The second batch of Indian military personnel manning a helicopter gifted by India to the Maldives has left the island nation as demanded by him, President Mohamed Muizzu has said.
Navy officials on Monday said that the swift response by the Indian Navy's mission deployed warship INS Sumitra ensured the safe release of the hijacked vessel and its crew.
India's Navy has commissioned its new Russian-made guided missile frigate, INS Tushil, in the Russian coastal city of Kaliningrad. The ship, part of a $2.5 billion deal for four stealth frigates, is expected to significantly enhance the Indian Navy's capabilities in the Indian Ocean. The commissioning ceremony was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, and other senior Indian officials. Singh described the commissioning as a testament to India's growing maritime strength and a milestone in its long-standing ties with Russia. The INS Tushil, an upgraded Krivak III class frigate of Project 1135.6, boasts advanced stealth features and stability characteristics, and incorporates 26% indigenous content thanks to collaboration with Indian naval specialists and Severnoye Design Bureau.
There are 88 military personnel manning the three Indian platforms that have been providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives for the last few years using two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft.
The mega procurement proposal will shortly be placed before the Defence Acquisition Council, the defence ministry's top body on procurement, they said.
The United States would 'continue to invest' in long-term strategic partnership with India and also support its ability to serve as a regional economic anchor and provider of security in the broader Indian Ocean region, the Democratic Party Platform says.
Given the long distance from the closest land, the Indian Navy has deployed its state-of-the-art Boeing P-8I Poseidon long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, which have the endurance to reach the location of the incident.
India and the United States have announced a groundbreaking 10-year defence partnership, paving the way for increased military cooperation and potential sales of F-35 stealth fighter jets. The agreement aims to bolster both countries' defence capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region, with plans for joint production of weapons and platforms. The move comes amid China's growing military presence in the region.
The two sides are also likely to firm up a currency swap framework and seal several other agreements including one on debt restructuring following talks between Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Disanayaka on April 5, people familiar with the matter said.
'"I think the message has gone across to them very unambiguously that do not mess with us at sea and also at land for that matter'
India and the Maldives are in discussions for keeping the Indian military platforms in the island nation and a core group that both sides agreed to set up will look at the details relating to it, official sources said on Sunday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese became the first foreign leader to visit the pride of the Indian Navy, the INS Vikrant, India's first indigenously built aircraft carrier.
The principal director of plans, policy, and resources management for the Maldives National Defence Force, Colonel Ahmed Mujuthaba Mohamed said that discussions are underway for withdrawing Indian troops from the Maldives.
Indian Navy on Wednesday said its ships and aircraft remain 'mission deployed' for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations.
Front-line bases of the Indian army and the air force along the nearly 3,500 km de-facto border with China were Wednesday put on high alert in view of the worst border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh that left 20 Army personnel dead, official sources said.
'What we are witnessing is not a freak incidence or a freak occurrence, but a new climate reality where warming oceans, monsoon variability and local geography are combining to produce extreme events.'
The Indian Navy has deployed a range of its frontline warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean region to send a clear message to China following the escalation of the border dispute in eastern Ladakh.
Exercise Milan, the largest four-day naval war game hosted by India started on Friday with the participation of 12 navies of the Asia-Pacific region within the context of the Indian Navy's 'Look East' policy and naval interactions to this effect.
Light to moderate rain in many areas with heavy rain at isolated places is likely to occur in West Bengal's coastal districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur.
Vouching for preserving its independence and sovereignty, Muizzu made a firm commitment to ensure that the Maldives remains "free of any foreign military presence."
India and the United States have agreed to deepen their strategic partnership in several key areas, with President Donald Trump announcing plans to provide India with F-35 fighter jets and billions of dollars in military supplies. The two leaders also discussed energy cooperation, critical technologies, connectivity, and countering terrorism. They agreed to work together on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and Trump noted India's reforms to welcome US nuclear technologies. Prime Minister Modi said the two countries can shape a better world through their cooperation. Both leaders also addressed the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with Modi stressing India's commitment to peace.
"One of the reasons we give aid and platform and radar and things like that is to make sure that we are the dominant powers in the Indian Ocean Region," Union Minister of State for Defence, M M Pallam Raju told reporters in Begaluru.
A staggering 83 per cent of Indians view China as a major security threat, even as 63 per cent would like relation with the neighbouring country to be strengthened, an opinion poll has claimed.
The Indian Navy on Monday unveiled a 15-year plan to boost maritime infrastructure even as Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said the force is working with the Army and the IAF to ensure tri-services jointness and integration to meet future challenges.
The Navy said on Friday that the safety of the crew held hostage by armed pirates was ascertained and the Indian Navy warship continued to maintain its presence in the close vicinity of the vessel till its arrival in the territorial waters of Somalia.
India is trying hard to erase Indonesia's wariness about New Delhi, building security cooperation in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. If Indonesia decides to buy the Brahmos missile, it would further strengthen relations between the world's most populous nation and the most populous Islamic country.
Maritime resources will be key to sustained growth and development of nations across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in the ongoing century, he said delivering his keynote address at the IOR Defence Ministers' Conclave held on the margins of Aero India-2021, India's premier defence and aerospace show.
India-France synergy is poised to open vistas of collaboration between the two countries, notes Rup Narayan Das.
'We will have to face the effects of climate change for generations to come!'
It is the first mega exercise involving the two aircraft carriers after induction of the indigenously-built INS Vikrant in September.
The defence ministry on Thursday accorded its approval to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator drones from the US to crank up the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the frontier with China, people familiar with the development said.
The Navy chief also inaugurated the new Air Traffic Control building there.
The Indian Navy, which regards itself as the 'net security provider' in the Indian Ocean Region, has also stepped up to the plate, with a warship stationed at all times off the Gulf of Aden for counter-piracy tasks. 91 Indian warships have been deployed in the region since 2008, patrolling high risk areas where piracy was rampant.
The aircraft deal worth around Euro 5.5 billion was cleared by the defence acquisition council just before the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to France as the state guest for their Bastille Day parade this year in July.
Expressing concern over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India and Australia have underlined the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and stressed that the contemporary global order has been built on UN Charter, international law and respect for States' sovereignty and territorial integrity.
'Nobody asked us to work on this. It was on our own that we decided to embark on this journey.'
The coast guards of India, Japan, the US and Australia have launched the first-ever "Quad-at-sea" mission to boost operational coordination and interoperability in the Indo-Pacific.
India and the Maldives on Friday agreed to set up a core group to further deepen their partnership as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a 'productive' meeting with newly-elected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu and discussed ways to enhance the bilateral friendship across diverse sectors.
The papers presented by Indian Police Service officers at the just concluded conference of director generals of police (DGPs) and inspector generals of police (IGPs) submit that by providing huge amounts of money in the name of loans for developmental works in Southeast and South Asia, China wants to reduce India's influence in the Indian Ocean region and force resolution of bilateral issues on Beijing's terms.
