India's Armed Forces stand as a deterrent to external aggression, regional fragmentation, separatism, or secession. They have always carried out their duties with competent professionalism though not seeking much influence in policy areas outside their beat. India's Armed Forces: Fifty Years of War and Peace is their story in the post-independence period. Starting with the trauma of partition, the Armed Forces have continuously engaged in a wide variety of operations. There is perhaps no such parallel in contemporary times of similar uninterrupted employment. The book deals with all essential aspects of India's four wars providing some new insights. It particularly highlights the contributions of the Armed Forces in countering insurgency and towards international peacekeeping. The author captures the environment in which the Armed Forces have operated and the politico-military and strategic circumstances obtaining at various periods of India's turbulent history. The emphasis throughout is on these macro issues and the lessons learned.

India’s Armed Forces comprise the world’s second largest Army, the fourth largest Air Force, the eighth largest Navy and the largest Coast Guard in the northern Indian Ocean. In their respective domains, these four Services are entrusted with the security of the air space above India, of more than 14,000 kilometres of land borders, 7,500 kilometres of coastline, 156,000 kilometres of shore line and an Exclusive Economic Zone of two million square kilometres. In its sixty-year post-colonial history, India’s Army, Navy and Air Force have fought five wars – one against China and four against Pakistan. Every year, these Armed Services provide succour to thousands of people when rivers overflow their banks, when cyclones devastate coastal districts, and when occasional tsunamis and earthquakes maroon hundreds of thousands of people. Overseas, India has been a leading contributor to the United Nations’ Peace Keeping Missions. The Indian Army operates in extremes of terrain and climate:- - In the glacial terrain on the northern Himalayan borders in Siachen; in the high altitude terrain in Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh; and in the mountainous terrain in Jammu & Kashmir - In the riverine plains of the Punjab and Bengal - In the desert of Rajasthan and - In the salty marshes of Kachch, Gujarat and Bengal. It is widely respected as an experienced Army that has been coping with insurgencies for sixty years and, for the last thirty years, in combating the Islamic Terrorism that has now spread across the world. The Indian peninsula straddles the Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) across the northern Indian Ocean. With the strategic reach of its air arm, the Navy, jointly with the Coast Guard, safeguards India’s, as well as the region’s, maritime interests. The Air Force’s well-equipped air squadrons, together with its capabilities of in-flight refuelling and sizeable airlift bestow deterrent strategic reach. All four services exercise, jointly and singly, with friendly regional and international counterparts to erect bridges of friendship and strengthen inter-operability as each of them transforms to cope with the 21st century. Regional peace and stability are crucial for India’s societal well-being and economic development. These are best ensured by competent Armed Forces. This book provides an excellent overview by veterans who served with honour in India’s Armed Forces.

Steven I. Wilkinson explores how India has succeeded in keeping the military out of politics, when so many other countries have failed. He uncovers the command and control strategies, the careful ethnic balancing, and the political, foreign policy, and strategic decisions that have made the army safe for Indian democracy.

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)

A work with broad implications for theories of comparative strategic behavior and civil-military relations, Societies and Military Power uses the long history of the armies of India as a basis for analyzing whether the character of a given society affects the amount of military power that can be generated by the armies that emerge from that society. By examining the changing relationship between ruling elites in the Indian subcontinent and their armed forces, the book shows that divisions within society are mirrored within the military, even within the contemporary professional military. Stephen Peter Rosen explores the proposition that cultural explanations don't sufficiently account for changes in military power, whereas social structure does. He suggests also that the dynamics of civil-military relations in a non-Western setting are not explicable without social-structural insight. He concludes that the comparative study of strategic behavior and military organization has lacked a sound foundation, which the social-structural explanation offered in this book begins to provide.

Based on original research and primary sources, this valuable collection of essays focuses on the crucial elements of the British military system in India, its organization, and its governing ideologies.