Comment & Briefs

After Yukio Hatoyama assumed the office of Prime Minister, Japan’s foreign policy has begun to look different with an element of assertiveness and a greater focus towards Asia.

That the ISI patron is now becoming the victim of jehadi terrorism does not bode well for Pakistan, which now has to recast the agency’s role and organizational ethos to contain the Taliban.

Suicides/fratricides in operational areas mainly take place due to domestic problems of the affected individual rather than because of any undue stress resulting from job-related stress in the operational environment.

Getting the hard core Taliban to concede the fight without loss of face is preferable to destroying them. The latter course is rendered risky by the linkages between the Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Taliban and Punjabi Taliban and their penetration of the Pakistani state and society.

The Indian Army is likely to come under assault from changes occurring within society which are predicted to speed up considerably over the coming decade.

There is a growth trajectory in defence cooperation between India and Japan, complemented by the burgeoning economic relationship providing robustness to the partnership.

While Mahindra’s foray into defence production and the acquisition of foreign companies demonstrates the private sector’s initiative, the government needs to introduce further reforms to promote the role of private companies in Indian defence industry.

Instead of beefing up army/police/paramilitary forces in the towns and cities, the government needs to urgently take measures to prevent entry of the criminal and terrorist elements at or close to the border.

The year 2009 has seen the Chinese PLA undertake several military exercises, drills and war games to enhance battle effectiveness as well as promote trust among neighbours.

From the security point of view, it might not be prudent to carve out states from Maoist affected regions without adequately preparing the administrative and security apparatus.