United States Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin arrived in India on Friday on a three-day visit, aimed at further boosting bilateral defence and security ties in the wake of China's growing military assertiveness in the region including the Indo-Pacific.
Besides the border question, India and China discussed issues related to counterterrorism including Beijing's blocking of India's bid in the United Nations to ban Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said on Thursday.
The talks took place over video call on Sunday. According to sources, talks were held for over two hours in a cordial and forward-looking manner.
The meeting came in the backdrop of recent developments in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday issued an advisory to Amarnath yatris and tourists asking them to curtail their stay in the Valley, citing security concerns after the Indian Army said that Pakistani terrorists are planning to disrupt the pilgrimage.
NSA Ajit Doval on Thursday told young police officers heading the district force to be "credible and fair" and warned them that if they fail, democracy would also fail. During his lecture, organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) under the Union home ministry, Doval laid special emphasis on police and policing and asked the new officers to ensure that the man in 'khaki' is seen as fair by a common person. The comments from the National Security Advisor (NSA) assume significance in the wake of the recent riots in Northeast Delhi where the role and effectiveness of the police in controlling the violence have been questioned.
Doval's visit was 'part of regular high-level engagements between India and China', an Indian Embassy press release in Beijing said.
Six months after coming to power, the National Democratic Alliance government on Monday named National Security Adviser Ajit Doval as its special representative on boundary talks with China, paving the way for the dialogue to resume at this level.
The article claimed that Vivek Doval was running a hedge fund whose promoters are of dubious antecedents.
As Finer wrapped up his high-profile visit to India, the White House said Finer 'acknowledged' India's establishment of a committee of enquiry to investigate the 'lethal plotting' and underlined the need for holding accountable those responsible.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday had a meeting with Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava, ahead of the 'chakka jam' announced by farmer unions protesting against the three agri laws at Delhi's borders, sources said.
Indian officials said Doval's visit will be rescheduled as he is preoccupied with the handling of the Pathankot incident.
Presence of terror safe havens in Pakistan, aggressive Chinese behaviour and the Afghanistan situation dominated last month's meeting between James Mattis and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval
Doval will meet US Defence Secretary James Mattis on March 24, Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis told reporters, adding that they are likely to discuss a wide range of bilateral security issues and those related to the defence relationship.
Defence is at the heart of the India-United relationship, so it is interesting that General Lloyd Austin, the US secretary for defense, was not among the officials present when Joe Biden met Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi for their first meeting since Biden became president in January.
China and India should put their differences on the border issue at a "proper position" in bilateral relations and stick to the "right direction" of bilateral ties, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.
Abdollahian, who is on his first visit to India since he assumed office last year, raised the issue of the controversial remarks, made by two former Bharatiya Janata Party spokespersons, in his meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in the national capital on Wednesday.
'They are both very individualistic and have similar personalities.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday directed officials to ensure safe evacuation of all Indian citizens from Afghanistan and to provide refuge to Sikhs and Hindus wanting to come to India from there, as he chaired a crucial high-level meeting in the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country, sources said.
He highlighted how the ministry of foreign affairs of People's Republic of China in its statement made a mention of the Galwan Valley, but the Indian external affairs ministry did not do so.
Mishra and Doval hold the rank of a Cabinet minister.
Facing threat of terror attacks, the home ministry has ordered security audit of nearly 100 civil airports and decided to bring all such facilities under the Central Industrial Security Force cover gradually.
Gen Rawat is due for retirement on December 31 and top government sources said, if everything goes according to plan, then the government would name him as the country's first CDS before he hangs up his boots.
The Congress accused the BJP and a section of media of deliberately twisting Gandhi's remarks.
The military brass is learnt to have apprised Modi about the evolving situation in eastern Ladakh, though officials maintained that the agenda of the pre-scheduled meeting was to discuss the ambitious military reforms and ways to boost India's combat prowess.
Senior commanders of the two armies held intense negotiations for nearly 11 hours on Sunday at a designated meeting point in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also asked the RBI to make public details of FDI inflows from Cayman islands since demonetisation.
'China has forcibly occupied territory it had never occupied before, blocked Indian patrols' access to areas they had patrolled for decades and, most provocatively, killed 20 Indian soldiers.' 'Most countries would regard these as acts of war.' 'New Delhi has apparently taken off the table the option of evicting the PLA with force,' observes Ajai Shukla.
'NSA Doval and the PM are known to admire Israel's tough response to cross-border terrorism.' 'However, New Delhi's situation is far more complex than Tel Aviv's, which enjoys military superiority over all its neighbours,' says Ajai Shukla.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday assured the Centre of all cooperation to fight terrorism and promised to work together, as the country's security and intelligence chiefs including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval discussed with her the Burdwan blast case.
'If one is saying the Modi government makes me feel insecure or will put me in jail if I say anything against him, do not worry, as he won't do any such thing.'
This is the first time since the Pathankot terror attack that the country's top security czar has spoken about India's strategy in dealing with terror, says Rajeev Sharma.
Prime Minister Modi felt there were too many silos with no arrangement to take a comprehensive view on national security. The PM has entrusted NSA Ajit Doval to evolve a comprehensive roadmap and get it implemented, reveals Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief, Strategic News International.
NSA Doval, defence top brass brief Union ministers on the deal to help them counter Opposition charges.
'The Chinese media was beside itself with rage that how can a country with one-fifth of its economic power and maybe one-third of its military power stand up to them.'
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