Will private firms really boost Make in India in the defence sector? Ajai Shukla seeks answers.
Jaishankar arrived in Maputo from Uganda where he held talks with the country's top leadership, including President Yoweri Museveni, and discussed possible cooperation in the areas of trade, infrastructure, energy and defence.
While Pakistan enjoys rough parity with India in legacy weapon systems, it is beginning to enjoy superiority in drone warfare, thanks to the RPVs supplied by China, explains Ajai Shukla.
The government on Thursday tweaked curbs on imports of laptops and computers as it allowed importers to bring in shipments of IT hardware from overseas on a mere 'authorisation' upon detailing quantity and value. The new 'import management system' is aimed at monitoring shipments of laptops, tablets and computers into the country without hurting market supply or creating a cumbersome licensing regime. The announcement is likely to provide relief to companies in the IT hardware segment in India as they had flagged concerns over the imposition of a strict licensing regime for importers.
The defence ministry on Tuesday approved the procurement of military equipment and weapons worth Rs 28,000 crore that included swarm drones, carbines and bulletproof jackets.
Clearly, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu and his team are looking to raise their game in India.
Many big countries are facing difficulties in doing so for their citizens, Modi said.
For the first time, the MiG-29K fighter aircraft undertook night landing on indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, a feat described by the Indian Navy as a 'historic milestone'.
The strategic pacts were inked after the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe during which they also discussed international and regional issues of mutual importance including UN security reforms.
'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).
Sixteen aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by the Airbus Defence and Space of Spain within 48 months of signing the contract while the remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India, according to the defence ministry.
Without naming China or any other country, Singh said the "top-down approach" towards solving problems has never been sustainable, adding often it leads to "debt trap, reaction from the local population and conflict."
The Indian troops guarding the nearly 3,500-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) maintained an assertive approach in sync with the broader national security doctrine and procured a variety of military platforms and weapons to enhance their combat capabilities.
A day after taking charge as Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar on Monday said he would focus on "targeted completion" of works to strengthen the armed forces.
The issues around trade gaps, especially around steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the US, will be addressed separately.
'Having India as a credible deterrent vis-a-vis Chinese ambitions in the Indian Ocean and South Asian region is a desirable short-term outcome.'
The talks between Singh and Esper came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump.
India's young bowling unit will have to push behind the timid show in the series opener and find its flow against a forceful Australian batting line-up in the second T20 in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Full liberalisation of the defence industry is necessary for both combat-readiness and security of long-term supplies, says Nitin Pai.
'Rhetoric and chest-thumping are running high on India's recent growth record.'
'But will the giant waves developing elsewhere allow us to sail smoothly into fair winds?' asks Debashis Basu.
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The nomination of cluster heads for defence, infrastructure and finance business is awaited.
The PM said, 'Regrettably, one of the countries of its origin and spread is in India's neighbourhood.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the United States for a three-day state visit, has gifted an eco-friendly lab-grown 7.5 carat diamond, placed in Kashmir's exquisite Papier mache box, to First Lady Jill Biden.
'Till today, we don't know how many people died of Covid in India.' 'How many migrated from cities to villages during the Covid pandemic?' 'How many corporates contributed to PM Cares?'
Over 68,000 Army soldiers, around 90 tanks and other weapon systems were airlifted by the Indian Air Force to eastern Ladakh from across the country for rapid deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) after the deadly clashes in the Galwan Valley, top sources in defence and security establishment said.
"Over the next six months, I hope to sign another Rs 50,000-60,000 crore worth of contracts, taking the total to Rs 3 trillion," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of an industry exhibition on technology and material sciences in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Asserting that Indian democracy is a "global public good", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that its "collapse" will have an impact on the world and is not in America's national interest.
In all likelihood, the next conventional Chinese attack on India would be preceded by a massive cyber attack designed to cripple Indian networks and interfere with our disaster-relief programmes.
'India needs offensive and defensive security measures to protect itself.'
New Delhi remains a priggish suitor to Washington's overtures, but it has begun appreciating potential tech benefits to ties with the US.
The Mahindra Group struck up a series of high- profile deals with international aerospace players at the Air Show in Paris.
The procurement proposals were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the ministry said.
Moving ahead with the economic reforms, the Cabinet tonight cleared the long-delayed proposal for raising FDI limit in defence to 49 per cent and fully opened up the railway infrastructure segment, like high-speed trains, for foreign investment.
India's goal of self-reliance has been paramount in the policy and practice of the country. The COVID-19 crisis gave us lessons on how to speed up efforts in that direction, he said.
This is the fourth of the six submarines the Indian Navy is to induct under the Kalvari-class submarine Project-75.
'There is a view that there is a Pakistan angle to this.' 'Pakistan has a large presence in Qatar and would want India to be blacklisted.'
Boeing is likely to vie for the deal to supply 110 fighter jets to the IAF in one of the biggest such procurement in recent years globally which could be worth over USD 15 billion.
The four new Heron Mark-2 drones, which can be equipped with long-range missiles and other weapons systems, have been deployed at a forward air base in the northern sector, where Team ANI witnessed their operations.
After bumbling for years since 2014, the Modi government seems to believe that massive government expenditure will lead us to prosperity supported by 'seat-of-the-pants' decision-making, observes Debashis Basu.
