Experts Speak
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April 13, 2017
Cyber war — Where are we?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Cyber attacks in India have been on the rise over the years, particularly against government sites and Indian missions abroad despite several layers of security measures in place to protect against intrusions.
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April 13, 2017
ISIS menace — Caution time ahead
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
The Bhopal-Ujjain train blast on March 7, 2017 injuring nine people is being heralded as the first strike by the Islamic State in India. It has now emerged that the members of this module inspired by ISIS, led by self-styled 'emir' Atif Muzaffar, had crisscrossed the country between February 2016...
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April 13, 2017
The border infrastructure mess
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
The Parliamentary Committee for Defence has been rapping the government for its lackadaisical approach to defence, however, this time it is the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) who has pulled up the Border Roads Organisation...
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April 13, 2017
Bullet Resistant Vests
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
India has been fighting cross-border proxy wars, terrorism and insurgencies past three decades plus. The requirement of bullet proof jackets (BPJs) for every security forces fighter operating in counter insurgency and counter terrorist...
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April 13, 2017
Maoists violence — Far from over
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
On March 10, 2017 an article titled 'Is It the End of the Road for Maoists?' appeared in the media. The author post visiting the areas of Jagargunda, Sukma, Dornapal, justified the title of the article on grounds that included...
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March 14, 2017
Visit of Bangladesh PM - expectations
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Coming up next month in April is the all important visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh to India.
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Pakistan — Defiant Frankenstein
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
By admitting that the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack was carried out by Pakistan based terror group but that the Pakistani government had no role in it, former Pakistan National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani has managed to hit headlines while keeping himself safe.
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Special Forces — efforts to bridge equipment voids
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Media is agog with news "Army on shopping spree, commandos to get deadlier", reporting that after the successful 'surgical strikes', MoD is fast-tracking some...
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Military Modernization Kaput — and the curse of committees
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has slammed the...
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QCG and the six plus one
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) comprising the US, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan aimed to bring the Taliban on board to join...
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Of Grenade Lobbing Robots — and more
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
As the battle for Mosul continues, the ISIS fights on with new technology. Tiny surveillance drones are employed to observe and report movement and positions of the attacking forces.
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Indigenous LCH — good strides
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
India's indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), was a star attraction at the Aero India 2017...
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Pakistan's Change of Heart — recurring utopia
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
When news came that Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Pakistani army chief had told his officers that they should read how the Indian democracy had succeeded, media at home went gaga as usual, with many utopians forecasting 'change of heart' in Pakistan, little realizing that Bajwa is from the same crop as Zia, Musharraf and Co. And lo and behold, some terror blowback in Pakistan and Bajwa plays...
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Remov AFSPA — periodic punchline
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
There are frequent calls in insurgency affected areas for removal or dilution of the Armed Forces Special Power Act. Such calls are periodic in J&K and Manipur. It is also a election issue in Manipur this year, particularly by the People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) floated by Chanu Sharmila who has been demanding repealing of AFSPA for past 16 years.
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India-China Strategic Dialogue — hollowness persists
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
On February 22, India and China held their 'upgraded' strategic dialogue at Beijing. Just before the dialogue, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar held talks...
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Indo-US Defence Ties — retain the high
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
There was some speculation as to how the Indo-US defence relationship would pan out under the new US President, as relationships do undergo change...
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Policy on Unmanned Vehicles — setting course is good
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
DRDO Director General Dr S Christopher's statement on February 11, 2017 that DRDO plans to soon come out with policy document on unmanned vehicles...
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Tri-Service Commands — must get them right
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
After a lapse of over a year, news is media is again talking of Tri-Service Commands and other measures like appointing a single-point military adviser...
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Longer reach Pinaka tested
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
In January 2015, Mark-II version of Pinaka rocket system was successfully tested to its full range where it was able to destroy its targets 60km away.
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Big Stride in Ballistic Missile Defence
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
February, 11, 2017 was a great day for the DRDO and the nation. At precisely 0745 hours, DRDO successfully test-fired a interceptor missile off Odisha coast and achieved a significant milestone for developing a two-layered BMD system...
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Critical shortages — Where is the money?
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Media reports headlining urgent arms deals of Rs 20,000 crores have been signed to keep the Armed Forces "ready" create an impression that all is going to be hunky dory in a jiffy is misnomer.
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Defence Budget 2017-2018
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Defence has been allocated Rs 2,74,114 crore ($40.31 billion) for fiscal year 2017-2018. This does not include the pensions bill which itself is close to Rs 85,000 crore per annum.
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The China factor in Kashmir
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
That China is the central actor behind the problems in J&K is still not fully acknowledged by our policy makers. Not that it is a new development but the understanding remained coloured with the advice of our intelligence agencies who refused to get out of the time wrap.
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Carbines — Small arms faux passé
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
According to media reports, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has decided to purchase 44,000 close quarter battle (CQB) carbines via direct route and cancel the tender process.
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Why India should never join CPEC
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Khaled Ahmed, consulting editor, 'Newsweek' Pakistan, in his recent article titled 'Corridor of Uncertainty' writes that Pakistan's General Riaz inviting India...
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Improving night fighting capability
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
As per media reports, MoD has approved purchases for improving the night warfare capabilities of the Army at a cost of US$3.2 billion. This is good news but going by past experience of excruciatingly long procedures, how many years elapse before this equipment actually gets fielded is anybody's guess.
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RoboSen is good — But we have miles to go
By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
DRDO has just unveiled RoboSen (short for 'Robot Sentry'). Its employability is for guarding a house, office or industrial unit. It can move around the premises, take photographs of all suspicious objects and movement, enabling law enforcement agencies to act, as and when required.
