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US Turned Its Back On India In Afghanistan, Let’s Accept It

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US Turned Its Back On India In Afghanistan, Let’s Accept It

The US has conveyed that India is not a priority, but the BJP govt is keeping up the ‘happy marriage’ pretence

by SNM Abdi

The “horses for courses” mantra of the US foreign policy is badly hurting India’s strategic and security interests in Afghanistan today. But India’s External Affairs Ministry, headed by S. Jaishankar, who got the job because of his perceived intimacy with the US and the capability to swing favourable deals for India, is silent in order to keep up the pretence of a ‘happy marriage’ with the world’s leading superpower.

Despite multiple requests before and after the fall of Kabul on 15 August, the US denied New Delhi a diplomatic outpost inside Kabul airport — considered the safest place in Afghanistan as it is still under US control — for stationing a core team of Indian officials. The US happily accommodated the UK, France, Germany and other NATO countries, but cited a space crunch to keep India out.

Even as it decided to shutter its embassy, India was desperate for a perch under the protective American umbrella. But the US didn’t relent, resulting in a complete Indian withdrawal with no mission or men left in Afghanistan.

India Is Useful Only To Counter China

Evidently, India is useful to America only in the Indo-Pacific region as a key member of the coalition of democracies, including Japan and Australia —known as the Quad — led by the US for countering China. It’s another matter that the quadrilateral alliance established as a counterweight to China is in reality an acknowledgement of China’s military and economic might. It’s an admission by the four that they are not individually capable of taking on China and have therefore pooled their resources to fight their common enemy.

Anyway, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the US arms imports bill has shot up and the two militaries have signed so many interoperability and intelligence-sharing pacts that Washington has designated India as a Major Defence Partner (MDP), primarily to sell us more sophisticated and costly weapons.

India’s loyal media gave the MDP tag a twist, declaring that the US has granted India the much higher status of a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA). It wanted to project India as a key strategic ally of the US, such as Japan and Israel, which, of course, is not the case. But MDP India certainly is since 2016. The 2+2 Dialogue between the Foreign and Defence Ministers of India and the US was established in 2018 to fast track bilateral and military cooperation. We created an impression that the oldest and largest democracies were the world’s fastest-growing strategic partners.

Washington Chose Pakistan Over India

But when it came to Afghanistan, Washington chose Islamabad, which, incidentally, is still an MNNA, to deliver the Taliban; the US kept India out of the Doha talks, guided by its “horses for courses” policy. Importantly, Russia, upset with India for buying US arms and reducing Russian weapons exports to India, also kept India out of the Moscow talks. Cold-shouldered by the US and Russia and targeted by China and Pakistan, India clung to the stuttering Afghan government only to be side lined, marginalised and ultimately elbowed out in a major foreign policy debacle.

My information is that only National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval proactively countered the US betrayal. Doval spent four days in Kabul in January, advising Ashraf Ghani to defy the US State Department, which had ordered him in writing to step down for the implementation of a power-sharing agreement with the Taliban. Doval told Ghani to insist on a ceasefire instead, which would halt the Taliban’s territorial advance and give Afghan forces time to regroup.

Doval didn’t oblige the US by advising Ghani to abdicate. Doval’s pushback strengthens the belief that patriotic and upright Indian intelligence officers handle the US better than diplomats. Ex-NSA M. K. Narayanan’s role in safeguarding India’s interests before the signing of the civil nuclear deal with America is another instance of intelligence officers showing spine.

Why Does India Need US Crutches?

It was prominently reported how the officiating Ambassador of the US in India, Atul Keshap, directly contacted Rear Adm. Peter Vasely, the top US military commander at the Kabul airport, to give priority to Indian diplomats and nationals. But publicising US assistance is an admission of the complete collapse of New Delhi’s power and influence in its own backyard. India has for long claimed that Afghanistan is within its zone of influence. But the abject dependence on the US projected by the media demolishes such claims.

New Delhi’s image suffered another blow when it requested the US, the UK, Germany, France, Qatar and the UAE to evacuate Indians working for them in Afghanistan to those six countries, from where New Delhi would bring them to India. It shows that India is incapable of evacuating its own citizens and is banking on other nations to fly them to safety.

Of late, instances that show that India is not a priority for the US are growing. When Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited in July, there were expectations that he would announce the date for an in-person meeting of the heads of states of Quad nations in Washington. That would have also set the stage for a Modi-Biden summit, which the Indian PM is naturally looking forward to. A meeting with Biden would boost Modi’s image, currently dented by the mismanagement of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and India’s failure to supply vaccines to neighbouring countries after hefty advance payments. But Blinken made no such announcement, leaving New Delhi heartbroken.

The New ‘Quad’

Last month, Washington announced a new connectivity “Quad”, which directly hurts India’s interests. The US-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan grouping is establishing a trade corridor running from Tashkent to Pakistan’s Gwadar and Karachi ports. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is engaged in trial runs of container convoys on the route. Importantly, it bypasses the Chabahar port in Iran, in which India has big stakes, thus making it increasingly unviable. The US is also prodding Uzbekistan to use Bandar Abbas and not Chabahar if it must use an Iranian port.

The US is so disinterested in doing business with India that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal made a public announcement last week that a long-overdue trade pact with the US is off the table. Goyal’s announcement and the denial of a diplomatic outpost at the Kabul airport for a small core team of officials show that Washington is not interested in doing business with India, both literally and figuratively.

