Operation Cactus

Operation Cactus
Author: Ashok K. Chordia
Publisher: K W Publishers Pvt Limited
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2017-11-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 9789386288981

A coup attempt in the Maldives in November 1988 sent President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom into hiding. Mal flashed desperate SOS messages to several countries seeking military assistance. India was prompt in extending the requisite support. Operation Cactus was launched to rescue President Gayoom and restore his democratically elected government. The decision to launch the airborne operation more than 2,500 km away was deliberate, bold, and sufficiently contemplated by the political and the military leadership of India. The Indian Air Force promptly airlifted the paratroopers of the Indian Army to Hulule Island. The Indian Navy joined in to buttress the effort of the Army and Air Force. Exemplary synergy among the three Services and the diplomatic corps was the hallmark of Operation Cactus.

India's Wars

India's Wars
Author: Arjun Subramaniam
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 548
Release: 2017-09-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1682472426

India’s armed forces play a key role in protecting the country and occupy a special place in the Indian people’s hearts, yet standard accounts of contemporary Indian history rarely have a military dimension. In India’s Wars, serving Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam seeks to rectify that oversight by giving India’s military exploits their rightful place in history. Subramaniam begins India’s Wars with a frank call to reinvigorate the study of military history as part of Indian history more generally. Part II surveys the development of the India’s army, navy, and air force from the early years of the modern era to 1971. In Parts III and IV, Subramaniam considers conflicts from 1947 to 1962 as well as conflicts with China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. Part V concludes by assessing these conflicts through the lens of India’s ancient strategist, Kautilya, who is revered in India as much as Sun Tzu is in China. Not merely a wide-ranging historical narrative of India’s military performance in battle, India’s Wars also offers a strategic, operational, and human perspective on the wars fought by independent India’s armed forces. Subramaniam highlights possible ways to improve the synergy between the three services, and argues in favor of the declassification of historical material pertaining to national security. The author also examines the overall state of civil-military relations in India, leadership within the Indian armed forces, as well as training, capability building, and other vitally important issues of concern to citizens, the government, and the armed forces. This objective and critical analysis provides policy cues for the reinvigoration of the armed forces as a critical tool of statecraft and diplomacy. Readers will come away from India’s Wars with a greater understanding of the international environment of war and conflict in modern India. Laced with veterans’ intense experiences in combat operations, and deeply researched and passionately written, it unfolds with surprising ease and offers a fresh perspective on independent India’s history.

Elite Forces of India and Pakistan

Elite Forces of India and Pakistan
Author: Kenneth Conboy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2012-05-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1780968256

Influenced by the German use of paratroopers early in World War Two, General Sir Robert Cassels, the Commander-in-Chief India, ordered the formation of an airborne cadre in October 1940. Thus marked the origins of India's first élite units. Pakistan can trace the origins of its own army airborne to the common parentage of British-raised forces. Following the partition from India in August 1947, it raised its own Special Service Group, with individually specialised companies including desert, mountain, ranger and underwater warfare units. This remarkable volume by Kenneth Conboy details the history, organisation, uniforms and insignia of the élite forces of India and Pakistan. Also covered are the elite forces of Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Due to popular demand, strictly limited quantities of Osprey's most wanted out of print Men-at-Arms, Vanguard and Elite titles are back in stock. Many of these books have been out of print for 5 years or more, so don't miss this one-off opportunity to buy them hot-off-the-press at regular series prices while stocks last. Orders will be processed on a strictly first come, first served basis so hurry! Order your books today.

India's Special Forces

India's Special Forces
Author: P C Katoch
Publisher: Vij Books India Pvt Ltd
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2013-05-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9382573526

Employment till now of our nascent Special Forces have been analyzed including whether our Special Forces have actually been employed or used as Special Forces or primarily used in counter insurgency operations for which we have any number of other units available. The book brings out whether a rare resource like Special Forces should or should not be employed for such missions that can be performed by a host of other groups. In the backdrop of 21st Century threats, what should be the Special Forces structure in India, their concept of employment and doctrine? These are the other questions this book has attempted to answer.

