'We have to keep a watch because India-Sri Lanka has a history that whenever there has been a change in government, either the connectivity projects have been questioned or cancelled or revived.'
This will be the first full-year Budget of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government since it came to power for a third consecutive term in July last year.
Experts said India has possessed the anti-missile technology for several years but needed the political go-ahead to actually test it in live conditions.
'It is our duty to keep space sustainable and free of debris.'
The govt hiked defence budget by 7.81 per cent over last year's Rs 2.74 lakh crore.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
The scaling up of the India-US strategic partnership to the level of non-NATO ally with defence deals, sharing and transfer of defence technology, interoperability, joint collaboration and joint production of defence equipment has exacerbated Moscow's anxiety, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The $10.5 billion arms and equipment deal helped to arrest the recent drift in the 'special and privileged' strategic partnership, observes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'They were very vocal on the defence of the Constitution, reservation, SC/ST Act and democratic rights.'
There will be always new areas for India and China to cooperate and collaborate, since they facing similar challengers, says China expert Dr Hu Shisheng.
At a dialogue between the Ministry of External Affairs, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London and IDSA, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai spoke extensively on the topic of 'Forging Stability in Asia'. He talked about the challenges and goals that India faces while trying to strengthen its ties across the Asian continent.
Why can't the Indian government propose to the Chinese a corridor circumambulating the Holy Mountain where people from both sides could perform the yatra again? asks Claude Arpi.
China should deepen its defence ties with India, as the agreement reached by the two countries to resume joint military exercises still represented a 'low level of cooperation', the official media said on Wednesday.
He drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even its gold reserve was pledged.
Transcript of the chat on China by Srikanth Kondapalli.
Naxals are possibly receiving foreign funds but the chunk of their money comes from extortion of corporate houses and 'levy' imposed by them on mining, the government said on Wednesday.
Engagement with neighbours is a strategic imperative, and not an option, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
Foreign policy is always a work in progress and ups and downs are built into foreign policy process. What is permanent is national interest. Hopefully, this year, which will also witness general elections in the country, will also clear clouds in the foreign policy horizon, observes Rup Narayan Das.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch no earlier than September 24, on the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.
Although the BJP has never been ballistic about the BJD and Narendra Modi has avoided being critical of Naveen Patnaik, the BJP is optimistic that the party can improve its electoral fortunes in Odisha on its own, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The central government's Great Nicobar development project, proposed around an unprecedented transhipment port, will be executed to keep environmental impact minimal, and is essential as it is of national importance, the government has said amid calls to abort the controversial project due to ecological concerns, the Centre said in an official statement.
The government order saying the assistance under the scheme cannot exceed Rs 10,000 per month had triggered widespread discontent among all the three services.
Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong has said peace and tranquility in the border areas with India is important but it is not the "whole story" of the bilateral relations and that the current status of the ties is obviously not in the fundamental interest of either side, remarks that came amid the Ladakh military standoff.
Esper also highlighted the 'increased' military cooperation with India and called it as 'one of the most important defence relationships of the 21th century'.
'India needs to formulate a comprehensive space security policy for defence and development,' the point was suggested by a group constituted by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.
Whether Rajeev Chandrasekhar wins or not, Thiruvananthapuram will likely never see such an interesting contest again.
'Disengagement is merely the first step in a lengthy process of arriving at a new normal along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh and the entire land boundary.' 'The Indian government should insist on the restoration of the status quo ante in Eastern Ladakh.'
The Internal and external security agencies, Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing, should have professional and democratic framework that would enable the bodies to work more effectively, a draft report prepared by experts said.
'As we enter 2025, it must be acknowledged that there is a convergence of capital, influential people (from business and politics) and technology deciding the destiny of others in the name of pride, patriotism, nationalism, nation building, all of it thinly veiled disguises for personal profit and glory,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
The Kiev-class warship, for which India signed a contract with Russia in 2004 for $974 million, was originally scheduled for delivery in 2008.
The equation between the army and its countrymen in a democratic country should be one of mutual pride and implicit trust. Protracted deployment of the army on the home-turf tends to skew the equation. The people tend to perceive it as the occupation-army, says R N Ravi.
India has been rejecting China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country and assigning "invented" names does not alter this reality.
Officials hint the visit could finally see a formal defence industrial road map being adopted by both nations.
In a worrisome trend, researchers have found that candidates with less or poor general aptitude are getting attracted to jobs in the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) among other agencies and suggested changes in selection procedures.
Professor Zha Daojiong speaks of the complex issues related to energy security, diplomacy and economics of the region.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
'At this moment you cannot give her asylum because if you do, then you are directing public anger against India.'
Times have changed, situations have changed, but the basic nature of superpower geo-politics remains the same and so also India's diplomacy -- call it non-alignment, strategic autonomy or neutrality; it all depends on the time scale, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The finance minister continues to be backed by the same policy team in charting out the broad strategy as in the few earlier Budgets.
