Amit Cowshish

Defence of India is a multi-dimensional responsibility involving coordination with not only organisations within MoD, but also several external departments and agencies. Irrespective of whether the subject of defence of India is assigned to DoD or DMA, it is the defence minister who is responsible for the subjects allocated to the ministry.

• Amit Cowshish |
• July 22, 2021 |
• IDSA Comments

There is a need to formulate a composite policy that focuses on indigenisation in high priority technology areas, shedding the notion that it must necessarily result in savings. A more modest and focussed mission-mode approach to indigenisation can produce better results.

• Amit Cowshish |
• July 09, 2021 |
• IDSA Comments

More than seven decades after Pakistan’s creation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah continues to captivate both his critics and admirers. While the former excoriate him for exploiting religion to achieve his goal, the latter hail him as the Qaid-e-Azam (Great Leader) who single-handedly secured a homeland for the Muslims of British India.

• Amit Cowshish |
• May 2021 |
• Strategic Analysis

The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020), which supersedes the Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 (DPP 2016), is a sincere effort by the Ministry of Defence to improve the capital procurement procedure.

• Amit Cowshish |
• November 20, 2020 |
• Issue Brief

The OCPP is a mix of revenue and capital procurement procedures, based on the Defence Procurement Manual 2006. It could have been an opportunity to lay down a more self-contained procedure.

• Amit Cowshish |
• October 23, 2020 |
• IDSA Comments

Raising the FDI limit by itself may not enthuse the foreign investors as per the expectations. To make the defence sector more attractive for foreign investment, a whole lot of other related issues will have to be addressed by the government.

• Amit Cowshish |
• September 14, 2020 |
• IDSA Comments

It would be helpful if MoD issues a formal order addressing the concerns expressed by various stakeholders about certain aspects of the negative list, especially its impact on projects that involve foreign OEMs and the purpose of bifurcating the capital budget.

• Amit Cowshish |
• August 14, 2020 |
• IDSA Comments

The changes proposed in the offset guidelines require a fresh look, both on conceptual and empirical grounds, as the new regime is likely to yield diminishing returns.

• Amit Cowshish |
• August 07, 2020 |
• IDSA Comments

Finetuning negotiation protocols and limiting the scope of negotiations could result in rapid conclusion of negotiations and contract finalisation.

• Amit Cowshish |
• June 19, 2020 |
• IDSA Comments

Although the new measures announced to fast-track the defence sector are significant, they do not add up to a comprehensive and overarching reforms package.

• Amit Cowshish |
• May 20, 2020 |
• IDSA Comments