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Ashok K Mehta
Ashok K Mehta is a retired Lt General of the Indian Army. He writes extensively on defence matters and anchors Defence Watch on Doordarshan
India’s Gorkha Brigade: A legacy at crossroads
The iconic Gorkha Brigade faces an uncertain future with the freeze on Nepal domiciled Gorkha recruitment under the Agnipath scheme The press and media are flooded with stories about Nepal Domiciled Gorkha soldiers and their imperiled future in the Indian Army under the Agnipath scheme. With the last NDG in India’s...
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India recalibrates Myanmar strategy
25 December 2024 | Ashok K Mehta -
Philippines confronts Chinese assertiveness
11 December 2024 | Ashok K Mehta -
K P Sharma Oli walks a tightrope on China
27 November 2024 | Ashok K Mehta -
Domestic tensions add to Oli’s predicament
13 November 2024 | Ashok K Mehta -
LAC: Putting together the jigsaw puzzle
24 January 2024 | Ashok K Mehta -
Thai Generals bidiñg their time
10 January 2024 | Ashok K Mehta -
Prachanda’s art of Govt formation
11 January 2023 | Ashok K Mehta
The eternal flame can’t be partial to our soldiers
The ‘othering’ of Indian soldiers in colonial times was the biggest disservice to the collective memory of the armed forces; it must be rectified now In his book Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation, Lt Gen JFR Jacob utilised one page to state: “The rifle and helmet that forms the...
Arunachal intrusions a big cause for worry
The Chinese troops have been intruding with impunity into India's territory across the undefined LAC and unrecognised McMahon Line The ninth round of military commanders’ dialogue last week — after an unusually long gap of nearly three months — confirmed the stalemate in east Ladakh, though a new commander who has...
Opportunistic Oli?
China’s mission is to prevent a formal split in the NCP after Parliament dissolution but the Nepal PM says he wants to be ‘a real friend of India’ Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali is in New Delhi for the 6th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission. The invitation was given before Nepal Prime...
Repeated failures
The ongoing India-China standoff yet again points to Intelligence lapses amid reports that the Chinese got winter warfare training from Canadian forces Rebel News, a Canadian far right news network, has obtained 34 pages of documents called ‘China Files’ establishing that Canada has been training the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)...
LAC deadlock continues
Modi has been tricked by the Chinese and misled by his civilian advisors into letting the guard down and creating a deficit of capability The 870-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) in East Ladakh is now in a state of stalemate after China gobbled up Indian territory. The prospects of any...
Mixed bag of achievements
The Modi Government must be complimented for taking hefty decisions on the defence front. Yet, the truth is that its focus has been on symbolism and politicising the military The format of the Republic Day parade is still evolving in finding the right balance between displaying military prowess, cultural heritage, technological...
Take the bull by the horns
The architecture under which the newly-appointed CDS has been placed and the charter given to him is commendable, provided the system lets him do his work As the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Bipin Rawat has hit the ground running. He has been tasked with — or is expected...