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

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Various Authors Source- The Eurasia Review Author- Nurzhanat Ametbek Turkey hosted the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors for the first time since it assumed the rotating presidency of the elite global club. Officials gathered in İstanbul, Turkey from February 9-10 to discuss solutions to the debt crisis in Greece and ways to push forward faltering global growth. The meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors coincides with a time of global economic suffering and hardship that is characterized by uneven growth of the major economies, monetary policy differentiation, and the Greek question in Europe. During the meeting, G20 members tried to come up with a coordinated plan to reverse the current downturn of the global economy, pledging to continue to take action to boost economic growth. Nonetheless, the G20 members still hold divergent opinions on various issues including what kind of policy tools ar

Mumbai Skyline ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Jeet221990) Source- The Diplomat Author- Anthony Fensom Asia’s rise to global economic pre-eminence could see China and India leading the world by 2050, with Southeast Asia also making gains, according to PwC. However, Japan, South Korea and Australia are seen slipping down the world rankings without major reforms. The projections came in the consultancy’s latest “World in 2050” report, which provides growth forecasts for 32 of the world’s largest economies, accounting for around 84 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), based on purchasing power parity (PPP). According to PwC, China is already the world’s biggest economy in PPP terms and will become the biggest at the more commonly accepted figures of market exchange rates by 2028, despite its projected reversion to the global growth average. China’s share of world GDP in PPP terms is forecast to increase from 16.5 percent in 2014 to a peak of ar

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Ulrich Source- The Diplomat Author- Morena Skalamera While the EU has been historically dependent on Russian oil and gas supplies, this dependence has proved to be a two-way street, with Russia dependent on European goods and technology. This trade has nonetheless remained asymmetrical: Russia imports equipment, consumer goods, and high value-added products (such as luxury garments, cars, and foods), while it exports raw materials. Today Russia’s hydrocarbons are becoming harder to find and more expensive to produce even though the country’s technologically underdeveloped economy relies increasingly on the revenues they ensure. Moreover, despite possessing over 30 percent of global gas supplies and unconventional gas reserves that are estimated to be ten times larger than those in all of Europe, today’s Russia is heavily reliant on Western technology to boost energy extraction and develop these promising resources. Russia’s ec

INS Delhi ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Brian Burnell) Source- The Diplomat Author- Himanil Rana Where are debates on the future of fleet composition and naval force development headed? So far, discourse has been dominated by carrier battle groups. It’s not going to stay that way for long. The utility of sea control has always been measured by its capability to influence events on the shore. Aircraft carriers are naturally attractive to the United States and China as they can help attain sea control visibly and directly. Deriving their offensive power from their air wings, aircraft carriers can strike deep into the enemy’s homeland. Unlike submarines, carriers offer unmatched flexibility and lethality coupled with the ability to be as intrusive or as subtle as desired. The carrier’s ability to rapidly adapt its air wing to almost any expected threat is a tremendous advantage. Carrier groups can also be used as a diplomatic tool as well, influencing enem

SU T-50 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Alex Beltukov) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz-Stefan Gady India and Russia agreed in early 2007 to jointly develop a fifth generation fighter program. Ever since then, the Sukhol/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) or as it is called in India, the Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF) project, has been plagued by delays, costs overrun, and unsteady technology  In 2014, a prototype of the plane even caught fire during a demonstration flight for technical evaluation, causing heated arguments between India and Russia. “What added to the controversy … was Russia’s refusal to share any details of this failure, to the extent that a technical evaluation team of the Indian Air Force that reportedly was present at the site was refused access to inspect the damaged platform,” Monika Chansoria, senior fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies think tank in New Delhi, was quoted as saying in a Defense News articl

Chinese Carrier Liaoning ( Image credits- Internet photos/ Author- In the image) Source- The Diplomat Author- Greg Austin According to public reports, China is building two aircraft carriers, with plans to increase that to four, according to one report, and possibly a new class of helicopter carrier for amphibious assault. For many in China, this has been a necessary evolution for a country of such wealth and international power. For the government, it is part of a techno-nationalist campaign designed to show that the country is arriving at the highest level of international power. The idea is that China can do anything the other great powers do. It can land jet aircraft on a carrier, it can put a rover on the moon, and it can put a man in space. This is the decade of impressive and inspiring achievement we have seen from China. Yet the challenge China faces is that it is copying innovations first undertaken more than a few decades earlier (China was four decades late

Image credits- Flickr / Prime Minister's office  Source- The Eurasia Review Author- Ali Ahmed At the Council on Foreign Relations last week two South Asia watchers Amb. Robert Blackwill and Stephen Cohen  were asked  the ‘unthinkable question’: ‘What happens if there’s another Mumbai attack?’ Both replied that there would be a ‘vigorous’ India reponse that would most likely be military. Both suggested that this owed to the personality of the new Indian prime minister and the sentiment within India. After the initial promise of an opening up to Pakistan in Nawaz Sharif’s India visit of May last year, India has since August been tough on Pakistan. It has engaged in an exchange of firing on the Line of Control and if Pakistani allegations are to be believed also been supporting Pakistani insurgents, Baloch and the Pakistani Taliban, from across the Afghanistan border. In so far as this hardline stance has been tactical it appears to have borne fruit. Former ISI head

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Sudath Silva) Source- The Eurasia Review Praising the Sri Lankan people for electing a new government, a top US official said it is time for Sri Lanka to return to its rightful place as a respected member of the international community. The United States Deputy Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that Sri Lankans sent a clear signal at the elections that they want a change for a step forward for good governance. “The people of Sri Lanka – from Jaffna to Galle -sent a clear signal from the ballot box: that they wanted your country to take a step forward, to realize its tremendous potential, and to finally enjoy the fruits of peace,” Blinken said. The Deputy Secretary made the remarks  this past Thursday when he addressed a gathering at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington DC at a celebration to mark the 67th Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence. The high-ranking U.S.

INS Kolkata- D63 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Brehmemohan) In continuation of the "Make in India" series, each week we will be highlighting a particular technology or platform that is developed or being developed indigenously that will  act as the foundation for future platforms and technologies.  Today we feature the Kolkata Class Destroyers of The Indian Navy. The "Kolkata Class" is the next generation of Destroyers of the Indian Navy that is entering services right now. The class is a qualitative jump for the Indian Navy . With advanced weapons and sensors, the Kolkata class is the post powerful destroyers in the Indian Ocean rim. Highly capable with a high content of assorted weapon suites and sensors, the Kolkata class is capable of three dimensional warfare. Designed by the Indian Navy's Directorate of Naval design, the Kolkata class employs high degree of stealth with the reduction of radar cross section (RCS). It also employs