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

Taliban in Herat ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- The Strategic Culture Author- Nikolai Bobkin The leaders of the Islamic State (IS) have announced their intention to spread the group’s activities eastward, including Afghanistan and Pakistan. The US does not rush to recognize the fact of Islamic State’s presence in Afghanistan, but Kabul does not deny the information that the group’s militants coming from Syria and Iraq are operating in the country.  According to Afghan official sources, the Islamic State is recruiting in Afghanistan with dozens of propagandists sent to spread the group’s ideas among the ranks of young people. «We will either become captors or martyrs», say propaganda messages from the Islamic State published in Fatah, a pamphlet published in local languages and distributed to Afghans. These pamphlets invite citizens of Afghanistan to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-declared caliph of IS, and join the jihad against non-b

PLAN Aircraft carrier Liaoning ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- The Diplomat Author- Shannon Tiezzi A local government inadvertently confirmed that China is building a second aircraft carrier on Sunday, sparking a wave of media analysis of China’s maritime ambitions. According to Reuters, the government of Changzhou, a city in Jiangsu province, posted on its microblog that a Changzhou-based power cable manufacturer had been awarded a deal to supply products for China’s new carrier. The reports were also carried by a local newspaper before being scrubbed. China currently operates one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, the pride of China’s navy (which last year was even the subject of musical paeans). Yet the Liaoning was not domestically produced – the carrier is a refitted version of Ukraine’s Varyag, as South China Morning Post described in great detail in a recent series. The goal all along has been for China to use the Liaoning as a training platform, a

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons Source- The National Interest Author- Michael Mizza Vietnam and the Philippines, which have long-standing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, are forming a strategic partnership. Worried over the rise of China and, in particular, Beijing’s increasingly belligerent actions in pursuit of its own territorial claims, Hanoi and Manila are banding together. The two rivals are moving beyond symbolic displays of unity—sports matches on disputed islands—and on to substantive cooperation: joint naval exercises and patrols as well as new trade initiatives. Neither country wants to see China extend control over the entirety of the South China Sea, which seems to be its aim. Both Vietnam and the Philippines have come to realize that China poses a greater threat to each than they do to each other. That Manila and Hanoi are choosing to balance rather than bandwagon may come as somewhat of a surprise to Beijing, which offers the promise o

Malabar Exercises 2014 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons, United States Navy / Author- Mass Communication Specialist Alonzo M. Archer) Source- The Diplomat Author- Robert Farley One of the potentially most interesting developments to emerge from President Obama’s recent trip to India was news that the United States and India have decided to embark on cooperative efforts with respect to naval aviation.  Of course, India and the United States already enjoy some degree of collaboration, as the U.S. has assisted the Indian Navy with pilot training and deck management for several years. Still, the open discussion of this relationship implies a more expansive, longer-term cooperative framework than has previous been clear. India has taken a much different road with its carrier force than the United States. It’s current carriers are transplants from the United Kingdom and Russia, albeit with significant modification.  Instead of pursuing a common design for its three carrie

"Make in India" is the new initiative by the Government of India to indigenously develop the products in India rather than import and rely on foreign vendors. India relies on foreign products and services to drive it's massive economic growth. WHAT IS "MAKE IN INDIA" India after independence had closed it's economy to foreign investors and opted for public undertakings to build it's industrial base. A take from the socialistic era, the early planners wanted the Indian economy be driven by the public sector, but the private sector was allowed to continue, but was severely hampered by the so called "license raj" which saw a lot of bureaucratic impediments and red tapism.  Massive industries were set up in the public sector in areas ranging from steal to locomotives, sugar and aeroplanes. They formed the base for building a strong industrial infrastructure which saw the break from buying everything from tooth brush to nails from a

Agni-5 launch from Cannister ( Video credits- DRDO)

Image credits- MEA Official Gallery Source- The Eurasia Review Author- Sameer Patil On January 25, India and the U.S. renewed their bilateral defence pact for 10 more years. The ‘2015 Framework for the U.S.-India Defense Relationship’ strengthens cooperation between the two countries in the areas of defence technology, military exchanges, and counter-terrorism.[1] For the first time, co-production and co-development are at the core of the defence engagement outlined in the framework, indicating the importance for India of technology transfers and indigenous manufacturing. The agreement makes India part of a group of nations that includes Japan, U.K., and Taiwan, with whom the U.S. cooperates on defence technology. Specifically, four pathfinder projects for co-production and co-development were identified through the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative of 2012, which serves as the guiding principles for the framework for cooperation. All the projects are experi

Chanakya Source- The National Interest Author- Akhilesh Pillalamarri In his recent book, World Order, Henry Kissinger refers to the ancient Indian treatise, the Arthashastra, as a work that lays out the requirements of power, which is the “dominant reality” in politics. For Kissinger, the Arthashastra contained a realist vision of politics long before the Prince, which Kissinger deems “a combination of Machiavelli and Clausewitz.” Meanwhile, the German sociologist Max Weber once called it “truly radical ‘Machiavellianism’ . . . compared to it, Machiavelli’s The Prince is harmless.” The Arthashastra is indeed a masterpiece of statecraft, diplomacy, and strategy and is an example of non-Western literature that should be read as part of the “realist” canon. Its prescriptions are especially relevant for foreign policy today. Although the Arthashastra is ostensibly authored by Kautilya (“crooked”), most scholars agree that Kautilya was a pen name of the ancient Indian

USS Santa Fe ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz- Stefan Gady The U.S. Navy’s dominant position in undersea warfare can no longer be taken for granted. “Emerging technologies present a serious challenge in that they may empower development of potential rival undersea forces and erode the stealth of U.S. submarines,” concludes a new report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). The report, entitled “The Emerging Era in Undersea Warfare,” lays out the rapid changes occurring in the technological realm and how they will affect future combat under waters. While the report’s author, Bryan Clark, notes that the United States will have the opportunity to be the “first mover” and establish itself as a leader in this emerging new field within undersea warfare, he also unequivocally points out that the U.S. Navy will have to give up its current undersea warfare concepts due to the “vulnerability of to

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Indian Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Jack Detsch On Monday, just hours after Air Force One touched down in India, the secret service quickly shuttled a jet-lagged President Obama to New Delhi’s Rajpath or “King’s Way.” There, Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched India’s finest military hardware parade through the heart of the city. The spectacle probably did not impress Obama, who is accustomed to making speeches atop enormous aircraft carriers. But the timing of his trip is not an accident. He arrived on the eve of the 66th anniversary of the signing of India’s constitution, days after criticizing China in his State of the Union address. “As we speak, China wants to write the rules for the world’s fastest-growing region,” Obama told Congress last Tuesday. “Why would we let that happen?” It’s not the first time the president has taunted China to score political points. But that gesture, and Obama’s decision