MH-60 Romeo Seahawks would add lethal capabilities of the Indian Navy, which experts say is the need of the hour given the aggressive behaviour of China in the Indian Ocean region.
'Cooperation at sea involves not just ships going out together and carrying out exercises over a couple of days, but understanding the whys and the wherefores,' points out Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'The Indian government wakes up after the fact when it can do nothing, or rather lacks the will to prosecute military actions to reverse these adverse PLA-driven developments.'
The Indian ships' participation in MALABAR-16, a maritime exercise with the US Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, reflects the vital strategic importance of the region to India.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The mandates which Pakistan has failed include action against all United Nations-designated terrorists like Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar, Lashker-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and the outfit's operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
The Seventh Fleet's area of responsibility includes the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean and at any given time there are roughly 5070 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft and approximately 20,000 sailors under its command.
In New Delhi's corridors of power, debate continues on whether the navy even needs a third aircraft carrier.
Carter arrived at INS Dega in Vishakhapatnam and was briefed by top officials about the activities of the Eastern Naval Command.
General Surindar Bhaskar served as the 17th chief of the US Army Dental Corps.
Exercise Tiger Triumph -- a full-scale, tri-service beach landing operation -- is a capability India is seeking to build.
In a few years from now, India will be looking at an entirely different type of military adversary across the borders, in our waters, in the air, in space and in our communication networks, says Nitin Pai.
'A three generation US-Pakistan relationship is not likely to be snapped any time soon. All this presents an irritant to an India that wishes to concentrate on economic development,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Islamabad receives billions in aid from the US but continues to harbour terrorists,' he said.
95 aircraft, 16 ships and 2 submarines from 3 countries are taking part in Malabar exercise.
When a Chinese warship entered Japanese waters, the Indian commander called on China to maintain discipline at sea. Dr Rajaram Panda explains the significance of the Malabar exercises between India, Japan and the US.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'India appears to have stood its ground on strategic autonomy by resisting US pressure on Russia, China and Iran, but succumbed to the temptation to walk into a tighter embrace in defence cooperation, a high priority of the Trump administration,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'It is only when Beijing sees a country with an infirm political will such as India that it acts up as the PLA has done in eastern Ladakh.'
Even as Barack Obama administration officials believe that the India-US relationship has now "emerged at the world stage" and is no longer a "restricted to narrow" South Asia or subcontinental set of issues, they also concede that America's security partnership with Pakistan over the years still poses challenge to India-US relationship.
New Delhi should resist any temptation to act as spoiler and instead should cooperate with its SCO partners in reaching a regional consensus behind the formation of an interim government in Kabul, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan failed to fulfil six of the 27 mandates so far as a result of which the country continues to be in the grey list of the FATF.
'I do not agree that the intent was to send a political message to China that the US treats friends and foes alike.' 'In any case, such acts do not ruffle a feather in China,' observes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It has been a half-century since Neil Armstrong stepped out of a lunar module and onto the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969 and declared, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." The moment heralded a golden age of space exploration that was set in motion just eight years earlier in 1961, when United States President John F Kennedy promised before Congress to put a man on the moon before the decade was out. Here are some lesser-known facts about the historic first mission:
The 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army, the world's largest, adopts a more aggressive posture with massive structural revamp.
'The world may be desirous of peace, but not Kim Jong-un.' 'Should we then accept the old adage that to maintain peace, we should be prepared for war?' asks Rajaram Panda.
If the aim is to become a player with some strategic space of its own, not just in the Indian Ocean region but also in the adjoining region, then greater interaction with China is desirable, even necessary.
'The past year has yielded extraordinary results in the strategic, commercial, and people-to-people components of the India-United States partnership, US Ambassador to India Richard Rahul Verma tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
Among others, China is developing the strategically located Gwadar port in Balochistan, which is aimed towards having a military presence, says a Pentagon report
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.
Vijender Singh is determined to keep the record with a world title to boot as he enters the new decade donning multiple hats, including the one of an active politician "with strong opinions". The 34-year-old trailblazing boxer, who delivered India's first Olympic and men's world championship medals in boxing back in 2008 and 2009, has logged an enviable 12-0 record in the professional circuit, which he entered in 2015.
India's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine is a considerable achievement -- and should have an impact on security strategy
The US president's remarks came in response to the latest ballistic missile test conducted by North Korea on Friday.
China's South China Sea build-up and 'territorial sea' construct potentially affects 55 percent of Indian trade passing through the region. Hence, coordinating with the US and Japan could provide dividends to India in the longer run,' says Srikanth Kondapalli.
'The US-India relationship is in a different league altogether,' Obama administration officials tell Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
In the test, a space rocket boosted a hypersonic glide vehicle, one capable of carrying a nuclear device, which circled the globe before impacting.
Swaraj expressed satisfaction over the agenda of the inaugural dialogue while giving the details of the deliberations.
United Nations proscribed terrorist Lakhvi, 61, who was on bail since 2015 in the Mumbai attack case, was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab province on Saturday.
