Sanjay Bhandari, an accused arms dealer wanted in India on money laundering and tax evasion charges, is pursuing a separate legal battle of his own in France over an alleged unpaid cut from a large Indian defence contract dating back over 10 years, according to a UK media report.
'A veiled secret of India's defence and strategic culture is the lack of a serious interest in them by the political class. The Indian National Defence University would fill this void,' feels Lieutenant General Anil Chait (retd).
The six 1,500-ton submarines, being bought from France, will be armed with French-made Exocet anti-ship missiles.
The Biden administration expects the Modi government to continue to remain as its loyal camp follower even as Washington continues to act in self-interests, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China said on Tuesday that it supports the Maldives in safeguarding its sovereignty, as the first batch of Indian military personnel operating a helicopter left the island nation and was replaced by a civilian crew.
Conveying that there will be no let up in India's drive to modernise its energy and defence sectors, prime minister's special envoy Shyam Saran said on Tuesday this should encourage Washington to look at New Delhi as a source of demand for its goods and services.
For India, the biggest disappointment was the poor showing of their senior most players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin.
The Supreme Court's verdict on the Rafale deal spurred a war of words between the BJP and the Congress.
In an apparent bid to strengthen ties both with India and Pakistan, and create new opportunities for the country's defence firms, the United States is considerably increasing arms sales to the two nuclear powered South Asian nations, a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.
'We need to be in a perpetual state of aggression, and able to swiftly change the goal posts to keep Pakistan in a state of imbalance,' argues Sanjeev Nayyar.
India on Thursday dismissed China's objection to the joint Indo-US military exercise near the Line of Actual Control in Uttarakhand's Auli, saying it did not give a veto to third countries on these issues.
Here is an explainer and a timeline relating to India's purchase of 36 combat jets.
He also set out priorities for execution of various initiatives by December 31 to achieve synergy among the three forces.
The defence ministry said 98 per cent of the total procurement worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore will be sourced from the domestic industries.
As Prabhakaran was leaving his house, Rajiv Gandhi called his son Rahul and asked him to fetch his (Gandhi's) bulletproof jacket. He put the jacket on Prabhakaran's back and remarked with his usual charming smile: "Take care of yourself."
Tuesday's talks between Modi and Trump are likely to send across a clear message of growing congruence of interests between India and the US on major geopolitical developments in the region and beyond, particularly when China has been expanding its military and economic clout.
Only the future will tell if Modi can leave his mark on the Ukraine crisis. Nonetheless, it is both a challenge and an opportunity for India's diplomacy, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The two PMs may also explore ways to further deepen ties between the navies of the two countries to check China's heightened activities in the Indian Ocean.
India on Monday signed a path-breaking broad-based agreement in the civil nuclear field with Russia, which will ensure transfer of technology and uninterrupted uranium fuel supplies to its nuclear reactors, and inked three pacts in the defence sector. The agreements were signed after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin in Moscow, during which they discussed a whole range of issues.
New Delhi sought a sovereign guarantee to prevent Paris from ever citing the Arms Trade Treaty to interrupt, modify or cease delivery of the Rafale fighter at any stage.
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.
'Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests'
The other top officials who will accompany the US president are Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and Energy Secretary Dan Broulliette, the sources said.
'India and Canada have almost 200 years of shared history and migrations. This won't be the last of our partnership.'
We urge all of our allies and partners to forgo transactions with Russia that would trigger sanctions under CAATSA, the US said.
Inaugurating the Defence Expo in Thiruvidanthai in Tamil Nadu, Modi said the Defence Procurement Procedure was revised with many specific provisions for stimulating growth of the domestic defence industry.
'Until the situation changes, I expect Washington to continue to behave the same way.'
Jaishankar said that India and Russia have a long-standing relationship that has certainly served New Delhi's interests well.
'The biggest challenge Swaraj and Sitharaman will face is how far they can take their counterparts Pompeo and Mattis seriously.' 'One just doesn't know how long they will even keep their jobs.' 'They are basically salesmen peddling American wares.' 'Actually, there is nothing like 'American policies' in the Trump era,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Singh said the Modi government has changed the approach adopted by previous governments that the border areas are buffer zones between the plains and the potential adversary.
Under the new deal signed in New Delhi on Friday by top officials of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Russia's state owned arms agency Rosenbroexport, Russia has agreed to supply 40 Sukois in semi-knocked down kits at a cost of $1.6 billion. By agreeing to new annual cost escalation of five per cent, India would now be paying whopping $5 billion for 230 Sukhois fighters, which currently are IAF's mainstay.
"I salute your spirit, your valour from the bottom of my heart. Jawans and officers in the Armed Forces have a sense of pride, that is the strongest sentiment in the heart of any human," Singh said while addressing personnel at the Siachen Base Camp.
'India-US defence pacts are seen by many analysts as a subtle move to jointly contain China's growing militarism, especially in the strategic Indian Ocean Region.'
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.
The French have been rewarded for their obstinacy with exactly what they wanted -- an order for fully built Rafales without technology transfer.
'China is struggling to get out of its property bubble.' 'Japan took 35 years to walk out of its equity bubble.' 'Bubbles can be difficult to forecast.'
'We were against politicisation of the defence acquisition process. It was a question of capability of the air force'
There is unlikely to be a rush towards the country unless New Delhi is ready with fairly applied regulations.
