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

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawas Sharif ( Image credits_ Wikimedia commons) New Delhi's rationale for increasing the defence budget is "consistent with the shift in the Indian government's ideology to more nationalistic elements under Prime Minister Narendra Modi", said a Pakistani daily Monday. The Nation asked in an editorial: "Will Pakistan view the Indian government's decision to spend $3.5 billion on modernising the military as a threat to the delicate balance of power between the two nations? If they do, how will they respond?" It also asked whether Pakistan can "really afford to indulge in another battle for supremacy in armaments when a host of other problems including energy and water crisis and the relocation of displaced people, are issues that will not be solved by spending large sums on advanced weaponry". The editorial sounded a word of caution when it said that "if Pakistan government is considering increasing mi

SU-30 MKI ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author) Once again, the Indian defense sector is raising global expectations. India is being courted as a lucrative market for defense supplies, and global vendors and foreign leaders are vying with each other to get the first-mover advantage. But there have been so many false starts in the past that it would need some serious effort on part of newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to convince its external interlocutors that much like in the past, this time too it won't be a damp squib. Modi and his defense minister, Arun Jaitley, have underlined the urgent need to reform India's defense procurement policy. Jaitley has been charged with two important portfolios -- finance and defense -- underscoring recognition in the highest echelons of the Modi government that unlike during the previous two decades, India will have limited resources to spend on defense in the coming years. The focus on defense in thi

Russian President Vladimir Putin ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ www.kremlin.ru) The missile that may have brought down a Malaysian Airlines plane was likely fired from inside Ukrainian territory, possibly by militants affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic. But the militia's force composition, and the likely provenance of the weaponry that may have brought down the plane, both point elsewhere. For the past several months, the rebellion in eastern Ukraine has resembled the Russian doctrine of  tainaya voina  or "mysterious war" - the practice of using a combination of proxies, covert agents, and misinformation to achieve strategic objectives without the use of conventional force. If it turns out that pro-Russian militants shot down MH17, the incident could trigger significant blowback from from a strategy that Moscow has pursued in eastern Ukraine for months. In early June, the Vostok Battalion, a Russian intelligence-linked paramilitary gro

Agni-5 Launch ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ DRDO) A number of conditions are accumulating that could turn India — already the world’s leading importer of arms — into an even bigger hotbed of defense spending and investment. The Wall Street Journal has the story on a proposal that would allow foreign companies to have full ownership over defense firms. That’s up from a 26 percent cap, which analysts have said has been an impediment to foreign investment. The new defense minister? He’s expected to devote more money to weapons. On the campaign trail, new Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised “long-overdue military modernization.” The Ministry of Commerce has relaxed norms on defense licensing, a move the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry believes will revive the Indian defense industry. And the United States could be well-positioned to capitalize on this. Vikram J. Singh, vice president for national security and international policy at the

Chinese Military ( Image Credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States DOD) The recent Shangri-la meeting in Singapore saw some sharp exchanges between Chinese and other participants. Beijing’s deployment of an oil rig protected by more than 80 naval vessels in the South China Sea four days after President Barack Obama’s “reassurance trip” to China’s East Asian neighbors in April 2014 was widely seen as a deliberate and calculated provocation. Yet China’s move fits a pattern of advancing territorial claims on its periphery through coercion, intimidation, and the threat of force through what may be called “paramilitary operations short of war” (POSOW). China’s drilling rig is also a political statement of Beijing’s resolve and capability to control and exploit the South China Sea and deny it to others – and this message is meant as much for Washington as for Tokyo, Hanoi, Manila, Jakarta, and New Delhi. While exploring oil in the disputed waters, the $1 billion oil rig is supposedly

President Barack Obama with Emperor Akihito ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Government) The US State Department proposed Friday that Asian nations not build new outposts or expand existing ones in the South China Sea to help lower the risk of a conflict as tensions mount in its resource-rich waters. This as the Senate passed late Thursday a bipartisan resolution reaffirming US defense treaty obligations with the Philippines and Japan — both are locked in a separate dispute with China over unoccupied islands in Asian seas. The US Senate urged all nations to refrain from “destabilizing activities” and expressed US commitment to freedom of navigation in the Asia-Pacific. ‘Increasingly tenuous situation’ Speaking at a Washington think tank, senior State Department official Michael Fuchs voiced great concern over the “increasingly tenuous situation” as an assertive China and five of its smaller neighbors vie for control of tiny islands and reefs in wa

President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China ( Image credits Wikimedia commons/ Angelica Rivera de Pena) Nearly three decades after  ‪#‎ Chinese‬  leader Deng Xiaoping famously instructed his diplomats to "be good at maintaining a low profile and never claim leadership," a new generation of rulers has made it clear that they're ready to shed the humility and show off their country's rising military and political power. From Southeast Asian waters that may hold billions of barrels of oil to uninhabited islands in the  ‪#‎ East‬  #China  ‪#‎ Sea‬ , #China has stepped into territorial disputes with neighbors including  ‪#‎ Japan‬ , South  ‪#‎ Korea‬  and the ‪#‎ Philippines‬  — and in some cases, some would say, provoked them. At the same time, Beijing has pledged to build what it says will be a new security framework for Asia, replacing U.S.-dominated alliances that have defined the post-World War II period. "We should work for a new archite