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

JZ Izumo ( Image Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Dragoner JP) Source- The National Interest Author- Akhilesh Pillalamarri Japan’s largest warship since World War II has just entered service. Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) took delivery on Wednesday of the Izumo, a helicopter carrier “as big as the Imperial Navy aircraft carriers that battled the United States in the Pacific.” The Izumo was indigenously constructed at a shipyard in Yokohama, near Tokyo, at a cost of around $1.5 billion. It is named after the former Izumo province in western Honshu. In Japanese mythology, the entrance to yomi (hell) is located in Izumo. Perhaps this is apt, as the ship’s capacities definitely have the ability to dispatch Japan’s foes. The Izumo displaces 19,500 tons and is 248 meters (814 feet) long. According to Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, the ship will improve the Japanese Self-Defense Forces’ capacity to deal with submarines: “As well as having the

Russian Akula Class Submarine Vepr  ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- As seen in the web) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan- Gady The Russian Navy will upgrade ten multi-purpose nuclear submarines by 2020, according to Russian Admiral Vladimir Chirkov, the navy’s commander-in-chief. Two Russian shipyards, Zvyozdochka in the northwest and Zvezda in Russia’s Far East, will upgrade ten project 971 SSN Akula-class and project 949A SSGN Oscar-class II nuclear-powered submarines in the coming years. Two Oscar-class II submarines are active with the Northern Fleet and five with the Pacific Fleet, whereas five Akula-class SSN’s serve in the Pacific and six in the Northern Fleet. Between 40 to 70 percent of  submarines in both fleets are estimated to not be operational. Up until last week, it was unclear whether the Oscar-class II subs stationed in the Pacific were also scheduled for the overhaul; this now appears to be the case. The upgrades are supposed

Source- Wikimedia Commons/ Credits- www.kremlin.ru Source- The Diplomat Author- Arthur Guschin Until recently, Central Asia played only a modest role in world politics, a reflection of its economic weakness, domestic problems, and distrust of integration. Russia’s presence in the region as the primary political mediator and economic partner was incontestable. In the last few years, though, China’s growing economic interest in Central Asia has come to be seen in Moscow as a threat to its influence. Russia is watching closely the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative, which would give Beijing the dominant role and could supplant the Eurasian Economic Union. With Kazakhstan the core state in any integration project in the region, it looks set to become the frontlines of the tussle between China and Russia for regional influence. Russian Interests Driving Russian policy in Kazakhstan are the activities of four major Russian energy companies: Gazprom, Lukoil, Transneft a

Image credits- MEA Official Gallery Source- The Diplomat Author- S.K Chatterji The power equations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) have implications not only for the littoral states but for the entire Asia-Pacific region. Through the Indian Ocean run some of the busiest sea lanes globally, as oil and natural resources traverse from west to east to feed the burgeoning needs of the world’s second largest economy, China, and the country it dislodged from that slot, Japan. By virtue of its size, geographic location, and economic and military potential India is expected to play a leading role in keeping the sea lanes of communication through the Indian Ocean safe for international trade and commerce. The growing might of the Chinese Navy and its outreach to IOR nations is a concern, one not entirely limited to India. China’s aggressive posture in the South China Sea is shaping regional apprehensions. Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines,

A word of caution for my friends.I have been getting messages in the social media stating that the central government of India  has passed a new section into the Indian Penal Code  by which a girl  can kill a person who might try to rape and she is completely protected by law. For record, Sec.233 of IPC concerns the offence of counterfeiting.  It would be foolish to expect the government to pass such a law that will be open for misuse. Any girl can kill any man and take up this defence. No such law has been formulated. If you get such a message, please do not believe the same.

Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Marine Corps By Lance Caption Kevin M. Knallay Source- Want China Times Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party held negotiations over a new amendment to the US-Japan Security Treaty on March 20, according to Duowei News, a media outlet run by overseas Chinese. The amendment is expected to grant Japan the right to collective self-defense and will provide a legal framework for the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) to provide back up for the US military and the militaries of its other allies. There are currently measures in place which prevent the dispatch of the JSDF overseas. The government is drawing up a draft bill to change this, however, at the same time as it is renegotiating its security treaty with the US. China and other neighboring countries engaged in territorial disputes in the resource-rich South China Sea were the focus of the negotiations on March 20. The negotiations suggest t

Source- Flickr (Image credits- The Presidency of Sri Lanka) Source- Eurasia Review Author- P.S Suryanarayana Neighbourhood diplomacy can be tricky even at the best of times, because any two neighbours will have common but differing expectations of a good bilateral relationship. Viewed in this light, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest visit to Sri Lanka has gone off well, without setting the Palk Strait on fire. This sums up the outcome, in a positive turn of the Thames-metaphor for the narrow waterway that bridges (or segregates) the two countries. To be sure, no diplomatic breakthroughs were announced during the two-day visit hat concluded on 14 March 2015. By all accounts, however, the diplomatic mood and political atmospherics toned up the quotient of Indo-Sri Lankan neighbourliness. Apart from holding talks with Sri Lanka’s relatively new executive President, Maithripala Sirisena, Modi met a number of leaders, including those out of office, across the p

USS Nimitz (CVN-68) ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- The United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Harry J. Kazianis The balance of power in Asia is changing—and not in Washington’s favor. No longer can the United States count on simply massing forces Gulf War I style and quickly coming to the aid of its allies if combat ever commenced on the Korean peninsula, in the East China Sea, around Taiwan or in the South China Sea—all thanks to China’s massive military buildup and growing anti-access/area-denial capabilities. The Obama Administration is quick to point out America is “pivoting” or “rebalancing” to Asia—maybe one of the most “sticky” foreign policy slogans in the last twenty five years. But catchphrases can’t change the facts and many would argue the pivot remains only a slogan when we take a hard look at facts on the ground. China is not only altering the status quo on land but on the water, in the sky, in space, and maybe even in cyberspace