Explore Business Standard
Military Power
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that his government is working on a plan to prepare large-scale military training for every adult male in response to the changing security situation in Europe. The military training would create a reserve force that is adequate to possible threats, Tusk said in a major speech on security to Poland's lower house of parliament, or Sejm. He said that there's a need for an army of 500,000 soldiers, which would include reservists. Last year, the Polish government said that the military was made up of around 200,000 soldiers and was to grow to 220,000 this year with the objective of increasing it to about 300,000. But security fears have grown far more dramatic in recent weeks, as Russia continues to pound Ukraine with missiles and drones, and as the Trump administration has withdrawn military and intelligence support for Ukraine while putting its commitments to NATO in question. Today we are talking about the need for a half-million army i
The war in Sudan appears to be reaching a critical juncture after nearly two years of fighting that has killed tens of thousands, driven millions from their homes and seen bloody atrocities. For the first time, the military has been making steady advances against its rival, the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and it could soon wrest back control of the capital, Khartoum. The RSF responded by announcing at a gathering in Kenya that it and its allies will establish a parallel government. What's happening on the ground? The war erupted in April 2023 between the military and the RSF with battles in Khartoum and around the country. The leaders of the two forces had been allies who were meant to have overseen the democratic transition after a popular uprising in 2019, but instead worked together to thwart a return to civilian rule. However, tensions exploded into a bloody fight for power. Since then, at least 20,000 people have been killed, though the number is likely far
India remains a cornerstone of UN peacekeeping and its women peacekeepers have demonstrated that missions with greater female representation improve operational outcomes and contribute to lasting peace, the United Nations peacekeeping chief has said. UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix will visit New Delhi this week to attend the conference Enhancing the Role of Women in Peacekeeping: A Global South Experience' being organised by India on February 24-25. India remains a cornerstone of UN peacekeeping and Indian women peacekeepers are redefining peacekeeping itself," Lacroix told PTI in an exclusive interview here. Noting that it's a privilege" to attend the conference in India, Lacroix said the gathering would bring together women officials from about 50 countries in the Global South to discuss the evolving challenges in peacekeeping and the critical role women play in advancing peace and security. More women in peacekeeping means a more effective ..
Peace prospects look bleak in Myanmar as a civil war rages despite international pressure on the military four years after it seized power from an elected civilian government. The political situation remains tense with no negotiation space in sight between the military government and the major opposition groups fighting against it. The four years after the army's takeover on Feb. 1, 2021, have created a profound situation of multiple, overlapping crises with nearly half the population in poverty and the economy in disarray, the UN Development Programme said. The UN Human Rights Office said the military ramped up violence against civilians last year to unprecedented levels, inflicting the heaviest civilian death toll since the army takeover as its grip on power eroded. The army launched wave after wave of retaliatory airstrikes and artillery shelling on civilians and civilian populated areas, forced thousands of young people into military service, conducted arbitrary arrests and ...
Presenting a blueprint to the government on integrated theatre commands and creating them will now be a key priority, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said on Sunday, days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declared 2025 as the 'year of defence reforms'. Gen Chauhan also said that making a joint planning and operation room to help enable the three services to conduct integrated operations will be another focus area for the military under organisational and structural reforms. In a podcast, the CDS said joint doctrines are being prepared on subjects like multi domain operations, airborne and heliborne operations, network centric warfare, joint communications, conventional missile force, space, joint staff work, joint logistic architecture, etc. Work is underway on a 'Vision 2047' roadmap for the armed forces and it will be released in middle of this year, he said. The defence ministry's aim on theatre commands assumes significance as it virtually indicated a resolve to unve
Taiwan on Thursday demonstrated its sea defences against a potential Chinese attack as tensions rise with Beijing, part of a multitiered strategy to deter an invasion from the mainland. The island's navy highlighted its Kuang Hua VI fast attack missile boats and Tuo Chiang-class corvettes in waters near Taiwan's largest port of Kaohsiung, a major hub for international trade considered key to resupplying Chinese forces should they establish a beachhead on the island. The Kuang Hua VI boats, with a crew of 19, carry indigenously developed Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missiles and displayed their ability to take to the sea in an emergency to intercept enemy ships about to cross the 44-kilometer (24-nautical mile) limit of Taiwan's contiguous zone, within which governments are permitted to take defensive action. China routinely sends ships and planes to challenge Taiwan's willingness and ability to counter intruders, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets, activate missile systems and dispatch .
In a year bookended by intractable conflicts and geopolitical fragmentation, India focused on ramping up military prowess by broadly firming up defence procurement worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore even as Indian and Chinese militaries completed pulling back their troops from border face-off points in eastern Ladakh. The disengagement of frontline forces at the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) following an understanding reached on October 21 marked a major thaw over four years after deadly clashes between the two nations' troops in the Galwan Valley severely strained the bilateral ties. At the same time, the Indian military guarding the nearly 3,500 km LAC maintained an assertive approach, and bolstered its overall surveillance mechanism to closely track activities by People's Liberation Army (PLA) on the Chinese side of the de-facto frontier. The year also saw India expanding its strategic heft in the key maritime domain with the Indian
Burkina Faso's ruling military junta issued a decree on Friday dismissing Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela and announcing the dissolution of the national government. The military's leader, Ibrahim Traore, said officials in the dissolved government will continue to perform their duties until a new government is formed. No reason was given for the move. The junta in Burkina Faso seized power in September 2022 by ousting the military rule of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba about eight months after it staged a coup to remove democratically elected President Roch Marc Kabor. The country is one of several West African nations where the military has recently taken over, capitalising on popular discontent with previous democratically elected governments over security issues. However, since its inception, the junta has struggled to end Burkina Faso's security challenges the very reason that it claimed had prompted it to take power. Growing attacks by extremists lin
Myanmar's desperate military junta is ramping up attacks on villages that have fallen to opposition groups, carrying out beheadings, gang rapes and torture, with women, children and the elderly among the victims, the UN independent human rights investigator for Myanmar said in a new report. Thomas Andrews, a former US congressman from Maine, said in the report to the UN General Assembly circulated Friday that the junta has responded to military defeats and the loss of territory by using sophisticated weapons against civilians and seeking to destroy towns that it cannot control. Calling Myanmar an invisible crisis because the world's attention is focused elsewhere, he said, Escalating atrocities against the people of Myanmar are being enabled by governments that allow, or actively support, the transfer of weapons, weapons materials, and jet fuel to junta forces. Andrews didn't name the governments. But he praised Singapore for cracking down on weapons transfers that has led to a 90 p
Chinese President Xi Jinping has inspected a brigade of the military's strategic missile force that underwent a massive purge of officials for corruption in recent years, according to a media report on Saturday. Xi on Thursday visited at Hefei the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Rocket Force, a key arm of the military operating the missiles, including nuclear weapons, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. He urged the strategic missile troops to strengthen their deterrence and combat capabilities and resolutely fulfil the tasks entrusted by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people, the report said. The Rocket Force, established in 2015 as part of Xi's military overhaul, has been at the centre of the latest anti-corruption campaign targeting the military. Besides heading the ruling CPC and the Presidency, 71-year-old Xi also heads the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military. His visit to the Rocket Force, which operates