The United States has asked China to "immediately" return its unmanned naval probe in international waters in the South China Sea which it alleged has been "unlawfully" seized by them.
The remarks by the Chinese foreign ministry came a day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured India that the US stands firmly with it to confront threats to its sovereignty.
China's South China Sea build-up and 'territorial sea' construct potentially affects 55 percent of Indian trade passing through the region. Hence, coordinating with the US and Japan could provide dividends to India in the longer run,' says Srikanth Kondapalli.
China on Thursday said it would step up patrols of its territorial waters off islands disputed with Japan in the East China Sea and other contested islets in the South China Sea, amid reports that Tokyo is considering to fire tracer bullets at Chinese spy planes.
US strikes on Iran's three main nuclear facilities have once again raised concerns that Tehran might shut down the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's most critical chokepoints, through which a fifth of global oil and gas supply flows.
Experts said the tensions have added to a sense of apprehension in the United States, Europe and parts of Asia that China will engage in more aggressive behaviour in pursuit of its territorial interests, which in turn has raised the possibility of a serious and coordinated pushback by leading global players.
A Chinese fighter jet performed an unsafe manoeuvre after it came as close as 20 feet within a United States military aircraft over the South China sea, The Hill reported on Thursday citing the US Indo-Pacific Command.
'It brings precarious peace because the red lines have shifted. 'The next Pahalgam attack would mean a full scale war.'
Trump tweeted, hours after Pentagon announced it had reached an understanding with China for the return of the drone.
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
'This strike has certainly enhanced your image.' 'Otherwise, people would have called you a damp squib, capable of doing nothing except talking big.'
Amid a raging dispute with Japan over islands in East China Sea, the Chinese army has scaled up its military exercises on all fronts including aerial drills by its air force in Tibet as well as by special forces.
The maiden Africa India Key Maritime Engagement exercise will be held from April 13 to 18 off the coast of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
In a stern message to its neighbours, China today said it is determined to defend "every inch" of its territory and there was "no room for compromise" with Japan over territorial or historical disputes.
When asked whether both armies talked to each other, initiated by the Pakistani army, Jaishankar said, "Yes, we have a mechanism to talk to each other as a hotline. So, on the 10th of May, it was the Pakistani army which sent a message that they were ready to stop firing, and we responded accordingly."
It is the country's second aircraft carrier, after the Liaoning, and the first to be made domestically.
United States Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for meetings with top Chinese leaders amid an international spat over China's new air defence zone over the disputed islands in the East China Sea.
South Indian filmmakers have kept their focus on the single-screen cinemagoer. They have kept their finger on the pulse of the single-screen cinema fan, who goes to movies once a month or more, to forget his weekly chores, explains Ambi Parameswaran.
While Elon Musk's political influence continues to grow, his business empire is witnessing headwinds.
'It is not possible for New Delhi to take sides between Beijing and Washington.'
India is increasingly a willing participant in the evolving US' Indo-Pacific strategy. While these developments are related to the perception of a growing Chinese security challenge, their implications for India's much-vaunted strategic autonomy should be a matter of deeper and closer reflection, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'During his visit to Vietnam on September 3 -- the first visit by an Indian prime minister in 15 years -- Modi will notice the widespread anti-China sentiment in that country.'
China has taken a position of non-acceptance and non-participation on the jurisdiction by the International Court of Arbitration in a case the Philippines has brought against China's claims to nearly all of the South China Sea, Abraham Denmark, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia, told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing.
Fort Kochi's charm lies in its oldness. Put on that cap, lace up your sneakers and those 10,000 steps are easy-peasy!
The government has approved the construction of two indigenously designed nuclear attack submarines and is expected to ink contracts next month to procure 26 naval variant of Rafale jets and three Scorpene submarines, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said on Monday.
'Pakistan is no longer a front-burner issue for America.'
Any miscalculation and miscommunication are fraught with the risk of a major catastrophe, warns Rup Narayan Das.
China on Saturday said it "expelled" foreign military planes from its airspace, the first such incident after Beijing unilaterally declared an air defence zone over islands disputed with Japan in the East China Sea.
The hike in the budget is the lowest increment in recent years apparently due to the heavy disruption caused to its economy by the COVID-19, according to the official media.
US Vice President Kamala Harris would host a separate meeting with the prime ministers of three Quad countries -- India, Australia and Japan -- at the White House to discuss with them the important factors for democracies to go forward, officials said.
"We value our partnership with India, and we've been increasing it and doing a lot more, over time. They have the same security challenge, primary security challenger that we do, and it's real on their northern border," Admiral John Christopher Aquilino, commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command, told members of the House Armed Services Committee during a hearing on Indo-Pacific National Security Challenges.
The President-elect has already infuriated China by talking over phone with the Taiwanese President, the first by a top American leader since 1979.
He said the actions of the ruling Chinese Communist Party meant there were 'threats to India, threats to Vietnam, threats to Malaysia, Indonesia and the South China Sea challenge'.
Maritime resources will be key to sustained growth and development of nations across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in the ongoing century, he said delivering his keynote address at the IOR Defence Ministers' Conclave held on the margins of Aero India-2021, India's premier defence and aerospace show.
'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).
The India-Japan joint naval exercises are a strategic signal for China, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
The procurement is expected to signal a major upswing in India's strategic ties with the Philippines which has been focusing on ramping up its naval prowess in the face of its lingering friction with China in the South China Sea.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China believes that state-to-state interactions should be in line with the trend of the time which is peace and development rather than exclusivity.
The navy has significantly expanded its deployment in the Indian Ocean Region deploying a plethora of warships and submarines to create pressure points on China as the maritime space around the Malacca Strait is very critical for its supply chain through sea routes.
'I am not an aspiration-oriented politician.' 'This is the time to redefine politics.' 'Politics of power is not real politics.'
