'There will be much for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to discuss including growing Chinese military cooperation with Pakistan, which heralds a new attempt by China and Pakistan to neutralise India's influence in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy.
Another crucial power group, the US legislative Congress, is increasing pressure for closer ties between Washington and New Delhi.
General Mattis has been the most steadfast champion in Trump's cabinet of the US-India defence relationship. If Trump chooses a more pliable successor, the Pentagon's attention could go off India.
India announced its intention to acquire S-400 'Triumf' surface-to-air missile systems in 2015. The contract worth $5.43 billion was signed during the visit of President Putin to India last year.
Pakistan is once again becoming a frontline State in big-power rivalry. But this time around, Pakistan stands to gain out of its geography, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Amid China's growing assertiveness in South China Sea, India, Japan and the US at their first ever trilateral ministerial dialogue in New York.
'India would not like to see Pakistani domination and tutelage of Afghanistan against Indian security and economic interests.'
The highly-anticipated summit, which began early Tuesday, is the third engagement between Xi, 68, and Biden, 78, since February.
There is growing alarm at the inexorable rise of China, both of its military prowess and its aggressive bullying of other countries plus its subjugation of whole portions of its own population.
In addition to the attack helicopters, the contract also includes fire control radars; Hellfire Longbow missiles; stinger Block I-92H missiles; night vision sensors and inertial navigation systems.
"Rafale's induction in the air force is an important and historical moment and it is a matter of pride for us to be witness to this moment. I congratulate the Armed Forces, and all countrymen on this occasion. The induction of Rafale in IAF's fleet shows the strong relations between India and France. India and France have been economic, cultural and strategic partners since long. Our faith in strong democracy and a wish for world peace are the basis of our relation," Singh said at the induction ceremony being held at the IAF airbase in Ambala.
Biden said that 100 days since he took the oath of office on January 20 and inherited the worst pandemic in a century and the worst economic crisis in a decade, America is on the move again, turning peril into possibility, crisis into opportunity and setback into strength.
'Movement of naval forces at sea is often more than just perfunctory deployment -- reading the messages that they send is important,' alerts Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'From the Indian perspective, Trump's invitation to Imran Khan to visit the White House is a bitter pill to swallow,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Indian Navy has deployed a range of its frontline warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean region to send a clear message to China following the escalation of the border dispute in eastern Ladakh.
The stagnation in US-Russia relations does not augur well for New Delhi's strategic interests, says Harsh V Pant and Raj Kumar Sharma.
"CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) territorial aggression is also apparent on its Indian border where China has attempted to seize control of the Line of Actual Control by force," US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said in a remark on China early this week in Utah.
World leaders said they were looking forward to working with Joe Biden, as they welcomed the 46th President of the United States with praise and took parting shots at his predecessor Donald Trump.
Earlier, Modi met Jinping seperately and the two leaders concurred there had been a perceptible improvement in bilateral relations.
The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach involving the Army, the Indian Air Force and the Navy as well as diplomacy and economic measures to send out a firm and clear message to China that its misadventure in eastern Ladakh was not acceptable at all.
'While economic ties are making incremental progress, it is in the security and strategic domains that the India-Japan synergy is more compelling,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
'The potential of one such LAC engagement going out of control and leading to heavy casualties cannot be ruled out,' warns Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Hydrography (underwater geography) prevents the Indian Navy for opting for an all-conventional, or all-nuclear submarine fleet.
But why should India be talking to the Taliban in the first place? There is no love lost there. India will never forget or forgive the humiliation to which the Taliban subjected it in the IC-814 hijack, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The Indian version is that the two top diplomats merely exchanged pleasantries, while the Pakistani side characterised the encounter as an 'informal dialogue'.' 'The truth, as always in such piquant situations, is somewhere in between.' 'It stands to reason that ice has been broken,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It is entirely conceivable that Modi began realising at some point that it will be a liability for India if he is seen as Trump's fellow traveller, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
America had postponed the much-awaited dialogue due to "unavoidable reasons" last month.
So far the coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 54 million people around the world and killed over 1.3 million others.
Irrespective of the outcome of Tuesday's keenly-contested US presidential election, America's strategic relationship with India is expected to maintain the current momentum and strengthen further, policy documents and remarks from the two campaigns indicate.
MH-60 Romeo Seahawks would add lethal capabilities of the Indian Navy, which experts say is the need of the hour given the aggressive behaviour of China in the Indian Ocean region.
Modi hailed the close defence cooperation between the two countries and welcomed the completion of the logistics agreement between the two navies.
'The Vladivostok visit marks a subtle reversal of trend discernible in the revival of India-Russia relations pioneered by Modi during the past couple of years,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
There is no conceivable reason for any big power to put road blocks on the path of an India-Pakistan normalisation process, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US hopes that the differences will be resolved peacefully, officials said in Washington.
Speaking at a seminar in New Delhi, Madhav stressed that culture and religion have been the major aspect of ties between India and Southeast Asia
The two sides held discussions on enhancing investment in technology, renewable energy and food security.
Ever pragmatic, the Americans are convinced that the future is in the Indo-Pacific.
There is a new Indo-Pacific century, and India has to decide whether it has its eyes on the prize, says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Snooping is one of the oldest peccadilloes of man, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Three naval ships of China's Nanhai Fleet left a naval port in Sanya, Hainan Province on Wednesday, kicking off an annual combat drill in the South China Sea, East Indian Ocean and West Pacific, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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