Speaking at a joint press appearance with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Washington, DC, Blinken said that the US tried everything possible to avert the Ukraine conflict through diplomacy.
Russia President Vladimir Putin on Monday described India as a great power, a friendly nation and a time-tested friend and echoed common concerns over terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime as he held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The government is set to begin the process soon to appoint the next Chief of Defence Staff with Army Chief Gen MM Naravane emerging as the front-runner for the top post that fell vacant following the demise of Gen Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash.
Given Prime Minister Modi's emphasis on "sharp(ening) coordination" rather than "joint command", analysts are guessing that a four-star permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee is likely, with the title of CDS, if not the functions and five-star rank, reports Ajai Shukla. Ajai Shukla reports.
'The Constitution of India is a stumbling block. So, they want a Presidential mode of election.' 'This is the sole purpose of the BJP to go for one nation, one election.'
A terrorist was killed and another was most likely injured on Saturday in an ongoing operation in the densely forested area of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, Army said.
Protests at this time when efforts are underway to strengthen the PLA and keep morale high would be worrying for the military leadership, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and distinguished China expert.
Although the pact would focus mainly on the Pacific and the South China Sea region, any action designed to deter China with or without New Delhi's active participation is a welcome move, notes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The sources said both sides held extensive deliberations on modalities for disengagement of troops from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh at the talks.
The US has deployed its naval carrier strike group, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, as well as a fleet of F-18 fighter jets and E-2C Hawkeye all-weather aircraft for the exercise, officials said. The Indian assets at the exercise included Jaguar and Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets, IL-78 air-to-air refuelling tanker aircraft, Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and warships Kochi and Teg. The Indian Navy has also deployed a fleet of P8I maritime surveillance aircraft and MiG 29K jets, apart from other platforms.
The United States has announced the end of its 20-year-old war in Afghanistan as the last American military flight flew out of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul shortly before the August 31 deadline.
China on Thursday said Chinese and Indian troops have taken "effective measures" to disengage at the Galwan Valley and other areas along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and the situation is "stable and improving," days after the two sides agreed on an expeditious withdrawal of soldiers from all the standoff points.
The chief of air staff said Chinese actions along the frontier including in the Ladakh sector are being monitored constantly and the IAF's overall preparations are part of continuing efforts irrespective of challenges from China.
Mere shuffling of resources or cosmetic changes to prove a point would be counterproductive in the long run, observes Commodore Venugoptal Menon (retd).
'We should build a military with the capability to fight today's war on priority -- balancing it with the requirements of the future,' says Lieutenant General Anil Chait, one of the Indian Army's most cerebral thinkers who recently retired as chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, in his agenda for the new defence minister.
The next edition of the high-voltage Malabar naval exercise begins from August 26 to 29 off the coast of Guam amid mounting global concerns over China's growing military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific region.
'Is the appointment of a CDS likely to achieve the creation of battle-ready, tri-service military commands, from the current 17 single-service commands?', asks Ajai Shukla.
The United States officials in Afghanistan naively handed the Taliban a 'kill list' to target Afghans who aided American forces in the country, according to a media report.
The senior defence official, however, refrained from describing the kind of responses that the two countries would respond to their common challenges.
Giving an account of India's overall military modernisation, Lt Gen Pande also said that an in-principle approval has been given to new combat formations called the Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) which can mobilise fast with a more effective approach.
'Earlier the planning process was services specific, with others coordinating. 'Now we shall have an apex leader backed by a structure, who is accountable to provide single-point advice, based on best of all options dependent on geographical and situational intrigue, and that too, after validation,' says General Anil Chait (retd), the former central army commander.
'In the present era of strategic uncertainty and rapidly changing threats, no military professional now disputes the unavoidable necessity of a joint planning staff for the planning and conduct of joint operations so that integrated operations can be planned 'top down',' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
India and China on Friday held 'in-depth' discussions on addressing the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, holding that disengagement in the North and South banks of Pangong lake provided a good basis to work towards their early resolution.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States is calling on all nations not to have major weapons transactions with Russia. He made these marks after the conclusion of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between the defence and foreign ministers of India and the United States.
The United States is going to retain a laser focus on its counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said on Friday, and warned the Taliban of a forceful response to any attack on American forces or disruption of its operations at the Kabul airport.
Exercise Tiger Triumph -- a full-scale, tri-service beach landing operation -- is a capability India is seeking to build.
It is learnt that the camp office in Lviv would be able to coordinate the evacuation of Indians to Poland and Hungary while the one at Chernivtsi would facilitate exit to Romania.
'They have done in Eastern Ladakh what we did in Dokalam in 2017.'
North Korea on Wednesday test-fired a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan.
US Defence Secretary Llyod Austin described China as a pacing challenge for the United States.
"All temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides have been dismantled and mutually verified. The landform in the area has been restored by both sides to the pre-standoff period," the Army said in a statement.
There was no comment from the Indian side on the statement made by the Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Colonel Wu Qian, and carried by China's official media.
The armies are working to schedule their seventh round of talks to take steps towards "early and complete" disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
According to the policy, each organisation under the MoD such as tri-services, Integrated Defence Staff, Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard, will transfer the records, including war diaries, letters of proceedings and operational record books, to the History Division of MoD for proper upkeep, archival and writing of histories.
In his address to RIC Foreign Ministers, Wang said the three countries should 'correctly handle and properly deal with sensitive factors in bilateral relations and safeguard the overall interests of mutual relation', without directly referring to the current round of India-China military tensions along the Line of Actual Control, (LAC).
The Modi government has to embrace the history of Tamil conquests in South East Asia and stop obsessing about Babar/Humayun, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Wang Yi said the border issue is important and we should stay committed to peacefully addressing it through consultation and coordination.'
The frontline troops of China and India have "completed" disengagement at most locations of their border, a senior Chinese official said on Tuesday, adding the situation on the ground is easing.
Admiral Samuel J Locklear III, Commander of the US Pacific Command, has not ruled out militants fighting in Afghanistan today switching their attention back to Kashmir post-US and NATO withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, and expressed concern over the recent terrorist attacks across the Line of Control that has exacerbated tensions between India and Pakistan.
The attack did not result in any human losses, it said, adding that the remnants of the intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles fell in separate areas around Abu Dhabi.
