In his address, the prime minister said the Indian Ocean, spanning 28 million sq km, was a host to a third of the world population and accounted for 40 per cent of the energy sources.
The Indian Ocean group hoped to reconnect the old linkages but it has not been easy to do so due to large difference in the economic development of member countries. Shubha Singh reports.
The government has approved the construction of two indigenously designed nuclear attack submarines and is expected to ink contracts next month to procure 26 naval variant of Rafale jets and three Scorpene submarines, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said on Monday.
Why the Battle of Diu is as historic as the Battle of Trafalgar.
Ever since the Quad started taking shape in 2007, China has been saying that the four-member grouping will be bound to fail. But much to the chagrin of Beijing, it picked up pace in the recent years emerging as a premier strategic group especially challenging China's assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
A search resumed in the southern Indian Ocean for objects that could be debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on Friday.
Using rocket launchers and submachine guns, suspected Somali pirates abducted 17 Indian and five Italian sailors after hijacking a large Italian-flagged oil tanker in the Indian Ocean.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
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.
"We talk about coming together in a constructive manner. That has been our (India's) theme always. India becoming the headmaster; that is never the intention. There are similar threats like piracy that affect all nations equally like the piracy off the Somalia coast... to that extent, yes," Verma told media persons in Port Blair when asked to comment on the US suggestion in this regard last week.
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.
India on Wednesdy said there was no likelihood of tsunami tidal waves being formed anywhere in the Indian Ocean region after an earthquake of 8.9 magnitude hit waters off western coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia.
'The intensity and frequency of heatwaves will be much higher than in previous years over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.'
'He needs to see results while he is in office.'
Rear Admiral Sinha said that the western fleet is committed to keeping the Indian Ocean stable and free of piracy by cooperating with its maritime neighbours like Oman.
Rinku Singh maximum smashed the window glass of St George Park's press box and with a repair unlikely anytime soon
The China threat continues to resonate in the strategic partnership between India and the USA, points out Rup Narayan Das.
On board the INS Vikrant, the supreme commander of India's defence services witnessed several naval operations including a MiG 29K take-off and landing, missile firing drills from warship and submarine operations.
We need to equip the Indian Armed Forces, not 'commercial' as Trump wants, but 'operationally' looking at growing Chinese military capabilities, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India attaches "paramount importance" to strengthening relations with countries in the Indian Ocean region, which is vital for its security and progress.
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.
C Raja Mohan, Strategic Affairs Editor with the Indian Express, analyses the unfolding geopolitical change in the Indian Ocean and dwells at some length on the challenges that it poses for India's foreign and security policies.
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.
The quake has hit the same place where a quake triggered the Asian tsunami on December 26.
After the 1962 War with China, there was a demand to forge greater defence cooperation between India and the West. One such voice was that of Sudhir Ghosh, a distinguished MP, to tie up strategic cooperation with the USA immediately after the Chinese attack on India, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
A Chinese patrol ship searching the crashed Malaysian airliner on Saturday picked up a pulse signal from its black box detector in the southern Indian Ocean, China's official media reported, in a possible breakthrough in the nearly month-long multinational hunt for the jet.
A Yemeni jet with over 150 people on board crashed in the Indian Ocean, off the island nation of Comoros, officials said on Tuesday.Yemenia Flight 626 was on its way to Moroni, the capital of Comoros, from Yemen's capital Sanaa. According to officials from the national airline Yemenia, the plane crashed approximately an hour before reaching its destination. There was no news about the fate of the 154 people on board.
From a few rain gauges in 1875 to rivalling the world's best weather agencies, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has weathered its way to becoming a global leader in forecasting.
Pakistan plans to procure 40 jets of advanced Chinese stealth fighter J-35, which, if materialised, will mark the first export of China's latest jet. The sale would mark Beijing's first export of fifth-generation jets to a foreign ally and is expected to recalibrate regional dynamics, particularly in relation to Pakistan's rival India. The acquisition of new aircraft was pursued despite the serious economic crisis faced by Pakistan. China has helped Pakistan to jointly develop and operate the J-17 Thunder fighter jet, the mainstay of the PAF. China has delivered four advanced naval frigates to the Pakistan Navy in the last few years to enable it to play a bigger role along with its navy in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
'Trump's aggressive stance towards China and preference for military posturing could shift the Quad's balance towards overt militarisation.'
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday concluded a crucial visit to Male, assuring the country's top leadership that the Maldives remains an important partner of India in maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean region.
Building relations in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi has gifted naval vessels to Mauritius, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, even as China eyes the same locales.
In addition to participating in the swearing-in ceremony, the leaders will attend a banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, it said.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group has pulled out of a loan deal with a US agency to fund a port terminal in Sri Lanka, saying it will use its own resources for the project. In an exchange filing late on Tuesday, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) said the project "is on track for commissioning by early next year". "The project will be financed through the company's internal accruals and capital management plan," the firm said.
India is likely to see above-normal rainfall in the four-month monsoon season (June to September) with cumulative rainfall rainfall estimated at 106 percent of the long-period average (87 cm), he said.
Naval assets take years to build, and therefore, not only is futuristic force planning essential, but indigenous projects must also be put into the pipeline, technologies developed and contracts for assets signed regularly so that the Indian Navy always remains a future-focussed force, asserts Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
India has been worried about China's efforts to access the Indian Ocean because it has military implications. China has built a port in Sri Lanka. Its plans to lay a 1215-km long rail line connecting Kunming on China's border to Kyaukphyu in Myanmar is a matter of concern for New Delhi.
It's a strategic approach in which the country's military and defence mechanisms evolve continuously in tandem with emerging threats. The new strategy anticipates events and prepares to counter those proactively.
The missing Malaysian plane was 'highly likely' to have been on autopilot as it flew over the Indian Ocean, Australian officials on Thursday said, as they decided to focus further south to locate the plane that vanished mysteriously over three months back.
