Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Vasantha R. Raghavan is a former Indian military general and now a security consultant. He retired as the director general of military operations in 1994, having served in the Indian Army for 37 years. After retiring from the army, he has written several books and is currently the director of the Delhi Policy Group and president of the Centre for Security Analysis in Chennai.[when?]
Internal Conflicts in Nepal- Transnational Consequences
The Naxal Threat: Causes, State Responses and Consequence
Conflict in Sri Lanka: Internal and External Consequences
Conflicts in the Northeast: Internal and External Effects (jointly edited with Sanjoy Hazarika)
Jammu and Kashmir - Impact on Polity, Society and Economy
Post Conflict Sri Lanka - Rebuilding of Society
He has also edited more than a dozen other books and written numerous articles on strategic issues relating to India's security.
Later activities and security advocacy
In his book on the Siachen conflict, he argues that neither India nor Pakistan gain a strategic advantage from the occupation of the Saltoro range and proposes a road map for conflict resolution.[2] His piece on "Limited War and Nuclear Escalation in South Asia" in the Nonproliferation Review in 2001 concluded that there was a high probability of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan in the event of a direct military conflict between the two countries.[3] Raghavan was a member of the independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission set up at the initiative of the Swedish Government and headed by Dr. Hans Blix. The Commission released a report, entitled "Weapons of Terror: Freeing the World of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms in 2006", which proposed that nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons be outlawed and discussed the options for achieving this goal.[4]
He was also a member of the Indian Government's Review Committee of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which had been opposed in Manipur and other parts of North-East India.[when?] Although the government has not published the committee's 2005 report, it was reported that the panel recommended that the act be repealed. Raghavan has argued that security should be viewed in terms of human security in societal, environmental, economic, and political terms,[when?][where?] instead of the narrow military perspective.
↑ V.R.Raghavan, Siachen: Conflict Without End, Viking, New Delhi, 2002
↑ V.R.Raghavan, "Limited War and Nuclear Escalation in South Asia," The Nonproliferation Review, Fall-Winter 2001
↑ Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, final report, Weapons of Terror: Freeing the World of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms, Stockholm, Sweden, 1 June 2006
Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted by using conventional weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined and fight by using weapons that target primarily the opponent's military. It is normally fought by using conventional weapons, not chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons.
Since the Partition of British India in 1947 and subsequent creation of the dominions of India and Pakistan, the two countries have been involved in a number of wars, conflicts, and military standoffs. A long-running dispute over Kashmir and cross-border terrorism have been the predominant cause of conflict between the two states, with the exception of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which occurred as a direct result of hostilities stemming from the Bangladesh Liberation War in erstwhile East Pakistan.
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 Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948, also known as the first Kashmir war, was a war fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars between the two newly independent nations. Pakistan precipitated the war a few weeks after its independence by launching tribal lashkar (militias) from Waziristan, in an effort to capture Kashmir and to preempt the possibility of its ruler joining India.
The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict,[note (I)] was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referred to as Operation Vijay, which was the codename of the Indian military operation in the region. The Indian Air Force acted jointly with the Indian Army to flush out the Pakistan Army and paramilitary troops from vacated Indian positions along the LoC, in what was designated as Operation Safed Sagar.
The Northern Light Infantry Regiment (NLI) is a light infantry regiment in the Pakistan Army, based and currently headquartered in Gilgit, Pakistan. Along with other forces of the Pakistani military, the NLI has the primary responsibility of conducting ground operations in the interest of defending the strategically-important territory of Gilgit−Baltistan, a Pakistani-controlled region that constitutes part of Kashmir, which has been disputed between Pakistan and India since 1947. The NLI draws a majority of its recruits from native tribes present in the nearby mountainous areas who are reportedly less prone to altitude sickness and the cold temperatures that characterize high-altitude mountain warfare, allowing the regiment to conduct its duties optimally.
The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about 35.421226°N 77.109540°E, just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At 76 km (47 mi) long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world's non-polar areas. It falls from an altitude of 5,753 m (18,875 ft) above sea level at its head at Indira Col on the India–China border down to 3,620 m (11,875 ft) at its terminus. The entire Siachen Glacier, with all major passes, has been under the administration of India as part of the union territory of Ladakh, located in the Kashmir region since 1984. Pakistan maintains a territorial claim over the Siachen Glacier and controls the region west of Saltoro Ridge, lying west of the glacier, with Pakistani posts located 1 km below more than 100 Indian posts on the ridge.
