'Due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, a faction operating in the Red Sea -- which is a typically safe area - has been firing projectiles arbitrarily.' 'Additionally, there have been two incidents involving Somali pirates, and one vessel has been hijacked.'
Singh said India has intensified patrolling of the seas after the recent attacks on merchant navy ships.
Chushul and Depsang are not vital in this game of Chinese checkers, the Indian Ocean Region is. Keeping our maritime prowess restricted has to be a key Chinese strategic interest and it would appear that the LAC affair has helped China achieve its aim, points out Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
By changing the nation's name from India to Bharat, would this landmass overnight lose the emotional and cultural linkage that had been built over generations, centuries and millennia, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The four new Heron Mark-2 drones, which can be equipped with long-range missiles and other weapons systems, have been deployed at a forward air base in the northern sector, where Team ANI witnessed their operations.
India had invited United States President Joe Biden to grace the occasion but he expressed inability to travel to New Delhi in January.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group has pulled out of a loan deal with a US agency to fund a port terminal in Sri Lanka, saying it will use its own resources for the project. In an exchange filing late on Tuesday, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) said the project "is on track for commissioning by early next year". "The project will be financed through the company's internal accruals and capital management plan," the firm said.
The Quad summit to be hosted by India in 2024 is likely to enhance New Delhi's strategic intent.
In a boost for the country's surveillance capabilities to monitor activities of both military warships and merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the 'Sindhu Netra' satellite developed by a team of young scientists from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was successfully deployed in space on Sunday.
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.
The year 2024 was not only the hottest year on record but also the first to breach 1.5C above the 1850-1900 baseline.
'Storms push a lot of water into land, then there is heavy rainfall due to the cyclone.' 'Along with this, we see the gradual rising of the sea level.' 'We see this during and after the latest Cyclone Tauktae.' 'This kind of overlapping events are increasing and we do not know much about how to tackle them.'
According to observers, with pro-China Rajapaksa winning the election, the result will have a bearing on India's presence in the Indian Ocean region where Beijing is increasingly making inroads.
Anyone within range of China's expanding navy will have to build capabilities faster and/or work more closely with the US, as Australia has just announced, asserts T N Ninan.
After objections raised by the defence forces, India rejected China's request for permission to allow its four warships to enter the Indian maritime zone to search for the missing Malaysian airliner.
The India-Japan joint naval exercises are a strategic signal for China, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Indian refiners are likely to import 2-2.2 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil in June - the highest in the last two years and more than the total volumes bought from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, preliminary data by global trade analytics firm Kpler showed.
The Indian Navy is fully capable of defending the nation against any form of threat, Sitharaman said.
After the 1962 War with China, there was a demand to forge greater defence cooperation between India and the West. One such voice was that of Sudhir Ghosh, a distinguished MP, to tie up strategic cooperation with the USA immediately after the Chinese attack on India, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The southwest monsoon season concluded on Saturday with India receiving 'below-average' cumulative rainfall -- 820 mm compared to the long-period average of 868.6 mm -- in an El Nino year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled his demise, saying Kumar contributed towards strengthening the country's maritime security.
vThe longest duration cyclone over the north Indian Ocean had developed over the Bay of Bengal and weakened over the Arabian Sea between November 8-23, 1977 with a life period of 14 days and six hours.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday conveyed to US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin India's concerns over Washington's decision to provide sustenance package for Pakistan's F-16 fighter jet fleet.
The agreement provides for creation of an enabling framework for closer cooperation and interoperability, besides allowing militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases and facilities for repair and replenishment of supplies, the official said.
Naik said the prompt and effective deployment of the Navy in the time of crisis has underscored India's vision of being the "preferred security partner and first responder in our region".
The Indian Navy described it as a "proud and historic" day for the nation and said India has joined a select group of countries having niche capability to indigenously design, build and integrate a state-of-the-art aircraft carrier.
The Global Hawk can carry out surveillance of a stretch of land or ocean for over 30 hours continuously, physically scanning up to 100,000 sq km each day.
The Indian Navy's specialist team had protected them from nine armed pirates, and completed sanitization and seaworthiness checks of fishing vessel Al-Kambar.
There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.
Taking a dig at China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said 'some irresponsible nations' with their narrow partisan interests and hegemonic tendencies are coming up with wrong definitions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
'At Keeladi, we have not come across any evidence for organised religion.'
In his opening remarks at the talks, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asserted that India is confident of overcoming the challenges with a strong political will and an inherent capability of its people.
A year after a Hamas attack against Israel on October 7 and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, India's trade with most West Asian countries has largely escaped any major disruption, except with countries like Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. However, repeated flare-ups of geopolitical tensions in the region continue to drive up shipping and logistics costs.
In a step towards diversifying its resource base and securing green energy minerals, India is poised to launch its first-ever offshore mineral auction in the first quarter of 2024, announced Union Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi during the launch event of the National Geoscience Data Repository portal. The government plans to hold auctions in March, offering 10-15 blocks for bidding. Meanwhile, the ministry of mines is currently developing rules and regulations for offshore mining.
'With the recent challenging of the notion of the Indian Ocean Region being India's strategic backyard, China is gradually upping the ante in the maritime realm around India.'
Accounted for 18.8 per cent of total imports in the region in 2010 vs Singapore, which contributed 17.8 per cent.
Rainfall in August is predicted to be below normal (less than 94 per cent of LPA), but the situation is expected to improve comparatively in September, the IMD said.
Aman Kumar Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, an Indian national, was among the 11 crew members of a ship freed after being held hostage for nearly four years by Somali pirates, with a top United Nations official calling for the release of all remaining captives.
'As far as acquisition of Russian equipment is concerned, with about 70% of Indian military equipment being of Russian origin, a sudden decision to abandon imports from Russia is not feasible,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
