Dear
Readers,
It
is with great pleasure that we present to our readers the USI Journal for the 2nd Quarter of the year 2023. For 153 years, the
USI has chronicled military affairs, encouraged and inculcated the love for
writing and reading in the officers of the armed forces and, most importantly,
spread the knowledge among its readers. There are 11 well researched articles,
a book review article and four short reviews of recent books in this issue.
Disruptive technology has emerged as the
key driver in transforming the conduct of modern-day warfare. So, in the first
article, ‘Changing Nature of Limited Wars : Impact of Technology and
Ramifications’ written by Major General (Dr) GG Dwivedi, SM, VSM & Bar
(Retd), the author argues that the wars of 21st century may take multiple forms
wherein, a soldier will be equipped to fight as entity-optimising the man-machine
interface. India has to be fully prepared with techno savvy armed forces to
fight and win the future ‘hybrid-high tech’ limited wars.
The second article titled ‘Voices from
the Prison: Indian Soldiers in German Prisoners of War Camp, 1915-1918’ is
written by Dr Narender Yadav. The article seeks to study the voices of Indian
soldiers recorded during their internment at a POW camp in Germany during World
War I. These voices were recorded between 1915 and 1918 by researchers of
‘Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission’ with an aim to study different
languages for phonetics, dialects, and linguistics purposes. The next article
titled ‘The Corps of Madras Pioneers’ is written by Colonel Harjeet Singh
(Retd). Pioneers have been defined as the men who lead the way and ahead to
prepare the way for others. The Madras Pioneers were the first fighting force
raised by the British in India, in 1780. The article covers the brief history
of the Corps of Madras Pioneers highlighting the prominent role the pioneer regiments
played in several campaigns as well as in many construction projects.
The next article titled ‘Grooming of
Military Officers for Joint Services Environment’ is an edited version of the
first prize winning entry of the USI Gold Medal Essay Competition 2022. Written
by Commander M Arun Chakravarthy, the article brings out how the Indian Armed
Forces need to harness and harvest assets jointly to fight future wars, which
are increasingly becoming divergent in character. This article identifies the existing
fault lines and provides a roadmap for grooming and shaping future military
leaders to thrive in a joint ecosystem. This is followed by an article by Major
General Jagatbir Singh, VSM (Retd), titled ‘Ukraine: A Land Crossed by
Empires’. He highlights the root cause of the current crisis by diving into the
history of the land called Ukraine and points to the existing and emerging
fault lines between Russia and Ukraine.
China’s Himalayan ambitions are nuanced
and precariously balanced between its neighbourhood outreach and national
security ambitions. The article titled ‘China’s Himalayan Strategy: Between
Handshakes and Tug-of-War’, by Dr Jagannath Panda, looks into the trajectory of
China’s Himalayan strategy, what constitutes it and what are the implications?
The next article, ‘Re-imagining MRO for Defence: Realistically Leveraging
Technology’ by Lieutenant General KK Aggarwal, AVSM, SM, VSM (Retd), analyses a
couple of major triggers which have emerged over the last few years and
emphasises that now is the time for transformative changes in the Maintenance,
Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) set up in the Indian Defence Forces, incremental
changes will not suffice.
The execution of the airborne operation
at Poongli Bridge, in the vicinity of Tangail, in what was then East Pakistan
(now Bangladesh), on 11 December 1971 is considered the golden chapter in the
history of the Indian Army. The article ‘Fifty Years after India’s First
Airborne Operation at Poongli Bridge, Tangail:What we know of its Planning?’ (Part-1),
written by Lieutenant Colonel RS Bangari provides insight into the planning
process of the airborne operation at Poongli Bridge, along with its execution,
to achieve the desired objectives. The article is in two parts and Part-2 shall
be covered in the next issue of the USI Journal.
The next article titled ‘FDI in Defence
Sector: Re-shaping India’s Military Industrial Complex’, jointly written by Dr
Sanjay Kumar and Group Captain (Dr) Rajesh Kumar Singh (Retd), examines the
changes in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the defence sector, how it is
reshaping India’s Military Industrial Complex and the positive framework for
foreign investors to invest in India. This is followed by an article,
‘Afghanistan under Taliban 2.0:Strategic Trends and Trajectories’ written by Dr
J Jeganaathan. The author here examines the emerging strategic and security
trends andtrajectories in Afghanistan post-Taliban takeover and how they
impinge on India’s national security.
The last article of this Journal is
‘Civil Military Fusion for National Security’ by Lieutenant Colonel Saumya
Ghatak. The article highlights how Civil-Military Fusion (CMF) can optimise the
use of civil and military resources to achieve national objectives, proposes
few recommendations to increase and synergise CMF at national level and be part
of National Strategy.
This is followed with a Review Article
where, Major General Jagatbir Singh, VSM (Retd) writes about the book ‘The
Fighting Fourth – A Personal Narrative of the History of 4 KUMAON’ by Brig
Jasbir Singh, SM. The reviewer writes that the book is remarkable as it
presents a personal account of the glorious history of the battalion written by
someone who has had a ring side view of its ethos and this is a narrative that
needs to be read for the manner it portrays the character of this famous
battalion and its contribution over the centuries.
This
issue also carries short reviews of the following books:
n G20
@ 2023: The Roadmap to Indian Presidency
By V Srinivas
Reviewed by Dr Rajan Katoch, IAS (Retd)
n The
Military Heroes of Haryana – Gallantry Award Winners, Volume 1
By Lt Col Dilbag Singh Dabas (Retd)
Reviewed by Ms Surbhi Chakraborty
n War to Peace Wisdom and Leadership:
Ex-Servicemen’s Role in Good Governance and Rural Development
By Lt Gen (Dr) SK Gadeock, AVSM (Retd)
Reviewed by Dr Aparaajita Pandey
n Two
Decades of US-Taliban War in Afghanistan
By Major General Samay Ram, UYSM, AVSM,
VSM
Reviewed by Gp Capt Sharad Tewari, VM
(Retd)
As always, we look forward to your
feedback and suggestions. The USI acknowledges the financial assistance
received from the ICSSR for publication of this Journal.
Happy
Reading!
Gp
Capt Sharad Tewari, VM (Retd)
Director Editorial