MY PRIDE MY INDIA: SSB SPECIAL: LIST OF JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES OF I...

MY PRIDE MY INDIA: SSB SPECIAL: LIST OF JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES OF I...: COUNTRY                                ARMY                                 NAVY                           AIRFORCE USA        ...

SSB SPECIAL: LIST OF JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES OF INDIA

COUNTRY                                ARMY                                 NAVY                           AIRFORCE

1. USA                           YUDHA ABHIYAAS             MALABAR                     RED FLAG
2. UK                              AJEYA WARRIOR                 -----------                         --------------
3. CHINA                      HANDS IN THE HANDS        -----------                         --------------
4. FRANCE                      SHAKTI                                VARUNA                         GARUDA
5. GERMANY**
6. SINGAPORE        BOLD KURKSHETRA                SIMBEX                               JMT
7. SRILANKA               MITRASHAKTI                       ------------                        -------------
8. MALDIVES                EKUVERIN                            ------------                         -------------
9. BANGLADESH            SAMPRITI                           ------------                         -------------
10. MONGOLIA             NOMADIC ELEPHANT         ------------                         -------------
11. RUSSIA                           INDRA                               -----------                           AVIA INDRA
12. JAPAN                             ----------                              JIMEX                             -------------
13. MALAYSIA**
14. INDONESIA                 --------------                           KOMODO                       -------------
15. BHUTAN                    SURYA KIRAN                     -------------                       -------------

** means exercises have been conducted without giving proper name or didnt got the name of exercise at that point of writing the article

OTHER IMPORTANT EXERCISES:-

1. MILAN: The multination naval exercise hosted by the Indian Navy at Andaman and Nicobar islands with an aim to build mutual confidence between the navies of the Asia Pacific region successfully concluded with a passage exercise at sea on Monday.Naval ships of Singapore (two ships), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, with representatives from navies of Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand participated in Exercise Milan.
2. RIMPAC:- 

RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii. It is hosted and administered by the United States Navy'sPacific Fleet, headquartered at Pearl Harbor, in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guardforces under the control of the Governor of Hawaii. The US invites military forces from the Pacific Rim and beyond to participate. With RIMPAC the United States Pacific Command seeks to enhance interoperability between Pacific Rim armed forces, ostensibly as a means of promoting stability in the region to the benefit of all participating nations  Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Australia, Canada, and the US have participated in every RIMPAC since then. Other regular participants are Chile,Colombia, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and the UK. Royal New Zealand Navy was frequently involved until the 1985 ANZUS nuclear ships dispute, but has taken part in recent RIMPACs such as in 2012 and 2014.Several observer nations are usually invited, including China, Ecuador, India, Mexico, the Philippines, and Russia, who became an active participant for the first time in 2012

3. IBSAMAR:- IBSAMAR are a series of naval exercises between the navies of India, Brazil, South Africa. The name IBSAMAR is an abbreviation of India-Brazil-South Africa Maritime.

COAST GUARD EXERCISES:-

1. DOSTI:- 

The Indian Coast Guard will be conducting joint exercise named “DOSTI-XII” with the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the Sri Lankan Coast Guard at Male, Maldives from 28-31 October 2014. The Joint Exercise – DOSTI between the Indian Coast Guard and MNDF was held for the first time in 1991. The aim of India-Maldives-Sri Lanka Tri-Lateral Exercise ‘DOSTI’ is to further fortify the friendship, enhance mutual operational capability, and exercise interoperability and to build cooperation between the Coast Guards of Maldives, India and Sri Lanka

  2. SAHYOG KAIJIN:- The joint exercises between the two Coast Guards OF INDIA AND JAPAN are being held annually since 1999. It focuses on anti-piracy procedures, pollution control measures and other areas of common professional interest.

