India has several Special Forces (SF) units, with the various branches of the Indian Armed Forces having their own separate special forces units. The Para SF of the Indian Army, MARCOS of the Indian Navy and the Garud Commando Force of the Indian Air Force. There are other special forces which are not controlled by the military, but operate under civilian organisations, such as the National Security Guard under the Home Ministry and the Special Group under the Research and Analysis Wing, the external intelligence agency of India. Small groups from the military SF units are deputed in the Armed Forces Special Operations Division, a unified command and control structure.
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). The Indian Army was established on 1 April 1895 alongside the long established presidency armies of the East India Company, which too were absorbed into it in 1903. Some princely states maintained their own armies which formed the Imperial Service Troops which, along with the Indian Army formed the land component of the Armed Forces of the Crown of India, responsible for the defence of the Indian Empire. The Imperial Service Troops were merged into the Indian Army after independence. The units and regiments of the Indian Army have diverse histories and have participated in several battles and campaigns around the world, earning many battle and theatre honours before and after Independence.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire which honoured India's aviation service during World War II with the prefix Royal. After India gained independence from United Kingdom in 1947, the name Royal Indian Air Force was kept and served in the name of the Dominion of India. With the transition to a republic in 1950, the prefix Royal was removed.
Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations may include reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counterterrorism, and are typically conducted by small groups of highly trained personnel, emphasizing sufficiency, stealth, speed, and tactical coordination, commonly known as special forces.
The National Security Guard (NSG), commonly known as Black Cats, is a counter-terrorism unit of the Indian government managed under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was founded on 16 October 1984, following Operation Blue Star, to combat terrorist activities and protect states against internal disturbances. The unit's formation was formalised in the Parliament of India under the National Security Guard Act, 1986. NSG personnel are recruited from both the Indian Army and Central Armed Police Forces. The NSG is not classified as a traditional paramilitary force, but instead as a "specialised federal contingency unit".
Hand-to-hand combat is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range that does not involve the use of ranged weapons. The phrase "hand-to-hand" sometimes include use of melee weapons such as knives, swords, clubs, spears, axes, or improvised weapons such as entrenching tools. While the term "hand-to-hand combat" originally referred principally to engagements by combatants on the battlefield, it can also refer to any personal physical engagement by two or more people, including law enforcement officers, civilians, and criminals.
Terrorism in India, according to the Home Ministry, poses a significant threat to the people of India. Compared to other countries, India faces a wide range of terror groups. Terrorism found in India includes Islamist terrorism, ultranationalist terrorism, and left-wing terrorism. India is one of the countries most impacted by terrorism.
The Battle of Asal Uttar was one of the largest tank battles fought during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It was fought from 8 to 10 September 1965, when the Pakistan Army thrust its tanks and infantry into Indian territory, capturing the Indian town of Khemkaran 5 km from the International Border. The Indian troops retaliated, and after three days of bitter fighting, the battle ended with the Pakistani forces being repulsed near Asal Uttar. Factors that contributed to this were the fierce fight put up by the Indian Army, conditions of the plains, better Indian tactics, and a successful Indian strategy.
The Marine Commando Force (MCF), abbreviated to MARCOS, are the special forces of the Indian Navy. The MARCOS were originally named Indian Marine Special Force, which was later changed to Marine Commando Force to impart "an element of individuality" to it, according to the Indian Navy. The abbreviation 'MARCOS' was coined afterwards.
Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), informally referred to as Para-Commandos, is a group of special forces battalions of the Parachute Regiment in the Indian Army. These units specialise in various roles including counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, direct action, hostage rescue, special reconnaissance and unconventional warfare.
The Territorial Army (TA) is a military reserve force composed of part-time volunteers who provide support services to the Indian Army. It consists of officers, junior commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers and other personnel who hold ranks identical to those in the Indian Army, and also maintains civilian occupations. The primary role of the TA is to "relieve the regular army from static duties and assist civil administration in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services" and to "provide units for the regular army as and when required".
The Pakistan Air Force Special Services Wing is a special operations force who specialised in all aspects of air-to-ground communication, including air traffic control, fire support, command, control and communications in covert counterterrorism or austere environments. They are often assigned individually or as a team to Army Special Service Group, Navy Special Service Group and special tactics units of the Pakistan Marines, to provide expert airfield seizure, airstrike control and communications capabilities.
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, carried out 12 shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai. The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday 26 November and lasted until Saturday 29 November 2008. A total of 175 people died, including nine of the attackers, with more than 300 injured.
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment".
The Pakistan Army Special Service Group is the special operations forces of the Pakistan Army. They are also known by their nickname of "Maroon Berets" due to their headgear.
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao, popularly known as P. V. Narasimha Rao, was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician from the Congress Party who served as the prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first person from South India and second person from a non-Hindi speaking background to be the prime minister. He is especially known for introducing various liberal reforms to India to rescue the country from going towards bankruptcy during the economic crisis of 1991. Future prime ministers continued the economic reform policies pioneered by Rao's government.
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), intelligence agency of Pakistan has been involved in running military intelligence programs in India, with one of the subsections of its Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB) department devoted to perform various operations in India. The Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau (JSIB) department has also been involved in providing communications support to Pakistani agents operating in Indian-administered Kashmir. The Joint Intelligence North section of the Joint Counter-Intelligence Bureau (JCIB) wing deals particularly with India. In the 1950s the ISI's Covert Action Division was alleged for supplied arms to insurgents in Northeast India.
Seema Rao is popularly known as “Wonder Woman of India” amongst the Indian media. She is India's first female special forces trainer, having trained Special Forces of India for over two decades without compensation. She is an expert in close quarter battle (CQB) — the art of fighting in tight proximity — and is involved in training various Indian forces. She works in partnership with Major Deepak Rao, her husband.
In the Indian Armed Forces women are allowed to join mainly in combat service support branches and in non combatant roles. The Indian Air Force had 13.09% female officers in 2018 and 8.50% female officers in 2014; the Indian Navy had 6% female officers in 2018 and 3% female officers in 2014 and the Indian Army had 3.80% female officers in 2018 and 3% female officers in 2014. In 2020, three officers had the rank of lieutenant-general or equivalent, all in the Medical Services. In May 2021, 83 women were inducted as sepoys for the first time in the Indian Army's Corps of Military Police. On 30 March 2023, 273 women were inducted in the Indian Navy as sailos for the first time in the history of the Indian Navy, total 2,585 agniveers passed out after successful completion of training from INS Chilka. The Indian Air Force got airwomen for the first time in its history on 7 March 2024 as 153 female agniveers passed out from the Airmen Training School, Belagavi with 2,127 male agniveers.
Bleed India with a Thousand Cuts is a military doctrine followed by the Pakistani military against India. It consists of waging covert war against India using insurgents at multiple locations. According to scholar Aparna Pande, this view was put forward in various studies by the Pakistani military, particularly in its Staff College, Quetta. Peter Chalk and Christine Fair cite the former director of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) explicating the strategy.
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