Why Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir went rogue?
This is an India Pakistan face off like few others that have come before, a face off with a state that our Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has already dubbed a 'rogue state'. But how will it play out? Will it be a full blown war of retaliation, payback for the savagery at Pahalgam? Or will it be a face saving tit for tat that ends, once again in another pointless round of peace talks? Can the Pakistan Army's hold over the state of Pakistan be reversed? Is there another Nawaz Sharif who dares to do a Musharraf on Asim Munir!
Today, on Global Express – we examine how Pahalgam will play out – with three eminent experts on Kashmir and Pakistan, Amarjit Singh Dulat, Former R&AW chief; Amitabh Mattoo, Professor, Author; Sumeer Bhasin, Geopolitical Analyst.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
3 hours ago
- The Print
From Brutus to hero—How former Sikkim CM Dorjee's image changed in state's history
Sidhu was a well-connected IPS officer. He was the son-in-law of then Foreign Affairs Minister Swaran Singh under Indira Gandhi when he took up his posting in Gangtok in 1973 as the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). Sidhu noted that Gandhi's approach to foreign policy was quite different from that of her father, and by this time, Jawaharlal Nehru's key foreign policy and intelligence advisers, TN Kaul and BN Mullik, had given way to Kewal Singh and RN Kao, masters in the strategic game. But the most significant factor was the forceful personality of Indira Gandhi. In fact, Sidhu states clearly in the Preface that one of the reasons he wrote the book was to resurrect the reputation of Dorjee, who had led the movement for democracy in Sikkim. After spending years in political wilderness in Kalimpong ( where I met him both as SDO of Kalimpong and later as the CEO of Himul Milk Project), he received the Padma Vibhushan – India's second highest civilian award in 2002 and the Sikkim Ratan in 2004. If Datta Ray's book Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim had portrayed the Kazi Lhendup Dorjee as the ungrateful Brutus who betrayed the trust of the Chogyal to become the first Chief Minister of the new state, GBS Sidhu's book Sikkim: Dawn of Democracy reversed the stand. After India's decisive military victory of 1971, which changed the cartography of South Asia, she was determined to assert India's role as the dominant regional power. The UN recognition of Bhutan took her by surprise, and the foreign office got quite an earful as India was not consulted on this move. Sidhu highlights Chogyal's antipathy toward his Nepali subjects – whom he felt were outsiders, but by then they were 75 per cent of the population. The more he supported the claims of Bhutias and Lepchas as the first inhabitants of Sikkim, the greater was the anti-Chogyal feeling in the majority community. This was also the key point stressed by BS Das, in his book The Sikkim Saga (1984), the Administrator of Sikkim present along with Sidhu during the period of turmoil. According to Das, had the Chogyal accepted the peaceful transition to adult franchise with a Nepali majority assembly and accepted the position of a constitutional head with symbolic powers per the 1973 arrangements of Sikkim as an Associate state of India, the applecart might not have been rocked. However, Das also admits that there was a lack of ground-level coordination among the different agencies of the government of India. There's also Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom by the Scotsman Andrew Duff (2015), who was trying to trace his grandfather's travel to the Sikkim Himalayas undertaken over a century ago. He had access to the weekly letters of the Scottish Headmistresses of the Paljor Namgyal Girls' school in Gangtok. Both Martha Hamilton and Isabel Ritchie had maintained their journal, and also wrote regularly to their family in Scotland. These letters and journal entries give a first-hand, contemporaneous account of the events in Gangtok from 1959 to 1975, including the fairytale marriage celebrations of the Chogyal with Hope Cooke. Of course, the perspective is largely that of the royal palace, as the missionaries were often invited to dine with the royal family and shared some of their confidences. However, to be fair to Duff, he also gives the viewpoint of the other dramatis personae, including Kazi Saheb, in his narrative. In Kolkata, at a literature festival in 2016, I spoke to Duff. The focus of the book is not political – but the major events do find a fair coverage in its pages. Also read: Sikkim's accession to India has 6 stories. And 3 strong-willed women India's 22nd state In 2021, Ambassador Preet Mohan Singh Malik, who had been posted in Sikkim in the late 1960s, penned his memoirs under the title Sikkim: A History of Intrigue and Alliance in 2021. He delves deep into history and has a keen interest in historical reasoning. Even before listing the contents, he quotes professor and former Ambassador of India to China KM Panikkar: 'But a nation can neglect geography only at its peril.' The thesis advanced in the book is that India under Nehru neglected 'geography'. But in hindsight, Panikkar too can be accused of giving a clean chit to the Chinese Communist Party's 'imperial ambitions' concerning the non-Han nationalities. In fact, Nehru's China policy was shaped, over and above the protestations of the Secretary General of the foreign office, Girja Shankar Bajpai, by the dispatches from Panikkar, who was, in many ways, a fellow traveller. The 18 chapters are divided into three parts: Britain, Tibet and Sikkim; Britain and its perfidious dealings with Tibet; and India, Tibet, and Sikkim. Malik combines insights into the erstwhile kingdom's unique history with the intriguing story of how Sikkim became India's 22nd state. He examines the often-fraught relationship between the Lepchas (Rongpas) — its original inhabitants — and the Bhutias, people of Tibetan origin who established institutions of religion and governance, and founded the Namgyal dynasty that ruled Sikkim until it became a part of the Indian Union. He also traces the clash of both with the Nepali settlers who would eventually form the majority. Last, but not least, let us look at a book written by Biraj Adhikari, an insider: Sikkim: The Wounds of History (2010). As his name suggests, Adhikari is a Sikkimese of Nepali origin. He was a school-going teenager when he had to learn a new national anthem and salute a new flag. He writes about the dilemma of talking about the 'merger' in public, while calling it an 'annexation' in private conversation. Adhikari is not an