With Army Chief Gen V K Singh highlighting shortage of equipment, the defence ministry on Monday appeared to be fast-tracking decision-making as it approved a plan for development of capabilities and effected a major change in offset policy by including transfer-of-technology.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to work towards a 'trusted' partnership with a focus on boosting India-US cooperation in areas of trade, energy and defence in their first phone conversation since the American leader's inauguration last week.
Parrikar had moved to the South Block at the insistence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2014.
Sources said of the 13,700 crore, Rs 8,300 crore will be for procuring 118 Arjun (Mk-1A).
Over seven years after an IAF AN-32 aircraft went missing in 2016, scientists at the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) stumbled upon its debris when they were testing the instruments of their newly-acquired autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for seabed mapping in December.
Coming down hard on the government for meagre increase in allocation for armed forces in the last few years, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence said the outlay cannot even fulfill the basic requirements of the armed forces.
The three-day DPG meet will discuss future activities and look at threat perception on a conceptual level.
Bangladesh has summoned the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka over border tensions, accusing India of violating a bilateral agreement by constructing fences at five locations along the Indo-Bangla border. The development comes after Bangladesh officials alleged that India had halted construction of barbed wire fencing due to strong opposition from the Border Guard Bangladesh and local residents.
Sources close to the development said the Tata group had registered revenues of around Rs 1,100 crore from the defence sector in 2006.
That would result in the military under-spending about Rs 80,000 crore over the financial year.
Afghan Taliban forces fired on multiple Pakistani border posts in the Upper Kurram district, killing one Frontier Constabulary (FC) soldier and injuring 11 others. The incident came after Pakistan targeted terrorist positions in Afghanistan to punish the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) militants. Pakistani forces retaliated, inflicting heavy casualties on the Afghan side.
The Russian defence ministry on Wednesday said its armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of Indian citizens from the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has concluded his visit to France, which included co-chairing an AI summit and bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. He is now headed to the US for a bilateral meeting with President Trump. Modi's visit to France included discussions on trade, defense, energy, and cultural linkages. He also inaugurated India's new consulate in Marseille. During his visit to the US, Modi will also interact with business leaders and members of the Indian community.
India on Tuesday pressed Russia to release all the Indians recruited by the Russian military, following the death of another Indian national in the Russia-Ukraine conflict zone, taking the death toll to 10.
The ministry had spent 82 per cent of that amount till the start of this month.