 3.SAGAR KAVACH:- The exercise, Sagar Kavach Goa, is being held since 2009. Coastal security, a major subset of an all-encompassing subject of maritime security, has been centre stage, after the terror attack on Mumbai on November 26, 2008. India, being a maritime State, has numerous interests in maritime zones and safeguarding these interests A number of agencies, which include the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard, the State Marine Police, Customs, Fisheries, port authorities and other Central and State departments are the stakeholders in the maritime domain.

4. THEERA VETA:- Indian Coast Guard (ICG) from 28 April to 29 April 2015 held a security exercise, Theera Veeta, in the Arabian Sea. The exercise was intended to augment the preparedness of the security agencies in protecting the porous maritime borders of Kerala, Lakshadweep, Minicoy Islands and Mahe (part of Puducherry) from external attacks.

THERE ARE CERTAIN MORE EXERCISES WHICH WILL BE UPDATED SOON....

SSB SPECIAL: UNDERSTANDING THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

SOME PARTS HAVE BEEN COPIED FROM AANUAL REPORTS OF MOD:

After Independence, Ministry of Defence was created under the charge of a Cabinet Minister and each Service was placed under its own Commander-in-Chief. In 1955, the Commanders-in-Chief were renamed as the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff. In November 1962, the Department of Defence Production was set up to deal with research, development and production of defence equipment. In November, 1965, the Department of Defence Supplies was created for planning and execution of schemes for import substitution of defence requirements. These two Departments were later merged to form the Department of Defence Production and Supplies. In 2004, the name of Department of Defence Production and Supplies was changed to Department of Defence Production. In 1980, the Department of Defence Research and Development was created. In 2004, the Department of ExServicemen Welfare was set up. The Defence Secretary functions as head of the Department of Defence and is additionally responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the four Departments in the Ministry

The principal task of the Ministry is to frame policy directions on defence andsecurity related matters and communicate them for implementation to the Services Headquarters, Inter-Service Organisations, Production Establishments and Research & Development Organisations. It is required to ensure effective implementation of the Government’s policy directions and the execution of approved programmes within the allocated resources.

The principal functions of the Departments are as follows: (i) The Department of Defence deals with the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and three Services and various Inter Service Organisations. It is also responsible for the Defence Budget, establishment matters, defence policy, matters relating to Parliament, defence co-operation with foreign countries and co-ordination of all defence related activities. (ii) The Department of Defence Production is headed by a Secretary and deals with matters pertaining to defence production, indigenisation of imported stores, equipment and spares, planning and control of departmental production units of the Ordnance Factory Board and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs). (iii) The Department of Defence Research and Development is headed by a Secretary, who is the Scientific Adviser to the Raksha Mantri. Its function is to advise the Government on scientificaspects of military equipment and logistics and the formulation of research, design and development plans for equipment required by the Services. (iv) The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare is headed by a Secretary and deals with all resettlement, welfare and pensionary matters of Ex-Servicemen.

HQ IDS was raised on October 1, 2001 based on the recommendations of Group of Ministers on the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) report. The HQ was raised under the overall Command and Control of Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) to foster jointness and synergy amongst the three Services. Since its inception, this HQ has achieved several milestones in joint and integrated planning, coordination of intelligence, joint conduct of Human Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations through Defence Crisis Management Group (DCMG) and prioritising/ streamlining procurements.

HQ IDS has been constantly reviewing the joint training at nascent, intermediatory and higher levels to foster greater jointness amongst the Services. At the nascent level, to address the shortage of officers in the Armed Forces, the capacity of National Defence Academy (NDA) has been enhanced from 1800 to 1920. In-principle approval of RM has also been granted to further increase the capacity of the Academy to 2400, which will be addressed by raising of 5th Battalion at NDA. HQ IDS conducted training for officials of MoD, Mongolia and officers of Mongolian Armed Forces in IT Security. As a follow up to the training conducted in year 2013, on request from Mongolia, an advanced level training programme on IT Security was conducted during the current year.

