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

Barak-8 Launcher ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Author)  Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck Israel and India on the verge of signing a new “mega” defense deal, that would include Israel helping India develop a new mobile missile system. On Thursday the Times of India reported, citing unnamed officials within India’s Ministry of Defense, that India and Israel have “now virtually sealed the joint development of a medium-range surface-to-air missile system (MRSAM) for the Indian Army.” The first tranche of the deal will be worth over 9,000 crore (roughly $1.67 billion), however, Indian officials that the Times of India spoke with said that more missiles could be bought at a later date. "More orders might later follow since the Army's air defence capabilities are relatively weak," the official was quoted as saying. Earlier, an Indian army official said that Delhi could purchase over $6 billion worth of the medium-range surface-to-

Le Tonnerre Mistral Class Ship ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Beotien Lambda) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda Yesterday, I took a look at the largely apocryphal notion that China may be eyeing France’s Mistral-class advanced amphibious warfare ships — specifically, the two ships that were originally built for Russia but later withheld after Vladimir Putin’s decision to annex Crimea and support anti-government rebels in the Donbass. In that piece, I perhaps focused a bit too much on the impressive hardware of the Mistral itself and less so on the huge reasons why it is incredibly unlikely that China will ever purchase or operate one of these ships as part of the People’s Liberation Army Navy. I outline the reasons for that in what follows. The first, and most important reason, is the European Union’s arms embargo against a China. While I briefly mentioned this, it’s worth emphasizing the extent to which this makes this sale basically impossible. T

P8A Poseidon ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda Foreign military aircraft. This is Chinese navy. You are approaching our military alert zone. Leave immediately. These are the words heard over a crackling radio in a new video posted by CNN this morning, one of at least eight warnings sent to a U.S. P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft by the Chinese navy. According to the report, the People’s Liberation Army-Navy’s warnings came as the P8-A flew over disputed islands in the South China Sea — specifically, over China’s man-made islands. The report notes that the source of these transmissions was a facility on “an island made by China some 600 miles from its coastline.” The report does not definitively specify which reclaimed reef hosted the facility, but it is implied in comments from the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) P8 fleet that the warning came from an early warning radar facility

Image credits- Xinhua Source- Want China Times China is seeking to create its own version of the Maldives in the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, reports Hong Kong's Oriental Daily. To boost local tourism, China has already begun a series of constructions on several islands and reefs in the Crescent Group of the Paracels, which are controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. According to mainland reports, Drummond island will have a new rescue center, a fishermen settlement and infrastructure to provide wireless internet. Various types of machinery and construction equipment have already been transported to the island along with dozens of workers, reports added. A Chinese official was quoted as saying that construction of basic ports will commence on five islands and reefs in the Crescent Group this year, and that each island will have its own distinguishing characteristic. For example, Antelope Reef will focus on cultivatin

BPC Dixmude ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Simon Ghesquiere, Marine Nationale) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda In 2014, France determined that it would avert plans to sell two of its Mistral-class amphibious assault ships that were originally bound for sale to Russia. The decision was spurred, in part, by pressure from French allies, including the United States, who saw a sale of a complex naval asset to Russia in the wake of its support of anti-government Ukrainian rebels as inappropriate. The deal between France and Russia had originally been concluded in 2011, and was canceled last year, leaving the French with two Mistrals in hand, miffed at the lack of an eager customer. The Franco-Russian agreement for the Mistral sale reached a final price of $1.37 billion euros for the two ships. Two weeks ago, reports emerged in the Taiwan-based China Times, citing Duowei News, that China may be the latest customer for the French Mistral vessels. The re

Image source- Flickr / Credits- MEA Official gallery Source- The National Interest Author- Gordon G. Chang On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry completed a two-day trip to Beijing. The day before, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his three-day visit to Xian, Shanghai, and Beijing. Everyone, it seems, is going to China, implicitly acknowledging that this is indeed its century. In reality, however, the period of Chinese primacy, if it ever existed, is just about over. Neither Modi nor Kerry was in any mood to accommodate Beijing on core issues. We start with Modi. The Indian leader was happy to travel to China to pick up commitments for Chinese investment into his country, and on this score, he appeared successful. On Saturday, he inked twenty-six memos of understanding for business deals valued by his government at $22 billion.  Modi, however, was not persuaded to agree to what Beijing wanted. He did not, for instance, endorse Chinese pre

Prime Minister Modi in China  ( Image source- Flickr ? Credits- MEA Official gallery) Source- The Diplomat Author- Harsh V.Pant For all the pomp and circumstance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to China will likely only be remembered for his plain-speaking. And it is by no means a small achievement. For years, Indian political leaders have gone to China and said what the Chinese wanted to hear. Modi changed all that when he openly “stressed the need for China to reconsider its approach on some of the issues that hold us back from realizing full potential of our partnership” and “suggested that China should take a strategic and long-term view of our relations.” In his speech at Tsinghua University too, Modi went beyond the rhetorical flourishes of Sino-Indian cooperation and pointed out the need to resolve the border dispute and in the interim, clarify the Line of Actual Control to “ensure that our relationships with other countries do not become a source of c

Image credits- Internet Pic Source- The National Interest Author- Koh Swee Lean Collin The recent reported test of North Korea’s KN-11, dubbed Pukgeukseong-1 (Polaris-1) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) has created quite a buzz. In fact, not long before the test took place, the South Korean defense ministry remarked that there were no signs that Pyongyang would launch missiles in the near future despite the visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to the country’s satellite command and control center, operated by the National Aerospace Development Administration. Washington took the recent development seriously, accusing Pyongyang of contravening existing United Nations Security Council resolutions by staging the test. South Korean government authorities sought to downplay the test, pointing out that it was no more than an ejector test and the missile was assumed to have flown only 100 meters upon lift-off. This appears to correspond with the subsequent ass

Image credits- Flickr / MEA Official gallery For last few days, we have seen quite a few jokes on Narendra Modi's foreign visits.... and people are curious why Narendra Modi visits so many countries, What India achieving from it. A few achievements are indicated here: 1. BJP Govt. convinced Saudi Arabia to not charge “On-Time Delivery” Premium charges on Crude Oil – Young Petrolium minister Dharmendra Pradhan & External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj sealed the deal successfully! 2. India will build 4 Hydropower stations + Dams in Bhutan (India will get share in Green energy that would be produced in future)! 3. India will build d Biggest ever dam of Nepal (China was trying hard to get that) – India will get 83% Green energy produce from that hydropower station for free – in future! 4. Increased relationship with Japan and they agreed to invest $30 Billion in DMIC (Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor) 5. Increased relationship with Vietnam who now agree to give cont

INS Visakhapatnam ( Image credits- Internet Image) As India launches it's newest Destroyer, the stealthy INS Visakhapatnam, it is time to reflect on the quiet transformation that is taking place for the Indian navy.Indian Navy is in the process of inducting several ships that is highly capable that will see the Indian navy transforming itself to a young and a highly capable force having the capability to project force far away from it's shores achieving a truly blue water capability. OVERVIEW The legacy of the Indian navy dates back to the British raj when as part of the Royal Navy, the Indian navy played a crucial role during the second world war. Soon after the independence, the Royal Indian Navy was partitioned into two parts and assets divided between India and Pakistan. Those were transformative years for the navy. After India became a republic, the navy came to be known as the Indian Navy, dropping the Royal prefix. At this time, the ships of the Indian Navy