to the top job in Pakistan after Yahya Khan. His radical background is well established known. His links with Taliban and his funding of the Haqqani seminary known as the 'Oxford of Global Jihad' is well documented, which earned him the title of "Taliban Khan".
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September 7, 2018
Indo-Russian Defence Cooperation
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Speaking to Russian media in June 2018, the Indian Ambassador to Russia had said that India is continuing to negotiate with Russia for jointly developing a Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA).
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August 16, 2018
Prime Minister's Independence Day Message
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort for his fifthtime Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke mostly about the achievements of his government over the past four years including the various schemes launched by his administration, and future dreams.
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August 16, 2018
Delhi's Missile Shield
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Delhi is to get a missile shield "soon", which the media says will be akin to that of Washington and Moscow. Going by past experience, the "soon" could be any number of months, even years.
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August 16, 2018
Quading China
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There is a viewpoint that the fast developing US-Japan-Vietnam-Australia-India consort, coupled with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), would increase China's Malacca dilemma for its energy imports notwithstanding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and alternate through Myanmar.
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August 16, 2018
Indo-US Defence Technology Conundrum
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There is jubilation in India over the US granting the Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) that will ease export controls for high technology product sales to the country.
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August 3, 2018
Modi's Rwanda, Uganda visit and BRICS summit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)As part of his recent three-nation tour to Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Rwanda, Uganda and then South Africa where he attended the BRICS summit.
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August 3, 2018
India, Pakistan in SCO drill – Option in lighter vein
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Going by media reports India and Pakistan are to be part of anti-terror mega drill in Russia under aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) next month; scheduled from August 22 to August 29.
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August 3, 2018
Chief Guest Republic Day 2019 – Donald Trump?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Going by media reports, US President Donald Trump has been invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day Parade 2019.
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August 3, 2018
Weapon upgrades for Special Forces
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Weapons and equipment are in the pipeline for the Special Forces. According to a MoD official, "More attention is being paid to Special Forces after Para (Special Forces) conducted cross-border surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan Occupied-Kashmir (POK) in September 2016."
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August 3, 2018
DTTI and futuristic weapons
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The 7th Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) meeting was held in New Delhi on 18 July 2018, co-chaired by, Ajay Kumar, Secretary Defence Production and US Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen M Lord.
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August 3, 2018
Nuclear missile tracking ship
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)According to news in the media, India's secretive missile tracking / 'specialized' ocean surveillance ship 'VC11184' (yet to be commissioned) is undergoing harbour trials and is likely to be delivered to the Navy by December.
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July 16, 2018
Visit of South Korean President Moon Jae-in
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived on his first state visit to India on July 8. His four-day visit (8-11 July) marked the 45th anniversary of establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties.
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July 16, 2018
Arrived - hand-held Laser Weapons
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)China claims its newly developed ZKZM-500 laser assault rifle, a non-lethal weapon, can hit a target nearly a kilometer away.
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July 16, 2018
Visit of Chinese military delegation
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In what was described as a "significant ice-breaker" by our media, a 10-member Chinese delegation led by Lt Gen Liu Xiaowu, Deputy Commander of Western Theatre Command (that controls China's borders with Myanmar, India, Nepal...
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July 16, 2018
Tejas delay — Boosting imports?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)35 years after approval of Tejas, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in 1983, it has missed another deadline of getting its final operational clearance (FOC) by June 2018. This is after several revisions and repeated declarations by the government that FOC will be given by June 2018.
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July 4, 2018
Visit of Seychelles President – and Assumption Island
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Seychelles President Danny Faure arrived at Ahmedabad on evening of June 22 for a six-day visit to India. His visit included visiting Gujarat, New Delhi, Goa and Uttrakhand.
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July 4, 2018
New Chinese drones - formidable challenge
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)China is going full steam in developing drones. Its latest undersea drone 'Qianlong III' is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which has dived deep into the South China Sea covering a distance of some 160 km in 42 hours.
