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

Image source- Flickr / Credits- MEA Official photo gallery, Government of India Source- The Diplomat Author- Micha'el Tanchum Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Turkmenistan as part of his tour of the five Central Asian republics was a critical opportunity for New Delhi to advance the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan India pipeline (TAPI), slated to transport to million cubic meters per day of natural gas to India, helping the world’s fastest growing major economy meet its own skyrocketing demand. However, instead of announcing a major Indian initiative to expedite the selection of TAPI’s consortium leader, the hurdle that has stymied TAPI’s implementation, Modi suggested that an alternative land-sea route via Iran for transporting Turkmen gas should also be considered. Modi’s high profile plug for an Iran-Oman-India subsea pipeline by proposing its use for Turkmen gas exports was a savvy diplomatic gesture aimed at Beijing’s April 2015 agreeme

Malabar Series Naval Exercises-2014 ( Source- The Indian Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Prashanth Parameswaran The United States, Japan and India will elevate their trilateral dialogue to a ministerial level this fall in another boost for cooperation between the three nations, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announced Monday. Speaking at a conference on U.S.-India relations at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, Biden said the three countries would seek to upgrade their existing trilateral dialogue — first held in 2011 — to the level of the foreign ministers. The focus, Biden indicated, would be to strengthen the East Asia Summit (EAS), an annual forum attended annually by the leaders of 18 countries including the United States and India. As the region commemorates the tenth anniversary of the EAS this year, Washington and others have been pushing to deepen its institutionalization and boost its ability to handle glob

Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- SAMZ Source- The Diplomat  Author- David Volodzko China is easily one of the most amazing places in the world when it comes to food, yet when locals ask if I like Chinese cuisine, I draw a distinction between recipes and ingredients. Few can rival the resourceful variety of China’s recipes, but the quality of its ingredients is often so bad as to be terrifying. This is an illustration of the larger problem of Chinese quality control, but exactly how bad is it? And what can actually be done? The 2008 milk scandal compromised the health of 300,000 individuals, requiring the hospitalization of 54,000 babies and ending in the deaths of six infants. I wasn’t living in China then but I remember reading about this and feebly trying to comprehend the pall of grief these poor parents must have suffered. This tragedy assumed a shade of evil when the government tried to cover it up and the whistle blower was later beaten to death. When I have

INS Tarkash (F-50) ( Source- Flickr/ Credits- Noah Snowdon) Source- Russia & India Report Author- Petr Topychkanov If we compare the three areas where there is military-technical cooperation between Russia and India; for the Army, the Air Force, and Naval requirements; the Navy’s is distinguished from the first two by its strategic character. It is quite clear that the cooperation began to take on this character during the Cold War years. As early as the 1970s, India initiated a project to build strategic nuclear submarines. It was divided into three parts: reactor development, body design, and building nuclear warheads to place on submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) fitted on nuclear submarines. Russia offers India a super submarine The official launch of the Indian project to build nuclear submarines, also known as Advanced Technology Vessels (ATVs), however, happened only in 2009, when the dry dock in which the submarine had been built was fi

Boeing P8I of The Indian Navy ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Indian Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda On Wednesday, the Indian Defense Ministry announced that it had cleared $4.74 billion for the purchase of new military equipment, including four long-range military patrol aircraft from the United States. Specifically, India will purchase four additional Boeing P-8I Poseidon surveillance aircraft, among the most advanced maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft currently available. India placed an order for eight P-8I aircraft in 2009—the latest order is four an additional four units. The P-8I is an export variant of the P-8A Poseidon, designed for the needs of the Indian Navy. Notably, it features a Telephonics APS-143 OceanEye aft radar and magnetic anomaly detector not present on the original P-8A. The Indian Navy has a total of eight P-8Is on order and deliveries began in December 2012. So far, as of this order, s

