Indian Defence Review
Indian Defence Review (IDR), the brainchild of former captain of the Indian Army, was launched on January 1, 1986 as a logical continuum to Lancer established in 1979, the first Indian publishing house dedicated to put forward the military experience and point of view.
Under the professional stewardship of its first two editors, Lt Gen Mathew Thomas (1986) and Maj Gen Afsir Karim (1993), both distinguished paratroopers, IDR began public engagement and national debate on military and security issues, which received immediate attention of the defence establishment, policy makers and national leadership in India.
Continuing in this strong tradition and creating a niche, IDR publisher and its third editor, Capt Bharat Verma (1998), succeeded in placing the national security challenges “front and centre” of the public debate. The reigns of this reputed Journal have passed into the hands of Lt Gen JS Bajwa (Retired) consequent to the sad and untimely demise of Capt Bharat Verma in July 2014.
With the launch of web version of the Journal, www.indiandefencereview.com in 2006, IDR became India’s preeminent public publication on foreign policy and national security issues.
The result of the spade work done by these three military officers in the private sector, for the first time brought the concerns of national security issues through a private forum in independent India to the national centre-stage.
IDR remains a highly reliable, unbiased and unique source for government and defence officials, strategic planners, analysts, journalists and the general public on contemporary geo-political and geo-strategic issues presented by cerebral professionals.
In addition, IDR extensively covers foreign policy, aerospace trends, naval affairs, army force development, and internal security and the defence industry. The Journal is a trusted, independent and comprehensive source of critical information and insight that is necessary for public debate and civil discourse on matters related to India’s sovereignty, national integrity, security and defence. When important national security and defence issues arise, IDR is not only part of the conversation but also shapes the national debate.
IDR brings together leading experts (military, government and academia) who provide the highest quality of well considered, timely and authoritative expert analysis of current national and international events, emerging trends relating to security and defence, historical analysis and strategic forecasting and offer realistic, practical and pragmatic solutions and policy options that help address security and defence challenges impacting India.
IDR writers have made deep inroads into national security and defence debate once considered to be the preserve of the establishment in New Delhi, which in the past only relied and depended on analysis imported from foreign publications.
IDR, the country’s premium and most prestigious journal, won accolades including “India’s best known military publication” and “the most impressive, useful and independent publication” and remains the “most quoted”. Considered a ‘policy making journal,’ IDR is recommended reading by the Army, Navy, and the Air Force headquarters for officers.
Today, IDR is acknowledged as one of the top journals in the defence sector, is available in “print” as well as “on-line” and interacts with the social media.