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

Taliban man beating beating women ( Source- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- RAWA) Source- The Diplomat Author- Malik Siraj Akbar Pakistan has a unique relationship with terrorism: It is safe ground for terrorist training and offensives, it is a regular victim of terrorism, and, at the same time, it is a state that is perceived as an apologist and a justifier of terrorism. Pakistan’s complicated struggle with jihadists is no clearer than now in the aftermath of the Taliban school massacre in Peshawar that killed more than 130 children. It is not the right time, some may argue, to point fingers at the Pakistani army and intelligence agencies, which for years have had connections with and even supported the same jihadist elements that carried out the attack. After all, most of the children who were killed in the Peshawar attack by the Taliban were presumably from military families. Some would insist that tragedies like this one should convince the world that the Pakistani army

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Open Street Maps Source- The International Policy Digest Author- Saira Banu On December 16, 2014, Pakistan witnessed the worst terrorist attack in its history in which innocent children were brutally targeted. Seven Pakistani Taliban militants stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar and killed 132 children and 9 staffers. The banned Pakistani Taliban terrorist organization, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and called it revenge for Operation Zarb-e-Azab – the Pakistan’s Army offensive in North Waziristan that started in June of 2014. TTP spokesman, Muhammad Umar Khorasani, said, “The army targets our families. We want them to feel our pain.” Following the attack, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced that there will be no distinction between good and bad Taliban and the government described the attack as a “game changer.” Army Chief General Raheel Sharif visite

Aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami at Aceh, Indonesia ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- AusAid) Source- The Eurasia Review The Government of India and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) announced Friday a major new contribution of US$ 1 million to the ESCAP Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian Countries. The Asia-Pacific region remains highly vulnerable to coastal hazards such as tsunamis, tropical storms and storm surges. The contribution from the Government of India will boost ESCAP’s efforts to strengthen early warning systems through regional and South-South cooperation, to ensure that vulnerable communities receive the timely warning information that is required to save lives and livelihoods in disasters. “ESCAP is extremely pleased to partner with the Government of India to further strengthen regional early warning systems and build resilience to

Special Forces ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Army) Source- The Eurasia Review Author- Lukas Milevski Much of the strategic studies literature of the past two decades identifies profound novelty in the conduct and challenges of modern war, novelty that ultimately calls into question the nature and even existence of war. War has allegedly now been transformed from a regular, conventional, purportedly symmetric exercise into an irregular, unconventional, asymmetric event, which must be understood anew. Of all the new descriptors for war, “asymmetric” is among the broadest. It has even been suggested that asymmetry does not bear definition: “to define the term defies its very meaning, purpose, and significance.”1 Some, undeterred by such extreme pronouncements, have attempted at least to categorize various existing and potential concepts of asymmetry. Thus, Jan Angstrom has identified four different prisms through which asymmetry may be interpreted: “pow

Kilo Class Submarine ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Ria Novosti) Source- The Want China Times With an attacking range of 280 kilometers, the Vietnamese navy's 3M-14E Klub-S submarine-launched ballistic missile can be used against China's Hainan and Guangdong provinces when launched from southern Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay, military analyst Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov, wrote in an article for the Kanwa Defense Review, a Chinese-language military magazine based in Canada. The purchase of 3M-14E ballistic missiles from Russia makes Vietnam's six Kilo-class 636MV submarines more powerful than their Chinese counterparts. Pinkov said the 3M-14E is only allowed to be exported to Algeria, India and Vietnam. It is not allowed to be installed aboard China's Kilo-class MV submarines yet. In a war between China and Vietnam, the Vietnamese navy is very likely to use the submarines in the vanguard against the PLA Navy. The Vietnamese subs have also u

Mahendra Rajapakse ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ SriLanka Presidential Secretariat Source- The Eurasia review Author- By Col, R. Hariharan Any narrative on Sri Lanka would be incomplete if India’s overwhelming influence in Sri Lanka is not considered. It comes from India’s huge geographic size, economic strength and global political influence from times immemorial. After the British colonial power exited from South Asia, independent India’s dominance gave rise to anxiety among sections of Sri Lankans, particularly among the Sinhala Buddhist majority who saw their country as Theravada Buddhism’s last sanctuary. The sense of anxiety gave way to a feeling of insecurity across Sri Lanka particularly after India’s massive political and military intervention from 1987 to 90 to ensure the state redressed the grievances of Tamil minority population. Though the Tamil minority question is still unresolved, Indian intervention had a positive, but cathartic effect to impa

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States DOD)  Source- The Eurasia Review / Institute of South Asia Studies Author- Shahid Javed Burki On December 16, 2014, the Taliban attacked an army school in Peshawar and killed 132 children. In all 145 persons died. Seven terrorists – among them three Arabs, two Afghans and one Chechen – dressed in military uniform penetrated the well-guarded perimeter of the school and opened fire on the students and school personnel. By assembling an international force, the Taliban sent a powerful signal that their campaign against the Pakistani state and the country’s military had wide support. According to a statement issued to the press by Muhammad Khorasani, the Taliban spokesman, the attackers were ordered to kill only those children who were from army families. “Our shura decided to target these enemies of Islam right in their homes so they can feel the pain of losing their children.” The Peshawar attack may prove to be a turn