The four-day joint Naval exercise 'MALABAR 2013' in the Bay of Bengal between the United States and India, providing an opportunity to advance multinational maritime relationship and mutual security issues, began on Thursday.
The meeting is taking place under the shadow of a fierce border row between India and China, both members of the influential bloc.
This was the first major request of arms sale purchase by India after Obama designated New Delhi as a major 'strategic defence partner'.
The onus today is on China, but it also requires a little diplomatic finesse from India, backed by a modernised armed force, argues BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in this excerpt from his new book, Himalayan Challenge: India, China And The Quest For Peace.
'We've never really been in the situation of having a difficult time with the Chinese and an increasingly difficult time with the Russians along with a relationship with the Americans which is important.'
The navies of India, the US, Japan and Australia on Tuesday held a series of complex manoeuvres in the Bay of Bengal, kick-starting the four-day-long first phase of the Malabar naval exercise, seen as a prelude to future military cooperation among the member nations of the Quad or Quadrilateral Coalition.
The billions India invested in dams, schools, etc in Afghanistan will be gone. The Hindu and Sikh population of Afghanistan has already shrunk from some 200,000 to about 500, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
The second phase of the mega exercise is scheduled to be held from November 17 to 20 in the Arabian sea.
'As far as acquisition of Russian equipment is concerned, with about 70% of Indian military equipment being of Russian origin, a sudden decision to abandon imports from Russia is not feasible,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Anurag Kashyap's classic Black Friday is a must watch film.
The search for the missing Malaysian aircraft may take "decades" as its wreckage could be spread over a big area in the Indian Ocean, a top Malaysia Airlines official said, while criticising the government for not informing them about the air turn back made by the jet.
A yet-to-be-released US Department of Defence report has found that the Indian Navy's expensive new Boeing P-8I multi-mission maritime aircraft ineffective at surveillance and detection and destruction of submarines.
A yet-to-be-released US Department of Defence report has found that the Indian Navy's expensive new Boeing P-8I multi-mission maritime aircraft ineffective at surveillance and detection and destruction of submarines.
'If the Chinese intent is to be gauged based on its aggression in the South China Sea, greater forays in the Indian Ocean, a hawk's attitude towards Taiwan, flying its fighters repeatedly over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea and creating strategic assets globally, there would be a requirement for strategic partnerships for India,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
