Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unfurl the national flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Sunday to celebrate the country's 75th Independence Day and two Mi-17 1V helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will shower flower petals at the venue for the first time ever.
Fresh controversy erupted after Pakistan's powerful Army Chief met Premier Nawaz Sharif on Monday to discuss ways to resolve the deepening political crisis with media reports claiming that the embattled prime minister was advised to step down during the meeting.
Pakistan's powerful military has expressed serious concern over the prevailing political turmoil in the country with the government of embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif locked in a showdown with protesters.
Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe's, China's new defence minister's, first guest of honour could be his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman.
'Over the last year, Bajwa has created the environment to support bold moves on India. The ball is in India's court,' a senior Pakistan military officer tells Ajai Shukla.
The people of Oting in Mon district in the northeastern state said they will erect a monolith in memory of the 14 people on the first anniversary of the killings.
Captain Pawan Kumar sustained injuries in the firing by militants as security forces tried to make their way into the Entrepreneurship Development Institute building, an army official said.
Deployed at 15,632 feet, Captain Shiva Chauhan, 25, highlights the calibre of the Indian Army's women officers.
Ajai Shukla salutes the memory of Lieutenant General R M Vohra, Mahavir Chakra, who passes into the ages on Sunday.
'Military is too serious a matter to be taken as a tour for a few years.'
Once the tanks roll back, a zero-based assessment of future equations with China is necessary. Given the conflict situations that China is imposing on India time and again, the red, amber and green lines of interactions with China need to be laid down and communicated in no uncertain terms, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
'By killing innocent people, they are using Sun Tzu's tactics of 'kill one, terrify thousands.'
There are more questions than answers about the Indian Army's Keran operation, says R S Chauhan. Was the infiltration bid not detected because the army had vacated two old observation posts, he asks. Why did the infiltrators decide to stay put and fight once they were detected? Were the infiltrators Pakistani Special Forces?
He said both sides reaffirmed to sincerely work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC.
The experts said adequate care must be taken before implementing what is being touted as a "game-changer".
According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, President Kovind, along with the First Lady and other members of the family, joined the fellow citizens and expressed their gratitude towards all those who are safeguarding the health of the nation in spite of grave risk to them and their families. President Kovind also donated one-month salary to PM-CARES fund and has decided to forego 30 per cent of his salary for a year, it said in a series of slides mentioning various initiatives and work done during the third year of his presidency.
'It's not about me - but about my jawans, my country,' says Lieutenant Bhavana Kasturi.
Through the past 18-month period, peace has prevailed in the disputed border regions, which was immensely helpful in the difficult situation that the country was passing through, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
As per the agreement reached by the two sides, India and China will withdraw the forward deployment in a phased and coordinated manner, the defence minister said.
'We should not allow ourselves to be surprised in any manner in future on the border.'
'The simultaneous fire from so many guns rained down on the enemy and pulverised them, a sight I can never forget till my last breath.'
'As a course mate who has followed closely this star on the Bombay Sappers firmament, my heart swells with pride to see his extraordinary brilliance and focus; his commitment and his dedication; his hard work; and his technical as well as tactical knowledge,' says Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd) of his batchmate General Manoj Pande who will take over as chief of the army staff on May 1.
'Individuals who have participated in violence and arson should be identified and not be recruited.'
We understand the electoral compulsions, the desperate need for the BJP to have at least 50 per cent of the Hindus vote for them in Uttar Pradesh in a few months. For that, you need polarisation, put your own Muslim compatriots on the 'other' side. This is how your domestic politics runs contrary to your national, strategic interest, warns Shekhar Gupta.
With General Naravane taking charge, all three services chiefs, including navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and the Indian Air Force's Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, are now from the 56th course of the National Defence Academy.
Army chief General M M Naravane visited forward areas along the Line of Control in Jammu region on Tuesday and was briefed on the ground situation in the region and ongoing counter-infiltration operations, officials said.
Honda has grown from 15% in FY12 to 27% now; Yamaha has doubled share to 5% in five years.
Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam lists the major operational takeaways from the 1971 War in his new book 'India's Wars, A Military History, 1947-1971'.
'Galwan has turned everything.' 'The casualties on both sides alerted the Chinese to the fact that Indians are not going to take it lying down.'
The Indian side is expected to seek disengagement as soon as possible in the remaining friction points besides pressing for resolution of issues in Depsang Bulge and Demchok.
'What has changed is the desperation of Pakistan proxies and the separatists in their failure to foment violence and civilian casualties in Kashmir.'
The intrusions into India were likely carried out by the PLA's better trained and equipped 'mobile operational units'.
'The Indian government wakes up after the fact when it can do nothing, or rather lacks the will to prosecute military actions to reverse these adverse PLA-driven developments.'
China remains in firm control of an estimated 600-800 square kilometres of Indian territory.
Wrapping up his two-day visit to Ladakh, Gen Naravane said the Indian Army has undertaken precautionary deployment in some areas and that the force is well prepared to safeguard the territorial integrity of the country.
Army on Wednesday paid tributes to legendary war hero and its first Param Vir Chakra awardee Major Somnath Sharma who laid down his life while fighting tribal invaders from Pakistan in 1947.
Keeping the contents of the BBC documentary aside, Rishi Sunak's response needs to be viewed in the backdrop of Britain's historically close relations with Pakistan, argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
India must break out of this strategic triangulation between China and Pakistan. We need to settle our issues with one of the two, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The Indian Army's Northern Command would be stretched if all three of the corps under it -- based in Leh, Srinagar, and Nagrota (near Jammu) -- were to face hostilities, notes David Devadas.
'He was unlike anyone else I had met until then or ever since.' Lt Gen Ashok Joshi (retd) remembers one of India's most famous soldiers who passed away on Sunday.
