'China's military is expected to deploy full throttle its new equipment including J-20 stealth fighters, drones, medium range missile systems, surveillance and others to continue to put psychological pressure on India,' warns Srikanth Kondapalli, Professor in Chinese Studies, JNU.
Seeking to boost the strategic ties, India and the US finalised the text of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement.
The exercise is taking place at a time India and China are locked in a nearly six-month-long bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh that has significantly strained their ties.
After a year's delay due to COVID-19, the 19th Asian Games officially opens in Hangzhou on Saturday with hosts China eager to lift a country mired in economic gloom.
The United States is committed to ensuring India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a top American diplomat said on Wednesday, expressing "regret" that his government was unsuccessful in making it a member of the grouping at its pleanary in Seoul last week.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and outgoing United States Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Thursday finalised the "major defence partner" status to India which will fast-track cooperation and sharing of high-end American defence technology.
'Of all the areas that define the future for a strong US-India partnership, none is more important than our defence and security ties.'
China on Monday said Sri Lanka has allowed its satellite and missile tracking ship to berth at the Hambantota port on Tuesday, but declined to reveal details of talks with Colombo leading to the bankrupt island's government reversing its earlier stand to defer the high-tech vessel's entry.
The navy finds itself fighting for relevance, with navy planners lamenting that its share of the budget has dropped dramatically.
The ship will now arrive on August 16 and remain at the Hambantota port till August 22, they said.
India and Sri Lanka on Friday signed four agreements during Narendra Modi's maiden visit to the country, the first bilateral tour by an Indian premier in 28 years, with the prime minister announcing a slew of measures aimed at resetting ties with the strategic neighbour.
The second phase of the mega exercise is scheduled to be held from November 17 to 20 in the Arabian sea.
The India-Japan global partnership is based on shared democratic values and respect for the rule of law and promotes peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after holding wide-ranging talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
There's still little indication of forward movement in Indo-US defence relations.
The United States has made it clear to India that it is "discouraging" it from proceeding with its acquisition of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia but Washington will have to weigh "important geostrategic considerations" while taking a decision on growing calls for a presidential CAATSA waiver to New Delhi, President Joe Biden's nominee for Coordinator for Sanctions Policy has told lawmakers.
The Seventh Fleet's area of responsibility includes the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean and at any given time there are roughly 5070 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft and approximately 20,000 sailors under its command.
'All El Ninos are not associated with the deficient monsoon.'
Sri Lanka's signals -- that it is ready for 'joint fishing' initiatives -- and Tamil Nadu fishermen's sticking to commitments have paved the way for a negotiated settlement on a long festering issue, says N Sathiya Moorthy
Jaishankar said that the resolution on Kashmir introduced by Jayapal in the House is not a fair characterisation of the situation in J-K. And also said that he has no interest in meeting the Congresswoman.
In the opinion piece after the summit, the leaders said the cooperation, known as "the Quad," was born in crisis. It became a diplomatic dialogue in 2007 and was reborn in 2017.
China's white paper on Asia-Pacific security cooperation extends an olive branch to India. It mentions India 15 times -- a record in all Chinese white papers issued so far. New Delhi's response will need to be carefully calibrated, says China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
'A fragile Sri Lanka will have a serious impact on the security of India.'
The minister said that the available data and model studies do not indicate inundation in a major part of southern Mumbai occurring at least once a year during 2040-50, as published in an international study report.
In South Asia, the intelligence community assesses that the political and security situation in Afghanistan will almost certainly deteriorate through 2018.
With the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant set to be launched for sea trials in few weeks, India will soon complete its nuclear triad giving it the capability to respond to nuclear strikes from sea, land and air-based systems.
The International Fleet Review, conceived as a show of the country's naval might and readiness for battle, saw as many as 100 naval ships, including 70 from the Indian Navy, taking part in the second edition of the coveted event.
Renowned playwright Lolita Chakrabarti's stage adaptation of the story of 16-year-old Indian boy Pi (Piscine) Patel stranded in the ocean on a lifeboat with a Royal Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker opened at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on March 30.
Whether it is Sri Lanka, Maldives, or Nepal, quietly but steadily, India has been reclaiming some of the ground it had lost to China, observes Aditi Phadnis.
By jettisoning the vision of multilateral world in favour of a Han Empire, China has posed a major long term challenge to India. India must stand firm against Chinese expansionism but also keep a door open for future detente by making a clear distinction between Chinese people and the current Chinese leadership, observe Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (Retd) and Colonel Anil Athale (Retd).
The monsoon this year in India was likely to be 'below normal' at 95% of LPA: Skymet
'If his three priorities are the economy, the economy, the economy, then there is need for a stable region, a stable neighbourhood.'
...with extravagant claims in both the eastern and western sectors, observes Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad, as India is fixated on asserting its border claims based on the McMahon Line.
The IMD attributed the projection to a weakening of El Nio and the Indian Ocean Dipole turning positive.
'She has to get the funds, cut through bureaucratic flab, speed up modernisation, ensure planned acquisitions stick to timelines, make organisational changes and ensure the military is capable of performing the task that it is given,' says Brigadier S K Chatterjee (retd).
When a Chinese warship entered Japanese waters, the Indian commander called on China to maintain discipline at sea. Dr Rajaram Panda explains the significance of the Malabar exercises between India, Japan and the US.
As many as 3,50,000 people have been rendered homeless in the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday returned home after wrapping up his two-day Sri Lanka visit, the first by an Indian premier in over 25 years.
Mere shuffling of resources or cosmetic changes to prove a point would be counterproductive in the long run, observes Commodore Venugoptal Menon (retd).
'We are confident that the US manufacturing industry will be able to take advantage of the US-India Investment Initiative to effectively support our goals of assisting in the development of three Indian cities -- Ajmer, Vishakhapatnam and Allahabad -- where the United States will be the lead partner,' Senators Warner and Cornyn told Obama.
The 'context' of the launch of GSAT-15 highlights that India has much ground to cover in the transponder arena while in satellite navigation arena ISRO's progress has been satisfactory, says Ajey Lele.
