Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 2

 

Contemporary military and strategic issues like the Balakot air strikes and its impact, abrogation of Article 370 and the situation in Afghanistan are among the topics that will feature in the third edition of the Military Literature Festival (MLF), scheduled to be held at Chandigarh from December 13-15.

The event will be inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. At least two recently retired service chiefs, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa and Admiral Sunil Lanba, would be speaking at the MLF, Punjab government sources said. The festival is being organised by the Punjab Government and the Army’s Western Command.

While the former Air Chief is expected to deliberate on the strikes carried out by the IAF on terrorist camps at Balakot in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir earlier this year, a British historian of the Pakistan Air Force is expected to gives out perspective from the other side.

Congress politician and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah are among those who have been approached to speak on Kashmir-related issues such as Article 370, terrorism and economic revival.

Two notable sessions this year are on the impact and implications of jingoism and hyper-nationalism and on clandestine use of special e-tools such as Pegasus by intelligence agencies to infiltrate electronic gadgets to target individuals and garner information as part of cyber warfare operations and covert surveillance.

A total of 23 sessions on geopolitics, strategic issues, contemporary military thinking, foreign relations, history and past operations, future trends in warfare, internal security, intelligence and literature would be held during the three days that would see participation by serving and retired armed forces officers, diplomats, intelligence community, academia, security experts, and political leaders.

As a run-up to the MLF, a series of events such as shotgun shooting, golf and marathon  will be organsied in November and December.

To have 23 sessions on Geopolitics

• The Military Literature Festival is scheduled to be heldat Chandigarh from December 13 to 15. A total of 23sessions on geopolitics will be held during the three days
• Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa (retd) and Admiral Sunil Lanba (retd) will be speaking at the literature fest