Pentagon Press commences its 17th year with a flourish

Lamp lighting ceremony at the launch of the bookPentagon Press added yet another feather to its cap with the launch of a new book “Core Concerns in Indian Defence and the Imperatives for Reforms”. With this launch, Pentagon Press celebrated its 16th year in the publication industry since, its inception in 1999. The book launch, at India Habitat Centre, saw eminent people from the defence fraternity attending this gala event. The book has been edited by Vinod Mishra, ex- secretary (defence finance), Ministry of Defence.

The book seeks to put together the perceptions, views and recommendations of a host of past practitioners at the highest level from the civil and military bureaucracy who have had some unmatched insights into the complex world of Indian Defence and its decision-making structures and processes. It contains comprehensive articles on how to strengthen India’s defence and industrial base, providing suggestions on the Arms Trade Offset: Global Trend and ‘Best Practices’. It also calls for an oversight in the defence sector and the need to ensure operational preparedness of the Armed Forces together with a comprehensive piece on India’s security environment and its impact on India’s defence which gives “the country no choice but to build up a robust defence capability with self-reliance as our goal”. This is also tangentially keeping in mind the vision of our Prime Minister’s pet project, Make in India, which would be further elaborated. The book launch was followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘Strategic Self-Reliance in Defence’. The panel discussion was chaired by Air Chief Marshal (Retd) S Krishnaswamy, and the panelists were Lt Gen (Retd) A Hasnain, Dr RK Tyagi, Dr Manoj Joshi, Dr Sivathanu Pillai and Vinod Misra.

Speaking on the occasion, Vinod Misra said, ‘The dynamics of international relations is changing fast. We cannot change our neighbours but certainly we need our Armed Forces to have operational preparedness. We have to be ready for any eventuality and strike fast at the right core.’

Rajan Arya, CEO, Pentagon Press, said, “It is indeed a very joyous moment as we have completed successful 15 years. Throughout this journey, Pentagon Press has embraced diversified themes of writing which has benefited all our readers in terms of information sharing. We would also like to thank all our authors who have constantly shared their experiences and put their faith in this exciting journey.’