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

Juche Tower, North Korea  ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Author-Martyn Williams) When Kim Jong-un took power at the end of 2011, the then twenty-something North Korean leader became the youngest president of the world. Although his tender age might have suggested a radical shift was on its way, in fact the last two and a half years has kept the system largely intact, with only modest change in evidence. “If people hoped for a major shift after the death of Kim Jong-il, they have not gotten it. We have seen modifications and minor changes, but Kim Jong-un seems to have more or less followed the formula set by his father and his grandfather with a few twists here and there,” sums up Adam Catchart, professor at the University of Leeds and editor-in-chief of  Sino-NK , a website specializing in North Korean issues. Some of those minor changes have taken place in the economy. Although accurate numbers are hard to come by, Chen Xiaohe, an expert on North Korea from Renmin Univ

P-8 Poseidon ( Image credits- Wikipedia- United States Navy) The close encounter on Aug. 19 between a US Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft and a Chinese Air Force J-11 fighter-bomber over the South China Sea is a reminder of the growing clash of interests between the two great powers. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby accused the Chinese fighter pilot of flying within 20 feet of the P-8 and said his conduct was “not only unprofessional, it’s unsafe and it is certainly not keeping with the kind of military-to-military … relations that we’d like to have with China.” Yang Yujun, Kirby’s counterpart at the Chinese Ministry of Defense, rejected Kirby’s description and offered advice on how the US could prevent future such incidents: “[T]he  ‪#‎ US‬  side should, from a perspective of building new models of major power relations between China and the US and in line with the principle of ‘no conflict, no fighting, mutual respect, cooperation and win-win’, adopt practical

Rustom-1 ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Author- Kaushal Mehta) BANGALORE: Defence scientists at the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) are closing in on enabling the country’s Rustom-1 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with the automatic take-off and landing (ATOL) capability. The ATOL configuration, to be demonstrated by this yearend, would increase the endurance and payload-carrying capacity of the UAV. Insiders linked to the project told Express that the ATOL feature would add more teeth to the Rustom-1 while undertaking prolonged missions. “We will be able to carry more fuel for missions, which require the UAV to be airborne for longer durations. Instead of more fuel, different types of payloads can be integrated on the UAV, which will give it an additional operational advantage. At present, we are in the process of evaluating some of the sensors required for the ATOL implementation. Extensive real-time simulation has been initiated on the UAV flight simulator to de

Kilo Class Submarine  ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Ria Novosti, Author-Vitaliy Ankov) As events this year have shown, the Vietnamese government won’t suffer any buyer’s remorse regarding its decision to invest in six Russian  Kilo -class submarines in a 2009 deal worth $2.6 billion. The government’s decision to both purchase these submarines and incorporate them strategically into a  burgeoning asymmetric anti-access/area denial  (A2/AD) strategy were vindicated over the course of the dramatic  saga earlier this year involving China moving its oil rig HYSY-981  into Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). As far as Vietnam is concerned, international law, ASEAN, and even the naval might of the United States will do little to safeguard its territorial claims — it must move to deter Chinese irredentism by itself. Through its investments, Vietnam demonstrates an unwillingness to acquiesce to the age-old Thucydidean dictum that the “strong do what they can and the weak suffer

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author These are turbulent times for the world, at least based on this month’s events in  Ukraine ,  Iraq , and  Israel . For  India’s recently elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi , these crises can only be an added headache. With fervent lobbying from both key strategic allies Israel and Russia, India is now seeking to use Switzerland’s methods of international relations, where neutrality supposedly leads to better relations among all global powers. It would be hard to see India hosting diplomatic summits to resolve these issues among nations, but we can expect a particularly pronounced silence on these international affairs, to encompass New Delhi and any Indian with a significant political position. A quick glance at history can tell you that India’s foreign policy strategy has changed little since it gained independence in 1947. Save for the Indo-Pakistani conflicts during the Cold War, which garnered Soviet support for India and U.S. supp

Image credits- The Diplomat/ Pakistani Armed Forces When the Pakistani military announced the launch of a comprehensive anti-terrorist operation in North Waziristan and other tribal agencies of the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) called “Zarb-e-Azb” (named after one of the swords belonging to the Prophet Muhammad) in June, many feared an escalation of violence throughout the country, with a significant increase in terrorist attacks, especially in urban centers, where organizations like the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and others have both active and dormant cells. Now more than two and a half months later, not only did this scenario not materialize, there has even been a noticeable decrease in attacks and the number of victims. According to the  South Asia Terrorism Portal , in the months of July and August terrorist attacks killed 245 civilians, while in the same period of 2013 the number was 464. Two years earlier, in 2011, it was 853. The data suggest that the

Kilo class submarine ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Navy) Vietnam will soon have a credible naval deterrent to China in the South China Sea in the form of Kilo-class submarines from Russia, which experts say could make Beijing think twice before pushing its much smaller neighbour around in disputed waters. A master of guerrilla warfare, Vietnam has taken possession of two of the state-of-the-art submarines and will get a third in November under a $2.6 billion deal agreed with Moscow in 2009. A final three are scheduled to be delivered within two years. While communist parties rule both Vietnam and China and annual trade has risen to $50 billion, Hanoi has long been wary of China, especially over Beijing's claims to most of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea. Beijing's placement of an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam earlier this year infuriated Hanoi but the coastguard vessels it dispatched to the platform were always chased off by

Image credits- Narendra Modi Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s five-day visit to Japan was a resounding success. Both the Indian and Japanese press have lauded the visit and its accomplishments—notably, the  elevation  of the India-Japan relationship to a “special” strategic and global partnership, and the big-ticket investments in Indian infrastructure announced to the tune of U.S. $35 billion in assistance over five years. From a Washington perspective, the India-Japan relationship is a positive development and one that the United States has fully  supported . What the visit also shows, however, is the way the state-directed economic policy tools countries like Japan (and China as well) are mobilizing to further their relations with India substantially exceed comparable U.S. approaches. Virtually every account of the Abe-Modi summit emphasizes the Indian interest in attracting greater foreign investment for India’s enormous development needs. Infrastructure has been a par