DEFENCE
The liberation of Jessore, 1971: Breaking Pakistan’s western defensive belt
In the first week of December 1971, Indian troops and Mukti Bahini fighters advanced toward Jessore, one of Pakistan’s strongest garrisons in southwestern East Pakistan. Within days the defensive line began to crumble, opening the road toward Khulna and signalling the rapid collapse of Pakistani control in the region
DEFENCE
The Battle of Jassar, 1948: The fight that kept Kashmir’s supply road open
In the early months of the Kashmir war, a little-remembered clash near Jassar helped protect a vital route linking Indian forces in Jammu with the embattled Kashmir front.
DEFENCE
Operation Parakram, 2001-02: The longest full-scale mobilisation without war
After the 2001 attack on India’s Parliament, India moved hundreds of thousands of troops to the border with Pakistan. For nearly ten months the armies of two nuclear-armed countries stood ready for war that never came.
DEFENCE
The Sumdorong Chu crisis, 1986-87: Military signalling on the China front
In 1986, a small valley north of Tawang suddenly became the focus of the most serious India–China military confrontation since 1962. For months, soldiers from both sides occupied opposing heights, watching each other across the mountains while diplomats worked quietly to prevent a war.
DEFENCE
The role of the Indian Navy in the 1965 war – Why it remained largely inactive
The Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 saw fierce fighting on land and in the air, but the sea remained strangely quiet. The Indian Navy, despite having a capable fleet, was largely kept out of the conflict for political and strategic reasons.
INDIA
The defence of Ladakh in 1948: How Leh was held against overwhelming odds
Stranded behind closed passes and thinly defended, Leh survived because of a risky winter trek, a daring air landing, and a stubborn holding action until Zoji La was cracked open.
DEFENCE
Capture of Cox’s Bazar in 1971 and why it mattered in the Bangladesh war
Striking the airfield, sealing the coast, and blocking the Arakan road helped shut the last door on Pakistan’s escape route in the southeast.
DEFENCE
Operation Jackpot, 1971: The naval commandos who sank ships and strangled East Pakistan’s river lifelines
A covert swimmer-saboteur campaign trained in India and executed inside East Pakistan hit ports, ferries and cargo traffic hard months before the formal war began.
WORLD
India, Iran and intelligence in the Cold War years
A look at how Cold War caution, regional geography and quiet information-sharing shaped India-Iran intelligence contacts without ever forming a formal alliance.
DEFENCE
India’s 1998 nuclear tests: The military planning behind Pokhran II
Operation Shakti was remembered for the explosions, but it succeeded first as a logistics-and-deception operation run under tight civil-military control in the Rajasthan desert
DEFENCE
India-Pakistan Siachen ceasefire (2003): Why the guns fell silent
After years of attrition on the Saltoro Ridge, a wider ceasefire decision finally travelled north to the glacier, changing daily life on the world’s highest battlefield even though the dispute itself stayed frozen
DEFENCE
Operation Brasstacks (1986-87): The near-war with Pakistan
A desert exercise meant to test India’s modernised Army ended up triggering months of mobilisation, nuclear signalling, and a crisis both sides struggled to control
DEFENCE
Life at 20,000 feet: What glacier warfare does to the human body
On the world’s highest battlefields, the enemy is often thin air, brutal cold, and a body that is always one mistake away from shutting down.
DEFENCE
Psychological warfare in 1971: How leaflets, radio and surrender messaging helped break Pakistan’s will
Beyond tanks and infantry, the 1971 war also ran on words and signal, shaping morale, panic, and the choice to lay down arms.
DEFENCE
Dassault Mirage 2000 in Kargil: Precision strikes in rarefied air
When conventional bombing failed in the Himalayas, the Mirage 2000 became known for its accuracy and performance in high altitudes and added credibility to India’s air campaign.
DEFENCE
Point 4875 (1999): The cliff assault that sealed Dras
In the thin air above Dras, a near-vertical climb under fire broke a key Pakistani hold and helped secure the Srinagar–Leh highway
DEFENCE
Operation Talwar (1999): The Indian Navy’s silent pressure on Pakistan
When Pakistani intrusions were detected along the Line of Control in May 1999, India’s military response initially centred on ground forces and the Indian Air Force’s Operation Safed Sagar. But within days, the Indian Navy began mobilising.
DEFENCE
Battle of Burki, 1965: The canal-line fight that carried Indian troops to the edge of Lahore
How the September thrust towards the Ichhogil Canal turned Burki into one of the defining clashes of the western front.
INDIA
Mushkoh Valley (1999): The sector that saw some of the toughest climbs
Overshadowed by Tiger Hill and Tololing, Mushkoh was a brutal test of endurance where narrow ridgelines, hidden sangars and near-vertical approaches defined the fight.
DEFENCE
Chawinda 1965: How a small Punjabi town became a tank battlefield
Chawinda became the centre of gravity for a huge armoured contest as Pakistan chose to concentrate its armour to stop India’s thrust in the Sialkot sector.
INDIA
Artillery duels in Kargil: The scale of firepower used at altitude
In Kargil’s thin air, it was the guns that did the grinding work, hammering ridgelines day and night until infantry could climb.
DEFENCE
Battle of Phillora, 1965: The tank fight that punched a hole in Pakistan’s Sialkot armour
In four violent days on the Sialkot front, Indian armour forced Pakistan’s elite tank formations to fall back, setting up the bigger showdown that followed at Chawinda.
DEFENCE
Air war over Halwara and Pathankot, 1965: The bases that held under pressure
In the first days of the 1965 war, Pakistani air strikes targeted key Indian airfields. Halwara and Pathankot were meant to be knocked out. Instead, they stayed in the fight.
DEFENCE
Indian Air Force in 1962: Why India chose not to use air power
The Indian Air Force flew hard in transport and support roles, but New Delhi held back from offensive strikes. The reasons were a mix of fear, flawed assumptions, and political caution.
