In a demonstration of integration possibilities between Army & IAF, a Para commando, his colleagues & IAF pilots rescued 10 stranded cable car passengers in Himachal in 1992.
CDS Gen Bipin Rawat laid claims to superiority on behalf of the Army, because he believes it is ultimately all about control of territory. This mindset needs to be disparaged.
The Air Force, in theatre command set-up, must have an overriding lien over the resources that may be allocated to other theatres on as required basis.
CDS Gen Rawat labels IAF as supporting arm to ground forces — likening it to roles of artillery, engineers in Army. But ACM Bhadauria says air power has a huge role to play in battle areas.
The grave diggers of the theatre command system have won the current round and the political leadership has failed to discern the nature of the issues.
It seems India is in a hurry to establish theatre commands without having the concept clear. Not just the IAF, all stakeholders need to first assess their assets.
A chief dilemma facing govt and armed forces is whether theatre commands, which call for a joint war strategy, should be country specific or based on challenges.
Israel's response to Iran's retaliatory attack was relatively small and also downplayed by Tehran. But there are factors that could jeopardise this perceived reprieve.
The 125 APAs include 86 Unilateral APAs (UAPAs) and 39 Bilateral APAs (BAPAs). The total number of APAs since the start of the APA programme has risen to 641, with 506 UAPAs and 135 BAPAs.
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