Search results for : "firdaus ahmed"
  • India’s COIN Policy: ‘Peace Preceding Talks’?
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   19 Aug, 2010    ·    #3220    ·    Commentary    
    It is no secret that India does not have a written national strategy document. While well known in respect of its external security situation, this is true for the internal security context as well. For instance, it is nearing ten years now since t ...
  • AfPak: Beginning of an End?
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   28 Sep, 2010    ·    #3246    ·    Commentary    
    In an attack on Pakistan from Khost province in Afghanistan, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces killed 50 Taliban insurgents. The NATO spokesman rationalised the attack as “ISAF forces must and will retain the authority, wi ...
  • Blast from the Past - The Varanasi Explosion
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   10 Dec, 2010    ·    #3292    ·    Commentary    
    Varanasi was recently rocked by a terrorist explosion which targeted worshippers at the evening prayers ceremony at the Ghats. Two additional IEDs were recovered later. The Indian Mujahideen (IM), in an email reportedly sent from Mumbai, took respo ...
  • The Indian Army: Organizational Changes in the Offing
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   17 Jan, 2011    ·    #3318    ·    Commentary    
    The recent headline in a leading national daily, “Indian Army set for its most radical revamp,” is entirely believable. The article informs that “proposals include setting up of a Strategic Command, comprising of Army's offensiv ...
  • Revisiting Intelligence Reform
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   04 Mar, 2011    ·    #3338    ·    Commentary    
    The Outlook informs that a report on intelligence reforms is in the offing. The review is being done by a government think-tank, taking cue from the speech of the Vice President, Hamid Ansari. It has been ten years since the Kargil Review Committee ...
  • An Indian Anti-Nuclear Peace Movement
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   22 Mar, 2011    ·    #3347    ·    Commentary    
    The events of Japan have had a catalyzing effect elsewhere. The PM has already ordered a nuclear safety recheck. Those opposed to nuclear power expansion in India, such as the CNDP (Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace) have used the opportu ...
  • After Osama - VII: Should New Delhi Engage Pakistan or ‘Wait and Watch’?
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   05 May, 2011    ·    #3372    ·    Commentary    
    In wake of the Osama killing, the hawks have carried the day in India. In pointing towards possible Pakistani complicity in harbouring Osama, they make the point that the Indian initiative of reaching out to Pakistan that is currently unfolding wil ...
  • Compellence, Deterrence or Defence?: Saxena Task Force and India’s Defence Reforms
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   27 Jun, 2011    ·    #3418    ·    Commentary    
    Mr Naresh Saxena, former defence secretary, cabinet secretary and ambassador to the US, is to lead a task force on the next steps in defence sector reforms. His team comprising former chiefs, bureaucrats, military technologists and strategists is t ...
  • Interrogating Security Expansionism in India
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   23 Aug, 2011    ·    #3441    ·    Commentary    
    The head of a think-tank writing in The Tribune (http://bit.ly/o0qXbO) lists military capabilities that India requires up to fifteen years. In strategic circles, ever since remarks of the former army chief were possibly deliberately leaked, the &ls ...
  • AFSPA in J&K: Why should it go?
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   03 Nov, 2011    ·    #3483    ·    Commentary    
    Head bureaucrats of the home and defence ministries and the cabinet secretary reportedly had a pre-Diwali meeting to attend to a divergence between the two ministries that needed attention at the political level. News reports carry unconfirmed repo ...