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If there was ever a need, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India's damning reports on the depleted state of Indian military's readiness took the hot-air out of the myth of Pakistan Army specific 'Cold-Start Doctrine' (CSD). If CAG reports weren`t damaging enough, recent media reports of its feeble condition have made it the laughing stock. Rundown condition of the its legacy hardware has taken the sting out of its numerical superiority; a far cry from an aggressive strategy of the CSD. Some years ago, in an attempt to leverage its conventional superiority over Pakistan, the Indian Army announced a new offensive doctrine. The doctrine envisioned a quick mobilization of Indian strike formations without giving away battle indicators. In a 2004 military exercise, with a huge fanfare, live fire demonstrations and allot of ata-boy pats on their own backs, the doctrine was declared a complete success. In strategic terms, CSD was conceived to box the Indian civili...

Adm. Mike Mullen asked Pakistan for a guarantee that Pakistan Air Force will not respond to Indian surgical strikes. General Kayani is said to have responded with showing Mullen a photograph of an IAF Mirage-2000 locked by Pakistan Air Forces' F-16 taken on December 13. 'Next time, we'll bring it down' , Mullen was told. To make sure the message was loud and clear, Pakistan Air Force jets started patrolling the skies in hot mode and a red-alert was issued throughout the country. The Indian war rhetoric has failed to impress Pakistan. Instead, the focus is now shifting to Indian intelligence agencies' failure to put together credible evidence implicating Pakistan in the Mumbai attacks. It is best to win without fighting- Sun Tzu With India and Pakistan standing eyeball to eyeball, it was India that blinked first, with its media and officials admitting defeat on the diplomatic front. Times of India writes: "While the de-escalation should soothe the tense ...

Pakistan media is reporting that the country's military is on high alert over a possible strike by India's forces. Monday's reports come after a ratcheting up of tension between the two countries following attacks in Mumbai last month which killed 163 people. Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Pakistan, said the local media attributed its reports to military sources, who were confirming that all three armed forces including the navy, air force and army were on red alert. "The Pakistani air force have been seen visibly in a number of locations flying close to the Pakistani-India border in what is being described as an aggressive patrolling mode, following reports that India is planning pre-emptive strikes against locations in Pakistan. "Also chiefs of the three forces are right now meeting in what is being described as an emergency meeting in general headquarters in Rawalpindi," Hyder said. "Only after the meeting is over we would come to know...