Ahead of Director-General of Military Operations-level talks next week, an elite Strike Corps of the Indian Army carried out wargames near the India-Pakistan border involving over 15,000 troops and over 100 tanks.
Replying to clarifications sought by MPs in Rajya Sabha on his statement on the border row, the minister said skirmishes and face-off with China in the last few months have been primarily over the issue of patrolling the Ladakh border.
Top Taliban commander Mullah Baradar's arrest in a joint US-Pakistan operation does not mean that Pakistan is moving against the militants and may be seen as a key strategy of the country aimed at maintaining influence on its "western flank", a US think tank said on Monday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said there is no alternative to the Trinamool Congress, and no other party can take its place in the state.
'The Chinese fault lines are tremendous and we need to exploit them.'
Very few today realise that without Brigadier John Dalvi's courage, we would never have known what really happened during those tragic days of October/November 1962, reveals Claude Arpi.
We have a generation of youth in our country with fire in their bellies and the 'tamanna' to emulate the Indian soldier. Such is the image that has been created by our soldiers over time. The proposal for civilians into the Military fray for a short stint must be considered favourably keeping the national interests foremost, says Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
At least two top Bangladesh Army officers, including a Major General, were killed on Monday after a military helicopter crashed in the country's central Tangail district, officials said.
The two sides also decided on early operationalisation of the proposed hotline between the two armies as part of the confidence building measures, the defence ministry said.
'The situation is quite bad. We are trying to rescue people. Right now we are giving them food and water so that they can at least survive until the water recedes,' says Squadron leader V Joshi.
The incident is said to have occurred in the wee hours when a huge mound of earth fell on the 'row houses' and two children and five women were among the deceased, most of whom were plantation workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Karachi is considered the safest place by the Taliban to hide in Pakistan. According to a Newsweek report, the Taliban is hardly worried by US' plans to send in more troops to Afghanistan, and believes that as far as they do not foment terror, they can live safely in the city.
The MEA spokesperson further said the actions and behaviour of the Chinese side since earlier this year along the LAC have been in "clear violation" of the bilateral agreements and protocols concluded between the two countries to ensure peace and tranquility on the border.
'At 1.58% of GDP, the defence budget is one of the lowest since the Chinese aggression of 1962.' 'The government of the day has lost sight of the fact that defence of the country is as important as its growth,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Taliban's reclusive leader Mullah Muhammad Omar is alive and hiding in the Pakistani city of Karachi, a top Afghan intelligence official has said, echoing a similar assessment by Western intelligence officials.
Indian Air Force Chief P V Naik on Wednesday downplayed the Chinese threat, saying there have not been any air incursions along the Line of Actual Control. Air Chief Marshal Naik said, "Our strategy is to play it cool. We are not downplaying anything. As far as the Air Force is concerned, there has been no reason to downplay anything. There have not been any incursions reported at the LAC." He also hinted that the Indian Air Force is upscaling its strength.
India has experienced hands and will emerge with flying colours, declares Inspector General Gurdip Singh Uban (retd).
Built by the French railway technology company Alstom, it will host a 90-metre-long digital wall for train operation, said to be the second largest in Asia.
Gaining an upper hand in the restive Swat valley in north-western Pakistan after signing of a deal with the authorities, an emboldened Taliban has told all Non Government Organisations working in the area to pack their bags, saying their activities are un-Islamic.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the suspected Mumbai attacks mastermind, and communications expert Zarar Shah are in Pakistan's custody, said sources.The Federal Investigation Agency had lodged an FIR against them in connection with the 26 11 terror strikes. Both Lakhvi, Shah and Hamad Ameen Sadiq, a key terrorist linked to the Mumbai terror attack, are linked to the LeT and have been named in the FIR lodged by the FIA.
China has not limited the 'battle' to the diplomatic field alone; the People's Liberation Army has become aggressive on the ground too. The recent 'fights' in Northern Sikkim and Ladakh are part of the pattern, asserts Claude Arpi.
'If we had sent a few airplanes (into Tibet), we could have wiped the Chinese out.' 'And everything could have been different in the 1962 War.' 'They did not believe me there was no Chinese air force.' 'Can you imagine what would have happened if we had used the IAF at that time?' 'The Chinese would have never dared do anything down the line.'
Omar runs a shadow government, complete with military, religious and cultural councils, and has appointed officials and commanders to virtually every Afghan province and district, just as he did when he ruled Afghanistan, the Taliban claim, the New York Times reported on Monday.
A war film that keeps you riveted to your seat, says Prasanna D Zore.
Wing Commander Ajey Lele says it does not matter how superior our technology is, but what we do with the intelligence gathered from it.
Afghanistan will remain a frontline state for Washington for a foreseeable future in terms of the potential threats to US national security from terrorist groups, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
Western Air Command chief Air Marshal N A K Browne told media-persons in New Delhi on Friday that different types of radars would be put in place along the 667-km LAC with China, the air defence of which is the WAC's responsibility. "The Air Force is keenly examining the option of special type of radars, which we call the mountain radars and we are also looking at Low Level Light Weight Radars.
Fresh from their success in capturing the entire North-western coast, the Sri Lankan Air Force fighter jets on Sunday pounded bunkers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and seized hundreds of arms and ammunitions while recovering the bodies of two militants, officials said.
He has no challenger in the Congress, the Akali Dal is in disarray. Will he call a snap election?
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.
The military investigator's report found that more than 30 civilians not 5 to 7 as the military has long insisted died in the air strikes against a suspected Taliban compound in Azizabad in western Afghanistan on August 22, the New York Times reported.
For the first time in seven years the prime minister finds himself at his most vulnerable, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Brigadier M P Bajwa (retd), commander of the troops that captured Tiger Hill, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih how a band of young soldiers won the Kargil War's most famous battle with their blood and grit.
'A breakthrough in eastern Ladakh leading to disengagement and creation of a buffer zone will obviate the need of military deployment through the winter months ahead,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The BJP has done the Uri surgical strikes, handled the Dokalam crisis and the Balakot strikes.' 'So if there is a de-escalation only at the diplomatic level and not resolving this issue of a colonel being killed, then it translates into public anger.'
"Over the period of time after 26/11, we saw a gradual build up of Pakistan Air Force across the area of Western Air Command area of responsibility, close to over 75 per cent," IAF's Vice Chief-Designate Air Marshal P K Barbora told media-persons in New Delhi.
In an attack carried out by the armed militants of the ULFA-I a Hindi-speaking businessman and his daughter were killed in the interior Bijulibon area in Assam on Tuesday night.
'It is a tense border and there are numerous elements that keep these tensions alive.' 'India is willing to militarily respond if provoked.'
