'The defence minister is stuck in the trivial and frivolous with a clerical mindset merely to prove his so-called 'honesty" overlooking the primary aim of adding sufficient military muscle and firepower to the defence services,' says Bharat Verma.
United States President Joe Biden is not travelling to India next month to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the Chief Guest, and New Delhi is looking at holding the next Quad summit later next year instead of its earlier plan to host it in January, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday indicated a revamp of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, to give it capability to produce futuristic systems within the country."DRDO will have to play a crucial role in providing strategic defence with suitable delivery systems to the nation," Antony said. The DRDO and the end-users, the armed forces, would have to work with greater synergy to achieve the goal of self-reliance and minimise dependence on foreign nations.
The former defence minister said that all formalities were completed and all orders issued on OROP but its implementation is not being done by the Modi government.
"The scientists have produced results. It is excellent...up to the point," he said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide ranging discussions with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran and their discussion focused on the long term framework for India's involvement with the strategically vital Chabahar port and the North-South connectivity project.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday described the maiden test flight of the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile Agni 5 as an "immaculate success" and a "major milestone". "The nation stands tall today. We have joined the elite club of nations (to possess the ICBM capability)," Antony told Defence Research and Development Organisation chief Dr V K Saraswat on the phone after the test flight of the missile was declared successful today.
Defence Minister A K Antony said on Wednesday that Pakistan had 42 terror camps within its territory and that the neighbouring country was not taking effective steps to dismantle the terror outfits.
'They hate him so much that if PM Modi says the Sun rises in the east the Congress will say the Sun rises in the west.'
Accusing Defence Minister A K Antony of making a "false" statement on Poonch killings, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday said he should apologise as his remarks are intended to "exonerate" Pakistan as government wants to continue talks.
After the October 7 attack by Iranian-backed Hamas forces on Israel, the United States military has blamed other Iranian-backed proxy groups for near-daily attacks against its forces in Iraq and Syria.
The Congress leader also raised questions over the security along the Line of Control with Pakistan, saying the incident has affected the prestige, respect and morale of the Indian Army.
Taken by surprise by the decision of an Italian judge to include Defence Minister A K Antony as a possible witness in a trial relating to corruption in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, India on Monday night ruled out his appearance in the court.
The government carries out a review of the defence procurement process every two years to make changes gained from experience and to incorporate new contract clauses for probity.
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.
Union Defence Minister A K Antony arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for a crucial meeting of a key joint defence commission as the two countries are poised to finalise new co-ventures in strategic weapons, including investment and technical parameters of 5th generation fighters.
The defence ministry is in the final stages of preparing the new procurement policy, which will 'aggressively' pursue indigenisation, Defence Minister A K Antony said in Kochi on Monday.
The Congress on Thursday hit back at Narendra Modi for calling Defence Minister A K Antony an "agent of Pakistan and enemy of India", saying such language can come only from a "traitor".
Union Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday reiterated that the terror camps located in Pakistan, which are close to the Indian border, pose a threat to the nation's security. Antony's statement came close on the heels of the statement by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who warned chief ministers from across India on Monday that Pakistan based terror outfits are planning further attacks in India.
India's Future Main Battle Tank, the backbone of the army's strike power into the mid-21st century, languishes while the army continues an extended debate over its specifications.
The issue was raised by Secretary of State Tony Blinken during his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Washington, DC last week.
C R Kesavan, great grandson of noted freedom fighter and India's last governor general C Rajagopalachari, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday as the party aims to boost its presence in southern India.
Amid indications of growing bonhomie between Congress and the Janata Dal-United, which has broken its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, All India Congress Comittee general secretary Digvijaya Singh Tuesday said the decision on any tie-up between the two parties would be taken by the A K Antony committee.
Over 6,000 people are feared to have been killed in the devastating floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Uttarakhand in June, the government said on Tuesday.
The government does not plan to launch any fresh probe into the Bofors gun deal and Ottavio Quattrocchi stands "discharged" as he could not be extradited even after 20 years of registration of the case, Defence Minister A K Antony said.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday promised to take strong action if anybody was found guilty in the alleged Kochi wife swapping case in which the wife of a navy officer has filed an FIR against her husband and his superiors.
Defence Minister A K Antony is not part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's delegation that will hold talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron during which defence deals are expected to come up for discussion.
Defence Minister A K Antony will perform all the customary duties of the Prime Minister during Republic Day on Monday, the government said on Saturday, clearing confusion over the issue."The Defence Minister will lay a wreath at the India Gate before the Republic Day parade begins and step in for the Prime Minister in all functions related to the Republic Day." Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in New Delhi.
In wake of the blasts on the INS Sindhurakshak, the Navy has ordered extensive checks on weapon-related safety systems on all its submarines, Defence Minister A K Antony told Lok Sabha.
Vigil along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir has been stepped up following last month's ambush by Pakistani army on Indian troops in which two jawans were killed, government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
With the Defence Research and Development Organisation facing "bitter criticism" over delays in major projects like Light Combat Aircraft and the Arjun tank, Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday asked the research agency to complete its programmes within the prescribed time-limit.
However, there were conflicting reports about the number of blasts as state ministers VN Vasavan and Antony Raju said there were two blasts, while Congress MP from Ernakulam, Hibi Eden, said there were multiple blasts according to one of his friends who attended the convention.
Congress Working Committee member and former Kerala chief minister A K Antony is all set to be elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed as he was the only candidate to file nomination for the June 3 by-election from the state.
The payments to AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 choppers have been stopped but so far no decision has been take to blacklist the firm, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
The meeting to be presided over by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Australia's Penny Wong.
The Hamas terror group has over 240 hostages captivated in Gaza, according to Israeli officials, adding that a little less than half of them are civilians, and the larger deal negotiated would involve the release of all of those civilians.
During the nearly two-hour meeting that lasted almost till midnight at 10 Janpath, Mukherjee, the government's pointsman on the deal with United Progressive Alliance allies and the Left parties, and Antony apprised Sonia of the talks they had with leaders of the constituents of the ruling alliance and the Communist Party of India-Marxist and CPI in the last two days. Emerging from the meeting, neither Mukherjee nor Antony spoke to the media.
An official video showed the prime minister being welcomed at the church and him greeting priests and worshippers on the holy day.
Amid the Sino-India spat over Arunachal Pradesh and Chinese investments in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, New Delhi on Thursday said it has adequate' infrastructure and military capability along its border with China, even as it sought a diplomatic dialogue to resolve the border dispute. "By and large, the border with China is peaceful, except for occasional problems. They are strengthening the infrastructure and capabilities on their side of the border," he said.
'...to prevent this episode from disrupting ongoing cooperation.' 'The discovery of this plot had the potential to derail much of what has been achieved in the relationship during this administration's tenure -- I don't think that fact has been sufficiently appreciated in India.'
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