There is no conceivable reason for any big power to put road blocks on the path of an India-Pakistan normalisation process, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Even existing projects are yet to take off, courtesy land policy.
The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach involving the Army, the Indian Air Force and the Navy as well as diplomacy and economic measures to send out a firm and clear message to China that its misadventure in eastern Ladakh was not acceptable at all.
The Rafales could begin combat operations by September-October, reports Ajai Shukla.
The sources also said another round of military talks between the two sides on Wednesday to defuse tensions in the area remained inconclusive. The talks lasted nearly seven hours.
Sukhoi-30MKI fighters will be based in Thanjavur. Tejas Mark 1 aircraft will be based in Sulur. The Rafale squadron will be based in Ambala.
India and France agreed to intensify their cooperation in defence sector, particularly in the field of anti-piracy and maritime security and expected to finalise soon a deal for upgrading IAF's Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft.
'One of R&AW's greatest achievements is in projecting itself as benign.' 'This work -- done in tandem with the Diaspora and the MEA -- sells a story of India as mostly the victim.'
Fighter jets and helicopters hit targets during day and night.
Jadhav, the 50-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of 'espionage and terrorism' in April 2017. Weeks later, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence.
Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said the IAF is "always cautious and alert" to check any untoward aerial movement on the border.
The decision to disengage the forces, locked in a bitter standoff for the last six weeks in eastern Ladakh, was taken at a nearly 11-hour-long meeting between senior Indian and Chinese commanders in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Monday.
The French armed forces conducted second air raid against Daesh (IS) in Raqqa in 24 hours.
Showcasing its precision strike capabilities during day and night, Indian Air Force on Sunday carried out a massive fire power blitzkrieg using its frontline aircraft such as SU-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, MIG 27 and MIG 29, at the Pokhran ranges in Rajasthan.
The IAF is down to 34 squadrons. This will dip to 30 squadrons by the end of this decade, as nine squadrons of MiG-21 and MiG-27s retire.
In hindsight, most see it as a flawed model of a gallery that grew too fast, with too many emerging and contemporary artists being given shows that out-priced them from the gallery circuit. But while it lasted, it brought in a specialisation rarely seen in the art world before.
'Employment of dedicated lightweight special forces aircraft may provide the answer for repeat anti-terror air strikes with surprise elements intact, the cost benefit assured and attrition minimal,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd), India's former air adviser in Pakistan.
India may go beyond the purchase of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft.
The defence ministry stressed that the purchase of 36 Rafales was 'strictly in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure in all aspects.' However, the DPP-mandated process had not been gone through when Modi announced the agreement on April 10, 2015,' observes Ajai Shukla.
'We found the MiG-29s to be in excellent condition. They could make an excellent addition to our fleet,' a senior air marshal tells Ajai Shukla.
A Mirage-2000 fighter jet and an AN-32 medium lift transport aircraft took to the skies early Wednesday morning with a team of astrophysicists and IAF personnel onboard who carried out some experiments and filmed the longest total solar eclipse of the century.
The Indian Air Force on Wednesday blamed a 'technical malfunction' of the weapon system, for its Mirage-2000 fighter jet dropping a bomb 15 km outside the Pokhran firing range, in Rajasthan on Monday night. "The court of inquiry into the technical malfunction of the weapon system on-board the aircraft has already begun," an IAF officer said. The IAF also stated that the 100-pound bomb had exploded, but did not damage any civilian or government property.
Pakistan on Wednesday put its air force on red alert and warplanes conducted 'emergency scrambles' from four key airbases amidst escalating tensions with India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.Soon after the Pakistan Air Force went on red alert, emergency scrambles were conducted at the Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Mianwali airbases, sources were quoted as saying by the private NNI news agency.
The French offer comes at a time when Indian Army is on the threshold of floating its biggest-ever global tenders for 2000-3000 wheeled, towed and tracked 155 mm guns of .52 calibre and 1000-2000 high speed mine protected troop carrying 4x4 and 8x8 specialised troop combat vehicles for forces operating against terrorists and Maoists.
He is survived by his wife Alexandra and his daughter, author Mary Sheldon.
Despite pending payments of over Rs 20,000 crore, HAL revenue grew 6% against the previous year.
Feast your eyes on these birds!
Indian residents in the Israeli town of Dimona are having fun playing Raj Kapoor and Vyajanthimala.
'The party in the present form cannot pose a challenge to the BJP and Modi.'
India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft is on schedule and would be comparable to frontline Mig-29 and Mirage 2000 fighters when it starts rolling out by 2011, Defence Minister A K Antony said in New Delhi on Thursday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday described the plans by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to forge a third alternative as a "mirage".
As President Nicolas Sarkozy began talks with Indian leaders to boost Indo-French ties, a French company Friday offered to sell 40 of its new generation Rafale fighters to New Delhi on a fast track basis to help IAF maintain its combat edge.
The Pilotless Target Aircraft Lakshya was used as a support system providing the target for the exercise, defence sources said.
In a first, a Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft successfully landed on the Yamuna Expressway.
At present, Pakistan has some edge with its fleet of F-16 jets with AMRAAM missile fitted with them, said an official.
Pamela Anderson has wed Paris Hilton's sex tape partner Rick Salomon, just days after denying that she is planning to tie the knot again.
Though ythe IAF has for the past few years been participating in bilateral exercises with foreign air forces, this will be the first exclusive IAF exercise in seven years.\n
While the fate of the pilot could not be immediately ascertained, there was no loss of life or property on the ground as the plane crashed in a field outside the village.
Speaking at the annual Republic Day military parade attended for the first time by troops from China and Saudi Arabia, Hussain said: "Pakistan is ready for dialogue with India and wants resolution of the Kashmir dispute, which is the unfinished agenda of the partition."
Addressing the parade, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi said the IAF had transformed from a small and tactical force into a strategic power to reckon with.
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