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The Platform for Indian Defence Industry
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S NOTE
Dear Reader,
We are at the half-a-million mark in our head count of number of people affected by the Chinese Coronavirus. COVID 19 has taken its toll of our economy just as it has decelerated growth universally. We have to swim against the tide and reach out for achieving our goals. With no signs of the virus abating, we at bharatshakti.in urge you to stay safe and observe the basic practices like social distancing and wearing a mask. Your chances of avoiding the infection rise exponentially with these basic observances.
Eastern Ladakh is on fire. We lost 20 braves, but not before Col Santosh Babu and his men taught the PLA a lesson that will surely travel slowly but surely across the rank and file of that organization. A dispassionate assessment of Indian and Chinese forces leads us to the conclusion that China is neither equipped or trained, nor organized and structured to win a war in the Himalayas. These Chinese probes will carry on and we will have to respond judiciously or be proactive differently. However, Chinese intrusions are not directed against India alone. It has problems with most countries of South China Sea. Its fishermen, escorted by coast guard ships, forage in other countries waters regularly. In fact, countries like Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia which had tried to tide over their problems with China by being accommodating at times, are drawing the line more deliberately now, to keep them at bay.
In addition to a very detailed briefing on the situation in Eastern Ladakh, we have been bringing you a large number of editorials on China. We are also continuing with our Paodcasts to familiarize you with the Indian armed forces and their equipment. Our video section is being devoted to issues in the neighborhood. We have also started a fortnightly video programme in Hindi.
Before signing off let me remind you to check out our Videos section… and our founderNitin Gokhale video blog on military history and issues of relevance. Please also go to NewsWarrior for our podcasts.
Do make BharatShakti.in a habit.
Editor
Bharatshakti.in
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SOME OF OUR ANALYTICAL PIECES
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Chinese Communist Party and The ‘Art of Lying’!
June26, 2020; By: Ravi Shankar
The ‘Art of War’ is a seminal work of the ancient Chinese strategist, Sun Tzu (5th Century BC) that is a part of the discourse in military academies across the world. Much of Sun Tzu’s theories are based on deception of the enemy to gain the upper hand. The Chinese Communist Party or CCP, though has spun the ancient wisdom into a modern-day practice of lies, lies and more lies!
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Chinese Carnage at Galwan Valley: The Way Forward
June19, 2020;: Brig SK Chatterji (Retd)
20 Indian body bags have already reached destinations and last rites of a few brave men are in progress. They defended the nation’s honour; whatever be the cost. Perhaps the essence of the message that India is no push-over today has already reached Beijing. Whether we decide to go into Chinese held areas across the Line of Actual Control or not, Galwan disallows India from stepping back anywhere else. The LAC, notwithstanding its divergent perceptions, has become a more defined line.
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The Defiant Dragon: Hisses and Misses of the Chinese Dream
June15, 2020; By: Ravi Shankar
The article binds with a single thread decades of Chinese thinking and explores how a nation known for its long-term strategic approach, is now apparently in a race to beat the clock. The incalculable suffering that its people would have suffered so long, is perhaps more obvious to the world today as it updates its figures of the dead.
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Trump Proposes India’s Inclusion in an Expanded G-7
June 11, 2020; By: Niraj Srivastava, IFS
US President Donald Trump’s proposal of expanding the G-7 to include four new countries including India could reshape the global economic and security architecture if it materialises. First unveiled on May 30, it also figured in the telephonic conversation between Trump and Prime Minister Modi on June 1, with Modi welcoming the proposal, and accepting Trump’s invitation to attend the next G-7 summit in the US in September.
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Mapping Mass Uprisings: Dragon’s Tail on Fire, China Spiraling into Chaos
June 04, 2020; By: Ravi Shankar
The 70 years since the ruling Communist Party of China (CCP) took the reins have seen China swing between being a beacon of economic transformation and aggressive confrontations (both internal and external). A careful analysis of seminal events in recent Chinese history reveals a startling pattern, one linear and the other an inward spiral of periodical mass uprisings. Mapping the timelines of these uprisings reveals a surprising trend, based on which one may even make a somewhat interesting posit. Let us map these patterns to contextualize in terms of what lies ahead for the Party.
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Pulwama Exposes Pakistan’s Deceitful False Flag Narrative Yet Again
May 30, 2020; By: Ravi Shankar
The series of tweets claiming knowledge about Indian intentions of a False Flag operation clearly indicates that PM Imran Khan and his ISI handlers had fore-knowledge of what transpired in Pulwama on 28 May, with the last tweet being posted just one day earlier on 27 May. Had the terror attack been successful, Imran Khan would have hoped that he would be on a safe wicket, having already proclaimed that India was about to undertake a False Flag operation. That, however, did not happen and Imran Khan and his handlers’ master-plan was safe-detonated in a forest by vigilant Indian security forces. The Prime Minister of ‘Terroristan’, whose mental faculties and sanity are already being doubted, now stands exposed as a charlatan.