Finance Division in the Ministry of Defence deals with all matters having a financial implication. This Division is headed by Secretary (Defence Finance)/ Financial Advisor (Defence Services) and is fully integrated with the Ministry. It performs an advisory role. The Ministry of Defence enjoys enhanced delegated financial powers tofacilitate quicker decision making. These powers are exercised with the concurrence of the Finance Division. With a view to ensuring transparency in exercise of these powers in respect of defence procurement matters and compliance with the laid down policy guidelines, the Defence Procurement Procedure and Defence Procurement Manual are updated from time to time.

Department of Defence Production (DDP) was set up in November 1962 with the objective of developing a comprehensive production infrastructure to produce the weapons/ systems/ platforms/ equipments required for defence. Over the years, the Department has established wide ranging production facilities for various defence equipments through the Ordnance Factories and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs). The products manufactured include arms and ammunition, tanks, armoured vehicles, heavy vehicles, fighter aircraft and helicopters, warships, submarines, missiles, ammunition, electronic equipment, earth moving equipment, special alloys and special purpose steels.

The organizations under the Department of Defence Production are as follows: • Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) • Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) • Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) • Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) • BEML Limited (BEML) • Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI) • Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) • Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) • Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) • Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) • Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) • Directorate of Standardisation (DOS) • Directorate of Planning & Coordination (Dte. of P&C) • Defence Exhibition Organisation (DEO) • National Institute for Research & Development in Defence Shipbuilding (NIRDESH). With the objective of achieving self-reliance in defence production, the Ordnance Factories and DPSUs have been continuously modernizing and upgrading their capabilities and widening their product range. A large number of major products have been developed through in-house research and development initiatives in addition to a number of products and equipment produced through transfer of technology.

Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is the Research and Development arm of the Ministry of Defence. It was created in 1958 by merging the units of Defence Science Organisation, which was set up in 1948 to advise and assist the defence Services on scientific problems and to undertake research in areas related to defence, with the then existing Technical Development Establishments of the three Services. Subsequently, a separate Department of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D) was formed in 1980 to improve administrative efficiency. Starting from a cluster of about 10 laboratories in 1958, DRDO today has 46 laboratories which are spread far and wide; from Tezpur in the east to Mumbai in the west, from Leh in the north to Kochi in the south. DRDO’s mandate is to provide assessment and advice on scientific aspects of weapons, platforms and surveillance sensors; to carry out research and to develop cutting edge technologies leading to production of state-ofthe-art sensors, weapon systems, platforms and allied equipment for our defence Services. In the recent past, the mandate has been widened to support national cyber security architecture which includes testing capabilities, security solutions, networking systems and cyber defence tools. In this process, it has also established national infrastructure, enhanced defence industrial capability and developed committed quality human resources. DRDO is headed by the Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri (SA to RM) who is also the Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Director General R&D (DGR&D). Based on the R&D work carried out by the 46 laboratories of DRDO, they are grouped into seven technology clusters namely, Armament and Combat Engineering Systems (ACE), Aeronautical Systems (AERO), Missiles and Strategic Systems (MSS), Naval Systems and Materials (NS & M), Electronics and Communication Systems (ECS), Micro Electronic Devices and Computational Systems (MED & CoS) and Life Sciences (LS). Each of these clusters functions under the administrative control of the cluster DGs. The seven DG offices are located at Pune (ACE), Bengaluru (Aero and ECS), Hyderabad (MSS), Vishakhapatnam (NS & M) and Delhi (MED & CoS and LS). In addition, DDR&D has one autonomous body viz. Aeronautical Development Agency, one joint venture viz. BrahMos Aerospace, four human resource institutions i.e. Centre for Personnel Talent Management (CEPTAM), Institute of Technology Management (ITM), Military Institute of Training (MILIT) and Recruitment and Assessment Centre (RAC), one deemed university viz. Defence Institute of Advance Technology (DIAT) and three certification agencies i.e. Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification for airworthiness of products, Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety for fire and explosives and Scientific Analysis Group for grading of information security products under its fold. These certification agencies provide services not just for DRDO but other organisations of Government of India as well. Four research boards (Aeronautics, Naval, Armaments and Life Sciences) functioning under DRDO funding, provide thrust to basic research in academia in areas of strategic importance.