apologist for the Chogyal either – he points out that for all his pretensions of sovereignty, the Chogyal always held an Indian passport. Adhikari blames the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi for describing the 1956 Chogyal trip to New Delhi as a 'state visit', and playing the Sikkim National Anthem on his ceremonial arrival. His book talks about the multiple dilemmas faced by his generation. Are Sikkimese full-fledged Indians, especially in the context of 371 F? Well, even though Sikkimese have all the privileges of Indian citizenship, what about Indians living in Sikkim? They are denied several privileges reserved for Sikkim state subjects—preferential access to education, employment and land rights and exemption from the payment of income tax. As Sikkim grows at a double-digit pace, it would certainly attract many more non-Sikkimese Indians, and a demographic change of a magnitude similar to the one in the latter half of the 19th century may be in the offing. And if demography is indeed destiny, then those currently enjoying the privileges of being Sikkim state subjects may resist the extension of similar rights to the rest of their countrymen. Adhikari tried his hand in the democratic polity of Sikkim—but was always second in the hustings. However, he was always an influential voice in Sikkim poetics – having been associated with Sikkim National Congress, Sikkim National Peoples Party, and Hamro Sikkim. But he hopes for a closure to the apprehensions which many people in this state, with a fragile demography, are legitimately concerned with. One hopes that this extended essay gives us an insight not just into the facts of the case, but also about the multiple perspectives that shape our understanding of the events in the past. History, as they say, is always in the making. Sanjeev Chopra is a former IAS officer and Festival Director of Valley of Words. Until recently, he was director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. He tweets @ChopraSanjeev. Views are personal. (Edited by Ratan Priya)
News18
3 hours ago
- News18
IAF To Enhance Capabilities With Acquisition Of 6 More Netra Mk-1A AEW&C Systems: Sources
Last Updated: The AEW&C system is crucial for monitoring enemy territory from a distance, providing an early warning of incoming aerial threats. The Ministry of Defence is set to consider a proposal for acquiring six Netra Mark-1A Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) systems for the Indian Air Force this month, sources have informed. The proposal will be presented to the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The development will see airframes sourced from Brazilian aerospace giant Embraer, with modifications carried out by the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). AWACS, an Airborne Warning and Control System, serves as a long-range radar surveillance and command and control platform mounted on an aircraft. The acquisition aims to triple the IAF's AEW&C fleet, addressing critical gaps in India's air defense architecture amid rising regional tensions with China and Pakistan. India currently operates Israeli EL/M-2090 Phalcon AWACS and the indigenously developed Netra AEW&C. However, the final approval for six Netra Mk-1A AEW&C systems is still pending, said sources. The Netra Mk1A is an advanced iteration of the DRDO-developed Netra Mk-1 AEW&C system, which has proven its operational mettle in high-stakes scenarios like the 2019 Balakot airstrike and the recent Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025. The AEW&C system is crucial for monitoring enemy territory from a distance, providing an early warning of incoming aerial threats. The decision to built India's defence capabilities aggressively came after military chiefs and national security planners met to discuss learnings from Operation Sindoor, that took place on June 7, 2025. The consensus emerged that India needs to build better and more lethal capabilities, as Pakistan will acquire more capabilities from China. First Published: June 10, 2025, 09:24 IST
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
4 hours ago
- First Post
India plans ₹30,000 crore push to strengthen Army's air defence with QR-SAMs
India is set to consider a ₹30,000 crore plan to buy three regiments of indigenous QR-SAM systems for the Army, following Pakistan's failed drone and missile attacks during Operation Sindoor. The mobile missile system, developed by DRDO, is designed to shoot down enemy aircraft, drones, and helicopters within 30 km. read more Amid the backdrop of a series of failed Pakistani drone and missile attacks following India's Operation Sindoor, the Ministry of Defence is set to review a ₹30,000 crore proposal to procure three regiments of the indigenous Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QR-SAM) system for the Army, The Times of India reported. Later this month, the Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Rajnath Singh, is expected to consider granting the initial go-ahead (Acceptance of Necessity) for the purchase. The mobile QR-SAM system is designed to intercept enemy aircraft, helicopters and drones within a range of 25–30 km. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The move comes in the wake of India's air defence network successfully intercepting Turkish-origin drones and Chinese missiles used by Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, which took place from 7 to 10 May. Developed by DRDO and tested over the past few years, the QR-SAM has proven effective under both day and night operational conditions. Bharat Electronics and Bharat Dynamics will jointly manufacture the system. 'The QR-SAM systems can operate while on the move, with search and track capability, and fire during short halts,' a source told TOI. 'They are tailor-made to move alongside tanks and infantry combat vehicles to provide them with air defence in the tactical battlefield.' The Army Air Defence (AAD), which performed strongly during Operation Sindoor, requires 11 regiments of the QR-SAM system. This is in addition to the ongoing induction of the indigenous Akash missile system, which currently has a 25 km interception range. The addition of QR-SAMs will bolster the existing multi-layered air defence network of both the Army and the Indian Air Force. This includes the long-range Russian S-400 'Triumf' missiles (range: 380 km), Barak-8 medium-range missiles developed in collaboration with Israel (range: 70 km), Russian Igla-S shoulder-fired missiles (range: 6 km), upgraded L-70 anti-aircraft guns (range: 3.5 km), and Indian-made drone detection and interdiction systems (range: 1–2 km). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