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Brace for COVID-19 Impact on Defence Expenditure
May19, 2020; By: Amit Cowsish
We are faced with an unprecedented situation which cannot be set right in the short term. Economies of nations across the globe are in a tailspin. Though the IMF outlook for India still lists the country in the positive growth band, the assessment may not hold true. With such stresses being experienced by the economy, defence allocations are bound to suffer. The author provides a rational view and draws a few conclusions the armed forces need to brace themselves for. |
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Gwadar Port a Golden Goose for China; Shot in the Dark for Pakistan
May 10, 2020; By: Brig SK Chatterji (Retd)
The Chinese Belt and the Road Initiative’s (BRI) flagship project remains the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC’s arterial road lifeline runs 3000 km and links Kashgar, in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China, along the Karakoram highway, through the Khunjerab Pass, further southwest through Gilgit – Baltistan in Pakistan occupied Kashmir to Islamabad and then to Gwadar. The Gwadar Port is also a point of confluence between the Chinese Maritime Silk Road and the BRI. China expects huge economic and strategic benefits from CPEC. Debt-ridden Pakistan expects to tide over its current dire financial state and simultaneously develop stronger strategic ties with the Chinese that offer greater resilience against India. |
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What Will Succeed In The Post COVID-19 World?
May 06, 2020; By: Maj Gen Nitin Gadkari (Retd)
Though it’s early days and COVID-19 is yet to play out fully, a few sectors that could witness expansion in business volumes are perhaps identifiable. Some inferences can also be drawn in terms of changes in the way we would work hereafter; the dividends such changes may hold out and the possible erosion we may simultaneously experience in our lifestyles. The author navigates across the spectrum to find cogent answers. |
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SOME OF OUR EXCLUSIVE PIECES
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Coping with 24×7 Media: A Huge Challenge
June 22, 2020; By: Brig SK Chatterji (Retd)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team, otherwise masterful communicators, may have stumbled a bit on Friday. Perhaps under pressure from the deadline-driven media to provide soundbites from his concluding speech at the All Party Meeting on the standoff with China in Ladakh, the government’s information managers culled out a small portion of the Prime Minister’s speech and circulated it to the broadcast media and social media platforms.Taken without context, a huge distortion crept in in the way the message got transmitted. It was only after a detailed clarification was issued on Saturday that the fog of confusion was cleared. Though the initial misstep was in the government’s media messaging the subsequent ruckus and a slew of accusations and counter-accusations are because of a host of media houses and TV strategists who refuse to stop milking the issue for personal or political gains. |
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Rogue Army Dooms Xi’s Superpower Bid
June 22, 2020: Team BharatShakti
If ever there was an award for the most oxymoronic name ever given to an entity, it has to be the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). A motley crew of illiterate peasants forced against their will into serving the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the PLA has never been a ‘liberating’ force. In fact, what it does is just the opposite. Xinjiang’s Uighur concentration camps and Tibetans being ethnically cleansed in their own land are good examples why neither the epithet ‘Liberation’ nor ‘Army’ suits these goons in uniform. Not only within China, they have been a disgrace outside too. |
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Ambitious General Threatens to Derail Regional Balance in Asia
June 21, 2020: Team BharatShakti
General Zhao Zongqi is an ambitious man. He has been heading the newly created Western Theatre Command since 2016 and has led an almost perfect career, something most of his peers can only dream of. His stint of 20 years in the Tibetan Military District led him to believe that he had a clear shot for the top prize, an admission into the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Chinese Communist Party’s highest military decision making body.Ruthless and ambitious, he is banking on his current profile and the standoff with India to reach the hallowed ranks of the CMC. The style of ambush of 16 Bihar troops and the use of primitive weapons fit his profile perfectly. |
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Is China Overestimating its Strength?
