This book is an effort to recall the life in Kashmir, a state under perpetual conflict. It is a saga of courage, betrayal, passion and hatred seen from the eyes of a young soldier. In this nature’s paradise, is a human hell where the lives are lost daily in pursuit of Ideology. Armed by own set of Justifications India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris battle each other to no end in sight. Zealous young men continue to die for a cause diseased by treachery and celebrated by heroism. The territorial desire of Pakistan has cost dearly to the generations stifled in this conflict. This fight has devastated many a homes with ever widening chasm and deepening scars. Punctuated by blood curdling violence, Kashmiris are prisoners of a historic mistake. In the ongoing series of Pakistan’s grand design to wrest control of this state, a proxy war was unleashed by them in 1989. This war still continues as I write.

Con man Max O’Brien takes a personal investigation into his own hands. Max O’Brien’s nightmare has begun again. Eleven years after the tragic disappearance of his brother, an ambassador in Central America, Max’s nephew, also a diplomat, is assassinated in New Delhi. Max is on the run from police, and this time the professional con man decides to find those responsible for the crime. Determined to track down the truth, he arrives in India just as the country is preparing for war with Pakistan. His inquiry leads him to Kashmir — the heart of the conflict — and the depths of his own soul. The first book of a thrilling new series, The Kashmir Trap explores the parallel lives of two brothers who have made very different choices. Violence and the growing tension between India and Pakistan set Max on a course of redemption, revenge, and death.

IN THIS VOLUME: The Prime Minister at Shangri La: Reading between the Lines for a National Security Strategy - Lt Gen JS Bajwa (Editor) INDIAN DEFENCE REVIEW COMMENT : Awakening to National Defence: Hope at Last? - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee ------------------------------------------- Combat Potential of the IAF for a Two-Front War - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Future of Air Dominance - Air Marshal Anil Chopra Maritime Crime and Terrorism - V Adm Muralidharan Countering Stealth Aircraft Technology: The Race to See through “Invisibility” - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha Future Military Helicopters - Design & Development - Lt Gen BS Pawar Future Aerial Weapons - Air Marshal Anil Chopra Towards a more Vigorous Make-in-India in Defence Manufacturing - Prof (Dr) SN Misra & Sanjaya Ku Ghadai India and the New Great Game in Central Asia - Martand Jha Can the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation bring India and Pakistan Closer? - Col (Dr) PK Vasudeva India-Indonesia Ties: Chinese Elephant in the Room - Jabin T Jacob Terror: Lessons from Paris and Beyond - Brig Pradeep Sharma Leadership and Management in the Indian Army - Lt Gen Mohinder Puri Jammu & Kashmir: The Way Forward - Brig Anil Gupta Emperor Lalitaditya: One among India’s Greatest Soldier-Statesmen - Col Tej K Tikoo Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi War as a Multi-Dimensional Whole: A Framework for India in a Repolarizing World - Navneet Bhushan India’s Defence Budget and Military Modernisation - Air Marshal M Matheswaran In Search of a Rifle: Ministry of Defence Goes Globe Trolling - Col Danvir Singh Head Hunters in Kargil-Naga Regiment - Sumit Walia

IN THIS VOLUME: Doklam: India at an Inflection Point in its Quest for Regional/Global Power Status - Lt Gen JS Bajwa (Editor) Directed Energy Weapons: Game Changer Or A Damp Squib? - Gp Capt Joseph Noronha Advances in Technology: Battlefield Helicopters - Gp Capt AK Sachdev Space: The Force Multiplier For Air Power - Air Marshal Anil Chopra MiG-35, F-16, Gripen or Better Choice? - Sumit Walia Look Long, Look Deep: China’s Airborne Warning and Control Systems - Gp Capt Ravinder Singh Chhatwal Our Armed Forces: Do We Take Them Seriously? - Sanjiv Khanna China’s ‘Contentious’ Path To War? - Anant Mishra Balancing Politics and Power: Prognosis of China’s Military Build-up - Lt Gen Gautam Banerjee Embrace the Future of Kashmir - Lt Gen Subrata Saha Resurgence of Ulfa (I) in Assam: Implications for Internal Security - Indrajit Sharma & Dr N Mohandas Singh Naval Combat Systems: Evolution and Future Perspectives - Cmde Arun Kumar Aerospace and Defence News - Priya Tyagi Deepening India-Israel Ties: Changing Landscape of the Indian Defence Sector - Ketan Salhotra Indo-Israel Relations: Make with India - Tamir Eshel Strategic Partnership with Private Players: An Overview - Danvir Singh Pax Britannica Whittled Down to an Island Kingdom: (Intrigues that Built an Empire: Intrigued by Wheels of History) - Lt Gen PG Kamath North Korea - A Delinquent State? - Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja The Offset Policy - A Decade in Retrospect - Dr SN Misra Pakistan for Balochistan, not Balochis - RSN Singh Army’s Battlefield Support System: Fielding Initially Planned by 2017 could take Another Decade - Lt Gen Prakash Katoch China has done India a Favor - Dr Amarjit Singh Shekatkar Committee Report: Genuine ‘Reforms’ or Cosmetic ‘Re-grouping’? - Gp Capt TP Srivastava Who made North Korea a nuclear power? Dr A.Q. Khan? - Sumit Walia