Thailand's importance to India's Act East policy is too significant to be overlooked.
Since 2016, when India was officially recognised in US law as a 'major defence partner', Washington has purposefully upgraded the defence relationship.
India's decision to skip the meeting came after a year of bilateral discord over China's stubborn opposition to India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group and a UN ban against Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar.
More than India's alignment with the Quad, India's defence cooperation and partnership with the USA is of critical importance, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The sources said the military brass is considering deploying Indian Navy's MiG-29K fighter jets in a couple of air bases in the northern sector as part of efforts to bring in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.
Anybody who's plugged in to the modern, globalised world will understand why, says Kanika Datta.
Indian Admirals say Malabar 2018 will involve unprecedented complexity, featuring enemy threats in all three dimensions, but especially underwater threats from submarines -- a key Chinese strength. For the first time, officers from all three navies will be posted on other navies' warships. That means Indian Navy officers will obtain the unprecedented benefits of operating on US nuclear attack submarines and Japan's highly regarded Soryu submarines.
'Lingering border disputes and fierce geostrategic competition in South Asia between China and India are likely to temper any cooperation Beijing might hope to achieve with New Delhi in the SCO,' says P K Vasudeva.
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.
The country's first indigenously designed and built warship Godavari will be decommissioned on Wednesday in Mumbai, thirty-two years after it was commissioned into the Indian Navy.
'This is India. We have allowed ourselves to be dictated by the narrative that the BJP has set for itself.'
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'The goal seems to be that we do not invest further in our system to make our system more accurate and more reliable or more global in reach,' an ISRO source tells Shivanand Kanavi.
The disappearance of Flight MH370 last year was on Thursday declared as an accident
It is equipped with new air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons.
With the signing of the pact, the Quad grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the US is set to gain more heft now, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'We've never really been in the situation of having a difficult time with the Chinese and an increasingly difficult time with the Russians along with a relationship with the Americans which is important.'
President Yameen declared the emergency on February 5 after the Supreme Court ordered the release of a group of opposition leaders, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. Among them was exiled ex-President Mohamed Nasheed. The court said his 2015 trial had been unconstitutional.
The second phase of the mega exercise is scheduled to be held from November 17 to 20 in the Arabian sea.
The military is 'totally prepared to stand up to the demands made by the government and the people.'
Considering Modi's style of practicing diplomacy, it is likely that a clear message would be conveyed to China that it is high time Beijing stops using its good relations with Pakistan as a pressure tactic against India. This is imperative not only for strengthening India-China relations at the bilateral level but also for maintaining stability at the regional level, says Sana Hashmi.
Cyclonic storm Ashobaa is expected to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm and then move northwestwards during next 24 hours.
It currently has between 140 and 150 nuclear weapons in its control and stockpiled around 200 to 300 kilogram of plutonium.
Exporters on Thursday demanded fiscal incentives, tweaking in customs duties on certain products and credit at affordable rates in the forthcoming Budget to boost exports and create jobs. In a pre-budget virtual meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar is affecting exports' competitiveness and the sector requires more support. "Creation of employment is the biggest challenge faced by the country...We would urge the government to provide fiscal support to units which provide additional employment in the export sector," the exporter's body said.
He, however, said sometimes such people spread wrong news or information about China on purpose.
IMD director general K J Ramesh said the Met wasn't being conservative and weather patterns indicated that there was a possibility of rainfall being very near to the 50-year LPA of 89 cm.
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.
In New Delhi's corridors of power, debate continues on whether the navy even needs a third aircraft carrier.
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.
'During Congress rule, the government used to get both the fishermen and the boats released whenever the Sri Lankan navy apprehended them.' 'Under BJP rule, only the fishermen are being released.'
Swarms of immature pink locusts and adult yellow locusts are currrently active. Not only are fresh locusts swarms expected to arrive in the coming weeks, but even those already present in India have mated and are breeding new offspring.
Director of US National Intelligence said that Islamabad's failure to curb terrorists and the rise in number of cross-firing incidents was the cause for increasing tensions.
'Movement of naval forces at sea is often more than just perfunctory deployment -- reading the messages that they send is important,' alerts Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
We can make a beginning by openly acknowledging the Russian help in 1971 victory when President Putin visits India on 6 December 2021. Showing gratitude to a friend is part of our DNA, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Our strategy should be to 'hold the line' in the north on the Sino-Indian land frontier, but maintain and, if possible, enlarge India's current edge in the maritime south.'
'If all goes well, Modi will visit the Maldives later this year. But two Indian concerns remain unaddressed: President Yameen's intentions about Mohammad Nasheed and China,' says Rajeev Sharma.
'When sensitive territory goes into the hands of your enemy. he becomes more powerful in military terms.' 'Assuming the Chinese take over the Doklam Plateau they will not stop at that.' 'They will keep ingressing, and it will be easier for them to further expand their territory.' 'I feel the Chinese will vacate that area in two months after it begins to snow.'
Pakistan has expressed serious concern over India's recent development of an anti-ballistic missile system
'An authoritative source in the government tells me that India has emerged as the net security provider of the Maldives,' says Rajeev Sharma.
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