Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi announced that India is considering raising a 'rocket-cum-missile' force in response to the evolving regional security situation and similar units in China and Pakistan. The move aims to enhance India's combat capabilities and long-range strike potential.
China's newly-formed Rocket Force has held an exercise with advanced DF-16 medium-range ballistic missile with a range of over 1,000 kms that could threaten a number countries, including India, Japan and the United States.
If Xi Jinping can establish control over the PLA Ground Force, relations between India and China will settle down to an even keel. The next few weeks will show whether Xi has finally succeeded in gaining control over the PLA Ground Force. That could bring about the substantive shift in India-China relations that both our leaders have been working for, observes Ambassador Prabhat Shukla.
Over a million officials are said to have been punished in Xi's anti-corruption campaign according to the official media accounts. The intensity of the campaign also attracted criticism that Xi made effective use of it to silence his critics and rivals within the party.
The Chinese military on Monday started new major drills in the 'middle areas' of the Taiwan Strait amid rising diplomatic tensions with Japan over Taiwan that Beijing claims as its territory.
'For the first time in a hundred years, the army has been taken out of the political equation. And for the first time ever, there is only one man who calls the shots. Not even Mao had this kind of power.'
The United States has warned China against escalating tensions as Taiwan detected multiple Chinese naval vessels, official ships and balloons operating around the island amid Beijing's large-scale live-fire military drills.
This is the first time in decades that China has made its flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile public in an apparent show of strategic deterrence, State-run China Daily reported.
China displayed a range of new weapons at a military parade, including laser weapons, nuclear ballistic missiles, giant underwater drones, and fifth-generation aircraft.
On Thursday, the Chinese military published its ICBM launch photos, shedding its secrecy.
'This is the first time that active PLA army personnel would be reduced to below one million,' PLA Daily said.
The 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army, the world's largest, adopts a more aggressive posture with massive structural revamp.
The members were arrested on Monday for threatening people and obstructing the land demarcation process in Thoubal district.
In a surprise development, a top Chinese military general has cast aspersions on the People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s much-publicised 'real combat-oriented exercises' as 'fake combat capabilities' at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered it to prepare for 'maritime military struggles' to win wars.
China showcased its latest military hardware, including hypersonic and ballistic missiles, during a parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of its victory against Japanese aggression in World War II. President Xi Jinping called for world peace and national rejuvenation.
Speculation about the missing Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu may have been removed and detained became rife after he was conspicuously absent at the meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in Beijing on Friday.
Shanghai-based military analyst Ni Lexiong said the overhaul marked a significant strategic shift from having a homeland-based defensive force to one with the capacity to allow Beijing to flex its muscles beyond its national borders and to protect its interests overseas.
China also removed Finance Minister Liu Kun and appointed Lan Fo'an in his place. Liu is the third senior Cabinet minister to be replaced without any explanation.
The Chinese see no need to fight directly. They have an able and willing proxy in Pakistan, points out Shekhar Gupta.
China on Monday conducted day-long large-scale military drills aimed at surrounding Taiwan by deploying an aircraft carrier group, besides army, navy, air force and missile forces, in an apparent response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's remarks that Beijing has no authority to represent Taipei.
The Information Support Force was regarded as the revised version of the PLA's Strategic Support Force, established in 2015 by the Chinese military to deal with space, cyber, political and electronic warfare to fight what was described as "informationised wars".
'The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.' Former RA&W official Jayadeva Ranade explains what China's military reforms mean for the world.
'The Indian Army is fully prepared for a long and permanent deployment if the PLA does not retreat.'
According to the Pentagon report, the PLA is creating options for dissuading, deterring, and defeating external intervention in the Indo-Pacific region.
In the confrontation in Doklam, where Indian and Chinese soldiers were lined up eyeball-to-eyeball, senior Indian commanders recount they could sense the uncertainty in the Chinese. While Indian soldiers had to be restrained from pushing the Chinese troops back, our chief interpreter heard the Chinese officers threatening to open fire on PLA soldiers who wavered or withdrew, reveals Ajai Shukla.
The Chinese military on Thursday said it has conducted precision strikes over the Taiwan Strait and 'expected results' were achieved, in apparent retaliation to the United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei disregarding Beijing's vociferous warnings.
Will China's new military reforms endanger Xi Jinping's rule?
'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.
Two super high altitude firing ranges were made available to the armed forces for the practice of various kinds of weapons and surveillance equipment in Arunachal Pradesh within an aerial distance of 50 kilometres from the highly sensitive Line of Actual Control, sources said.
On Friday, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that 68 Chinese military planes and 13 warships crossed over the median line to participate in drills.
The statement came a day after Indian Army launched "punitive fire assaults" on Pakistani positions across LoC.
China on Saturday began military exercises around Taiwan to test the capabilities of its forces to 'seize control of the sea, air and information', days after a meeting between the United States House Speaker and the President of the self-ruled island in defiance of repeated threats by Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the need for the recruitment of new talent to support the rapid modernisation of the armed forces and win future wars amid reports that the military has committed more resources to enrol 3 lakh personnel for frontline positions.
Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe's, China's new defence minister's, first guest of honour could be his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman.
The entire gamut of China's activities is aimed at keeping India on tenterhooks, cause fatigue to its troops and keeping its security system unstable, so that it cannot play a meaningful role in international geopolitics as an effective partner of the US and Japan, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
China will increase its defence spending by "around seven per cent" this year, as it vowed to guard against "outside meddling" in its territorial disputes.
China will be the nuclear threat of most concern to New Delhi for at least another decade, the latest report by the Arms Control Association says.
'In India, China's capacities to conduct new types of warfare is critically underestimated,' says Claude Arpi.
If the initial analysis of this YJ-21 is correct, then China becomes the first country in the world to operationally field such a missile from a naval vessel.
In the test, a space rocket boosted a hypersonic glide vehicle, one capable of carrying a nuclear device, which circled the globe before impacting.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances