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The Platform for Indian Defence Industry
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S NOTE
Our niche readership requires an everyday effort in our office to sift through and selectively carry news and views on issues that are high-impact, decisive or indicators to where the defence industry could be headed in the next few years. We also focus on hot spots globally that may influence stability and peace in various parts of the world.
With the Chinese steadily advancing as a global power, we thought it was time to interview the Deputy Chief of Mission at their embassy in New Delhi. I must say, the Chinese have decidedly shed their reticence for media and are today quite aggressively in the business of reaching out to friends and competitors in the global political matrix. We found their Deputy Chief quite open and lucid except when it came to their objections to declaring Masood Azhar as a terrorist at the UN.
The other interview that we carried was and interview of Lt Gen Subrata Saha, who retired as the Deputy Chief of the Army Staff after a long and chequered career in the Army. A thinking General, he has given a boost to both the army - industry and army - academia partnerships in pursuance of the common goal of indigenization of defence production.
The release of the long pending Chapter on Strategic Partnership was a big event that most of the industry had been impatiently awaiting. Our founder, Nitin Gokhale's exclusive piece provides the gist of the model approved.
Prime Minister Modi's government completed three years of holding the reins at New Delhi. We decided to evaluate the performance of the Ministry of Defence during the period. Our Editor, Brig SK Chatterji carried out an in-depth analysis and presented his findings in the 'Ministry of Defence: Scorecard at Three'.
The Valley has continued to boil during the last month and the Army Chief decided on a congregation of his top commanders at Ground Zero - Srinagar. The Air Force and the Navy were also represented by their top Director Generals of Operations. Apparently, a slew of strategic issues were discussed. There should be another meeting soon before a new strategy is worked out.
Constantly in the news during the past one month have been the American President's utterances. His stance on Climate Change and anti Iran comments when on a visit to West Asian capitals has a lot of the world baffled. Is US regressing from the international arena leaving a vacuum for the Chinese to extend their influence. Most of the world, a lot of Americans included, are not too sure about how Trump intends steering his country.
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SOME OF OUR SPECIAL FEATURES THIS MONTH
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India & China Have More Areas of Convergence than Differences: Chinese Diplomat to BharatShakti.in
Nitin A Gokhale
The Elephant and the Dragon Should Dance Together: Liu Jinsong, Dy. Chief of Mission, PRC in India
Relations between and India and China are currently going through a fairly turbulent phase. While the border issue still remains unresolved, new irritants have been added to the already fraught relationship. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and India's objection to it going through Gilgit-Baltistan and China's protests against the Dalai Lama's recent visit to Tawang has led to further disharmony among the two countries. China's stance on India's NSG membership and on Masood Azhar case has also been of concern for India.To understand the Chinese viewpoint and concerns, Nitin A. Gokhale recently interviewed Liu Jinsong, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in India to understand the Chinese viewpoint. Read More... |
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Win Indian Wars With Indian Solutions: Lt Gen Subrata Saha, Retired DCOAS
Nitin A Gokhale
Armed with new provisions under DPP-16, Lt Gen Saha brought about major changes in the culture of the procurement offices. Today, the army readily interacts with the industry at all stages of a project. This interactive approach was also broadened to include the academia, an extremely important first step to implement the Make in India call. In a free and frank interview with Nitin A. Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief of BharatShakti.in Lt Gen Subrata Saha, covers the entire gamut of procurement. Read More... |
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Path Breaking Strategic Partnership Model for Defence Manufacturing Cleared
Nitin A Gokhale
Under the policy - which will now be taken to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the highest decision making body for defence and security matters-four segments will be opened for private sector manufacturing companies. They are: Single engine fighter aircraft, helicopters, submarines and Main Battle Tank/Armoured Fighting Vehicles. Once cleared, the policy will, according to the details available with BharatShakti.in (BSI), enable participation of private Indian firms in 'Make in India in Defence.' Read More... |
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Ministry of Defence: Scorecard at Three
