Sitharaman said keeping morale of forces at the highest level was among the priorities of the government.
Major General B S Raju, the head of Victor Force that performs counter-insurgency operations in five districts of south Kashmir, says a great deal of political sagacity is needed to ensure that a lasting solution to the decades-long separatist problem is found.
A commanding officer of the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles, a cop and two militants were killed and a soldier was seriously wounded in a fierce encounter in south Kashmir's Tral area on Tuesday afternoon.
PM, Parrikar, Rahul condole loss of lives.
The army closed the alleged Pathribal fake encounter case on Thursday saying that "the evidence recorded could not establish a prime facie case against any of the accused persons, but clearly established that it was a joint operation by the police and the army based on specific intelligence".
'The necessity of a Mountain Strike Corps is well understood. The problem is in implementing the intention.'
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has asked the Indian Air Force to focus on safety and conservation of available resources as he interacted with top commanders in New Delhi just days after India decided to buy 36 Rafale jets.
The defence ministry on Monday decided to go ahead with the process of appointing the next army chief as it recommended the name of Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag for the top post.
Former Army Chief and now Bharatiya Janata Party's Ghaziabad constituency candidate is never away from controversy, says R S Chauhan
'There is hope that in the next 48 to 72 hours there will be some kind of movement forward to de-escalate and not heighten the tension.'
'By crudely dragging the topic into the bazaar to flog it for momentary pleasure, we turned it into a dead carcass by the time Modi even got back from Xiamen,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Lifting the AFSPA can certainly be attempted but the provisions of the AFSPA, as an emergency law that empowers the army -- the nation's instrument of last resort -- must continue to remain on the statute books given the increasingly violent and uncertain times that the subcontinent is likely to face in coming years, says Nitin A Gokhale.
Kolkata police on Thursday issued a look out notice against Ambia Sohrab, Sambia Sohrab and their father former RJD MLA Mohammed Sohrab.
'He was believed to finish his own work in an hour and spend the remainder of the time walking from one office to another, sitting down with the harried junior staff and helping them sort out the problems they were working on.'
An impressive array of warships, including nuclear capable submarines, and about 8000 men and officers of Indian Navy presented an exquisite display of operational capabilities in an exercise reviewed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi off the Kochi coast in Kerala on Tuesday.
It may be a case of history repeating itself as the defence company at the heart of parliamentary queries over Britain's involvement in Operation Bluestar is none other than AgustaWestland, which recently lost out on a lucrative contract to supply helicopters to India over allegations of corruption.
Sergeant Rupert Frere, who transferred from a role in bomb disposal to become a photographer in the Royal Logistic Corps, won no fewer than five of the professional categories.
The Army, in its statement, has vowed to give a befitting reply to Pakistan "in the same language".
'Why has the rhetoric gone down on the Indian side, Durrani wondered aloud.' 'I said because almost total normalcy and peace had returned on the ground in Kashmir,' recalls Shekhar Gupta. 'The general gave me that career spook's laser look. And he said: "That situation on the ground can change in no time".' 'This was precisely when the Pakistanis began their first incursions into Kargil.' 'Durrani had been retired for five years.' 'But once the ISI boss, you are always in the know.'
.jpg)
Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag will be the next Army Chief succeeding Gen Bikram Singh as the government on Tuesday appointed him to the top post, ignoring protests from Bharatiya Janata Party.
During the World War, Singh fought alongside the Allied Forces in North West Frontier province, Eritrea, Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), Libya, Egypt and Italy.
Ahead of Sushma Swaraj's visit, Myanmarese soldiers take over Indian territory.
Accusing Pakistan of continuing to support "proxy war" in Jammu and Kashmir despite suffering casualties due to terror on its soil, Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh on Tuesday said threats and challenges have been growing because of the "active borders".
Sri Lanka's new government on Sunday said it will probe whether longtime president Mahinda Rajapaksa sought military help to cling to power after he realised that he had lost the closely contested election.
At least 27 people were reported dead on Friday after Malian commandos stormed the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako with at least 170 people inside, many of them foreigners, that had been seized by Islamist gunmen.
'With two nuclear neighbours, how likely is it for our armed forces to battle in a contaminated environment that could include nuclear, biological or chemical attacks by the adversary?' 'Are we prepared for the threat?' Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd) explains the meaning and significance of Operation Vijay Prahar.
Girls in the Kashmir valley hurling defiance at the security forces will detract from the legitimacy of India's response and its standing in the world, says Ajai Shukla.
"Since the Hyderpora attack of June 24, there have been a series of successful operations both on LoC and in the hinterland area. We have killed 28 terrorists in this period, out of which 18 were eliminated on the LoC and 10 in the hinterland," GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Gurmeet Singh told reporters in Srinagar.
'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).
"Our worry is that a small mistake, an accidental exchange of fire at night, might lead to an unintended escalation," a senior officer confessed
Kanika Datta visits the Cu Chi military tunnels -- a testimony to a plucky little country's 30-year war of resistance against, first, French colonisers and, then, the US.
'It is the impression in Kashmir that if ever a realistic resolution of the problem/dispute is sought to be seriously attempted by New Delhi, the BJP is the best bet,' says Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished observer on Kashmir.
With ambitious generals knowing that political patronage might be rewarded, a worrying era of politicisation of the military looms ahead, observes retired Colonel Ajai Shukla who has known Generals Rawat, Bakshi and Hariz for a long time.
'In the present era of strategic uncertainty and rapidly changing threats, no military professional now disputes the unavoidable necessity of a joint planning staff for the planning and conduct of joint operations so that integrated operations can be planned 'top down',' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will visit India on his maiden foreign trip next month even as he ordered the release of all Indian fishermen in custody in Colombo as a goodwill gesture on the first day in office.
'Those who say the Indian Army is persecuting Kashmiris... I will tell them that the reality is that the Kashmiri loves the fauj and what all the Indian Army has done.'
'NSA Doval and the PM are known to admire Israel's tough response to cross-border terrorism.' 'However, New Delhi's situation is far more complex than Tel Aviv's, which enjoys military superiority over all its neighbours,' says Ajai Shukla.
'Pakistan's recent utterances and tendency to use pinpricks to try our patience appear reminiscent of 1965. We are a strong nation, emerging stronger,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'Worryingly, intelligence assessments indicate that growing disaffection amongst the youth is ceding ground to fundamentalist Islamist groups like Islamic State,' reports Ajai Shukla.
The military continues to battle difficult circumstances in Kashmir. Let's not add to their woes by spreading half-baked stories, factually incorrect posts and inaccurate articles.