DRDO headquarters (HQ) at Delhi, which coordinates the overall functioning of the organisation, is the interface between the Government and the laboratories. The HQ consist of corporate Directorates viz. Budget, Finance and Accounts (BF&A), Extramural Research and Intellectual Property Rights (ER&IPR), Human Resource Development (HRD), Parliamentary Affairs, Personnel, Planning and Coordination (P&C), Public Interface, Rajbhasha etc. Some corporate Directorates which oversee specific functions with partner organisations are Industry Interface and Technology Management (IITM), Interaction with Services for Business (ISB) and International Cooperation (IC). DRDO has in the recent past set up new Directorates/Groups with a specific role to assist/guide laboratories in respective areas viz. Cyber Security (CS), Futuristic Technology Management (FTM) group, Quality, Reliability and Safety (QR&S), Simulation and Modeling Centre (SAM-C) and Technical Coordination Group. There are five Chief Controllers R&D (CC R&D) to oversee the activities of the corporate HQ namely, CC R&D Production Coordination and Services Interaction (PC & SI), CC R&D Human Resources (HR), CC R&D Technology Management (TM), CC R&D Resources & Management and Implementation (R&M and Impl.) and CC R&D Systems Analysis & Modeling (SAM).

SSB SPECIAL: INDIA'S NEED OF ANTI-MISSILE SHIELD

In Chandipur, Odisha, the DefenceR&D Organisation (DRDO) will test-fire an interceptor missile, whose task is to hit an incoming ballistic missile target, in this case a Prithvi missile fired a few minutes earlier. The test is akin to striking a bullet with a bullet.

This will be DRDO's latest test towards developing ananti-ballistic missile (ABM) shield, to protect Indian targets against nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles fired from Pakistanor China.

In 2011, former DRDO chief Avinash Chander had told Business Standard that an ABM shield would protect thenational capital within three years ('Delhi could have anti-missile shield by 2014', August 29, 2011).

However, the shield's components are still being refined, and the government is not likely to sanction operational deployment of what will be a highly controversial measure until after the shield is fully tested.

An ABM shield is controversial because it destabilises nuclear deterrence, encouraging a country to believe it can launch a nuclear strike while successfully defending itself against retaliation. At the height of the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union signed an Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty severely restricting defensive measures on both sides, to preclude this.

Pakistan believes its arsenal of about 100-120 nuclear warheads, and the missiles, aircraft and other means to deliver them, are sufficient to deter India's military. Were India to protect cities such as Delhi and Mumbai with ABM shields, the Pakistan Army would almost certainly build more nukes and plan to fire a larger number at defended cities, to saturate and overwhelm their ABM defences.

An ABM shield has three functional components: First, a radar network that detects enemy ballistic missiles soon after they are launched, and then tracks them along their flight path. The range of a ground-based radar is limited by the earth's curvature, while a satellite-based radar picks up a missile as soon as it is fired. The second component is a command and control system that plots and predicts the enemy missile's flight path, and assigns interceptor missiles to destroy the intruding missile. Third, the ABM shield has interceptor missiles that a "guidance radar" guides onto the incoming enemy missile, destroying it before its nuclear warhead can do any damage.

Given the proximity of India and Pakistan, the entire engagement timeframe, from launch to interception, is between 5 and 10 minutes.

The interceptor missiles are still being refined before being produced in large numbers for deployment. DRDO sources say Monday's test is a part of this. They are of two kinds: An exo-atmospheric missile, called the Pradyumna, which intercepts the enemy missile while it is still in space, i.e., at heights of above 50 kilometres. As a back-up, an endo-atmospheric missile, called the Ashvin, is launched to strike the incoming missile in the upper atmosphere, i.e., at altitudes of 20-40 kilometres.

