Letter from the Editor | May 2025

The focus of the May issue had to be Kashmir after the barbaric massacre of 26 innocent civilians in the Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam. The cover story is divided into three parts—one looks at the impact of the attack on Kashmir and its people, the second looks at India’s military options of retaliation (and their limitations) against Pakistan, and the third article explores the possibility of a reverse proxy war by India. Together they put both the Kashmir issue and India-Pakistan relations in context of the changed geopolitics and warfare.

May is one of those editions where the sentiment of the cover story runs through the issue. So, while one of the book extracts speak of Indian Army operations in the early years of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, we have a guest column from a Chinese expert advocating better relations between China and India. He argues that not only will this benefit the two countries, it will also iron out creases of tension in Asia paving the way for peace and prosperity in the Global South as nations develop stakes in each other’s progress. In the same spirit is the article on robotics which chronicles, both the advancement in technology, as well as the ethical questions it raises about the future battlefield. Then there is a news report of government of India facilitating mainstreaming of a few more separatist political parties in Kashmir. The overall message is-talking is better than fighting.

Another important segment in the May edition is the commentary on government’s make in India project. For all its projections, the government continues to import defence equipment, sometimes for military purposes, and sometimes out of political compulsion. The possible purchase of US armoured vehicle Stryker falls in the latter category. The government acquiescence to this programme is in furtherance of its ties with Washington, especially after President Trump’s unequivocal assertion that the US friendship comes with strings attached. The commentary examines how these strings tied up with defence purchases will undermine development of indigenous programmes. The same segment has an article on defence exports, recommending policy measures that the government could consider to progressively decrease the gap between imports and exports of military equipment.

Then there are the FORCE regulars of news updates from the industry and the military services.

Finally, FORCE is pleased to announce the publication of The Hindi Heartland, Ghazala Wahab’s next book. The Hindi Heartland will be in the bookstores in the first week of July. With wishes of peace and unending conversation, read on.