Bharat Rakshak is a website devoted to discussing the Military of India. It was started and is run by military enthusiasts.
The Lahore Declaration was a bilateral agreement and governance treaty between India and Pakistan. The treaty was signed on 21 February 1999, at the conclusion of a historic summit in Lahore, and ratified by the parliaments of both countries the same year.
The military history of Pakistan encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2,000 years across areas constituting modern Pakistan and greater South Asia. The history of the modern-day military of Pakistan began in 1947, when Pakistan achieved its independence as a modern nation.
The 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff was a military standoff between India and Pakistan that resulted in the mass mobilisation of both nations' military forces along the India-Pakistan border and the disputed region of Kashmir. This was the second major military standoff between the two countries since they both publicly declared their nuclear capabilities.
The Siachen conflict, sometimes referred to as the Siachen Glacier conflict or the Siachen War, was a military conflict between India and Pakistan over the disputed 1,000-square-mile (2,600 km2) Siachen Glacier region in Kashmir. The conflict was started in 1984 by India's successful capture of the Siachen Glacier as part of Operation Meghdoot, and continued with Operation Rajiv in 1987. India took control of the 70-kilometre-long (43 mi) Siachen Glacier and its tributary glaciers, as well as all the main passes and heights of the Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier, including Sia La, Bilafond La, and Gyong La. Pakistan controls the glacial valleys immediately west of the Saltoro Ridge. A cease-fire went into effect in 2003, but both sides maintain a heavy military presence in the area. The conflict has resulted in thousands of deaths, mostly due to natural hazards. External commentators have characterized it as pointless, given the perceived uselessness of the territory, and indicative of bitter stubbornness on both sides.
Major General Afsir Karim, was an Indian Army general and military scholar who has authored several books on strategic affairs & military studies. He was a graduate of the Defense Services Staff College, Wellington and the National Defence College.
The Indian Air Force was established on 8 October 1932 independently of the army and navy and in a similar format to the British Royal Air Force. It had been a recommendation of the Skeen Committee, which had been tasked to look into demands for the Indianisation of the Indian army. Its first squadron was raised on 1 April 1933.
Bilafond La (meaning "Pass of the Butterflies" in Balti language, also known as the Saltoro Pass, is a mountain pass situated on Saltoro Ridge, sitting immediately west of the vast Siachen Glacier, some 40 km directly north of map point NJ 980420 which defined the end of the 1972 Line of Control between Pakistan and India as part of the Simla Agreement. Bilafond La is on the ancient Silk Route linking the Indian Subcontinent and China.
Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated every 26 July in India, to observe India's victory over Pakistan in the Kargil War for ousting Pakistani Forces from their occupied positions on the mountain tops of Northern Kargil District in Ladakh in 1999. Initially, the Pakistani army denied their involvement in the war, claiming that it was caused by Kashmiri militants. However documents left behind by casualties, testimony of POWs and later statements by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Army Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf pointed to the involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces, led by General Ashraf Rashid.
Gyong La is a mountain pass situated on Saltoro Ridge southwest of the vast Siachen Glacier, some 20 km (12 mi) directly north of map point NJ9842 which defined the end of the 1972 Line of Control between India and Pakistan. With Pakistan controlling areas just to the west along Chumik Glacier, the immediate Gyong La area has been under India's control since 1989. Dozens of Indian military tents and other equipment are visible in 2013 and 2016 Google Earth imagery 100 meters east, 670 meters northeast, and 2.7 km east-northeast of Gyong La, linked by clear trails. Nearer the former Pakistani "Naveed Top" position and 3.85 km west-northwest of Gyong La is a post and helipad is visible in 2001 and 2016 Google Earth imagery at 5,800 m (19,000 ft) elevation, higher than both the Indian positions and Gyong La.
Chumik Glacier is located in the Siachen region, in Pakistan. Located on the west of Saltoro ridge, it is a 4-mile-long offshoot of the Bilafond Glacier.
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.
Yaldor Sub Sector was the scene of some of the major infiltration by Pakistani Northern Light Infantry battalions and some of the major battles of Kargil War were fought here.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
India 
Indian Army 
Lieutenant General 