However, the US is perhaps being immature, short-sighted and unfair to India. Post-August 31, it must rope in New Delhi as its proxy in the sensitive Afghanistan-Pakistan region it is retreating from after conceding defeat. The US has obviously struck deals with Pakistan and the Taliban to protect US interests in a region hemmed in by its three adversaries — Russia, China and Iran. But India, with proper US backing, can bring a lot to the table.

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INS Arihant’s Nuke-Capable K-4 Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile ‘Ready To Roll’

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INS Arihant’s Nuke-Capable K-4 Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile ‘Ready To Roll’


NEW DELHI: India tested its nuclear capable K-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), designed to have a strike range of 3,500 km, for the second time in six days on Friday. The missile test, as the one conducted on January 19, was undertaken from an undersea platform in the shape of a submersible pontoon off the coast of Andhra Pradesh according to a report by Rajat Pandit of TOI.

The solid-fuelled K-4 missile is being developed by DRDO to arm the country’s nuclear-powered submarines in the shape of INS Arihant and its under-development sister vessels. INS Arihant, which became fully operational in November 2018 to complete India’s nuclear triad, is currently armed with the much shorter K-15 missiles with a 750 km range.

“The K-4 is now virtually ready for its serial production to kick-off. The two tests have demonstrated its capability to emerge straight from underwater and undertake its parabolic trajectory,” said a source.

India has the land-based Agni missiles, with the over 5,000-km Agni-V inter-continental ballistic missile now in the process of being inducted, and fighter jets jury-rigged to deliver nuclear weapons. But INS Arihant gives the country’s deterrence posture much more credibility because nuclear-powered submarines armed with nuclear-tipped missiles are considered the most secure, survivable and potent platforms for retaliatory strikes.

Once the K-4 missiles are inducted, they will help India narrow the gap with countries like the US, Russia and China, which have over 5,000-km range SLBMs. The K-4 missiles are to be followed by the K-5 and K-6 missiles in the 5,000-6,000 km range class.

The 6,000-ton INS Arihant, which is propelled by an 83 MW pressurised light-water reactor at its core, in turn, is to be followed by INS Arighat, which was launched in 2017. The next generation of nuclear submarines, currently called S-4 and S-4*, will be much larger in size.





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After Upgradation, Sukhoi Su-30MKI Indigenisation To Reach 78%

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After Upgradation, Sukhoi Su-30MKI Indigenisation To Reach 78%


India has received clearance to upgrade 84 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets, which will result in 78% indigenization after the upgrade

In a significant step towards bolstering its military might with indigenously developed technology, India is poised to witness its Russian-origin Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets evolve into a domestic platform. Speaking at a recent lecture.

The upgrade program is being led by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in partnership with the Indian Air Force and other partners. The upgrade is expected to cost US$7.5 billion.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the upgrade. The upgrade is part of India’s efforts to improve the capabilities of its primary fighter aircraft, it refers to as the “Super Sukhoi”.

This initiative is a part of a larger effort by the Indian Air Force to modernize its ageing fleet. Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari asserted the critical role of an offensive air force as demonstrated in current global conflicts and emphasized India’s move towards an indigenized arsenal. To this end, the IAF has been proactive, from upgrading its Mirage 2000 to enhancing its MiG-29 fleet.

In summary, the IAF’s commitment to updating their combat forces with the latest technology, including shifting to fifth-generation fighter jets, ensures operational preparedness and a strong deterrence capability. The gradual indigenization of its air fleet marks a pivotal shift in India’s defence landscape, reducing dependency on foreign imports and fostering technological sovereignty.





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Akash Weapon System Exports For The Armenian Armed Forces Gathers Pace

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Akash Weapon System Exports For The Armenian Armed Forces Gathers Pace


According to unconfirmed reports, Armenia is a top contender for an export order for Akash SAM system manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).

While there is no official confirmation because of the sensitivities involved, documents suggest that the order for the same has already been placed the report further added.
There are nine countries, in turn, which have shown interest in the indigenously-developed Akash missile systems, which can intercept hostile aircraft, helicopters, drones and subsonic cruise missiles at a range of 25-km. They are Kenya, Philippines, Indonesia, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Vietnam and Algeria reported TOI.

The Akash export version will also be slightly different from the one inducted by the armed forces. The 100-km range air-to-air Astra missiles, now entering production after successful trials from Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, also have “good export potential”, said sources.

Akash is a “tried, tested and successfully inducted systems”. Indian armed forces have ordered Akash systems worth Rs 24,000 crore over the years, and MoD inked a contract in Mar 2023 of over Rs 9,100 crores for improved Akash Weapon System

BDL is a government enterprise under the Ministry of Defence that was established in 1970. BDL manufactures surface-to-air missiles and delivers them to the Indian Army. BDL also offers its products for export.

Akash Weapon System

The AWS is a Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SRSAM) Air Defence System, indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). In order to meet aerial threats, two additional Regiments of AWS with Upgradation are being procured for Indian Army for the Northern borders. Improved AWS has Seeker Technology, Reduced Foot Print, 360° Engagement Capability and improved environmental parameters.

The project will give a boost to the Indian missile manufacturing industry in particular and the indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem as a whole. The project has overall indigenous content of 82% which will be increased to 93% by 2026-27.

The induction of the improved AWS into the Indian Army will increase India’s self-reliance in Short Range Missile capability. This project will play a role in boosting the overall economy by avoiding outgo of precious foreign exchange to other countries, increasing employment avenues in India and encouraging Indian MSMEs through components manufacturing. Around 60% of the project cost will be awarded to the private industry, including MSMEs, in maintaining the supply chain of the weapon system, thereby creating large scale of direct and indirect employment.





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