While interceptor development continues, two Long Range Tracking Radars (LRTRs) - built by the DRDO and Israeli company, ELTA, and with ranges of 800-1,000 kilometres - were moved to Delhi a year ago, where they are being integrated into the Indian Air Force (IAF) surveillance network.

Even so, while the LRTR is currently undergoing testing as part of the IAF network, experts say it could eventually form part of an ABM shield.

DRDO sources say that satellite surveillance is not yet part of the ABM shield. The range from which an incoming missile is fired is a key determinant of whether it can be intercepted successfully. The further its origin, the higher and faster it must go, and the more difficult it is to shoot it down. Currently, the Pradyumna and Ashvin have proven they can strike missiles fired from up to 900-1,000 kilometres away.

Pakistan's longest-range missile, the Shaheen III, which can travel 2,750 kilometres, cannot be used against, say, New Delhi, which is barely 700 kilometres from Pakistan. To avoid overshooting Delhi, Pakistan would have to use its shorter range Abdali I and Shaheen I missiles.

Lieutenant General (Retired) Khalid Kidwai, the advisor to Pakistan's National Command Authority and for 15 years that country's nuclear czar, told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on March 23 that the Shaheen III missile was developed to bring the Andaman & Nicobar Islands into range and prevent India from basing nuclear weapons there.

However, China targets India with the advanced, solid-fuel Dong Feng-21 (NATO designation: CSS-5) medium range ballistic missile (IRBM), which has a range of 1,700-2,000 kilometres. India's current ABM shield would be unable to intercept an incoming DF-21.

SSB SPECIAL: INDIA IN BRICS SUMMIT 2015

 

 BRICS is an international organisation which started early in the year of 2008 immediately after the global financial crisis and after the international monetary organisation changed its policies for the developed nations like USA as this policy was not favouring the emergence of the developing countries like INDIA CHINA etc. BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. this organisation started with initially with four countries i.e;  Brazil, Russia, India, China and was known as known as BRIC. South Africa joined this league in the year of 2010. Russia currently holds the chair of the BRICS group, and hosted the group's seventh summit in July 2015.As of 2015, the five BRICS countries represent over 3 billion people, or 42% of the world population; as all five members are in the top 25 of the world by population, and four are in the top 10. The five nations have a combined nominal GDP of US$16.039 trillion, equivalent to approximately 20% of the gross world product, and an estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves.The BRICS have received both praise and criticism from numerous commentators.^[Bilateral relations among BRICS nations have mainly been conducted on the basis of non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit (win-win). It is estimated that the combined GDP (PPP) of BRICS would reach US$50 trillion mark by 2020.the seventh BRICS summit was held at UFA in RUSSIA which was attended by the representatives from all the brics nations i.e; country representative 

                      BRAZIL                               -                         Dilma Vana Rousseff

                     RUSSIA                                -                          VLADIMIR PUTIN

                     INDIA                                   -                           NARENDRA DAMODAR DAS MODI

                    CHINA                                  -                            XI JINPINGS

                    SOUTH AFRICA                    -                           JACOB ZUMA

SOME of the highlights of the BRICS summit 2015 are as follows:

1. The decisions over the national  development bank was taken at the 6th BRICS summit at Fortaleza in       Brazil in 2014 and therefore in the 7 th BRICS summit it has been ratified by aal the members selecting    SHANGHAI as the bank headquarter and india got the opportunity to nominate its first chief so K V           KAMATH former chairman of Infosys India ltd.

2. The objectives of this bank were made clear that the prime objectives of this bank will be                         the infrastructural development and the limit of this would be $ 34 bn annually

3. All the five members state to contribute $ 10 bn each to accumulate a capital of $ 50 bn, initially this        would be increased to $ 100 bn over a period of time. Any member cannot increase its share capital          without the consent of balance four members. this issue was raised by India which was accepted by        all   the other members.

4. Bank would provide monetary assistance to other countries suffering from economic volatility $ 10bn       will be paid in capital ( $ 2bn from each member) and $ 40bn to be paid upon request.

