Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Image credits- VOA A new world order is coming into being. Old alliances and friendships are falling and new alliances are coming through that shall change the future. Much as the world is concentrating on China, it is from India that the future alliances shall shape up. America should take the initiative and create a new world order in alliance with India and Israel. National Interest looks deep into the subject in this detailed article. ( The entire article can be read here )

Credits- Flickr/ MEA India Source- The National Interest Author- Uma Purushothaman Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US last week imparted new energy into the Indo-US relationship with consolidation of relations in areas such as nuclear, defense, clean energy and counter terrorism. However, with no great breakthroughs announced, much was also left unsaid. First, let's look at what was accomplished. Defense ties were significantly augmented. The elevation by the US of India to a 'major defense partner' means that like US allies, India is now eligible to receive more advanced and sensitive technology, including dual use technology, from the US even though the defense relationship will remain primarily a commercial buyer-seller relationship. America’s refusal to export dual use technology to India has long been a sore point with Indian policy makers. Of all the areas in which the US and India have cooperated in the last decade, defense h

Image credits- Indian Navy Source- The National Interest Author- Vivek Mishra Recent developments in the Indian Ocean have been a witness to India’s mustering enough political will to advance its regional interests through actionable deliverables, visibly in opposition to mere notional assertions of the past. As India reorients its Indian Ocean policy, a tripartite transformation is underway—a regional outlook that ties together India’s Act East policy, its Look West policy and, most noteworthy, its cooperation with the United States in the regional maritime domain. Acting East The transformation from a Look East to an Act East policy has been at the center of India’s maritime recalibrations in the past few years. Such an approach has been accompanied by an improvement in relations with not just the individual countries to its east, but with strong regional organizations such as ASEAN. Countries of specific focus for India have recently included Vietnam, Brunei, T

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Jasper Rautell Balle Source- The National Interest Author- Abhijnan Rej Last week an enterprising, and unknown, far-right outfit in New Delhi performed a traditional Hindu puja, literally praying for a Donald Trump presidency. The Washington Post took this to mean that Trump has fans in India despite his tasteless rants about outsourcing. Britain’s Guardian quoted the fringe leader behind the religious ceremony describing Trump as “our hero.” The Hindu right’s Islamophobia is one that The Donald surely shares. They too, like Trump, are keen on restoring some putative long-lost national glory. But a far more sophisticated argument, beyond the trope of Islamic terrorism, can be made about the desirability of a Trump presidency for India. Simply put, the accession of Donald Trump to the White House offers India greater strategic space. It reduces the chances of India becoming collateral damage in American interventionism. A retrenched

Malabar Series of Exercises ( Image credits- VOA) Source- The National Interest Author- Kevin Knodell Washington and New Delhi are getting a lot more serious about military-to-military ties. As the United States and India become more wary of an increasingly assertive China, the two countries are gradually edging closer together. On May 16, American and Indian officials met for a “maritime security dialogue” in New Delhi. “The dialogue covered issues of mutual interest, including exchange of perspectives on maritime security development in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region as well as prospects for further strengthening cooperation between India and the United States in this regard,” stated an Indian Ministry of External Affairs press release. Washington and New Delhi are also close to formalizing a historic military cooperation agreement hazily called the “Logistics Support Agreement” — or LSA. The agreement would allow the two militaries to use each other’

Image credits- Indian navy Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan- Gady India and the United States may sign an agreement for the coproduction of Lockheed Martin F-16V and Boeing F/A-18 fighter aircraft, according to Indian and U.S. defense officials. The deal is likely to involve technological transfers and the local production of U.S. fighter jets in India to meet Indian Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s so-called Make in India Initiative. “Members of my team, and industry, are right now, as we are here in New York, in India looking at the potential coproduction of fighter aircraft,” U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during a speech at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations prior to departing on a three-day visit to India. “I have no doubt that in the coming years, the United States and India will embark on a landmark co-production agreement that will bring our two countries closer together and make our militaries stronger, “Carter added. Senior

USS Harry S. Truman ( Image credits - Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Harry J. Kazianis Anyone who has been watching the United States try to pull off its much discussed “pivot” or “rebalance” to Asia knows one thing: The challenges of the day, from Russian moves in Eastern Europe and Syria to the threat of ISIS—or even just the steady stream of non-Asia-Pacific problems—always seem to get in the way. However, we must give President Obama credit where credit is due. U.S. relations with India, which shares a common challenge with America in a rising China, have warmed considerably. While certainly not a full-blown alliance, relations have grown to such an extent that U.S. defense officials seem willing to share some of their most prized military technologies with the rising South Asian powerhouse. Indeed, the United States seems ready to share the very symbol of American power projection: the mighty aircraft carrier. A rep

USS John C. Stennis  ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / White House ) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar India hopes to build its own indigenous nuclear-powered aircraft carrier—complete with electromagnetic catapults—with the cooperation of the United States. In recent years, Washington and New Delhi have drawn closer together in the maritime security realm, due in part to China’s more expansive maneuvering in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The South Asian nation is already building a conventionally powered indigenous carrier called Vikrant, which India expects to commission into service in 2017. However, the 40,000-ton Vikrant follows a design philosophy similar to Russian vessels like the 45,000-ton INS Vikramaditya—which was originally commissioned into the Soviet Navy as Admiral Gorshkov. After extensive modifications that included the removal of its missile armament, the former Soviet vessel was equipped with a ski-jump aircraft launch

Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Army) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady This week, Indian and U.S. official signed contracts for the procurement of 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters in a deal estimated to be worth $3 billion the Business Standard reports. The spokesperson of the Indian Defense Ministry, Sitanshu Kar, tweeted from his account this Monday: “Contracts for purchase of 15 #Chinook and 22 #Apache Helicopters signed.” India’s Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS), a government body headed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and responsible for military procurements, approved the purchase in the previous week, after more than ten (some sources say 13) American price validity extensions, which stipulate that the American defense contractor Boeing would sell the military hardware at the price agreed upon in 2013. Final approval of the purchase h