'There is no threat to the country. And we are capable of handling all security concerns'.
'If we had sent a few airplanes (into Tibet), we could have wiped the Chinese out.' 'And everything could have been different in the 1962 War.' 'They did not believe me there was no Chinese air force.' 'Can you imagine what would have happened if we had used the IAF at that time?' 'The Chinese would have never dared do anything down the line.'
China last year pegged its defence budget at 1.45 trillion yuan, a 7.1 per cent increase. This year the defence spending is increased to 1.55 trillion yuan.
These war games are said to be in response to India's augmenting its border defences along the Chinese border. The Chinese have been perturbed with India's plan's to reactivate a forward air base at Noyoma in Ladakh.
Another major announcement that came was an MoU signed between GE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to jointly produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force.
Donald Trump's exaggerated opinion of his dealmaking capacity can get him into trouble, observes R Sriram.
China denied reports that some its nationals were taken as hostage by militants who attacked the Karachi naval base on Sunday.
The meeting started at around 11.30 am at Moldo on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Chushul to defuse the tensions in Eastern Ladakh sector due to Chinese military build-up, the sources said. This is the second meeting between the two corps commanders.
The photo published by the People's Liberation Army Air Force showing a long-range strategic bomber flying within visible range of Yushan, Taiwan's highest mountain, has caused great concern in Taiwan amid debate about whether the mainland will reunify the island by force, state-run Global Times reported.
"The HAMMER missiles are in the process of being integrated with the LCA Tejas and it will significantly enhance its capability to take out hardened targets from stand-off distances," government sources told ANI.
What despots and dictators, jammers and competitors, had not managed to do in 83 years -- what the Soviet Union had failed to counter during the Cold War; what China had failed to crush during the Tiananmen Square uprising -- a US President had succeeded with his own hand, notes Krishna Prasad.
These missiles have a range of two to five km and they are capable of bringing down low flying helicopters and aircraft, they added.
The Chinese army conducted its first live fire drills involving both army and air force on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau, The South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday. These war games are said to be in response to India's augmenting its border defences along the Chinese border. The Chinese have been perturbed with India's plan's to reactivate a forward air base at Noyoma in Ladakh.
The capability of operating fighter aircraft from this area would strengthen the air force's ability to tackle any misadventures by the adversary in a faster way.
Conceding that people in the bordering areas do move into the neighbouring nation's territory at times, he termed it a common phenomenon on borders and said, "There is no danger from such movement."
Sources said the process of disengagement along the Line of Actual Control is "complex", and in such a context, speculative and unsubstantiated reports need to be avoided.
'With continued focus on votes, upcoming by-polls and purchasing politicians, the political hierarchy has little time for national defence.' 'They would do well to heed a veteran scholar, who says, "There will be war with China in the next few years. The next full scale war will have the involvement of Pakistan and terror elements, insurgents and intelligence assets operating inside India",' warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
China on Tuesday announced that its Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the meeting of SCO defence ministers from April 27 during which he is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on ending the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties.
The two-day mega exercise is involving almost all its frontline fighter jets and other assets deployed in the region, people familiar with the drill said.
Chinese and Russian warplanes on Tuesday conducted joint air patrols over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the West Pacific Ocean as the leaders of Quad held their in-person summit in Tokyo, in an apparent attempt to send a message of unity between Beijing and Moscow.
China has started the construction of at least 13 entirely new military positions including three air bases, five permanent air defence positions and five heliports near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the aftermath of the Doklam standoff in 2017, according to a report by global security consultancy Stratfor.
Australia's Defence Ministry on Sunday claimed that a Chinese fighter jet's aggressive manoeuvres endangered an Australian reconnaissance plane near the South China Sea.
Slamming China for objecting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian Air Force on Monday said it does not 'fear' the Chinese military and that the neighbour should not have any problem with it upgrading airstrips in the North-East.
Amid a big push for the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, the Indian Air Force is planning to acquire 114 fighter jets of which 96 would be built in India, and rest 18 would be imported from the foreign vendor chosen for the project.
This wireless set is similar to one recovered from the site of attack in Sambha on March 20 last year.
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state -- but China views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve unification.
Over a million officials are said to have been punished in Xi's anti-corruption campaign according to the official media accounts. The intensity of the campaign also attracted criticism that Xi made effective use of it to silence his critics and rivals within the party.
With the Indian Air Force now able to operate C-130 Hercules transport aircraft at high-altitude Daulat Beg Oldie sector in Ladakh, China is reported to have built a radar station on its side of the border ostensibly to monitor movement of Indian planes over the area.
'The PLA is under constant watch.' 'There is an escalation matrix. For every degree of escalation, responses are thought of and trained for.'
'The border disputes have a genuine problem because whatever Chinese are claiming and whatever they are ready to give both belong to India,' says China expert Srikant Kondapalli.
The Taiwanese foreign minister said the time has come for all democratic countries to find ways to deal with China's expansionist agenda and its military muscle flexing, especially in the maritime domain.
He said China's "growing imprint" will surely increase contestation and competition in the economic domain and it will attempt to keep India engaged on issues relating to the unsettled borders.
Rahul alleged that the panel's time was being wasted in discussing armed forces' uniform instead of the crucial issue of national security, sources said.
The air force has moved its critical frontline assets including the Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fighter aircraft fleet to advanced positions where they can fly in at a very short notice to carry out operations.
The chief of air staff said Chinese actions along the frontier including in the Ladakh sector are being monitored constantly and the IAF's overall preparations are part of continuing efforts irrespective of challenges from China.
The Chinese intrusion into Indian territory in Ladakh seemed to be a trial balloon for dealing with troublesome Indian positions
The Indian Air Force will carry out a mega exercise covering the Northeastern region early next month to check its combat readiness, amid a fresh spike in tension with China along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh.
A Chinese military expert has accused India of "violating" Beijing's diplomatic rights and "spying" on its military ware while inspecting the cargo plane of the United Arab Emirates air force which was detained in Kolkata.
The arrival a couple of days ago of a Chinese nuclear submarine for the first time in Karachi port, coinciding with a Chinese military delegation's visit, points to Pakistan's importance for China, says former R&AW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 'person through which' prior information on India's air strikes in Balakot in Pakistan in 2019 was made available to Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.
