Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

Navy Team Tarini at the Vivekananda International Foundation

Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini (INSV Tarini) comprising six women officers of the Indian Navy circumnavigated the globe in 254 days. The voyage commenced on September 10, 2017 and was completed on May 21, 2018. The expedition was called ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’. This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. The vessel was skippered by Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi, and the crew comprised Lt Cdrs Pratibha Jamwal and P Swathi, and Lts S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta.

October 01, 2018 Event Report

Vimarsha: ‘Role of Indian Navy in Changing Security Environment’, Talk by Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) invited Admiral Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, the Chief of Indian Navy, for its monthly Vimarsha series of lectures on issues of contemporary and historical importance for India. A wide galaxy of security experts, including former retired generals, bureaucrats, diplomats among others, interacted with the Naval Chief following his talk.

August 08, 2018 Event Report

Vimarsha: Talk by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM, ADC, on ‘Role of Indian Air Force in the Changing Security Environment’,

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) invited Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM, ADC, Chief of Air Staff, for a public discourse on “The Role of Indian Air Force (IAF) in the Changing Security Environment” The talk was organised under the aegis of Vimarsha, a platform offered by the VIF to enable eminent persons, academicians, media personnel et al to engage directly with policy thinkers over a wide range of contemporary and historical issues.

May 21, 2018 Event Report

Vimarsha: ‘Changing Security Environment: The Role of Indian Army’, talk by General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff

At a public event, organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on 13 Mar 2018 under the Vimarsha lecture series, General Bipin Rawat, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), spoke about India’s changing security environment and the role of the Indian Army, following it up with an equally exhaustive Q&A session.

March 19, 2018 Event Report

‘Sharpening the Arsenal: India’s Evolving Nuclear Deterrence Policy’, Gurmeet Kanwal, Harper Collins Publishers Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2017, pp 268, INR 599

Maj Gen (Retd.) P K Chakravorty

The book deals comprehensively with India’s nuclear arsenal and finally suggests as to what must be done to sharpen it in the current environment.

February 09, 2018 Books/Book Review

Book Discussion: “Securing India, the Modi Way”, authored by Nitin Gokhale, 24 Nov 2017

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a round table discussion on 24 Nov 2017, to discuss the book, ‘Securing India, the Modi Way’, authored by Nitin Gokhale, senior journalist and a member of the VIF’s faculty. The book bares out essential underpinnings of Prime Minister Modi’s approach to India’s national security and foreign policy issues, and is based on author’s personal interactions with key stakeholders, and file notings which remain unclassified as of today.

November 29, 2017 Event Report

Professional Military Education - An Indian Experience

Maj Gen P K Mallick, VSM (Retd)

Introduction “The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.” - Thucydides Professional Military Education (PME) has always been a critical component of developing military leaders. It is based on two key principles: train for certainty, so that military personnel gain and master the skills needed for known tasks and educate for uncertainty, so that they have the broad base of knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to handle unanticipated and unpredictable situations.

November 22, 2017 Paper

Weapons and Missiles in the Indian Environment

Maj Gen (Retd.) P K Chakravorty

Firepower in the current era is characterised by multiple combat platforms– guns, howitzers, multi-rockets and missiles - managed through the means of surveillance, target acquisition, engagement, destruction, and finally, damage assessment. For such complex orchestration of firepower to bear fruition, it is necessary to imbibe the right combinations of tactical, technical, logistic and financial factors which have to be derived from fundamental professional acumen rooted at the origins of firepower, the courses of its development and finally, the contemporary parameters of its application.

November 11, 2017 Paper

India’s National Defence; Gautam Banerjee, Pentagon Press, New Delhi, 2017, pp 278, INR 995

Maj Gen (Retd.) P K Chakravorty

The book India’s National Defence defines India’s Defence Reforms and Military Modernisation which it must undertake to meet the strategic challenges of the 21st Century. The book lucidly brings out India’s inability to optimise its military success in its three wars against Pakistan of 1948, 1965 and 1971 as well as the current sub-conventional conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.

September 26, 2017 Books/Book Review

DPP 2016: An enabler, not a show-stopper

Lt Gen (Dr) V K Saxena (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, VSM

DPP or no DPP the onus of success or failure lies in the hands of those who operate the DPP. Like they say, the law is only as good as the enforcer of the law. DPP 2016 or DPP 2056, it will be only as good as the persons who operate it, who interpret its content and apply the same to procurements at hand. Click here to read full paper

August 18, 2016 Paper