The writer didn’t even have to go as far as talking about India’s state of unpreparedness (“MH370: India’s wake-up call,” March 20). Our defence equipment collection is in a terrible state going by the examples of the Sindhurakshak , Sindhuratna and Kolkata incidents. It is no secret that the Service chiefs at various points in time have expressed serious concern over the ageing defence equipment. The next government must pay attention to fine-tuning our defence preparedness.
S. Hemanth Kumar,Hyderabad
India has the disadvantage of being situated in proximity to what is being described as “the epicentre of global terrorism.” The Afghanistan-Pakistan border will always draw the attention of the West. India’s increasing relevance to the U.S. strategic canvas, its disturbed relationship with Pakistan, a deteriorating and volatile relationship with China, the unstable political climate in Nepal, a relationship of mistrust with Bangladesh, and a civil war ravaged and still-healing Sri Lanka are what pose the real challenges in any fair estimation of Indian preparedness. It is time we analysed the capabilities and interests of each of these players and assessed their influence on our strategic calculations.
Ramanathan Srinivasan,Chennai
