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

Chinese coast guard ship in South China Sea ( Image credits- VOA) At last the long awaited ruling has come in the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines. The Permanent Court of Arbitration Tribunal has ruled over overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines. The ruling has set at rest the long held Chinese argument of claim over the whole of South China Sea on the ground of historical precedent. It laid down the broader law by which China's claim to the islands in South China Sea and it's encompassing Exclusive Economic Zone has been rejected. China is put to great embarrassment as China is a signatory to The United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is bound by the terms and laws laid down in the said convention. China outright rejected the ruling saying that the same is unilateral in nature and the Court does not have the right to adjudicate in sovereign disputes.  What is the South China Sea Dispute: The South China Sea dispute

HAL LCA Tejas ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Defence19) On 1.07.2016, history was made when Tejas, India's 4'th generation combat aircraft joined the Indian Air Force after a protracted delay as part of the Squadron No-45 Flying Daggers . The project which was 32 years in making, but the years of investment has finally borne fruit. Made of composites, Tejas is the lightest combat aircraft in the world. Designed as a replacement for the legendary MIG-21 in the Indian Air Force Fleet, Tejas is in many ways more than a project for the Indian aviation industry. LCA project paves way for the establishment of the entire ecosystem of an aircraft design and manufacture, an art that was long lost when the designers of HAL HF-24 Marut left or retired after the project. Hence the LCA team had to begin from scratch. Coupled with crippling sanctions post India's nuclear tests which delayed the project.  LCA as a project can be considered as a success as there has not bee

Brahmos Cruise Missile ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons /Hemant Photo79) India has one of the most powerful armies in the world. With an Army totaling more than 1.1 Million wit an equal number of reserves, a big air force and a navy, India has all the makings of a world class power. But India also holds the designation as the world's largest importer of weapon systems. In this article, I would like to analyse what went wrong for country like India that made it fail to develop indigenous capability in weapon systems and it remains the world's largest importer of weapon systems. The Past To get a correct picture, it is always better to revisit the past. Just after independence, a young nation faced it's first challenge in the form a of a Pakistani war on Kashmir. But this was much of a border war and the leaders of the time more concentrating on nation building paid little attention to the army. They had little or no strategic thinking and mostly decisions wer

Image credits- Indian Navy South China Sea has been in news in recent times due to the aggressive activities of the Chinese which includes island buildings and aggressive petrols. South China sea is critical for the world commerce as it encompass major trade route connecting the far east with rest of Asia and Europe.  China's claim: China's obscure claim to the entire South China Sea relies on unreliable historic documents. China claims the entire of South China Sea in what they call the nine dash line. China has been in the past decade fortifying their claims with rapidly expanding the islands by incorporating construction and expansion. That put them in direct conflict with almost all off the other countries which has coastline with South China Sea including Vietnam and Philippines to name a few.  The threat to Indian security from an ever expanding China: China has been expanding it's reach into the Indian Ocean region which India considers to be i