During the talks with the Russian leaders, the defence minister will also ask them to expedite the delivery of the S-400 air defence systems which are supposed to be delivered by the end of next year. The Russians had postponed the delivery schedule by several months due to delay in payments over certain issues.
"The target is 2022. It is absolutely on target. I mentioned earlier. Except for one or two aircraft, minor delays because of COVID related issues, but, in fact, some deliveries have been ahead of time. So, broadly, we are absolutely on target on the Rafale induction plan," he said.
Mission completed, external affairs minister S Jaishankar tweeted.
Taiwan says it detected multiple Chinese aircraft and naval vessels taking part in military drills around the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, in what could be a possible simulated attack against the island.
The competition for the worst or most perilous 10 years has always been between the 1960s and the 1980s, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The sources also said another round of military talks between the two sides on Wednesday to defuse tensions in the area remained inconclusive. The talks lasted nearly seven hours.
'When armies start attacking with clubs and batons, then at some point this can take an escalatory spiral and spin out of control.'
Indian Air Force equipment during the 1962 War 'cannot be compared to that of China' and it was 'not successful' in delivering supplies to beleaguered Indian troops, an official Chinese daily claimed today, days after IAF Chief NAK Browne said the use of Air Force would have changed the outcome of the conflict.
'It is only when Beijing sees a country with an infirm political will such as India that it acts up as the PLA has done in eastern Ladakh.'
Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria was at the Leh IAF base on Wednesday where he reviewed operational preparedness of the force in effectively guarding the sensitive border areas in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese armies have been on a nearly six-week standoff.
In the confrontation in Doklam, where Indian and Chinese soldiers were lined up eyeball-to-eyeball, senior Indian commanders recount they could sense the uncertainty in the Chinese. While Indian soldiers had to be restrained from pushing the Chinese troops back, our chief interpreter heard the Chinese officers threatening to open fire on PLA soldiers who wavered or withdrew, reveals Ajai Shukla.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, along with all the Commander-in-Chief rank officials from the three services will be attending the conference.
The celebrations began with a fly past and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who heads the Communist Party of China, arrived at the function dressed in the Mao suit.
One can only hope that the defence minister will goad the lazybones and will infuse much-needed urgency, energy, purpose and direction to our military space programme.
Trump also said he will no longer allow North Korea to continue with its belligerent behaviour.
Snubbed by his party leader Rahul Gandhi and panned by the Bharatiya Janata Party for questioning surgical strikes, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh swung into damage control mode on Tuesday and said his questions were to the government and not the armed forces.
'China would rather tie us down; and bleed us as much as it can so that we aren't able to lift our heads to face them.'
'We should not allow ourselves to be surprised in any manner in future on the border.'
Unless the anarchy in Manipur is brought under control quickly, we are sowing the seeds of a flare up in the entire North East and the end of our dream of checking China in South East Asia, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Japan also reported that five of those missiles landed in its exclusive economic zone, understandably causing grave concern.
The annual threat assessment of the US Intelligence Community released by the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) also said that the 'expanded military posture by both India and China along the disputed border elevates the risk of armed confrontation between two nuclear powers that might involve direct threats to US persons and interests and calls for US intervention'.
It is learnt that the Aeronautical Development Agency, which oversees the development of Tejas, has put together a flying routine that 'significantly surpasses any aerobatics display the fighter has presented earlier'.
'I realised what a great leader he was by the way he took decisions to undertake the most-risky of missions.'
'However, a lot of preparatory work would have to go in and China must be prepared to announce an end to the standoff by disengaging from the remaining areas along the LAC.'
Xi Jinping's recent actions in South Asia have amply demonstrated the disastrous impact of China's embrace, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
At present, the IAF has 10 women fighter pilots and 18 women navigators. The total strength of women officers serving in the IAF is 1,875.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar said on Friday that his force is fully capable of confronting any security threat and fully backed the ambitious tri-services reforms that included setting up of a maritime theatre command.
As the lower house took up the motion moved by Gogoi, there were heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi's name as lead speaker was withdrawn at the last minute.
"This is Modi's India, this is new India. Now if anyone raises an eye against the country he gets a befitting reply," BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore asserted.
The Indian Army is effecting a major "reorientation" and "rebalancing" of its troops in the strategically sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, with a top general saying its overall combat readiness in the region is of a "very high order."
Two of Xi Jinping's chosen officials have disappeared from view, an indication of turmoil in Xi's government, months after he installed a collection of loyalist leaders in his cabinet, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
China hiked its annual defence budget by 7.1 per cent.
Last week, two BSF troopers from Rajasthan, members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Congo, were killed by protestors. Do we need to lose lives fighting in a country not ours, in a war that is not ours and for a cause that is not ours, asks Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), who served in the UNPKF in Congo.
The procurement will come at a cost of Rs 38,900 crore.
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.
'This is the first time that active PLA army personnel would be reduced to below one million,' PLA Daily said.
Sources said the Indian side has prepared very well for responding to the Chinese reaction in view of the action by own troops including a Special Operations unit and Sikh Light Infantry troops there.
Mountain brigades being raised by India are mostly meant for the Chinese border, especially the Tibetan plateau, and it is perhaps the first time a Chinese military expert publicly complimented their strength and strategic importance.
There is little appetite among combat aircraft engine makers to share the IP that results from a co-creation project. But Rolls-Royce is willing to walk the Aatmanirbhar talk.
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been accused by a former air force chief of "ruining" a $ 1.2 billion deal for acquiring surveillance aircraft from Sweden's Saab firm for "possible kickbacks".
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