The move makes Captain Simratpal Singh, a 28-year-old decorated combat veteran, the first active duty Sikh soldier to receive approval to maintain his articles of faith while actively serving in the US army.
The defence ministry on Friday said a technical malfunction in the course of a routine maintenance led to the accidental firing of a missile on March 9.
Pakistani troops on Friday resorted to mortar shelling and firing on the Line of Control in Jammu district, the second ceasefire violation in two days ahead of a crucial meeting of the Directors General of Military Operations of the two sides aimed at easing tensions along the ceasefire line.
'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.
In its first official account of the standoff between the two militaries, the ITBP revealed how its troops "not only effectively used shield to protect themselves but also responded fiercely to advancing PLA (Chinese People's Liberation Army) troops and brought the situation under control". "The ITBP has recommended the names of 21 men who faced the Chinese during the face-offs and skirmishes in May-June this year for gallantry," it said.
The operation in Nagaland and Manipur was carried out after the army received "credible and specific" intelligence.
Apart from GPS content, India has recovered a number of items that included communication matrix sheets and equipment, other made in Pakistan stuff like food, medicines and clothes, which were shown to Basit.
'By beheading an Indian soldier, the Pakistan army has demonstrated its proclivity for barbaric medievalism.' 'The strategies adopted and the punishment inflicted by India must be made progressively more stringent with every new act of terrorism till the cost becomes prohibitive for Pakistan,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The government has sanctioned a dozen fresh SSB battalions, comprising over 13,000 personnel for the Nepal and Bhutan borders guarding force, to "fortify" defences along these fronts including the tri-junction area in Sikkim that adjoins Bhutan and Tibet, officials said.
In a telephonic conversation, Lt Gen A K Bhatt, the director general of military operations, also told his Pakistani counterpart that the Indian Army was sincere about maintaining peace on the LoC.
There is a congruence of interests between Ukrainian intelligence and its Western mentors to destroy Wagner and eliminate it from the geopolitical chessboard altogether, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Entry and qualification must not be through concession and must be reserved for only those who meet the stringent standards of the institution'.
'The Himmatsinghji Report is still 'missing'.' 'It is a great loss for the knowledge of India's borders.' 'It would have an immense value at a time China is bound to shift its attention to other border fronts in the Himalayas,' notes Claude Arpi.
Road and rail traffic was partially affected in some regions on Monday during a 'Bharat bandh' called against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, while protests appeared to taper off in many states, with authorities stepping up security and imposing curbs after days of unrest.
In what is seen as a significant move, the DAP featured measures to reduce delay in procurement of essential items by the three services as it proposed a new enabling provision to acquire them through capital budget under a simplified procedure in a time-bound manner.
It is believed that the attack was the handiwork of a freshly-infiltrated group of terrorists who could have entered along the Salamabad Nallah into the town.
'India showcased its ability to launch multiple Special Forces strikes simultaneously across a well defended front.' 'Through these strikes Pakistan was given a glimpse of the full range of India's military capabilities,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The sources said that the terrorists were not expecting an action by the Indian Army and therefore were taken by surprise.
The islands that would be connected through seaplanes are Campbell Bay, Car Nicobar, Havelock, Hutbay, Neil, Long Island and Diglipur, reports Arindam Majumder.
'If you behave like a nail, the adversary will behave like a hammer.'
Pakistan on Tuesday successfully test-fired a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hatf III (Ghaznavi), capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 290 kilometres, that could cover parts of India.
A resident of Uttarakhand's Badena village, Singh had joined the army in 2016 and is survived by his parents.
'Those who say that conventional war is a thing of the past or that war is not an option, or that diplomacy alone can prevent war -- are wrong and we see that in Ukraine.'
There is no conceivable reason for any big power to put road blocks on the path of an India-Pakistan normalisation process, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Chinese fault lines are tremendous and we need to exploit them.'
Some organisational changes are likely in some of the key army formations.
'The one aspect which no Indian military thinker would wish to see emerge is a LoC type of posture at the LAC.' 'The LoC is manned for 750 km and terrorist infiltration has led to the creation of a virtual fortress along its entire length.' 'Something mirroring this at the LAC is going to be expensive although deployment everywhere is not warranted there.' 'However, given the complete trust deficit, there appear few alternatives,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Lt Gen Bakshi announced 'full support' to the new chief and made it clear that he won't resign.
Having the ITBP and the Army at the same operational location will resolve these issues as well, the sources said.
'After General Raheel Sharif took on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, some sections of the military establishment may have felt unease as to whether the crackdown could be extended against friendlier 'non-State' actors like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.'
The commanders will also deliberate on a slew of long-pending reform measures like cutting down on ceremonial practices and non-military activities to ensure a rational distribution of resources, they said.
India on Tuesday enlarged its relief and rescue operations in quake-hit Nepal beyond Kathmandu to the worst-affected epicenter areas and rushed Gorkha soldiers to remote places to assess the kind of assistance required.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Sarma on Saturday visited Guwahati Medical College and Hospital to take stock of the injured who were shifted to Guwahati last night.
The shelling was so intense that the deafening sound of mortar shell explosions was even heard in the Jammu city, residents said.
Junaid Ashraf Khan 'Sehrai' whose father is chairman of the separatist conglomerate Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, was killed in the encounter.
Hein Kiessling has the kind of access in Pakistan that journalists (and spies) would die for, says Kanika Datta.
In his first comments since the militaries of India and Pakistan jointly announced on Thursday that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and other sectors, Khan said Pakistan remains ready to move forward to resolve 'all outstanding issues' with India through dialogue.
'There is no such thing as ultimate survivability.'
'It's all comparative -- who outperforms, who uses tactics, who optimises technology to the best is what makes the difference.'
The Indian delegation at Thursday's talks is likely to be led by Naveen Srivastava, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the external affairs ministry, they said.
New Delhi's decision not to call for a flag meeting underlines its conviction that the military cost will soon become too high for Pakistan.
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