June, 2021 - Air Marshal's Perspective

June 27, 2021September 27, 2021

Interaction with the Country’s Youth.

Got a chance to interact with the youth of the country.

Covered some aspects related to “Life as a Fighter Pilot”

Need for passion, boldness, attitude, aggressiveness and self confidence in fighter flying.

It is not all Glamour.

It involves lot of hard work.

It involves lot of studies.

Aspects related to risk and safety.

Importance of physical and mental fitness.

Importance of self discipline.

Importance of qualities like courage, integrity, loyalty, dedication, dependability and reliability.

Advice given to the youth

Know yourself (Strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes).

Follow your dream.

Pursue happiness.

Be a good human being first then a good professional.

There is no short cut to hard work.

Be Humble, honest, helpful, truthful and tolerant.

Most Important – Always keep the child in you alive.

Questions and answer session was interesting. Admire the awareness level of the youth. Questions were very relevant, incisive and precise. Questions were related to following:

Role of IAF and its future.

Defence selection procedures and need for review.

Self reliance in defence equipment.

Pressures faced during career and dealing mechanism.

Rafale aircraft.

LCA Tejas aircraft.

IAF capability enhancement.

Balakot operations.

Enjoyed the interaction immensely

For regular updates please register here –

https://55nda.com/blogs/anil-khosla/subscribe/

June 26, 2021August 3, 2021

Indo Russia Relations

My answers to the questionnaire on the above subject

Published in the latest journal (Jun 21) of FPRC (Foreign Policy Research Centre)

Q1. Does Russia continue to be a “time-tested partner of India”? If this is not so, what does it need to correct the ‘perceptions’, and re-strengthen the link?

Indo – Russian Relations. Geography and Geopolitics have been binding Russia and India together in the past. However, in the world politics there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests and these also change with time. The deep, traditional and even “time-tested relations” shared for decades cannot be taken for granted. The premise of indo-Russia relationship has undergone significant changes since the end of the Cold War. The strategic bond that existed between India and the Soviet Union is not the same as that with Russia and has been considerably diluted. Every country places its national interests above anything else, so does Russia. Russia may not be a partner at the earlier level and perhaps we should not expect it either. From the “special and privileged strategic partnership,” we appear to be moving towards a transactional relationship.

Continue reading “Indo Russia Relations”

June 25, 2021September 27, 2021

Integrated Theatre Commands

The debate about formation of Integrated Theatre Commands has become a hot topic.

Questions that need answers and clarity are:

Is the concept relevant to our environment and situation?

Are we blindly copying others?

Are we learning wrong lessons?

Is our priority right?

is the time right?

Do we have adequate resources?

Do the accrued benefits outweigh the time, money and effort spent?

Are we implementing changes for the sake of it?

Has adequate debate taken place on the issue?

Veterans and defence analysts have written about these aspects in different journals and magazines. The links to some of these writings are below (with credits to the authors and the parent magazines and journals):