The balloon, which was being used by the People's Republic of China in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above US territorial waters.
" ...the military (is) being increasingly drawn into the political discourse, it's being used to win political arguments"
Colonel Joseph is the highest ranking army official to have been killed in counter-insurgency operations in the last one year. Earlier, another colonel from Maratha Light Infantry was killed while leading his men in busting a militant hideout in Baramulla sector in the state.
A chemical weapons expert has been killed in a US-led air strike in northern Iraq.
Pakistani troops violated the bilateral ceasefire on the international border near Jammu on Saturday morning targeting Border Security Force troops, according to a senior BSF officer.
The new ISI chief Lt Gen Mukhtar possesses a vast experience in the field of intelligence and has headed the counter-terrorism wing of the spy agency in Islamabad. He was commissioned in the Armoured Corps regiment in 1983.
'India showcased its ability to launch multiple Special Forces strikes simultaneously across a well defended front.' 'Through these strikes Pakistan was given a glimpse of the full range of India's military capabilities,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The Chinese -- up to the highest leadership -- will avoid a conflict because they know they will be badly licked.' 'The reputation they have painstakingly built over the last two-three decades of being a global power will be destroyed.'
Kirti Chakra was posthumously conferred on CRPF Commandant Pramod Kumar and Army Havildar Giris Gurung.
The 30-member committee, chaired by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Jual Oram and of which Rahul Gandhi is also a member,wishes to visit the eastern Ladakh region in the last week of May or in June.
The 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army, the world's largest, adopts a more aggressive posture with massive structural revamp.
'Their redemption is here. Definitely not in Pakistan.' 'They know if they step 20 steps on the other side of the Line of Control they will never return.' 'They will be ill treated.'
The initial reaction to provide assistance to the quake-hit people was spontaneous and came from the grassroots levels of armed forces.
"Whatever we are doing is in close coordination and synergy with the army and the Indian Air Force to produce desired results," he said.
'The military officers at China's National People's Congress reflect Xi Jinping's preference for elevating politically reliable, younger, officers with good professional qualifications,' says former RAW officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on this day every year, marking successful conclusion of the war with Pakistan in the Kargil-Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir in 1999.
Mehbooba Mufti said that incidents like the ones at Handwara and Nathnusa are "unacceptable" and come as a major setback to the efforts of the state government in consolidating peace dividends in the state.
Why does the army remain embroiled in counter-insurgency, denying itself a peace dividend even after expending blood and treasure in imposing calm?
'We should not minimise the seriousness of Chinese encroachments because their perception is different.' 'Nor should we fall into the trap of accepting so-called 'buffer zones' in areas of overlapping claims. We cannot have buffer zones in our own territory,' asserts Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
The Chinese military, on the last day of its largest-ever military exercises to vent out its anger over United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, carried out island saturation attack drills in the Taiwan Straits, amid global concerns of a full-scale attack to annex the breakaway island which Beijing claims is part of its territory.
'Past experience shows us that cross-border strikes have not prevented Pakistan from continuing with further terror attacks.'
'There is a sense of realism in the Pakistan army that if they needled India during the Ladakh standoff, they would have seen a strong retaliation.' 'Pakistan was hoping that India would come out looking weaker in the region and get embarrassed, but that obviously has not happened.'
Six armed foreign militants were killed on Monday and three armymen lost their lives in a fierce gunbattle that broke out along the Line of Control in Kupwara sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Intensifying its targeted assassinations of militants, Israel's air force on Thursday bombed a house in Gaza killing three senior Hamas commanders among 19 Palestinians on the 45th day of the deadly conflict.
'The era of conventional wars is almost over in the Indian context.' 'In such a scenario, special forces could play a decisive strategic role in the spectrum of conflict.'
The bodies of the three militants were recovered from the debris of the house at Arwani in Bijbehara area on Friday morning after security forces blew up the building using explosives, a police official said.
India and China on Thursday held high- level comprehensive dialogue on a host of financial issues to identify areas of convergence to step up their cooperation in the international and bilateral economic spheres.
Indian Air Force's 115 Helicopter unit and 26 Squadron, both doing yeoman's services in rescue operations and war have been awarded with the President's Standard award, an official said on Friday.
'Not a single bullet was fired, but we were warning the enemy not to continue with their antics!' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe finds out how the Light Combat Helicopter, which will be inducted into the IAF on October 3, was designed, developed and flown.
A top Lashkar-e-Taiyba commander was among the three militants killed in two ongoing fierce encounters in the Zachaldara forest area of northern Kashmir's Kupwara district, according to a police spokesman.He said the Army and the police surrounded the forest areas of Bahnipora and Satkoji in the Kupwara district on Tuesday afternoon.
'We owe our existence to the men in uniform, and we owe it to them to cleanse the armed forces by driving away every bit of corruption that eats into it,' argues Sudhir Bisht.
Triggering a major diplomatic row, China has refused to permit an Indian army general to visit that country as he is in-charge of "sensitive" Jammu and Kashmir, prompting an angry retaliation by India which put all defence exchanges with it on hold till the matter was sorted out.
Indian cricket captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni and his teammate Suresh Raina, on a trip to seek the blessings Mata Vaishnodevi ahead of the World Cup, on Sunday could not make it to the cave shrine due to bad weather.
With the aim of giving special forces a technological edge over terrorists, Northern command headquarters had recently floated tenders for the purchase of high-tech multi-utility GPS wrist watches, defence sources said.
Life in most parts of Kashmir started limping back to normalcy after remaining paralysed for five days due to strikes and protests.
After making incursion bids in Ladakh through land route, Chinese troops have made several attempts to enter Indian waters at Pangong lake nestled in the higher reaches of Ladakh with the latest incident reported on Friday.
President Kalam will arrive at the Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur on May 3, where top army officers would receive him, official sources said.
Army's Northern Command Chief Lt Gen B S Jaswal on Thursday remained unruffled by the Chinese action denying him a visa that fuelled a diplomatic row with India but said it reflected their "predilection".
