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Sunday, February 22, 2026
TopicSpecial Frontier Force

Topic: Special Frontier Force

In the shadows of Bluestar, Kargil, LAC, India’s ‘secret’ Special Frontier Force turns 60

Formed just after the 1962 India-China war, SFF comprises mostly Tibetans and Gorkhas and reports directly to Cabinet Secretariat and PMO rather than Army.

Selling jeans, running eateries & farming — What ex-servicemen of secretive Indian unit do now

After serving India’s covert Special Frontier Force for years, ex-servicemen now run clothing shops, eateries and occasionally sell winter wear on the sides.

India waving SFF and Tibet cards won’t scare China. Can’t pull levers you don’t have

Bending foreign policy to serve domestic politics is proving to be costly for India. Hyping the use of the Tibetan-majority SFF against China is one such example.

India’s use of secret guerrilla force SFF in Ladakh signals a larger design to contain China

China has boundary disputes with 17 other nations besides India. What's New Delhi waiting for?

On Camera

Nick Jonas wearing a mangalsutra is validation for many Indians. He’s our favourite jiju

Nick Jonas is not trying to modernise the mangalsutra, but his gesture shows that choices can be equal. If commitment must be flaunted, it need not be gendered.

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

In a first, Indian small arms maker to bid for UK Project Grayburn to replace British Army’s SA80 rifles

Bengaluru-based SSS Defence has made public its bid for a major foreign military contract, targeting UK’s ambitious SA80 successor programme with its home-tested weapons.

No country is ever fully sovereign. Cold War era taught India its real meaning

India’s fraught neighbourhood places multiple constraints on its strategic choices. It leaves no time to take a deep breath, lean back and reset.