The IAF has paid French aerospace firms Dassault and Thales about Euro 350 million for 'performance-based logistics'. This requires the vendors to ensure that 75 per cent of the Rafale fleet is combat-ready at all times, notes Ajai Shukla.
'Today, I am taking new actions to restrict Iran's nuclear, ballistic missile, and conventional weapons pursuits. My Administration will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, nor will we allow Iran to endanger the rest of the world with a fresh supply of ballistic missiles and conventional arms,' Trump said in a statement.
In return for Pak's gesture, the US has authorised the reinstatement of a military training and educational programme which had remained suspended for 2 yrs. Pak blamed Iran's Maj Gen Soleimani for Baloch militant attacks against its forces.
Biden's lengthy remarks on Afghanistan contained no condemnatory references to the Taliban, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's systemic dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
There is growing alarm at the inexorable rise of China, both of its military prowess and its aggressive bullying of other countries plus its subjugation of whole portions of its own population.
'The Olympic Spirit has been thrown to the wind in Xi Jinping's China.' 'The International Olympic Committee is ready to kowtow to totalitarian China,' notes Claude Arpi.
'But India, increasingly, is not that far behind, which is a story I never expected to tell.'
'In our textbooks, we never had chapters where a woman does something. We had one Rani Laxmibai chapter, the rest only the men did. We have been trained like that but, now, things have to change.'
Claims to be a victim of cyber attacks that were originated in the US.
China is going to be an indispensable partner in Russia's ongoing crisis with the US, while on its part, China cannot remain indifferent if Russia gets crushed by the US, lest it loses 'strategic depth', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
While the Saudi drone strike has put the focus back on anti-drone measures, caution also stems from the fact that India has a number of large oil refining assets close to India-Pakistan border.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who has been under fire over his comments on the home ministry's stance on China, has offered to resign.But the Congress top brass has refused to accept his resignation, sources said. Ramesh got into trouble after he criticised the home ministry of being 'overly defensive' and 'alarmist' in its approach towards the entry of Chinese companies in India, while on a visit to Beijing last week.
Unperturbed by the US entry into the Indian market, the defence official said it would not make a dent in Israeli defence sales to New Delhi.
The United States forces in Afghanistan handed over the full control of a key US-run detention center -- the Bagram prison -- to the Afghanistan defence ministry on Monday, putting an end to a source of tension between Kabul and its main ally Washington.
This visit has ended on a vastly different note in comparison with Modi's previous visits. Call it a rebuke, call it a censure, call it a distancing from Modi, the sharp message would have gone home, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked by US Congressmen if the US had explore the possibility of northwest India for counter terrorism capabilities in Afghanistan. Blinken's remarks on India assume great importance, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
CAATSA was aimed at Moscow and not intended to damage the military capabilities of its 'allies and partners', US said.
The Tu-154 model plane, which belonged to the Russian defence ministry, crashed shortly after take-off from the southern city of Adler.
Dr S Amer Latif, a senior Pentagon policy wonk, on leave as a Visiting Fellow with the Wadhwani Chair in United States-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies -- a leading Washington, DC think tank -- has said the civilian bureaucracy with the Indian ministry of defense "is a significant impediment to close US-India military ties."
'The leverage created by the Indian military must not be lost.'
'The fact that this happened and the fact that we were not able to bring it down, we were not even able to trace from where it came from and where it went, certainly raises questions on our level of preparedness.'
In recent weeks, the civil-military cold war in India has thrown into the public domain alarming facts -- from corruption to lack of preparedness. In a three-part series, defense expert and Jane's Defence Weekly Special Correspondent Rahul Bedi minces no words in outlining the problems the country's armed forces face.
In recent weeks, the civil-military cold war in India has thrown into the public domain alarming facts -- from corruption to lack of preparedness. In a three-part series, defense expert and Jane's Defence Weekly Special Correspondent Rahul Bedi minces no words in outlining the problems the country's armed forces face.
There is growing acceptance of the idea in the international community that engaging the Taliban government is a far better approach than ostracising it, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It will be interesting to see whether India-China border tensions figure during the deliberations of PLA deputies to the NPC and CPPCC, notes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
'There was no fight between the Shiv Sena and her.' 'But if she is still targeting the Shiv Sena, then only she can talk about the reason behind it.'
Future, even present, wars -- at least those involving such tech giants as China -- include hi-tech battlefields, which a Pakistan-obsessed India has not sufficiently prioritised. Today's generals plan on how to disrupt an enemy city's power supplies, rail networks, airports, ports, and government departments, not just by bombing or torpedoing them; they also examine the option of tripping up the computer networks that run these, notes David Devadas.
Russia has over the past three years provided four Mi-35M combat and cargo helicopters to Pakistan and the militaries of the two countries also held joint drills codenamed 'Friendship'.
The United States and South Korea will deploy the advanced THAAD missile defence system on the volatile Korean peninsula as a "defensive measure" to counter the growing security threat from North Korea's weapons of mass destruction. The move has not gone down well with China which said that the move will harm the security of countries in the region.
Once the tanks roll back, a zero-based assessment of future equations with China is necessary. Given the conflict situations that China is imposing on India time and again, the red, amber and green lines of interactions with China need to be laid down and communicated in no uncertain terms, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
India on Thursday downplayed the United States Senate rejecting a key amendment recognising the country as "global strategic and defence partner", saying it would be "premature" to speculate about its final content.
A report in the New York Times said a fake news story prompted Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif to threaten to go nuclear.
Modi announced a USD 14-million grant for community development projects in the Caricom and another USD 150 million line of credit for solar, renewable energy and climate- change related projects, a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Somalia-based Al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
India has much paranoia in India about a new 'Terroristan' coming up between Pakistan and a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Pakistan has zero ability economically, diplomatically, geostrategically or militarily to create one. If they try, it will be great for India as they will destroy themselves yet again, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Its advanced Longbow radar picks up enemy armoured vehicles and then destroys them with anti-tank missiles, air-to-surface rockets or a chain gun that sends 625 rounds per minute ripping into the targets.
India on Thursday hit back at China for its statement that Nuclear Suppliers Group membership can't be a "farewell gift", saying it was not seeking the membership to the 48-nation grouping as gift but instead based on its non-proliferation record.
'India has ramped up infrastructure on its side, so the Chinese military is finding Indian soldiers in locations where they are not used to seeing an Indian footprint,' points out Harsh V Pant.
The conflict between development and environment should not cause unnecessary delays, says Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh.
US defence major Boeing on Friday said India was planning to buy 10 C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift aircraft and the US government has received a 'Letter of Request' in this regard.