INDIA’S MAJOR MILITARY & RESCUE OPERATIONS

INDIA’S MAJOR MILITARY & RESCUE OPERATIONS
Author: Dr. Hemant Kumar Pandey & Manish Raj Singh
Publisher: Horizon Books ( A Division of Ignited Minds Edutech P Ltd)
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2021-05-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9386369249

The book on “INDIA’s MAJOR MILITARY & RESCUE OPERATIONS” by Dr. H.K. Pandey and Manish Raj Singh which has been very well conceptualized. Both the writers have been into the process for almost last two years and have obtained the required details from all the possible available sources, researched it well and have given it a wonderful shape, to help anyone who wants to know about Indian Military & Rescue Operations. Dr. H.K. Pandey has a varied experience behind him being the present Head of the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at Meerut College, Meerut. He has always positive attitude toward his subject. His knowledge and mastery on the subject is enormous. Manish Raj Singh, is a student in the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at Meerut College, Meerut has shown keen interest and dedication towards the subject completely. He is very hardworking and enthusiastic. He has left no stones unturned to get the details about the topics of the subjects and comes out with the best possible outcome. His knowledge of the subject is evident from the work produced in this detailed book. The book has wonderfully covered the background, political views, role, tasks and the major technological development during these military and rescue operations. The book shall be of great help to the students of Defence Studies/Military Science of various Colleges and Universities all over India to get a fair idea about the strengths of India’s Operations to enhance their knowledge about operations for their use in subject for competitive examinations as applicable to them at various levels of their career. The general readers too will get a fair idea about the strength of Indian Forces during these operations at national and international level. This will give them the confidence to work hard in their concerned fields towards the development of a stronger India that is capable to take on its adversaries neighboring countries anytime and defeat their ongoing plans to imbalance its development as a power in South Asia. I once again congratulate both the writers for giving a comprehensive concise look at Indian Operations through their book and wish them all the success in their future endeavors. Maj. Gen. A K Shukla (VSM)

Airborne Landing to Air Assault

Airborne Landing to Air Assault
Author: Nikolaos Theotokis
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2020-07-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526747022

Many books have been written about military parachuting, in particular about famous parachute operations like Crete and Arnhem in the Second World War and notable parachute units like the British Parachute Regiment and the US 101st Airborne Division, but no previous book has covered the entire history of the use of the parachute in warfare. That is why Nikolaos Theotokis’s study is so valuable. He traces in vivid detail the development of parachuting over the last hundred years and describes how it became a standard tactic in twentieth-century conflicts. As well as depicting a series of historic parachute operations all over the world, he recognizes the role of airmen in the story, for they were the first to use the parachute in warfare when they jumped from crippled aeroplanes in combat conditions Adapting the parachute for military purposes occurred with extraordinary speed during the First World War and, by the time of the Second World War, it had become an established technique for special operations and offensive actions on a large scale. The range of parachute drops and parachute-led attacks was remarkable, and all the most dramatic examples from the world wars and lesser conflicts are recounted in this graphic and detailed study. The role played by parachute troops as elite infantry is also a vital part of the narrative, as is the way in which techniques of air assault have evolved since the 1970s.

"The Russell's Airborne Fraternity 3rd Battalion

Author: Lieutenant Colonel RP Singh
Publisher: Blue Rose Publishers
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2023-05-12
Genre: History
ISBN:

3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) was raised in March 1813 at Chudderghat ( now Chaderghat) on the banks of the Musi river in Hyderabad under the auspices of Henry Russell as 1stBattalion, The Russell’s Brigade. After having undergone eight name changes since it’s raising it assumed its present name in April 2004. Ever since its raising, it has covered itself with glory, first as part of the Hyderabad Contingent of the State Forces of the Nizam of Hyderabad, then as part of the forces of the Madras Presidency Army of the East India Company, the Indian Army under the British and finally after Independence, as part of the Indian Army of free India. During its history of over two hundred years, the Battalion has a proud record of having acquitted itself with distinction both at home and abroad in various theatres of operations. Prior to Independence in 1947 individuals of the Battalion had earned 157 awards for Gallantry and Distinguished Service and post-Independence till date 392.