Brig S K Chatterji (Retd)
The MoD has definitely started getting its act together. An organisation, identified as a sloth for decades has shed some of its inertia. However, when viewed in the context of the poor state of defence preparedness, even the current pace is inadequate. Indians have to take into account the pace at which their adversaries are going ahead, before getting too smug about the progress made. Read More... |
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Srinagar Conclave And After
Nitin A Gokhale
The Srinagar Conclave therefore had only one agenda: come up with a coherent, effective plan to deal with the existing and future challenges. Managing the LoC, India's posture along the International Border in Punjab and Rajasthan, deployment and employment of Indian armour and optimum use of Special Forces for strategic operations were among the broad topics discussed, highly placed sources said. Read More... |
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CPEC - The Chinese Carotid, Pakistani Jugular and an Indian Opportunity
Lt Gen P R Shankar (Retd)
The General, in a previous article in BharatShakti.in, had argued that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor was a carotid for China. However, it imposes huge costs on both China and Pakistan. For the Chinese the security of the corridor that passes through a volatile country could be rather steep. For Pakistan it leads to gradual colonisation. The author also points out an advantage India may accrue should Pakistan declare Gilgit - Baltistan as its provinces. It's an opportunity for Indians to review the status of J&K and even Article 370. Read More...
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Strategic Partnership - Implementing the Path Breaking Reform
Lt Gen Subrata Saha (Retd)
After a protracted debate in the MoD, the much awaited Chapter for Strategic Partnership has been released. The re-quirement of Strategic Partners for defence acquisition was being felt for a long time for the country to progress towards indigenisation of defence manufacturing. The formulation of the policy is expected to give India the necessary wherewithal to gradually transit into the big league of defence equipment producing nations and shed the tag of being the biggest importer of defence systems. The General, in his article explains the policy's contours and evaluates a few key areas that might still require refine-ment as we go ahead with implementing it. Read More... |
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Deft Beginnings & Great Hopes: At Last Towards "SWAVALAMBAN" (Self- Reliance)?
Rear Admiral Sudarshan Y Shrikhande, IN (Retd)
With the government at Delhi at the three-year mark, the internal and border security environments certainly pose some concerns. However, the author argues that these ups and downs can reduce only when Pakistan is compelled to back-off in the face of Indian and perhaps others' hard power. Since it's coming to power, the current dispensation at Delhi has made Indian hard power, more effective and more Indian.
New beginnings have been made with the recent unveiling of the Strategic Partners policy for defence indigenisation. In these three years the current government has made more headway in making the policy framework more responsive, participative, competitive and transparent than at any other period since Independence. Read More... |
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Chabahar Port: Strategic Necessity For India
Maj Gen P K Chakravorty (Retd)
Chabahar is definitely an opportunity for Iran, Afghanistan and India. It's also an opening to the sea for the land locked countries of Central Asia. Located close to Gwadar, it provides India an avenue to extend its reach and contest the emergence of China as the predominant influence in the region. In terms of capacity, the port is much smaller in design as compared to Gwadar, but with investments being more limited its viability is definitely greater. For India, it provides a routing to Afghanistan without having to pass through Pakistan, a linkage that the latter has always denied and is unlikely to provide in the foreseeable future. The author provides an evaluation of the project both from the strategic and also the economic viewpoint. Read More... |
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Enlarging the Role of Army's Public Information Directorate
Maj Gen H Kakar (Retired)
The rapid pace of developments in communication technologies have left the military's information dissemination systems lagging behind. Social media platforms make this process all the more challenging. In the bargain all the good work being done by the armed forces is not known to the people in the disturbed areas and even the rest of the country. There is a requirement, the author feels, of the armed forces strengthening their information outreach. Read More... |
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At BharatShakti.in, our RFI/RFP pages attempt to inform you of business opportunities. While the 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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