Lt Gen Ashok Bhim Shivane

The writer, a PVSM, AVSM, VSM has had an illustrious career spanning nearly four decades. A distinguished Armoured Corps officer, he has served in various prestigious staff and command appointments including Commander Independent Armoured Brigade, ADG PP, GOC Armoured Division and GOC Strike 1. The officer retired as DG Mechanised Forces in December 2017 during which he was the architect to initiate process for reintroduction of Light Tank and Chairman on the study on C5ISR for Indian Army. Subsequently he was Consultant MoD/OFB from 2018 to 2020. He is also a reputed defence analyst, a motivational speaker and prolific writer on matters of military, defence technology and national security. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda

The Chessboard Before the Fire

Astrategic trap may be taking shape on India's western frontier, and it is being assembled not through declarations but through cargo manifests. Over roughly sixty hours, Pakistani skies reportedly saw a dense sequence of...

Democracy Handed Over in Ink: Pakistan Formalises Military Supremacy

Pakistan's Parliament has just done what its army could never achieve with a tank on the street. It has legislated a coup and called it reform. On August 21, 2026, the National Assembly passed...

Stamina, Not Just Firepower: Rethinking India’s War Reserves

Every army trains for the first battle. Very few plan seriously for the fortieth day. That gap, between the opening salvo and the long grind that follows, is where wars are won or lost....

India Arrives: The Decade Power Stopped Being Borrowed

There is a particular kind of confidence that comes only from being tested. India in 2026 carries that confidence. For decades, the world described India in the future tense: an emerging market, a rising...

The Mecca Pact – Brothers in Mecca, Rivals Everywhere Else

On August 7, 2026, inside the Al-Safa Palace overlooking Islam's holiest city, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, a pact...

Beijing’s Taiwan Clock: Ticking Faster Than Its Economy

on July 1, 2026, Xi Jinping stood before the Great Hall of the People and vowed to defeat Taiwan independence separatist forces while pressing the People's Liberation Army towards full modernisation ahead of its...

Kargil 1999: The War That Rewrote India’s Strategic Mind

In May 1999, Indian shepherds noticed movement on the icy heights above Kargil. Within days, the Indian Army realised they were not ordinary infiltrators. Pakistani regulars from the Northern Light Infantry had occupied ridgelines...

The Second Chokepoint: Iran’s Quiet Bid to Encircle Global Trade

On July 15, 2026, The Telegraph reported that Houthi rebels are laying the groundwork to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Iran's behalf, coordinating with Somalia's al-Shabab to control both banks of the waterway...

Patience Runs Out: The US-Iran Ceasefire Collapses into Strikes

Three weeks after Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding meant to convert a fragile ceasefire into something durable, the process has not merely stalled; it has broken down into open fighting. On Wednesday,...

The Strategic Triangle: US, China, Russia and India’s Defining Moment

The defining geopolitical contest of the twenty-first century is no longer a binary rivalry between the United States and China. It has evolved into a far more intricate strategic triangle in which an increasingly...

Lessons from a Global Rupture: How Warfare, Power and Resilience Are Being Redefined

The world is marked by strategic uncertainty, which is redefining the balance of power and prompting a re-evaluation of assumptions about power. Historically, a nation's military power was gauged by traditional metrics: the size...

PoK in Turmoil: The Questions Pakistan Can No Longer Ignore

For years, unrest in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir was treated as something temporary and manageable. There would be anger over prices, protests over shortages, negotiations, announcements, and then a gradual return to normalcy. Islamabad...

India’s Nuclear Signal in a More Dangerous World

Every few years, a fresh estimate of India's nuclear arsenal emerges, and the debate follows a familiar pattern. Commentators compare stockpiles, television studios display graphics, and analysts begin calculating who has more warheads than...
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