'Chinese soldiers don't have much experience of fighting in these kinds of areas and operating in this kind of terrain'
The CDS will have a significant role in higher defence planning and operational aspects of India's nuclear arsenal.
'Is the appointment of a CDS likely to achieve the creation of battle-ready, tri-service military commands, from the current 17 single-service commands?', asks Ajai Shukla.
As India's international role expands, so must our capabilities, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan was the pilot of the crashed Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter, carrying Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and 13 others, informed sources.
All the mangled remains of the helicopter, which crashed at Nanjapachatram near Coonoor in the Nilgiris district killing 14 including the country's first chief of defence staff Bipin Rawat have been collected from the site.
The former Chief of Army Staff said India faces the most complex threats and challenges spanning a full spectrum of possible conflict -- from nuclear to sub-conventional -- but asserted that the armed forces are ready to deal with them.
The talks between the two sides have been going on for the last three months including five Lieutenant General-level talks but have failed to yield any results, so far.
The defence ministry in an official statement has informed that the minister will give a statement in Rajya Sabha at 11.30 am and in Lok Sabha at 12.15 pm.
Confident that Indian Armed Forces will leave no stone unturned to safeguard our frontiers be it at land, air or ocean," Rawat said.
Several politicians, including senior ministers, wished for the well-being and safety of Rawat and others on board.
Condolences over the demise of chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat poured in on Wednesday from various countries, including the US, Russia and Pakistan.
The plaintive strains of bugles sounding the last post broke through the hush, men in uniform clicked their heels and a 17-gun salute rang out as Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife were cremated on Friday evening -- the sun setting on a day written into India's military history and on the life of its most senior military officer.
In his first media interaction after assuming the position of the CDS, Rawat also said that his focus as the CDS will be to integrate the efforts of the three services and to work as a team.
Gen Rawat said, while addressing a gathering at a health summit, leaders emerge from crowds but are not those who lead people in 'inappropriate directions'.
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