June 18, 2020: Ravi Shankar
The brutal brawl at Galwan Valley on 15-16 June which led to major casualties on both sides after a gap of around five decades is a steep escalation in India-China military face-offs. The Chinese Communist Party(CCP)is utilising every trick in the book to draw global attention away from culpability for the Wuhan originated COVID-19 pandemic by stoking disputes with countries who are standing upto them. While Taiwan and Australia have borne the brunt of Chinese threats in May 2020, the CCP has now manufactured a crisis with India across the LAC. |
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HAL Entering Naval Utility Helicopters Competition Will Erode Navy’s Operational Capability
May19, 2020; By: Nitin A. Gokhale
One of the important policy reforms announcements done by the government in defence manufacturing in India last week was allowing foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to invest up to 74 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in defence ventures in India. In the medium to long run, this could be a welcome measure but in the meantime, the proposals pending with the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) will have to be quickly cleared since there are critical gaps that Indian armed forces are faced with. |
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The Raging Debate: Three Years Tour of Duty in Army
May19, 2020; By: Nitin A. Gokhale
The major crux of the proposal, however, lies in making the ToD concept attractive and beneficial to both the Army and the individuals who join. Initial survey and feedback from different corporates and social leaders have led the Army to conclude that a man or a woman who has undergone the Tour of Duty, will turn out to be a huge asset for the nation and the organization that employs these individuals. The nation and corporates are likely to benefit from a trained, disciplined, confident, diligent and committed young men/women who have completed his/her ToD, supporters of the scheme argue. |
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SOME OF OUR SPECIAL COVID VIDEO BLOGS
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Late Maj Gen KL Rattan’s Rendition of the Battle of Poonch 1971 Bharatshakti’s Homage to the Hero
June 27, 2020: Team BharatShakti
The Defender of Poonch is no more. He passed away on 16 May, at Noida, UP. He leaves behind the legacy of a great battle that he led. Rarely in the annals of military history are successful defensive battles celebrated. Defence of Poonch is one such towering example where the 6th Battalion, SIKH Regiment was presented the colours for their valiant stand at Poonch. Late Maj Gen KL Rattan was the Commanding officer of the battalion. |
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Decoding Chinese Military Build Up at LAC
June 24, 2020: Ravi Shankar
What is China's gameplan regarding its current build-up across the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh? Indian and Chinese troops are in direct sight of each other at four points — the closest in Galwan and Pangong Tso — but have moved up resources and deployed artillery across a larger length of the LoAC.
Associate Editor of BharatShakti.in Ravi Shankar speaks to our Founder and Editor-in-Chief Nitin Gokhale and Defence analyst and China watcher Col. Rakesh Sharma (Retd) to demystify the military build-up.
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Defence reforms are a dream come true, says Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge
Asserting that the world has not seen an event like the Covid-19 pandemic, chairman and MD of the Bharat Forge (Kalyani Group), Baba Kalyani said it was time to try and make the best of the situation. Speaking to Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale he said that in the last 2-3 months, the Prime Minister of India has also said in his speech, that adversity has the ability to bring opportunity with it. Therefore, he said, many businesses including Bharat Forge are looking at how to convert adversity into opportunity.
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Talking to Taliban: Should we, Should we Not
June 11, 2020: Brig SK Chatterjee (Retd)
No major stakeholder in Afghanistan has solicited our presence in talks on Afghanistan so far, however, per-ceptions have changed now. We are being approached to start talks with the Taliban. But which Taliban in that fragmented lot should we talk to? Brig NK Bhatia analyses the issue in conversation with the Bharat-Shakti.in Editor, S K Chatterji.
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From Leapfrogging to Pole Vaulting: Gen Bipin Rawat Wants to Adopt a New Mantra
May 26, 2020: Nitin A Gokhale
The Indian defence industry has a chance to undertake a major transformation in the post-COVID scenario since the twin effects of shrinking budgets and recent policy reforms will enable the armed forces to source many of its requirements locally. This is the time to seize the moment, to pole vault from leapfrogging, feels India’s first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat in this exclusive interview with Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale
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India’s Big Bang Defence Reforms
May 16, 2020: Nitin A Gokhale
BharatShakti.in Editor-in-Chief Nitin A Gokhale decodes the policies announced by the government -What do they mean? How will it boost Make in India?
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Defence Industry Making All Efforts To Beat COVID 19 Assault
May 09, 2020: Brig SK Chatterjee (Retd)
Notwithstanding the Covid 19 related disruptions, there's an opportunity for Make in India to pick up greater pace. The logistics linkages could be localised far more and greater sustainability of the linkages assured by domestic sourcing. st ventilators being received as gifts from abroad for quick examination before being transferred to hospitals said Abhijeet Bokil, MD, Aeron Systems Pvt. Ltd. in conversation with BharatShakti Editor, SK Chaterji.
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Indian Navy Launches Operation Samudra Setu to Repatriate Overseas Indians
May 09, 2020: Brig SK Chatterjee (Retd)
Speaking exclusively to BharatShakti.in, Editor-in-Chief, Nitin A Gokhale, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS), Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar said that Indian Navy has launched Operation “Samudra Setu” - “Sea Bridge”, as a part of national effort to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas. Indian Naval Ships INS Ja-lashwa and INS Magar are presently enroute to the port of Malè, Republic of Maldives to commence evacua-tion operations from 08 May 2020 as part of Phase-1.
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At BharatShakti.in, our Industry Capabilities listing page gives you details of various IDIs, their product range, niche capabilities and contact information, thus easing your search for the right partner for your business activities. Our Policy page is a repository of knowledge, hosting relevant government and departmental documents required for transacting in the area defence production. It also devotes space to FAQs on defence procurement that would be updated.
We at BharatShakti.in invite you all to be a part of our team. Do visit our pages regularly. Write to us, list your defence capabilities with us and engage with us. It's BharatShakti's faith and belief that the Indian Defence Industry is capable of addressing most of the requirements of Indian Armed Forces. |
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