'Putting tanks on the Ladakh border is not enough to combat China, what is needed to ensure resilience against any cyber-attacks or attacks in outer space or China flexing its economic muscle, as it did with Australia.'
Sri Lankans on Thursday voted in large numbers in the bitterly contested presidential election in which incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa is seeking a record third term against his friend-turned-foe Maithripala Sirisena, with an unusually high voter turnout in Tamil and Muslim areas.
As the island heads for elections, two major factors worry Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. One is the division in the Sinhala vote and the other is the prospect of the Tamils and Muslims voting heavily against him.
Over 100 personnel from Sri Lanka's elite Special Task Force on Friday raided the office of former army chief and defeated opposition presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka in Colombo."I don't know what they are looking for. They have also questioned the staff," said a close aide of Fonseka, who was trounced by incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in the January 26 presidential polls.
Skeletal remains of 80 bodies have been dug out of a mass grave in a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stronghold in Sri Lanka, fuelling speculation that the bodies are of Tamil civilians who disappeared during the war with the rebels.
Voters in Sri Lanka's Tamil majority Northern Province on Saturday began voting in the first local elections in 25 years to elect a council to govern the former war zone, four years after the military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam after decades of bloody civil war.
"One of the military outposts at Thalgasmankada, located about 50 km south of Pottuvil, guarding the Yala national park came under the LTTE attack on Monday night. Six soldiers were killed and one more wounded," military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara told UNI over phone, adding that the military had repulsed the rebel attack.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
The meeting comes as India continues its attempts to isolate Pakistan in the South Asian region after the attack on its army camp in Uri.
If the stories weren't bound by their themes or expectations or if they weren't limited to the time and the medium, Mani Ratnam's Navarasa could have been something better, feels Divya Nair.
Maithripala Sirisena was considered so meek and self-effacing that he appeared no threat to anyone. What a mistake his rivals made!
'Like General Patton, possibly the greatest exponent of the art of war, Vajpayee had the ability to be always on the offensive,' assesses Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
"Just a handful of Indian youth have joined the ISIS. Some have also returned after being persuaded by their families," asserted the home minister.
Modi said the coming together of SAARC leaders will lead to effective outcomes and benefit citizens in the fight against coronavirus. The PM on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Rajapaksa will transform Sri Lanka's political landscape after Thursday's electoral triumph, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran Colombo watcher.
A cross-section of people from Tamil Nadu speak of their expectations from Narendra Modi.
At a crowded beachfront mass, Pope Francis canonised Sri Lanka's first saint on Wednesday.
An agreement between India and Pakistan, however tenuous, has its own meaning and impact. We have not heard the last word about the ceasefire agreement, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'What happened last Sunday is a great tragedy, an insult to humanity'
The deployment seems to be more than what is needed.
New Delhi has reached out to neighbours like seldom before while singling Islamabad for criticism at international forums.
The country will not allow any "unilateral action" on its border and will pay any cost to thwart such attempts, he told the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's state conference.
As we celebrate the actor's much deserved award, Divya Nair presents 10 landmark films in Suriya's career, ranked in order of performance.
The dinner Jill Biden and her husband US President Joe Biden hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, June 22, at the White House brought together, Indians and Americans from so many firmaments.
Chennai on Wednesday turned a virtual island after unprecedented rains in 100 years pounded the city, shutting the airport and rendering thousands homeless.
Many world leaders on Monday condoled the death of former president Pranab Mukherjee, saying they have lost a true friend who made immense contributions to the strengthening of India's relations with their countries.
The current Indo-Pak crisis over Kashmir is a godsend for the US. With tensions running high, Pakistan is in no position to militarily help the Taliban. Once this realisation dawns on the Taliban, they are likely to be more amenable to a compromise on American terms, says Colonel Anil Athale (retired).
Playing 'fearless' cricket has been Bangladesh's war-cry at the ICC World Cup but courage alone will not be enough to upset India and their army of blue-clad fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where the teams play their quarter-final on Thursday.
Gota has to decide if he could order elder brother Mahinda's arrest as the agent provocateur of Monday's violence. Then he has to prepare for an interim government, in which no one would now want to become a cabinet minister leave alone prime minister, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Though dubbed as the 'war hero', the role of Rajapaksa in ending the conflict with the LTTE with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009 is quite divisive as he stands accused of violating human rights, a charge he vehemently denies.
South Korea's Asian Games cricket experiment ended in defeat to Sri Lanka on Tuesday, but after their collection of baseball players and weekend enthusiasts took eight wickets off the Twenty20 world champions, coach Julian Fountain believes the sport could truly flourish here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to the national capital on Thursday after a successful three-day visit to Nepal capital Kathmandu, where he attended the 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit.
'We should expect a cold-blooded, transactional relation that requires a lot of engagement and mutual trust to sustain,' says Constantino Xavier, Fellow, foreign policy, Brookings India.
'Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai? Don't you believe it. I don't trust the Chinese one bit,' Nehru told Gopalaswamy Parthasarathi before he traveled to China as India's ambassador. Asking GP to be ever vigilant, Nehru advised the diplomat to send telegrams on important matters only to him. Many such anecdotes from a long and eventful career as diplomat and bureaucrat crowd the pages of GP: 1912-1995, discovers Uttaran Das Gupta.
Army, paramilitary and police forces continue going into harm's way with outdated bulletproof jackets (BPJs), and helmets designed for motorcycle riding, not for the impact of a nine-millimetre bullet.
'If India adopts a punitive and unforgiving stance against the Rohingyas, it will be courting disgrace,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Cassandras and Congressis may sneer at the findings, but the Times Now poll indicated that the Modi government was very much on its way to a second term.
'Amazingly, along with the yellow army, there was still a huge number of desis, who had flown in from various parts of the world. No, we didn't sell our tickets -- we just changed our colours, for the day,' says Swapna Mitter, who was at the World Cup Final.
'Ex-servicemen engineers and technicians are true professionals worthy of being 'Make in India' agents. They can be trusted to bring long term dividends -- it is in their character to be long term loyalists!' says Air Marshal P V Athawale (Retd).
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