"Sidhu could not manage a thing. I know him very well. Don't think that he is some sort of magic word for Punjab. He is going to be a disaster," he said.
India should remember that Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations will remain special due, not least, to bonds of all Muslims with The Holy Land. They would also be strategic enough, irrespective of whether the ambassador is a military man or a career civilian appointee., notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Army chief General M M Naravane on Tuesday hoped for an amicable resolution of the military standoff with China in Ladakh through talks based on 'mutual and equal security' even as he said India will have to be prepared to deal with a 'two-front' threat scenario due to the potent and collusive threat from China and Pakistan.
The Army chief said the nation is passing through a challenging period.
Army chief General Bipin Rawat has already been given the Z-plus security.
Usually, the army chief sends three names for the coveted slot and the prime minister has the authority to pick any one of them, the report added.
Hitting back at Union minister and former Army chief General VK Singh's 'jobless' jibe, former information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari on Monday said that by God's grace, he had much more work to do than a minister of state.
The Army Chief was in Ladakh on a two-day visit from June 23 to take stock of the situation.
'Putting tanks on the Ladakh border is not enough to combat China, what is needed to ensure resilience against any cyber-attacks or attacks in outer space or China flexing its economic muscle, as it did with Australia.'
Lt Gen PGK Menon, the commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, popularly known as 'Fire and Fury' Corps, briefed the army chief on various aspects of the situation in eastern Ladakh.
20 defence ministry reforms 'is a reflection of the resolve of the government to make the defence sector stronger and more efficient.'
While the Gandhi siblings have had their way with Amarinder Singh's ouster, the future of the party under the temperamental Navjot Sidhu's leadership is uncertain, reports Sai Manish.
Vicky and Yami also met the President and the NSA at General Rawat's home.
The apex court gave a month-long deadline to the government to determine the responsibility for security failure in the horrific attack in which 147 people, 132 of them children, were killed when Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants stormed the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar.
He said a different kind of radicalisation was being witnessed in India and in Jammu and Kashmir.
'Beyond the 'sir' and the 'salute', there was a man who cared about his soldiers and that's what made him a great leader.' Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's grandson Jehan remembers the man who was the soldier's soldier.
AQ Khan, a controversial scientist known as the father of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear programme, passed away here on Sunday after a brief illness. He was 85.
General Naravane said that operational readiness and modernisation will be among the top priorities of the army under his leadership.
With General Naravane taking charge, all three services chiefs, including navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and the Indian Air Force's Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, are now from the 56th course of the National Defence Academy.
In an address to the air warriors on the occasion of the 89th Air Force Day, the Chief of Air Staff also said that the IAF must demonstrate to the nation that external forces will not be allowed to violate its territory.
The army chief deflected a question about whether there was tension along the Line of Control, saying people were facing trouble because of Tuesday's earthquake in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Gen Naravane also said the Army will enhance combat capabilities along the border with China so that it is fully prepared to deal with any security challenge.
'It is for the first time in about five or six years that the LoC has been silent. That really bodes well for the future'
Though Bajwa met Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Arabia's military chief of staff General Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili, he failed to meet the crown prince.
General Bajwa remains in command as army chief and Prime Minister Imran Khan did not play any role in the reshuffle, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
"When we have something to share, we will share. Discussions are ongoing," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said replying to a volley of questions on whether India and China are working on specific proposals to resolve the over six-month-long row in eastern Ladakh.
The disengagement plan was discussed between the two sides during the 8th Corps Commander-level talks which were held on November 6 in Chushul.
Pakistan's army chief General Raheel Sharif will visit Afghanistan tomorrow to meet the new leaders there and discuss security issues, including the thorny one of Pakistani Taliban militants hiding there.
At the glacier, Rajnath Singh would be briefed about the operations being conducted by the army, along with the support of air efforts by the Indian Air Force.
India is observing the sixteenth anniversary of the Kargil War this week.
The US and others have long complained that Pakistan provides safe haven to the Afghan Taliban and their allies, the Haqqani network.
General Bajwa gets inputs from his senior officers, but he has the final word, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
'The PLA will not voluntarily withdraw from Indian territory.'
The Indian Army also deployed an additional brigade from the northeastern region in Kashmir to strengthen its counter-infiltration grid on the Line of Control.
Given all the turbulence created by Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi's unexpected tirade against Saudi Arabia, it is likely to be business as usual between the two countries, albeit with a bit of caution on the part of both, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Gen Naravane said India is dealing with China in a "firm" and "non-escalatory" manner to ensure the sanctity of its claims in eastern Ladakh, and that it was even open to initiating confidence-building measures.
Through the past 18-month period, peace has prevailed in the disputed border regions, which was immensely helpful in the difficult situation that the country was passing through, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Army chief General Bipin Rawat had visited Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday to review the operational preparedness of the troops deployed in the state.
Deputy superintendent of police Amanullah was among the 15 people killed in the incident
The Navy Day is celebrated every year to recall the contribution of the force during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.
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