Reading Comprehension List

How to militarily keep up with Islamabad's friends' defence tech they supply happily to neighbour's generals Ο p Sindoor, a success, also revealed new dimensions to the Pakistan problem that India must address. First, India no long-er faces just a Pakistan problem. It's a Pakistan+ problem. China was as much part of this short conflict as Pakistani army itself. China now accounts for 80% of Pakistan's arms imports. And Chinese air defence systems and smart missiles were working for Pak forces during the hostilities. Add to this Türkiye's supply of hundreds of drones that Islamabad used to target Indian military installations. Therefore, Pakistan wasn't fighting alone. So for the future, India needs to not just calculate Pakistan's fighting capacity, but also the direct defence support Islamabad is receiving from some countries. Second, this means India needs to rapidly modernise its military. It can't be a 20-year project. Two related points: the 26% capital outlay in the defence budget is not near enough, especially when a large portion is spent on acquiring expen-sive foreign platforms. Plus, the defence budget is around just 1.9% of projected GDP, when at least 2.5% is needed to tackle the China-Pakistan challenge. Only way India will get more bang for the buck is if it rapidly boosts indigenous defence production and procurement through aggressive backing of private defence companies. This leads to the third point: this was largely an air battle barring hostilities along LoC and IB. Our air defence acquitted itself superbly. Apart from the S-400, indigenous platforms such as the short-range anti-aircraft SAMAR and Akash systems were brilliant. This shows the talent for indigenous development. It needs sustained govt investments and contracts. But the worry lies with our depleting fighter fleet. We are currently down to 31 squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42. Also, we need to upgrade AWACS - our Phalcon AWACS are getting outdated - and go for better integrated systems. Pakistan has acquired advanced Chinese J-10C fighters with PL-15E missiles. Our Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft procurement project can no longer be delayed.

GOI's all-party MP delegations idea is smart in intent, timing and the choice of delegates That there was a BJP-Congress spat over choosing MPs for T all-party delegations was par for the political course. GOTY idea itself is a clever one. India's global profile has changed vastly since the days of socialism-but not so much that, in high stakes contexts, its words carry sufficient weight to obviate the need for reiteration. The timing is clever, too. Within days of the ceasefire, it may have looked desperate. Months after it, the world would have moved on-remember, this is a world with Trump in it. Latish May is pretty much the perfect time for sending teams of MPs to world capitals for making India's case. And as our columnist, a member of one of the delegations, writes, the best time for this outreach is between Pakistani provocations. The list of countries is also smartly picked. Some destinations pick themselves-US, EUHQ, Russia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, perhaps even South Korea and Singapore. But the choice of the rest of the 32 capitals speaks to careful diplomatic calculations. Gulf states are heavily represented because their relationship upgrade with India is a part of their effort to kill the perception of being the oil-powered HQ of Islamic ortho-doxy. Malaysia is generally Pak-friendly. But it's not so invested that efforts to reach out will be wasted. Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim population. is a crucial pick. Algeria is a non-hostile Islamic state and, therefore, worth winning over. Brazil is an economic partner with great potential and a Latin American heavyweight. UK, by Western standards, is no longer an economic heavyweight, but its brand still carries some sheen. France and Germany are EU heavyweights. Greece and Slovenia aren't. But visiting Athens and Ljubljana is necessary to send the message that India is not the kind of country that treats small players in big groupings with indifference. Why the likes of Sierra Leone, Republic of Congo and Liberia? Because Africa is where the next diplomatic great game will play out and it's also a hotbed of jihadi extremism. The exclusions are meaningful too. Beijing being ignored is a strong message. Türkiye, whose ruler Erdogan won't include opposition MPs in delegations to inspect public toilets, is a recent backer of Pak military-and deserves a very cold shoulder. Clever, too, is the choice of MPs. Confident articulation is an essential skill when trying to win friends in the cold and calculating world of global realpolitik. That's why former ambassadors are part of these delegations. India has plenty of talking points-it's crucial it makes those points smartly