5. Any country can become the members of this NDB but the share of the brics nation would not downfall     by 55%. the bank would start lending from 2016.

UFA declaration:-

1. Members nation to step up coordinated efforts in responding to emerging challenges ensuring peace       and security promoting development in a suitable way.

2.There is a need to bring reform in UNSC was highlighted. china and Russia supported BRAZIL,                 INDIA, and SOUTH AFRICA aspiration to play a greater role in the UN.

3. BRICS nation called the US to ratify the IMF 2010 Reform package by mid September 2015

4. BRICS members decided to create a BRICS working group on anti-corruption cooperation to come into     effect by November 2015

5. MoU on the creation of joint BRICS website was decided

6. BRICS minister of labor and employment will be held in Feb 2016 which will focus on the creation of       the decent jobs and information sharing on labor and employment issues.

BRICS summit was concluded on 9 july with a promise to meet again in 2016 in INDIA.

SSB SPECIAL: BENEFITS OF INDIA AS A SCO MEMBER

The decision to include India, along with Pakistan, as permanent members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has been announced during the SCO Summit (9-10 July) at Ufa, Russia. The process for formal inclusion into SCO will take place in 2016.

SCO has China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as permanent members, while India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Mongolia have held ‘Observer’ status. Countries included as ‘Dialogue Partners’ are Turkey, Belarus and Sri Lanka.

The growing political and trade significance of SCO can be judged by the fact that despite being a member of NATO, Turkey is willing to hedge its bets with SCO and may join it as a permanent member in future.

All six original members of SCO have common concerns on extremism, terrorism and separatism and have jointly committed themselves to supporting each other in fighting this growing threat. Increasing cooperation between member countries on intelligence sharing, counter terrorism and joint military training is contributing to regional stability and enhancing the role and influence of SCO in international affairs.

Today, SCO has deepened its engagement with the UN and holds Observer status at the General Assembly, European Union, Commonwealth of Independent States, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and ASEAN.

With both India and Pakistan joining SCO in 2016, the organisation is set to emerge even stronger. This global entity has the potential to change the regional trade and economic dynamics significantly.

India is on its way to emerging as a significant economic and military power in the next decade. In the aftermath of World War II, India positioned itself as a Non-aligned nation that preferred not to join the US-dominated NATO or the former USSR-led Warsaw Pact, and instead chose to hold an independent political stance in international affairs. India and other like-minded nations, which included former Yugoslavia, Indonesia, Egypt and Ghana, chose to create a third platform, the Non Aligned Movement (NAM).

With time and changing international order in the post-Cold War period, NAM, along with the Commonwealth of Nations, has lost its political influence and relevance. With SCO now emerging as a strong body, nations like Iran, Turkey and Sri Lanka are keen to explore the benefits of joining the organisation.

An Opportunity to Resolve Border Disputes

India has had to contend with border disputes with China and Pakistan, both of which have had long standing close ties. This has had an impeding influence for India in strengthening its economic ties with countries in Central Asia. India has been seeking to enhance its energy security and increase in trade, by opening up new transit routes to Central Asian countries.

While India has taken the initiative in settling the border dispute with Bangladesh, the recent decision to open transit facility for free movement goods between India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan is likely to see all stakeholder nations benefiting from the enhanced regional trade.

The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and freeze in dialogue between Pakistan and India, have come in the way of developing the South Asian cooperation that can significantly improve the economic situation in not just Pakistan and India, but in all SAARC countries.

Stalled Multilateral Projects Can Get Going

For several years now, the Iran-Pakistan-India oil pipeline has been in discussion but no progress has been made on account of security concerns. Similarly, the proposed project between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India has been stalled. With both Pakistan and India now joining SCO, it is very likely that either or both projects may finally take off. Both projects have the potential to significantly enhance the energy scenario in the region, while boosting regional cooperation and trade between stakeholder countries. With countries in SCO holding vast reserves of natural resources, the potential for India is immense.

