Tucydides: Ancient Lessons in the 2020 Indo-China Stand Off

BY MAJ GEN JAGATBIR SINGH ( RETD)

Thucydides, is widely regarded as the father and founder of History. He was an ancient Greek historian and his History of The Peloponnesian War from 431 to 404 BC is considered an epic. This was the war between Sparta and a rising Athens that devastated both city states and destroyed classical Greece.

Read more ...

Ironies of Indo China Clash at Galwan

Maj Gen Jagat Bir Singh : It is ironical that two countries which are nuclear neighbors’ with modern armies resorted to using primitive means such as sticks, stones and clubs to bludgeon each other to death when their soldiers clashed in the icy heights of Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh on 16 Jun.

Read more ...

22 September 1965

A spurt of fighting before the ceasefire loomed ahead, caused higher casualities. nearly hitting the 300 number

Read more ...

The Dragon's Design: Info war on Indo-China Clash

by Air Marshal Harish Masand : The tragic events at Galwan River Valley on the night of June 15th resulting in the loss of 20 Indian bravehearts, with perhaps an equal number of casualties on the Chinese side, have once again brought in sharp focus China’s duplicity and deception in the current face-off at the LAC between the two Asian giants.

Read more ...

Revisiting Bharat Rakshak's origins

Where is the Bharat-Rakshak Website hosted? Who Runs it? What is the the privacy policy? Who pays you off? Why are you so secretive? Whats your agenda? Are you snooping on us? etc etc... A short primer on the first and the oldest web portal on the Indian Armed Forces. 


Read more ...

Losing the Marshal of the Air Force

The nation grieves the loss of Marshal Arjan Singh (IND/1577), who died in Delhi on 16 Sept 2017. His loss will be keenly felt. The editor of the IAF site and author of "The India-Pakistan Air War of 1965" recollects his brief but memorable encounter with the Marshal of the AF three years ago.. 

Read more ...

A new "Mobile-Ready" Home Page

Something long overdue, and two years after our major re-design, we have updated our front page to a new look. The front page is a fully 'Responsive' Design, that will render both in a Desktop mode or in a mobile phone mode.  The 2015 look was not mobile friendly in the first place, and over the past four years, the trend in Internet usage has shifted in favour of hand-held devices. So much that today google values "Mobile - Readiness" more in its search rankings.  

 

Read more ...

The Army Chief's Medals.

A mundane post about Medals in the armed forces - and to observe the uniqueness of the current Chief of Army Staff's Medal entitlement.  General Bipin Rawat  UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM is missing one award - the PVSM. Will we see him get it this Republic Day? And whats with all the non-mint issue medals he is wearing..?

Read more ...

16 September 1965

55 soldiers and airmen were lost on this day - including Lt Col A B Tarapore, Param Vir Chakra . Tarapore was the commanding officer of  17th Poona Horse.

Read more ...

Op Ed : The Uri Fiasco

By Shiv Kunal Verma 

The Uri Brigade, along with the one located at Poonch, are perhaps two of our most vulnerable formations simply because both these Brigade HQs are directly under observation from Pakistani positions. Uri is where the Jhelum River and the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Highway leave Indian territory and enter POK.  

The Uri bowl is dominated by features that are in the region of 1500 to 2000 mtrs and is clearly visible from Haji Pir (yes, the same Haji Pir that was handed 'back' to Pakistan in Tashkent in 1965) - if I'm not mistaken the distance between Uri town and the pass is barely 6 km as the crow flies. This does away with even the need for HUMINT, for the planners of any attack can literally see everything 'real time'. From the Indian perspective, the overall landscape is a defenders nightmare for the terrain along the LOC is such that there are many mountain streams in the region along which infiltration usually takes place. The noise of the water makes it impossible for ambush parties to detect movement. 

Read more ...

15 September 1965

The fighting in the last week of the confict showed signs of increasing. 15th September saw a toll of 95 troops and airmen

Read more ...

Beating of the Retreat: my dismay and disappointment

This letter is said to have been written by retired Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi.  While we did not receive this from the source, the points mentioned in this letter are very pertinent.

Dear Chiefs, Since the evening of 29 Jan 2016, I have been fighting an inner battle on whether to share my dismay and disappointment with the three worthy Chiefs of the armed forces of our country, the same armed forces that have not just brought glory to the nation since our independence, but have secured the nation from both external and internal threats. After a great deal of introspection and soul-searching, I have come to the conclusion that I must apprise you of my misgivings, which incidentally are shared by the majority of my brother and sister officers, both serving and retired. 

Read more ...

The outrage over the Defence Minister's "dis-respect"

There has been much outrage over a picture of the defence minister Manohar Parikkar supposedly showing disrespect to the Armed Forces during a Guard of Honour inspection at INS Rajali. The picture in question shows the DM appearing civlian garb and wearing Sandals with hands in pockets and wearing sandals.  

Fact Check - He is NOT disinterested, shirt- trousers and sandals ARE OK, you are NOT TO SALUTE if you are a civlian

Read more ...