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.

This book in four sections covers the ‘Operational Milieu and Special Operations’, ‘Successful Special Operations’, ‘Failed Special Operations’, and ‘Implications for India’. It covers regular, irregular and mixed operations under the rubric of hybrid warfare of select foreign militaries, and Indian experience in sub-conventional operations. A myriad of successful and failed special operations covering a span of over seven decades from 1943 onwards have been analyzed in detail, drawing lessons from each. The last Section, ‘Implications for India’, covers lessons, challenges and recommendations in three chapters. These highlight India’s adverse strategic asymmetry vis-a-vis China-Pakistan, inability of India to put in place SOF structures to optimize the considerable SF potential for employment at the strategic, operational and tactical levels, and ending up with policy recommendations.

This book is attempted as a critique of Special Forces as they have emerged in India, as related to counterparts in all important armed forces around the world, emphasizing the concept as it has developed in our Army and the current name it has come to acquire. It delves into the creation of Special Forces in India; evolution, development through the years and why they are called Special Forces. 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. Book jacket.

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.

Special Forces and Special Operations offer an option for providing an asymmetric response across the entire spectrum of conflict. An asymmetric response does not automatically imply a physical attack; in most cases, direct action should be only the extreme response. Special Forces are meant to achieve strategic objectives through application of modest resources in a calibrated manner. With an eye on the future, a seminar was held at CENJOWS which was aimed at examining various alternatives for optimal employment of Indian SF, in pursuit of national security goals with a proactive mindset. Various aspects were covered by eminent speakers from India and other countries. This book is based on the seminar proceedings.

This book will help to enhance the understanding of the legal position of the armed forces, which is of paramount importance today due to the blurring of the lines between national security, anti-insurgency operations and law enforcement.

Untold accounts of the biggest recent anti-terror operations First-hand reports of the most riveting anti-terror encounters in the wake of the 2016 surgical strikes, the men who hunted terrorists in a magical Kashmir forest where day turns to night, a pair of young Navy men who gave their all to save their entire submarine crew, the Air Force commando who wouldn't sleep until he had avenged his buddies, the tax babu who found his soul in a terrifying Special Forces assault on Pakistani terrorists, and many more. Their own stories, in their own words. Or of those who were with them in their final moments. The highly anticipated sequel to India's Most Fearless brings you fourteen more stories of astonishing fearlessness,and gets you closer than ever before to the personal bravery that Indian military men display in the line of duty.