India, with its fast emerging economy and vast coastline, can open new access to sea trade for SCO countries and can play an important role in balancing the security, trade and political order that is now emerging between members of SCO on one side, and the US-led NATO/EU nations, on the other.

Another important parallel development is the establishment of the BRICS Bank that will be officially named as ‘New Development Bank’ (NDB), established with an initial capital fund of $100 billion. This is an initiative of China that aims to counter the influence of US dominated IMF and World Bank. With SCO members China, Russia and now India, NDB is likely to emerge as a major financial body in future, and as membership increases, it will increasingly exert its influence on global economic policy and international trade. India will now be in a position to reclaim its international stature that it lost with NAM being rendered irrelevant.

SCO Can Tame a Belligerent Pakistan

In the new world order, the US has largely abandoned its unstinted support to Pakistan, and China has now emerged as its financial and diplomatic mentor. With US in the process of vacating Afghanistan, China, along with Russia and Pakistan, is likely to play an increasing role in Afghanistan. This could have resulted in India being left out of the emerging Central Asian politics.

In 2016, as India and Pakistan formalise their permanent member status of SCO, China and Russia are likely to play an important role in influencing Pakistan to tone down its belligerent attitude towards India and work towards resolving outstanding issues. Likewise, under the new relationship as members of SCO, China, too, will have to come around and work towards settling the border dispute with India. If India succeeds in settling outstanding issues with both Pakistan and China, the potential to jumpstart economic development in the entire South Asian region is immense.

With the emergence of SCO, Asia is on its way of reclaim its status as a global power centre that it once was. And India will have a major role to play.

SSB SPECIAL: WHY AFGHANISTAN IS SO SPECIAL FOR INDIA??????

 Bilateral relation between republic of INDIA and AFGHANISTAN has been strong and close over these years. republic of INDIA was the first country to recognize the soviet backed republic of AFGHANISTAN in the year of 1980's. however in the 1990's era the relation between these countries got diminished as the political hue and cry in AFGHANISTAN was overtaken by the Taliban govt. who was backed by the Islamist country i.e; PAKISTAN. in order to restore the friendly relation between these countries INDIA provided financial aid to the UN where UN entered in 2001 and by the end of majority of the Talibani leaders were killed or were arrested that again accelerated the relation between these countries and INDIA provided AFGHANISTAN for its reconstruction and developmental projects.

 INDIA sign a bilateral strategic relation between these two countries in 2011 and form that time AFGHANISTAN has became the second largest recipient of financial assistance from INDIA. Now the question arise that why AFGHANISTAN is important for INDIA, for your curiosity these following points will help to end your hunger to know:-

1.As INDIA has done a bilateral strategic relation with AFGHANISTAN so INDIA has became committed to help them so by the end of 2014 INDIA has provided with $ 2 bn, INDIA is committed for modernization of afghan defense by latest arms and equipment's and through joint military program mes.

2. AFGHANISTAN is vital for the revival of silk route that will connect INDIA with the central Asian countries for trade and energy resources in this context INDIA has already started working in this direction through TAPI project which is 735 km long gas pipeline that will connect the four countries TURKMENISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN, AND INDIA.

3. As INDIA is a developing country we need energy and this energy demand can be satisfied by Afghanistan because the geographic condition of AFGHANISTAN is bestowed with the natural resources like iron, copper, gold etc then it also have petroleum reserves, natural gas and oil. since most of the area of AFGHANISTAN has been explored due to frequent wars insurgency so even we cannot deny the very fact that it may have more natural resources beyond our imagination.

4. many of our INDIAN companies have already invested in the mining sector of AFGHANISTAN which exceeds more than that of $ 10 bn like SAIL , GAIL etc.And other INDIAN companies are also planing to invest in the petroleum sector so it has became the need of the INDIAN companies to have security to them and this security can be provided only by the AFGHAN soldiers at cheap rate so it will not create more monetary pressure on our finance ministry and this all these will be available at cheaper rate to INDIA.