The activation of diplomatic channels is likely to yield better results than a simmering hostility, recommends Ajai Shukla.
To mark Prime Minister Modi's seventh meeting with Obama and his historic joint address to US Congress -- the sixth Indian PM to do so -- India Abroad, the newspaper published from New York and owned by rediff.com, reached out to diplomats and strategic thinkers in New Delhi and Washington, DC, to assess the current state of the US-India relationship and suggest a road map for the future.
Despite pending payments of over Rs 20,000 crore, HAL revenue grew 6% against the previous year.
This will be the first instance since Independence that two of the three service chiefs will be the government's chosen men.
This is causing a shortfall of critical ammunition within the army at a time when the MoD is making emergency purchases from the global arms market to cater for a possible clash with China.
His background as an Indian Institute of Technology graduate and as a chief minister with an excellent track record as an administrator equipped him to initiate defence industry and policy reforms that are only now beginning to bear fruit.
Defence already accounts for one-third of the national capital spend, the government says.
The INS Chakra III will be ideal for 'sea denial' missions, in which the submarine denies the enemy the use of the sea.
HAL is poised to sell the Philippines at least seven Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters and eight Dornier 228 aircraft for Rs 30 billion, reports Ajai Shukla.
'The enemy knows he cannot defeat us in a conventional conflict. So today we showcase our ability to punish, our ability to insert and extricate our troops from hostile territories.'
Sukhoi-30MKI fighters will be based in Thanjavur. Tejas Mark 1 aircraft will be based in Sulur. The Rafale squadron will be based in Ambala.
Commander Abhilash Tomy of the Indian Navy will set sail from France on the 30,000-mile Golden Globe Race only with a compass, printed maps, star and planetary movements and 140 litres of fuel.
Landing on an aircraft carrier deck is the ultimate and most daunting challenge for a fighter pilot. This takes India into a select group of nations -- the US, the UK, Russia, France, and China -- that have developed such jets.
'The future is about autonomy and tanking.'
The greatest unknown in this risky initiative lies in the way human relationships will play out -- not just between the Agniveers, who will be competing with their fellows for permanent jobs beyond their four-year tenures -- but also between the Agniveers and existing full-time soldiers, warns Ajai Shukla.
Building 6 conventional submarines is one of the Indian Navy's most important weapon construction programmes.
General Bajwa, unlike many of his predecessors, believes the Pakistan army's long-term interests lie in reducing tensions with India, reports Ajai Shukla.
New Delhi sought a sovereign guarantee to prevent Paris from ever citing the Arms Trade Treaty to interrupt, modify or cease delivery of the Rafale fighter at any stage.
Exercise Tiger Triumph -- a full-scale, tri-service beach landing operation -- is a capability India is seeking to build.
DRDO is offering a 30-35-tonne light tank that it says will be a match for what the army faces -- China's new Type-15 light tank.
Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria's plan includes building 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft in quick time to fill the light fighter vacancies left by the retirement of MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters.
New Delhi's regional partners in restraining a belligerent China -- primarily the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore -- would like the Indian Navy to lock down the Indian Ocean Region, while the other partners can focus on deterring the PLA (navy) in the South China Sea, explains Ajai Shukla.
Within the army, there is growing concern that New Delhi will allow the Chinese to retain the territory they have occupied in the last month.
These next generation ships can patrol the oceans for three or four months compared to the navy's current patrol boats, which can be at sea for a maximum of 45 days.
India joins exclusive club of US, Europe, Russia and China.
Given the military's requirement for watertight cyber and communications security, L&T will establish a Security Operations Centre which will deal with security threats.
Most of the scanty 6.35% rise in the defence budget is accounted for by manpower and running expenses.
Rather than going through the tedious, hit-or-miss process of physically designing hull forms and superstructures for warships and then determining how visible they are to radar, the company will simulate this process on supercomputers.
The military is 'totally prepared to stand up to the demands made by the government and the people.'
The LCH can provide our soldiers fire support in 15,000-16,000 feet-high contested areas like Depsang, Galwan and the heights north and south of the Pangong Tso, where Indian soldiers are facing off against Chinese intruders.
Capable of flying at Mach 2.5 (two-and-a-half times the speed of sound), the F-15EX is the world's fastest fighter aircraft. It carries 13.5 tonnes of weapons load, more than the Rafale or the Sukhoi-30MKI.
Airbus' $99 million payout puts a new light on Eurofighter's 'unsolicited bid' to the Modi government, reducing the cost of the Typhoon fighter by 20 per cent, making it in retrospect significantly cheaper than the Rafale.
Army gave three good reasons why it could not build the bridges for Ravi Shankar's event. Defence ministry overruled the army's objections, reveals Ajai Shukla.
The retirement of the Jaguar would create a six squadron gap in the IAF's combat fleet which would cost $20 billion-$30 billion to fill.
It has been argued that India should have held back on disengagement from the Kailash Range, using that as a trump card to force Chinese concessions in areas such as Depsang, where they hold the advantage.
HAL is also integrating the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile onto the Mark 1A. Each Tejas will carry two of these missiles.
Armed with rockets and missiles, these helicopters can rain fire on the enemy in rarefied altitudes.
The CDS will have a significant role in higher defence planning and operational aspects of India's nuclear arsenal.
The coming together of the Quad and the Australia-UK-US grouping would be a formidable adversary, moving toward the creation of a 'thousand ship navy' that reins in the PLA navy in the Indo-Pacific.
'The F-21's capabilities far exceed all other torpedoes currently in service.'
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