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July 4, 2018
Indo-US 2+2 Dialogue – and the trade war
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The Indo-US 2+2 Dialogue scheduled for July 6, 2018 at Washington DC, for which EAM Sushma Swaraj and RM Nirmala Sitharamn were to travel to Washington DC to hold discussions with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretay James Mattis, has been postponed for a second time.
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July 4, 2018
Pakistan on FATF grey list – and the hogwash counter?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Pakistan was officially placed in the 'grey list' on June 28, 2018, after it failed to convince the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that it has taken significant steps to curb terror financing on its territory.
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July 4, 2018
The Civil-Military Gulf
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In her recent article 'The belief system, and some truths' published in The Hindu, IAS officer Dipali Rastogi has blown the lid off the IAS cadre, whom she describes as: meant to serve, but do not; not trained to handle vast sums of money...
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June 22, 2018
Indo-US 2+2 Dialogue
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The first Indo-US Dialogue is finally happening almost one year after US President Donald Trump called PM Narendra Modi on August 15, 2017, congratulating him on India's 71st Independence Day, after which the White House announced India and US will start a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue to enhance...
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June 22, 2018
NavIC – Rollout on the anvil
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There is good news in the air. NavIC ('Navigation with Indian Constellation' whose English meaning is 'sailor' or 'navigator') or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), our indigenous and fully autonomous regional satellite navigation system, is in the final stages of launch.
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June 22, 2018
Defence sector and cyber threats
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Addressing a workshop for formulating Cyber Security Framework on Jun 19, 2018, Defence Minister Sutharaman said that the defence sector is more prone...
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June 13, 2018
Singapore Summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12 was historic, with eyes of the world riveted on the live broadcast.
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June 4, 2018
Modi's three ASEAN nations visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-ASEAN nation visit to Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia from May 29 to June 2 aimed at giving a substantive boost to India's ties with these countries in consonance with India's Act Eat Policy (AEP).
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June 4, 2018
India-North Korea relations
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The visit by General VK Singh, MoS (EAM) to North Korea on May 15-16, 2018 was a surprise because in March 2018, India had imposed fresh restrictions on trade with North Korea, in line with the restrictions imposed by the UN.
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June 4, 2018
Kick-starting AI in Armed Forces
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)News reports of May 20, 2018 have reported the government has embarked upon an ambitious defence project for incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance operational preparedness of the armed forces in a significant way.
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June 4, 2018
Modi-Putin informal summit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)With growing global challenges informal summits are becoming the norm in bilateral relations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Sochi for an informal summit with President Putin.
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May 14, 2018
PM Modi's Nepal visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent two-day visit to Nepal on May 11-12 was described in media by some cross-sections for countering Chinese influence in Nepal, while some opposition parties in India alleged it was to influence the polls in Karnataka.
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May 14, 2018
Neemrana Dialogue – resumed
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Media reports suddenly appeared that government had agreed to revive the Track II diplomacy process with Pakistan despite its apparent aversion to 'conventional' talks with that country.
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May 14, 2018
S-400 – and the CAATSA waiver
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Russia's S-400 (nicknamed Triumf) is an upgraded version of the S-300 system, manufactured by Almaz-Antey and is in Russian military service since 2007.
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May 2, 2018
Modi-Xi informal meet – how Xi acts is the key
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The informal meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 27-28 is hot news that must have been watched with much interest globally.
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May 2, 2018
Coming – military satellites by ISRO
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On April 24, 2018, ISRO announced postponement of launch of satellite GSAT-11, a month after it lost contact with communication satellite GSAT-6A.
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May 2, 2018
National approach must beyond MoCA, CISF counter-drone moves
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)As per media reports, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has tied up with the Indian army to train personnel in identifying drones of Pakistani and Chinese origin, following a six-day training session conducted in Gopalpur, Odisha).
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May 2, 2018
Pak Defence Budget 2018-2019
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Pakistan announced a hike in the country's defence budget by 10 per cent (1.1 trillion), as the over 5.6 trillion federal budget for 2018-2019 was presented on April 28.
