India’s Special Forces Remain Underdeveloped and Underequipped

India’s Special Forces Remain Underdeveloped and Underequipped
Indian air force Garud commandos during a drill, Ahmedabad, India, Jan. 17 2015 (photo by DeshGujarat).

Last month, Indian special operations forces conducted a brief raid into Myanmar looking for militants. In an email interview, Iskander Rehman, a nonresident fellow at the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council, discussed India’s special operations forces.

WPR: How developed are India’s special operations forces, and what are their principal capabilities?

Iskander Rehman: That’s a difficult question to answer, in part because some of India’s special operations forces (SOF) units may bear a closer resemblance to what Western military analysts would consider to be elite and/or specialized infantry than to special operators.

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