Theoptimist

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July 27, 2022

XVI ROUND OF TALKS LT COL MANOJ K CHANNAN, VETERAN The Press Information Bureau press release on the talks held at Moldo, Chushul is indicative of an impasse. While the talks have been held under cordial conditions, it is clear that the PLA is not willing to take any concrete measures to fall back to March 2020 positions. China is using this dialogue to craftily convey a message that China as a responsible Nation is engaging with it’s neighbours to peacefully settle the border disputes. The double standards are visible as with Nepal; China is willing to discuss the border disputes as per the bilateral treaties. In India’s case the bilateral treaties have been thrown out of the window. It is clear India has no leverage over China to bear upon it to honour the bilateral treaties and resolve the boundary dispute. At the same time China is keen to engage with India; India remains an important market, the Chinese companies are bringing in the much needed FDI, will the...

July 27, 2022

UKRAINE INVASION – IMPLICATIONS LT COL MANOJ K CHANNAN, VETERAN “War is good, it teaches you a bit of geography and a bit of contemporary history too” Russian intervention in Ukraine has been seen as a serious breach of international treaties and a violation of a sovereign country. Putin has been painted the villain by the Western Leaders and the electronic and print media, including those in India. Russia believes, Ukraine was an artificial creation of the Bolsheviks after Brest Litovsk in 1917 and “never had a tradition of genuine statehood”. A choreographed effort to show that all key countries agree on far-reaching sanctions, words “massive” and “devastating” are being repeated ad nauseam, as if it were an agreed script. But this Potemkin unity is unlikely to alter the Kremlin calculus. The West cannot activate serious measures because it risks an asymmetric response, a lighter variant of ‘mutual assured destruction’ from the Cold War. Let us take ...

July 27, 2022

SRI LANKA – MILITARY OPTIONS LT COL MANOJ K CHANNAN, VETERAN Sri Lanka is under going a civil strife faced with uncertainties and no hope in sight as the political leadership has “vanished” and sought refuge at a military airbase. The electronic media shows the common people in the presidential palace, surprised by the luxury in which the leadership lived in while the man on the street was wondering how to conjure his next meal, medicines for the sick or fuel. Notwithstanding the fact that the political leadership had formed a government based on absolute majority, led by divisive politics which cast away the focus on important issues that needed to be focused upon. The political situation turned around on its head and we have an unstable neighbourhood. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal under the vice grip of the Chinese loans ensuring that the economy in these countries went into a nose dive. Is it in India’s interest to militarily intervene in Sri Lanka? There ...

July 27, 2022

SINO -INDIAN TECHNOLOGY EQUATION LT COL MANOJ K CHANNAN, VETERAN The world is witnessing a dynamic and fluid environment ever since the Wuhan Virus broke out in December 2019, the power struggle between the US and China are well documented and off late the Russian stand on Ukraine and its relationships with its immediate neighbour China and as India’s neighbour Pakistan reaching out to Ukraine as well as reach out to Russia, to support it in the UN. Closer to home the Chinese intrusions have been stalled by a strong response by the Indian Defence Forces and the Indian Army in particular which not only negated and gave a strong response along the line of actual control, including Galwan. The occupation of the Kailash Range put the PLA at a major disadvantage and exposed Moldo Garrison which came under direct line of sight and thus exposing the vulnerabilities of the PLA. If one is to sit back and think that this gives India an edge, which will vary in areas of eye...

July 27, 2022

Second Bridge on The Pangong Tso Lt Col Manoj K Channan, Veteran The PLA has been keeping up its belligerence while feigning a façade of talks at the Corps commanders’ level and now probably at the brigade / battalion level as has been revealed by senior military officers responsible for the area of responsibility. While bridging the gap on confidence building measures has been cast aside, the first bridge and now the second bridge is perhaps to build the confidence of the PLA military commanders on their ability to quickly deploy their forces, in much earlier time frames from the North Bank of the Pangong Tso to its Southern Bank. The first bridge was used as a service bridge to build the second bridge. This kind of infrastructure development is dangerous and disturbs the ecological balance in this fragile Himalayan region. While the construction of this bridge may seem to give the PLA moral ascendancy, in real terms, it really doesn’t. The recent river cros...

July 27, 2022

REVISION OF POLICY – RECRUITMENT OF AGNIVEERS Lt Col Manoj K Channan, Veteran The youth in India have Defense Services as their first career option. The pandemic and the revision of recruitment policy in the defense services had led to the freeze on recruitment over the last two years. Many veterans who had their ears close to the grassroots level had been writing/ tweeting and speaking about this issue to be heard by the policymakers. Many electronic media channels too had called representatives to their prime-time discussions in support of these aspirants. While it can be understood that revising a policy document is not easy, as getting consensus remains a time-consuming process; it is not understood that those in the decision-making were ignorant of ground realities. Brig Rumel Dahiya, a senior veteran, Deputy Director General at the Institute of Defence Studies & Analyses. He is also the Coordinator of the Military Affairs Centre and the Managing Edito...