Armed Forces

Defence of India is a multi-dimensional responsibility involving coordination with not only organisations within MoD, but also several external departments and agencies. Irrespective of whether the subject of defence of India is assigned to DoD or DMA, it is the defence minister who is responsible for the subjects allocated to the ministry.

• Amit Cowshish
• July 22, 2021
• IDSA Comments

Unless the armed forces and the security establishment take a singular approach to warfighting, which includes evolving a singular concept of warfighting, identifying threats and challenges, and medium and long-term capability development goals, differences that make headlines will continue to recur time and again.

• Vivek Chadha
• July 12, 2021
• IDSA Comments

Banning the sale of imported items through the CSD could supplement the various domestic industry-friendly policy measures being taken by the government for a self-reliant India.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• August 11, 2020
• IDSA Comments

India needs to have a public version of defence manpower database as part of its annual budgetary document. This would facilitate greater understanding and analysis of any possible manpower-related reforms in the future.

• Laxman Kumar Behera , Vinay Kaushal
• August 04, 2020
• Issue Brief

The armed forces are one of the most powerful tools to ensure safety and security of the state from external aggressions. This duty may call upon armed forces personnel to undertake missions with a very high risk to life. To motivate a human being to perform the allocated duty even at the peril of his/her life is an art that armed forces across the globe have mastered. For sustaining such a high level of motivation and to undertake missions in a very organised fashion, military discipline is a key attribute.

• Kishore Kumar Khera
• July-September 2020
• Journal of Defence Studies

The adverse impact of lowering of colour service of soldiers below pensionable service will not only be felt at the structural and functional level but also the psychological level.

• Vivek Chadha
• February 14, 2020
• Issue Brief

Having decided to create the post of CDS, the next logical step for the government is to define its charter of duties and responsibilities. The government needs to examine not just the CDS’s role as a single-point military advisor, but also his role in other matters that are equally important in driving critical defence reforms.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• November 21, 2019
• IDSA Comments

At the heart of ethical choices lies the complex interplay between individual intentions and environmental vectors. Factors such as stress, misguided motivations and the failure to handle positional power make the issue so very intriguing. Further, ethical dilemmas are often laden with inherent individual subjectivities, making it difficult to arrive at a singularly agreeable distinction between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Why do individuals transgress? Why do individuals give and take bribes? Why is it so difficult to report a course mate?

• Ankush Banerjee
• October-December 2019
• Journal of Defence Studies

The blueprint for the operationalisation of CDS would require intensive deliberation to make sure that no aspect of its implementation is left unaddressed.

• Amit Cowshish
• August 30, 2019
• IDSA Comments

The decision to appoint CDS is an important milestone in India’s quest for complete integration of its defence forces; a significant step towards seamless coordination, better efficiency, and greater effectiveness of the national defence architecture in meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

• Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy
• August 29, 2019
• IDSA Comments