August 24,2003
SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES, New Delhi

A forceful Defence package
Aditya Sinha

A MONTHLY glossy magazine on national security patterned after the international respected Jane’s Defence Weekly, hit the news-stands this week. It’s called Force, and finally India can say it has a strategic affairs journal worth the name.

For it is a journal that combines in-depth reporting with critical analysis, a rarity in Indian defence reportage (which can at best be characterised as supine). It is aimed not just at the soldier or the scholar, but also the diplomat and the arms merchant. The articles are exhaustive, and some also have an archival value, which portends well for such a magazine.

The first issue, for instance, features as its cover story an article about the LoC. It is a 14-page tour de force, filled with boxes, graphics and colour photos, and explaining many unknown operational details: for instance, the recent freedom that local Commander are now being given from headquarters to take retaliatory action against the enemy.

Another notable story, the kind which most people clip and save, is about the army and air force’s dissatisfaction with Akash, and how it is headed for failure. In fact the story provided the back ground for the same story in the Sunday HT’s last issue, though the credit to Force was inadvertently edited out.

One article is of particular interest, simply because it breaks the mould of crusty issue that strategic affairs magazine restrict themselves to: it deals with the problems of poverty and poor education that Indian Muslims face. This is a refreshing example of a security expert thinking out of the Box.

Force also has columns by several experts, including former Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Jehangir Karmat. This is a coup. However, it can be argued that carrying a column by J. N. Dixit is not a sign of freshness by any measure. The same criticism can be made of the unimaginative articles written by former army spokespersons. Hopefully these lacunae will be rectified in the coming issues by an editorial staff headed by a former army major and a former army vice-chief.

September 8, 2003
DECCAN HERALD

New National Security Affairs magazine

The latest addition to the private publications on national security affairs is “Force”, which covers a broad range of issue from higher defence management, indigenous missile programme, military news and features, para-military matters, military aviation, naval affairs, border management, diplomacy, Pakistani and Indian perspectives.

Unlike government publication on national security that tend to project the government’s news and views, private publications enjoy higher credibility as they do not hesitate to be critical of the establishment.

The magazine hit the news-stands recently and aims to package news and views like the reputed British Publication Janes Defence series.