Using rocket launchers and submachine guns, suspected Somali pirates abducted 17 Indian and five Italian sailors after hijacking a large Italian-flagged oil tanker in the Indian Ocean.
"We talk about coming together in a constructive manner. That has been our (India's) theme always. India becoming the headmaster; that is never the intention. There are similar threats like piracy that affect all nations equally like the piracy off the Somalia coast... to that extent, yes," Verma told media persons in Port Blair when asked to comment on the US suggestion in this regard last week.
'Tensions and dialogue are likely to go hand-in-hand with China.' 'The goal should be to cultivate power so that one can negotiate from a position of strength.'
Modi is likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with the foreign leaders.
Sharif was the only prime minister from India's neighbourhood who wasn't invited to the swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi.
India on Wednesdy said there was no likelihood of tsunami tidal waves being formed anywhere in the Indian Ocean region after an earthquake of 8.9 magnitude hit waters off western coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia.
"After more than 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures as per the SOPs, the pirates on board the hijacked fishing vessel were forced to surrender. The crew, comprising 23 Pakistani nationals, have been safely rescued," the Indian Navy added.
Reports (not denied by India) that the USA had 'for the first time provided real-time details to their Indian counterparts on the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion' into Tawang at the LAC in December 2022, helping India thwart China's expansionist designs, show how operationally effective the USA-India friendship has become on the ground. A engaging excerpt from Sreeram Chaulia's must-read new book, Friends: India's Closest Strategic Partners.
Rear Admiral Sinha said that the western fleet is committed to keeping the Indian Ocean stable and free of piracy by cooperating with its maritime neighbours like Oman.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India attaches "paramount importance" to strengthening relations with countries in the Indian Ocean region, which is vital for its security and progress.
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said in Lok Sabha the Navy deployed its units in the Gulf of Aden and East coast of Africa towards anti-piracy patrols since 2008 and a total of 3,440 ships and over 25,000 seafarers have been "safely escorted".
India has expressed concern about the movement of the Xiang Yang Hong 03 vessel in Indian Ocean waters and also prevailed on Sri Lanka to refuse permission for the ship to dock at Colombo port.
Lieutenant Commanders Dilna K and Roopa A will remain at sea for 8 months. They will rely on wind power, do the repairs on the boat themselves and navigate some the world's most treacherous waters.
C Raja Mohan, Strategic Affairs Editor with the Indian Express, analyses the unfolding geopolitical change in the Indian Ocean and dwells at some length on the challenges that it poses for India's foreign and security policies.
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
China on Monday signed a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives to provide free military assistance to foster "stronger" bilateral ties with Male, weeks after President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his island nation.
The quake has hit the same place where a quake triggered the Asian tsunami on December 26.
China's PLA Navy has deployed a number of platforms including frontline warships and a submarine for the exercise from November 11 to 17.
A Chinese patrol ship searching the crashed Malaysian airliner on Saturday picked up a pulse signal from its black box detector in the southern Indian Ocean, China's official media reported, in a possible breakthrough in the nearly month-long multinational hunt for the jet.
A Yemeni jet with over 150 people on board crashed in the Indian Ocean, off the island nation of Comoros, officials said on Tuesday.Yemenia Flight 626 was on its way to Moroni, the capital of Comoros, from Yemen's capital Sanaa. According to officials from the national airline Yemenia, the plane crashed approximately an hour before reaching its destination. There was no news about the fate of the 154 people on board.
The Navy said on Friday that the safety of the crew held hostage by armed pirates was ascertained and the Indian Navy warship continued to maintain its presence in the close vicinity of the vessel till its arrival in the territorial waters of Somalia.
The prime minister had gone on a similar meditation exercise in a Kedarnath cave after the 2019 poll campaign.
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'India should respect Maldivian nationalism and their desire to be not over-dependent on India.' 'India should not behave like a big brother towards Maldives as many times, we tend to behave like that.'
Building relations in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi has gifted naval vessels to Mauritius, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, even as China eyes the same locales.
On the night of July 5, the Tigers launched their first kamikaze operation. Miller took the wheels of the explosive-packed truck, smiled at everyone as he turned the ignition key and drove it slowly towards the Sri Lankan military camp. A few moments later all of Jaffna heard a thunderous explosion that brought the complex crashing down in clouds of dust. Miller had given birth to a deadly tactic that Prabhakaran would employ time and again with devastating consequences to Sri Lanka -- and India. A fascinating excerpt from M R Narayan Swamy's must read new book, The Rout Of Prabhakaran.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu's party secured a 'supermajority' in Parliament by winning over 60 seats in Sunday's crucial parliamentary election, seen as a litmus test for the pro-Beijing politician whose policies are being closely watched by both India and China amidst regional power dynamics.
K L Rahul enjoyed the breathtaking views of the ocean at Cape Point with team-mates Shreyas Iyer and Shradul Thakur.
The last batch of Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives have been repatriated, confirmed Heena Waleed, President's Office Chief Spokesperson told Sun.mv news portal, without giving the number of Indian soldiers.
There was no immediate confirmation from India's defence ministry on the withdrawal of the first batch of Indian military personnel from the Maldives as reported by the media in Maldives.
Indian Navy's destroyer INS Kochi responded following the attack on the vessel, MV Andromeda Star, on April 26, officials said, adding all the crew members are safe.
A stampede of sports fans trying to enter Madagascar's national stadium for the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games killed 12 and injured around 80.
A strategist and a quintessential political leader with grassroots connect, Rajnath Singh is credited with expanding the Bharatiya Janata Party's organisational network in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s and the subsequent decades.
Light to moderate rain in many areas with heavy rain at isolated places is likely to occur in West Bengal's coastal districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur.
In the last few weeks, the Indian Navy has extended assistance to a number of merchant vessels in the Western Indian Ocean following attacks on them.
India has been worried about China's efforts to access the Indian Ocean because it has military implications. China has built a port in Sri Lanka. Its plans to lay a 1215-km long rail line connecting Kunming on China's border to Kyaukphyu in Myanmar is a matter of concern for New Delhi.
The total allocation to the defence sector is 12.9 per cent of the total budget of the government of India for the financial year 2024-25.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth are set to be invited to Modi's swearing-in ceremony.
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