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April 20, 2018
Visit of Nepalese Prime Minister
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharama Oli’s three-day state visit to India from April 6 to 8 is being hailed as landmark albeit it was more about resetting relations after Nepal’s China drift, acrimony over the border blockade during the Madhesi agitation over amendment to the Nepalese Constitution...
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April 20, 2018
UAV losses — Time to wake up
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The loss of a Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) of the Indian Navy near Porbandar in March 2018 has taken the count of UAVs losses by the Indian Armed Forces to 14 since the Kargi Conflict.
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April 20, 2018
Defence Minister’s Russia visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent three-day visit to Moscow was primarily to attend the Seventh Moscow Conference on International Security. However, she also met the Russian Defence Minister, General Sergey Shoygu in a bilateral meeting, focusing on reinforcing defence cooperation with specific focus on military-technical cooperation.
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April 20, 2018
Defexpo 2018 — Not much headway
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In his speech to the 10th edition of the four-day DefExpo 2018 held in April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the steps taken by his government to open up defence manufacturing to private sector companies...
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April 20, 2018
New Think Tank for military strategy planning?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)This is to make defence preparedness much more than an acquisition-centric exercise. The Committee will reportedly have a cross-ministry mandate, headed by the National Security Advisor (NSA), and members being the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, three Service Chiefs, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) as its members.
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April 4, 2018
A Powerful Impetus for Make in India
By Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd)Production of a fighter aircraft in India through a joint venture, will provide a major impetus to the Make in India programme in the Indian aerospace industry.
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April 4, 2018
Military's manpower shortages
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Responding to questions by two MPs, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently informed Parliament that the Armed Forces had a total shortage of approximately 60,000 personnel excluding those belonging to the medical and dental streams.
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April 4, 2018
The Chinese challenge
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Post being anointed President for life, Xi Jinping told 3,000 legislators of the Chinese Parliament on March 20, 2018, "The Chinese people have been indomitable and persistent.
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April 4, 2018
Hoax call of integrated theatre commands
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Headlines like 'Govt moves on integrated theatre commands; amends rules to bring three forces under single leadership' appearing in the media on March 19, 2018, caused considerable excitement in the public domain.
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April 4, 2018
The fiasco of GSAT-6A
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)On March 29, 2018, ISRO launched the communication satellite GSLV Mk-II (GSLV-F08); carrying the 2,140kg GSAT-6A, it took off from Sriharikota and some 17 minutes later the three-stage rocket injected the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
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March 15, 2018
20 Years of Indo-French partnership and Macron’s India visit
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)France was the first country in the world with which India signed a strategic partnership in 1998; between French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Indian space scientists received initial training in France after Pokhran-II, France recognizing India as responsible nation while balance West blocked out India.
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March 15, 2018
Visit of Vietnam President boosts India-Vietnam strategic partnership
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)The three day visit (March 2-4) this year by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang’s was testament to the growing closeness in the bilateral security ties between India and Vietnam. His visit came just few weeks after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to India as chief guest at India’s Republic Day Parade 2016 along with heads of states of all other ASEAN countries.
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March 15, 2018
Indo-US 2-by-2 dialogue
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Post US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2017, congratulating him on India’s 71st Independence Day, the White House announced that India and US will start a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue to enhance “peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region...
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March 15, 2018
Coming — Drone swarm attacks
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)There have been many instances of the Islamic State or ISIS using commercial drones for ‘attacking’ regular forces in Iraq and Syria. But in January 2018, the Russia’s Khmeimim air base and Tartus naval facility in Syria came under coordinated attack by “swarms” of home-made drones carrying bomblets / improvised explosive devices (IEDs,) as reported by the Russian Ministry of Defence.
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March 15, 2018
MoD shown the mirror
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)In end February 2018, public become aware that MoD for once was shown the mirror to recognize its ugly face. According to media reports, MoD had deduced internally that the much publicized ‘Make in India’ initiative is floundering...
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March 5, 2018
Rouhani’s visit boosts Indo-Iranian construct
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived at Hyderabad on February 15, 2018, visited Hyderabad for two days and arrived New Delhi on February 17.
