The People's Daily, the Chinese Communist newspaper, says the sale of the Rafale fighter plane 'encourages, excites and spurs India's appetite and ambition to become a great military power.' Does India have a choice, considering the People's Liberation Army's frantic speed of development, wonders Claude Arpi.
Top defence officials of India and China on Monday kick-started the two-day annual defence dialogue in Beijing to discuss a host of issues concerning the bilateral military ties including resumption of joint exercises this year.
'The performance of any government is benchmarked on five parameters -- India's external security, the state of the economy, social cohesion, internal security, and India's relations with the world or its foreign policy. On each of the benchmarks in the past nine years, the NDA-BJP government has come up completely short'
After spreading their tentacles to the troubled northeastern state of Manipur around the year 2008 with the help and cooperation from the outlawed People's Liberation Army, Maoists have made further inroads into the region by setting up active cells in different parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
The shelters were installed in locations near Tashigong, Manza, Hot Springs and Churup among others, in reflection of simmering tensions between the two sides in the region.
During a regular press conference on Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that the unmanned Chinese civilian airship into US airspace is entirely caused by 'force majeure'.
China's new first lady Peng Liyuan continued with her charm offensive demonstrating her musical talent during a recent visit to Latin America along with her husband President Xi Jinping.
That Lieutenant Colonel Brahmanand Avasthy deserved a gallantry medal for his conspicuous bravery is unarguable, but his valour went unrecognised. M P Anil Kumar salutes an Indian hero on the 50th anniversary of his martyrdom.
Five migrant labourers were shot dead and few others were injured when suspected tribal militants indiscriminately fired upon them in a mining village in Meghalaya's South Garo Hills district, police said on Tuesday.
Addressing the Manipur assembly during the commencement of the budget session, she said that 198 companies of central armed police forces and 140 army columns have been deployed along with state forces to maintain law and order.
Lt General Ranbir Singh described the situation in Kashmir as stable but fragile.
China on Wednesday called for "proper and timely" settlement of the boundary issues with India to preserve peace at the borders in the light of the row over Depsang Valley in Ladakh where the troops of People's Liberation Army intruded recently.
India, China have agreed to hold another round of talks soon.
Official sources informed that the state government is taking serious view of the growing activities of the AANLA that was formed in 2005 by a section of frustrated tribal youth with help from bigger militants groups, including the banned United Liberation Front of Assam and Naga rebel group, the NSCN-IM.
The eastern theatre command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army successfully completed all tasks of its combat readiness patrols and exercises around Taiwan Island, official media in Beijing reported.
Two Chinese pilots were killed when a frontline Su-27 fighter jet crashed in China's eastern ShandongProvince, the defence ministry announced on Monday.
Currently, the reserve forces are under the dual leadership of military organs and local Communist Party committees and they would be brought under the control of the ruling party and the CMC from July 1, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
'Chinese troops are not geared to fight Indian troops who are battle hardened and acclimatised and are far more hardy.'
Jinan, a Luyang II-class missile destroyer of the Chinese navy, on Monday docked at Mumbai harbour on a stopover while on an anti-piracy mission on the Gulf of Aden.
Dismissing provocative comments made by a 'Major General' of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army who sparked a controversy ahead of Defence Minister A K Antony's visit, officials in Beijing on Saturday said that the officer was superannuated and retired from political and military posts a while ago.
In all likelihood, the next conventional Chinese attack on India would be preceded by a massive cyber attack designed to cripple Indian networks and interfere with our disaster-relief programmes.
When asked for an update on Tuesday's military-level talks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing in Beijing that both sides reached progress for promoting further disengagement of the border troops at the Western Sector.
The US hopes that the differences will be resolved peacefully, officials said in Washington.
Militants from the restive province of Balochistan on Saturday attacked a historic 121-year-old building in southwestern Pakistan that was used by the country's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his last days. The militants of the Balochistan Liberation Army targeted the Quaid-e-Azam Residency in Ziarat, a holiday resort located nearly 120 km from the provincial capital of Quetta, at 1.15 am.
"We hope the Indian side will move towards China and through concrete actions implement the consensus and continue the close communication through military and diplomatic channels to jointly push for the de-escalation on the border region," Zhao said.
Dismissing the recent Pentagon report that the People's Liberation Army has deployed nuclear capable missiles against India as "unfounded" and "contrary to facts", China on Wednesday said the claims were made with "ulterior motives".
A joint statement was issued by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa after their in-person meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
India will take up with Chinese Premier Le Kequiang the issue of the recent intrusion by the People's Liberation Army troops into Depsang valley in Ladakh and wants to push ahead with the bilateral dialogue on settling the border row.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid arrived in Beijing on Thursday on a two-day visit to hold talks with Chinese leaders, just days after the resolution of a row over Depsang Valley in Ladakh, where the troops of People's Liberation Army intruded recently.
China believes that issues must be resolved politically and the two countries must move forward step by step to develop mutual understanding and trust.
China said on Tuesday that the current situation on the border areas with India was "stable" as it confirmed that the 14th round of Corps Commander-level talks to discuss the disengagement process in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh will be held on Wednesday.
The Chinese military has began recruiting Uygur Muslim women for its navy in what appears to be first such experiment to open up its ranks for minorities, especially from volatile Xinjiang province where Islamic militants are fighting a separatist movement.
Security forces have arrested a People's Liberation Army terrorist of Manipur while he was trying to cross over the international border at Dawki in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.
China and Pakistan have agreed to step up their defence and counter-terrorism cooperation amidst 'challenging times', as Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa held wide-ranging talks with the Chinese military leadership to further cement their all-weather strategic partnership.
Security expert B Raman on the emerging situation in Nepal after its PM Prachanda resigned.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang displayed a photograph of Indian 'incursion' into Donglong area.
One person was killed and two people suffered bullet injuries on Saturday when suspected terrorists opened fire at a market in East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya.
Asserting that there is a large presence of Chinese troops and workers in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Northern Command Chief Lt Gen T K Parnaik on Tuesday said that China would not like to "interfere" in border conflict between India and Pakistan.
Striking a combative posture amid deepening row over the South China Sea, China on Wednesday announced naval exercises in the Western Pacific asserting that its lawful rights including navigation should not be hindered.
Terming India's proposal of "massive up-gradation" of defence infrastructure along the Sino-Indian border as "bold moves", Beijing has said it implied that New Delhi was "starting to treat China as a de facto competitor".
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