Chinese leaders, including its generals, will have to weigh whether they can win a war if they ever attack Taiwan and if at all, can they sustain the subsequent devastation, notes Rup Narayan Das.
While Trump described the operation as the 'most daring' search and rescue mission in US military history, Iran termed it a victory, claiming it shot down a C-130-class aircraft involved in the operation.
He also warned the Gulf countries, which are allowing the US to launch an attack from their soil, vowing to "punish" the regional partners.
The USS Tripoli, carrying around 3,500 US Marines, has entered the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility, marking the deployment of one of America's largest amphibious assault ships into an active combat theatre in West Asia amid the ongoing conflict.
According to an official Iranian military statement, Qader anti-ship cruise missiles were launched at the carrier, forcing it to alter its position in the region.
Amidst escalating tensions in West Asia, Iran claims to have inflicted heavy casualties on US forces in Dubai, a claim vehemently denied by the US Central Command, raising concerns about regional stability.
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been operating in the Arabian Sea since the end of January.
Specifically, military experts are assessing if the 'Octopus' interceptor anti-drone system, produced in the UK to support Ukraine in countering Russian threats, could be repurposed to strengthen British protections against Iran's Shahed drones.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged its citizens to immediately depart from several Middle Eastern countries, citing "serious safety risks."
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
'Strikes into the Gulf countries are proof that the security guarantees offered by the US are ineffective and that the Gulf countries cannot rely on American security assurances for their safety.'
The arrival of Nimitz in Chennai had raised protests from the Left and other political parties and environmentalists.
Top officials onboard Nimitz and the US have sought to allay fears over possible radiation saying that the safety record of the 56 year-old ship was outstanding.
"A standing environmental safety committee has carried out a detailed survey of the Chennai port and cleared the anchorage of USS Nimitz from the radition hazard point of view," a defence ministry spokesman said in Delhi.
"The first ever port call in India by a US aircraft carrier and a landmark event in US-India bilateral relations," the American embassy in Delhi said in a release.
B Raman says jihadi groups may target either the ship when it is here, or even India after it is gone.
This is the first time that the Indian Navy is conducting a major joint exercise with foreign navies along the country's eastern coast.
Any miscalculation and miscommunication are fraught with the risk of a major catastrophe, warns Rup Narayan Das.
China and the US flexed their naval might by deploying aircraft carriers in a rare showdown in the Taiwan Strait, the narrow channel that separates the Chinese mainland from Taiwan, as Beijing fumed over US House Speaker's meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Washington.
While the first phase of the 24th edition of the Malabar exercise was conducted in Bay of Bengal from November 3-6, the second phase was conducted in the Arabian Sea from November 17-20, said a statement by the Indian Navy.
A wide spectrum of drills including surface and anti-aircraft drills, helicopter operations, maneuvers and cross-deck flying was carried out for the second consecutive day as part of the 11th edition of the biennial Indo-Russian exercise Indra Navy.
Aircraft carriers of India, the United States, Japan and Australia are set to take part in the second phase of Exercise Malabar that is scheduled to take place from November 17 to 20 in the Indian Ocean region, the Navy said on Monday.
The navy said the missile hit the target at maximum range with precise accuracy.
Four frontline warships of the Indian Navy participated in the 'PASSEX' exercise when the US carrier strike group was transiting through the Indian Ocean Region on its way from the South China Sea, the officials said.
Esper also highlighted the 'increased' military cooperation with India and called it as 'one of the most important defence relationships of the 21th century'.
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.
With Britain's Queen Elizabeth unveiling the Royal Navy's biggest ever aircraft carrier, which weighs more than 10,000 African elephants and is longer than the Houses of Parliament, Rediff.com presents the world's 10 largest aircraft carriers. And, India's INS Viraat stands proud at the eight position.
"Relevant countries should abandon the obsolete Cold War mentality and narrow-minded geopolitical rivalry concept and view correctly and respect people's aspiration in the region and do more things conducive to regional solidarity and cooperation," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
This is the eighth in a series of such exercises.
The US has deployed its naval carrier strike group, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, as well as a fleet of F-18 fighter jets and E-2C Hawkeye all-weather aircraft for the exercise, officials said. The Indian assets at the exercise included Jaguar and Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets, IL-78 air-to-air refuelling tanker aircraft, Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and warships Kochi and Teg. The Indian Navy has also deployed a fleet of P8I maritime surveillance aircraft and MiG 29K jets, apart from other platforms.
A number of other frontline ships, submarines and fighter jets of the three countries will be part of the over week-long drill in the Bay of Bengal which is taking place in the backdrop of a major military face-off between armies of India and China in the Sikkim section.
95 aircraft, 16 ships and 2 submarines from 3 countries are taking part in Malabar exercise.
The United States, he said, 'desires a new age of ambition' in its relationship with India. Asserting that the US has never been more supportive of India's security, he said New Delhi too, is an important partner and a key pillar of President Trump's foreign policy.
A US RC-135S reconnaissance aircraft on Wednesday flew near the ongoing Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) drills in the South China Sea, a day after another US spy plane, a U-2, trespassed into another PLA exercise restricted zone, state-run Global Times reported.
In a major policy speech on Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the world will not allow China to treat the strategically important South China Sea (SCS) as its 'maritime empire' and vowed to support worried Southeast Asian countries against Beijing's 'campaign of bullying' to control the resource-rich region.
India will be the most consequential partner for the US in the Indo-Pacific this century, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday ahead of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue between the two countries next week. Esper on Tuesday told a Washington audience that he and the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would be travelling to New Delhi next week for the 2+2 ministerial with their respective Indian counterparts Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
"The message is clear. We're not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether it's in that region or over here," White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News.
The navy has significantly expanded its deployment in the Indian Ocean Region deploying a plethora of warships and submarines to create pressure points on China as the maritime space around the Malacca Strait is very critical for its supply chain through sea routes.
The Centre is yet to authorise the entry of the ship into Indian waters.
The move of the Vinson strike group is in response to recent North Korean provocations.
