The defence secretary was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a friend of India in the Congress who, of late, has been critical of India deciding to take an independent position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
'While all would agree on the need to be ready to launch cross-border strikes on terror camps, there is sharp disagreement on how best to do it.' 'Through IAF fighters, or surface-to-surface missiles?' 'Or should army Special Forces be created to do the job?' 'If air strikes are the agreed priority, additional funding must be made available for the purchase of fighters and missiles.' 'If it is to be Special Forces, the army must be facilitated in raising a Special Forces Command,' notes Ajai Shukla.
In less than two months since the announcement in March, the state has mobilised an armada of small and medium enterprises keen on making components for large equipment manufacturers.
President Xi Jinping on Monday vowed to build China's military into a "Great Wall of steel" to protect its sovereignty and developmental interests as he sought a bigger role for Beijing in global affairs, days after brokering a Saudi Arabia-Iran detente, regarded as a diplomatic coup.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said swift and transparent decision-making and availability of optimal resources were needed for a country's combat readiness.
Pakistan's outgoing government has acknowledged that it provided grants of Rs 687 billion to the powerful military for security-related spending that were in addition to the annual defence budgets.
She recited a Kashmiri verse, which was part of a poem by Sahitya Akademi award winner Pandit Dinanath Koul. She rendered the verse in both Kashmiri and Hindi. Besides, the minister quoted woman Tamil poet Avvaiyar, Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, a verse from Raghuvamsa by Kalidasa, as well as late finance minister Arun Jaitley while talking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Stocks might hit new highs even before B-Day.
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
It is worrisome that salaries are consuming as much expenditure as equipment.
The RSS chief's comment that if war broke out, the military would not be ready for at least six to seven months is correct as it faces a shortfall in training and alertness and an even greater lack of funds for defence preparedness, notes Ajai Shukla.
We can hope that some of the benefits of the rural spending - on irrigation, roads, etc -- will spur rural demand and improve rural productivity, says P V Subramanyam.
We can hope that some of the benefits of the rural spending - on irrigation, roads, etc -- will spur rural demand and improve rural productivity, says P V Subramanyam.
We can hope that some of the benefits of the rural spending - on irrigation, roads, etc -- will spur rural demand and improve rural productivity, says P V Subramanyam.
India's historical focus on its continental borders has overshadowed its maritime ambitions, but that is changing quickly, notes Ajai Shukla.
The finance minister may stagger some of the recommendations.
The United States is set to unveil its new defence strategy on Thursday that will guide Pentagon budget cuts in coming years and is expected to end the decade-old policy of maintaining a force capable of fighting two wars at once.
'We want to send a notice to the BJP that Rajputs are no longer their slaves.'
For the modernisation of the armed forces, the Finance Minister allocated an additional Rs 5,000 crore.
India needs significantly more domestic wherewithal to achieve and sustain the stated objective of 7-9 per cent growth.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe's, China's new defence minister's, first guest of honour could be his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman.
As the United States and China joust for supremacy, India might remain on the sidelines with its limited resources.
The Modi government has not lived up to the muscularity the prime minister promised while campaigning, says Ajai Shukla
This is the first "Green budget" of the government for effective containment of pollution in the city, the deputy chief minister said in the budget session of the assembly in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Officers responsible for preparing budgets say their detailed costing projections are mostly ignored. The defence ministry simply takes the previous year's budgetary allocations for each service and adds a small percentage to those.
Attacking the government over defence preparedness and shortage of equipment, the Bharatiya Janata Party specifically targetted Defence Minister A K Antony in Rajya Sabha saying his "no work, no mistake and clean image" was a dangerous policy.
With general elections on the horizon, the government's privatisation bandwagon has almost but stalled as a government wary of being accused of selling family silver opts for minority stake sales on stock exchanges over outright privatisation. The result -- the divestment target for current fiscal year is again likely to be missed. Big ticket privatisation plans such as that of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and CONCOR are already on the backburner and analysts feel meaningful privatisation can happen only after April/May general elections.
Noting the actions and capabilities of the Chinese side, the IAF chief said, "They had brought their J-20 fighter aircraft (to areas close to Eastern Ladakh) and they go off from there but that is the flexibility of airpower. The moment Indian Rafales were brought in, their J-20 was there. We know their actions and capabilities and we are taking the required steps."
Pakistan's actual spending on defence during fiscal 2012-13 may be as high as Rs 913 billion, almost double the official allocation of Rs 545 billion.
A near billion-dollar arms and defence equipment procurement deal between Bangladesh and China may raised eyebrows in New Delhi while giving ground to the belief of China's "strategic encirclement" of India. However, the present government of Bangladesh has been trying to modernise its defence not only with arms from China, but also from countries like Russia and other countries in recent years.
Private players are increasingly looking at the defence market which is a promising multi billion-dollar arena.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on Tuesday after the proceedings were stalled by verbal clashes between the Opposition and Treasury benches over the fresh affidavit filed by the government in the SC on defence purchases.
Converting what was supposed to be an interim budget or a vote on account into an almost full-fledged budget announcement in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal proposed an array of incentives for both middle-class and farmers, whose disenchantment was said to have cost the BJP dearly in recent assembly elections.
As the DefenceExpo gets underway in Goa, Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd) says the proposed Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 should ensure that the Indian defence industry is on the path to design, develop and make in India.
The mere increase of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) over the last year's budgeting with a nominal hike in capital spending will not suffice to accomplish this vital objective of national security.
How much are others responsible for the Trump presidency moving in the directions it has, asks T N Ninan.
Against a turbulent and uncertain background, Budget 2017-18 hewed a steady, forward-looking course, says Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the government.
Public-sector enterprise stocks have seen a good run thus far in 2023-24 (FY24), with the S&P BSE PSU Index surging by over 26 per cent during the period, compared to an 11 per cent increase in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Budget today.
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