India's Near East

India's Near East
Author: Avinash Paliwal
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2024-08-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1805262394

India’s near east encompasses Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Indian states of the ‘Northeast’—Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Celebrated as a theatre of geo-economic connectivity typified by India’s ‘Act East’ policy, the region is key not only to India’s great-power rivalry with China, which first boiled over in the 1962 war, but to the idea(s) of India itself. It is also one of the most intricately partitioned lands anywhere on Earth. Rent by communal and class violence, the region has birthed extreme forms of religious and ethnic nationalisms and communist movements. The Indian state’s survival instinct and pursuit of regional hegemony have only accentuated such extremes. This book scripts a new history of India’s eastward-looking diplomacy and statecraft. Narrated against the backdrop of separatist resistance within India’s own northeastern states, as well as rivalry with Beijing and Islamabad in Yangon and Dhaka, it offers a simple but compelling argument. The aspirations of ‘Act East’ mask an uncomfortable truth: India privileges political stability over economic opportunity in this region. In his chronicle of a state’s struggle to overcome war, displacement and interventionism, Avinash Paliwal lays bare the limits of independent India’s influence in its near east.

The Rise of Indian Military Power: Evolution of an Indian Strategic Culture

The Rise of Indian Military Power: Evolution of an Indian Strategic Culture
Author:
Publisher: KW Publishers Pvt Ltd
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2015-07-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9385714074

This is a monumental & epic work on India’s Military History. It seeks to answer the seminal question – ‘Is there an Indian Way of War-fighting and an Indian Strategic Culture?’ The author has traced the history of war-fighting in India from the Vedic & Mahabharatan period to the Mauryan & Mughal Eras and thereafter the British Period. It is a comprehensive audit of India’s combat performance in the ancient, medieval, modern and post-modern periods of Indian history. The focus of this work however, is on India’s Post-independence Military History. The author has analysed each of India’s wars with China & Pakistan as also its CI and CT campaigns in meticulous detail, to draw lessons for the future. The path-breaking contribution is the author’s thesis that there have been three local Revolutions in Military Affairs (RMAs) in India, which shaped the course & flow of her history. Each of these RMAs helped to unify India under a great Empire and transformed it from a civilisational entity to a strong empire state. The first was the Mauryan RMA of using War Elephants in mass to generate shock & awe. This politically unified the whole of India and Afghanistan for the first time. The next RMA came with the Mughals who introduced Field Artillery, Muskets and Horsed Cavalry Archers with stirrups and cross bows. The Mughal horsed cavalry and artillery helped spawn the mighty Mughal Empire. The Third RMA came with the British who raised local Infantry Battalions on the European Pattern and drilled them to shoot in disciplined rhythms, to defeat all cavalry charges. This Infantry-based RMA helped establish the British Empire in India. The present Republic is a successor entity of the British Empire. The author has traced the evolution of India’s Strategic Culture to the Arthashastra of Kautilya. The surprise finding is that in the 1971 War – India unconsciously returned to this Kautilyan paradigm of using information dominance, covert war and Shock- Action military campaigns to defeat its adversaries. In the post-independence phase he traces the evolution of India’s war-fighting from the tactical phase of 1947-1962 when India’s capacity was confined to use of 2-3 Divisions alone. The 1965 War saw the graduation to the level of Operational Art, wherein 12 Divisions and a bulk of the Indian Air Force (IAF) saw active combat. The apogee came in 1971 – when India fought a brilliant, Quasi-Total, Tri-Service Campaign that broke Pakistan into two, put 93,000 prisoners of war in the bag and for the first time after the Second World War, created a new nation state with the Force of Arms. He traces the impact of nuclearisation on South Asia and prognosticates about the Future. The time has come, he asserts, for India to create a Fourth RMA in South Asia; and decisively shape outcomes. For this, economic power must be rapidly converted into usable military power. India must field dominant war fighting capabilities in South Asia.