Trump's one-on-one meetings with Putin during his first term were clouded with mystery. With only a translator inside the room, it was often unclear what exactly was discussed. Aides had a difficult time ascertaining if the two reached any agreements. After one such meeting, in Germany, Trump asked his interpreter to discard his notes.
Trump stated that Russia will face "severe economic consequences" if Putin doesn't show interest in de-escalating the Ukraine conflict.
Nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed States, including India and Pakistan, continued intensive nuclear modernisation programmes in 2024, upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions, according to a report by a global think-tank.
Beijing's latest weapon, 15 times more powerful than TNT, signals a new frontier in high-impact, non-nuclear military technology.
How history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. The era of arms control is back. It was indeed tragic that all the arms control pacts between the United States and the former Soviet Union could not prevent the qualitative and quantitative improvements in the nuclear arsenals of the two super powers during the Cold War. And what is now being attempted by the two sides almost verges on the farcical, notes Harsh V Pant.
A nonproliferation hawk, who vehemently opposed the US-India civilian nuclear deal, former Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher will take over as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
The Ukrainian Air Force on Thursday said that Russia launched a massive missile attack on the city of Dnipro, involving intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
India also said the deal is a significant departure from orthodoxy and is critical to see what was within and without of the agreed framework.
'The Indian gung-ho leadership may like to think about it, there should never ever be a doubt in anyone's mind, friend or foe, that Pakistan's operationally ready nuclear capability enables every Pakistani leader the liberty, the dignity and the courage to look straight into the Indian eye and never blink.'
Security agencies at Mumbai's Nhava Sheva port intercepted and seized the consignment of a Karachi-bound ship from China after it was found carrying a dual-use consignment with implications for Pakistan's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
The increase in India's military spending was "mainly a result of growing personnel and operations costs" which made up almost 80 percent of the total military budget in 2023, the SIPRI report claimed.
The customs officials, based on an intelligence input, halted a Malta-flagged merchant ship -- CMA CGM Attila -- at the port en route to Karachi on January 23 and inspected the consignment, which included a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine, originally manufactured by an Italian company.
India spends significantly less on defence than could be expected from a country that faces simultaneous armed threats from two hostile neighbours -- China and Pakistan.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday monitored drills of the country's strategic nuclear forces involving multiple practice launches of ballistic and cruise missiles, the Kremlin said.
The foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation have supported Pakistan's call for a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the accidental firing of a projectile into the country from India earlier this month.
The nine nuclear-armed states -- the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) -- together possessed an estimated 13,080 nuclear weapons at the start of 2021.
The US is alarmed and appalled by reports of security authorities responding to university students' peaceful protests with violence and mass arrests.
According to the report, Russia tops the table with 6,375 warheads, followed by the United States with 5,800, and the United Kingdom with 215 warheads.
'It would be a huge mistake to think that Gorbachev's reforms did not achieve anything.' 'We all live in the world, which is in many respects a result of Glasnost and Perestroika.'
Declaring that they consider the avoidance of war between Nuclear-Weapon States and the reduction of strategic risks as their foremost responsibilities, the leaders of the five countries in a joint statement said, "we affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."
India and the US signed a historic agreement to cooperate in civil nuclear energy sector in October 2008.
The report said uncertainty caused by late legal challenges and evidence-deficient claim about election fraud created confusion and concern among election officials and voters.
'We should give (Mueller) credit. In general, he conducted an objective probe and confirmed the absence of any traces and collusion between Russia and the current administration'
In the test, a space rocket boosted a hypersonic glide vehicle, one capable of carrying a nuclear device, which circled the globe before impacting.
The 119 nearly identical construction sites, that could potentially house powerful weapons capable of reaching the American mainland, are similar to those seen at existing launch facilities for China's arsenal of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, the report said.
Pakistan is believed to have 140-150 nuclear warheads this year, 10 more than last year. In contrast, India is said to have 130-140 nuclear warheads, according to the annual nuclear forces data by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Both statesmen possess a cultivated pugnacious style which they keep in reserve and can at will bring into play, and despite the mutual distrust in Russian-American relations, they are proponents of detente, quintessentially, who take their mission deadly seriously, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Russia on Wednesday threatened to walk out of all nuclear arms control pacts over deployment of the European missile shield close to its borders and warned it was prepared to deploy its own missiles on its borders with Europe to counter the American move.
The IAF had said that during the aerial engagement on February 27, one of its MiG-21 Bison shot down a F-16.
The United States has sold British nuclear secrets as a 'bargaining chip' to persuade Russia to sign the key arms control treaty, the latest secret US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks has revealed.US President Barack Obama will sign the deal next week, allowing Moscow to receive information about Britain's Trident missiles, which are manufactured and maintained in America. The paper quoted the cables as saying that the arms control deal could undermine Britain's policy
"The Russian and US presidents will direct their respective delegations to speed up talks on a new arms control agreement," a Kremlin release issued late on Wednesday said after telephonic conversation of the leaders of world's largest nuclear stockpiles holders.
The proposed India-United States nuclear agreement provides undefined India-specific safeguards and fails to explicitly state whether the US nuclear trade will terminate if India conducts a nuclear test.
The strategy, President Donald Trump said, is tailored and flexible to address the wide array of threats in the 21st century.
'It's a threat to whoever you want, and it includes China, and it includes Russia and it includes anybody else that wants to play that game. You can't do that. You can't play that game on me'
Some Chinese scholars wondered why India is not taking any initiative to join NPT and which will open up more options for the nation on the nuclear front.
'Most of the US-based nonproliferation and disarmament community is deeply concerned about the deal because it implicitly endorses, if not indirectly benefits, the nuclear weapons program of another state, albeit one that is friendly to the US'
United States president-elect Donald Trump's tweet for strengthening and expansion of country's nuclear arsenal is indicating a major policy change as against the Obama Administration which had pushed for reduction and ultimately elimination of nuclear weapons.
Rhodes remarks on India came in response to a question about why some countries like China are opposing India's membership in the 48-member NSG.
'There will not be a consensus to treat India separately from everybody else,' says security expert Michael Krepon.
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