Indian navy flotilla ( Image credits- Indian Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Zachary Keck India aspires to have a 200-ship navy by 2027, a senior naval official revealed this week. According to India’s Economic Times, Admiral P. Murugesan, the vice chief of India’s naval staff, said that the navy is seeking to have 200 warships operational by 2027, up from just 137 at present. “The senior officer shared that the aspiration of the Navy—which currently has 48 ships under construction on various shipyards across the nation—is to become a 200 ship navy by 2027. At present, the Navy operates 137 combatants with new ships being added at a rate of 4-5 a year,” the Economic Times report said. This means that India’s shipyards will have to ramp up production in the coming years, especially when factoring in that some of India’s current warships will have to be retired by 2027. A more likely scenario is that India will purchase more foreign ships in the year

Thailand's HTMS Naresuan ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- The Diplomat Author- Steven Stashwick After decades of operating legacy Soviet platforms, Vietnam’s navy is acquiring advanced new frigates from Russia and the Netherlands, capable new Russian diesel-electric submarines, and a host of modern anti-ship cruise missiles. The Philippines has nearly doubled its fleet of surface combat vessels in the last five years and is working to acquire two advanced new frigates. Malaysia was among the first in the region to add advanced submarines to their fleet and is indigenously building six new advanced French-designed frigates. Meanwhile, Indonesia is building two new Dutch-designed frigates and acquiring two improved South Korean submarines as part of an ambitious 20-year modernization and expansion program. It is hardly a new observation that naval capabilities in Southeast Asia are surging. Harder to assess, though, is who has the advantage in a peer comp

INS Vikramaditya ( Source/ Credits- Indian Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Darshana M. Baruah Developments in the South China Sea (SCS) have significant implications for India’s strategic interests and its role in the Indo-Pacific. Yet New Delhi has traditionally maintained a safe distance from direct commentary on issues like SCS maritime disputes, instead emphasizing the need for freedom of navigation. However, India now appears to be picking up the pace. Under the Modi government, New Delhi has turned the ‘Look East Policy’ into the ‘Act East Policy’, made direct comments on the need to resolve the SCS dispute, signed a joint strategic vision with the U.S. for the Asia–Pacific and the Indian Ocean region and is in talks with key regional countries to increase security collaboration, especially in the maritime domain. The Modi Government recognizes the SCS as an important element of New Delhi’s relationship with the East, for both trade and strategic

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Nord Nord West Source- The Diplomat Author- Catherine Putz A perennial rumor followed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tajikistan over the weekend: that India wants to lease the Ayni airbase outside of Dushanbe. The source of the rumor was Mail Today, the Indian edition of the U.K.’s Daily Mail – a tabloid newspaper read best with an entire block of salt on hand. Mail Today reported Saturday that leasing the Ayni air base was going to top Modi’s agenda in Dushanbe. From there, the rumor spread through the hyperactive Indian press — and made an appearance in Tajikistan’s nascent press. Like all good rumors, the Ayni air base lease story has roots in the truth but doesn’t, ultimately, reflect reality. Tajikistan maintains a hospital facility in southern Tajikistan, which Modi visited Sunday. The India-Tajik Friendship Hospital, according to the Indian government, is located in Qurghonteppa, Tajikistan and opened in November 20

Image credits- VOA Source- The Diplomat  Author- Admiral Dennis C. Blair Although many Americans would have a hard time finding Sri Lanka or Myanmar on a map, these two Asian countries are in the midst of major political transformations with important and uncertain outcomes. Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election on August 17 will determine whether the reforms of President Maithripala Sirisena, himself elected to the surprise of most observers in January, will continue. Myanmar’s parliamentary elections three months later on November 8 may well bring Aung San Suu Kyi’s party to power and will determine whether the transition away from a military dictatorship remains on track. Election outcomes in both countries are important for the region and the world. In a rapidly developing region, both are becoming key transportation hubs for South and Southeast Asia. Coming out of political isolation, both represent profitable investment opportunities; their annual GDP growth ra