The government is looking to give Bharat Global Ports a certain amount of domestic exposure after it set up the state-owned consortium to increase India's global maritime heft, officials aware of the development said. The intended domestic exposure is meant to give the consortium experience and build its credentials for international projects.
The proposals cleared by the DAC include new-generation anti-tank mines, air defence tactical control radar, heavy-weight torpedoes, medium-range maritime reconnaissance and multi-mission maritime aircraft, flight refueller aircraft and software-defined radios.
After US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day tariff pause for several nations, including India, global manufacturers are in a rush to ensure that bulk of their goods reach the US during this window. "The 90-day suspension of tariffs will be welcomed by shippers, but it should not be a cause for celebration.
The enduring legacy of trade routes lies in shared stories and religious diversity. Can the India-Middle East-Europe Economic corridor harness this legacy to empower nations, asks Arundhuti Dasgupta.
US strikes on Iran's three main nuclear facilities have once again raised concerns that Tehran might shut down the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's most critical chokepoints, through which a fifth of global oil and gas supply flows.
Restrictions imposed across the globe in 2020-21 due to coronavirus and the increased use of darknet resulted in two-to-three times jump in drug trafficking through couriers and postal services in India during this period, a latest NCB report has said.
China supplied more than $20 billion worth of arms to Pakistan. These include 20 J-10CE and JF-17 Block III fighter aircraft, Wing Loong drones, frigates, submarines, Hongqi HQ-9P surface-to-air missiles, 240 PL-15E air-to-air missiles, LY-80 air defence systems, ZDK early warning aircraft and other weapons.
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Three men, originally from Tamil Nadu, arrested by the Mumbai Police started their boat journey from Kuwait on January 28 and claimed to have taken the Saudi Arabia-Dubai-Pakistan route before entering Indian shores illegally, as per the police remand note.
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
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.
Soon after he was sworn in by Vice President J D Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Penny Wong from Australia and Japan's Iwaya Takeshi for his first multilateral meeting as the top American diplomat.
The drugs seized include 3,089 kilograms of charas, 158 kg of Methamphetamine and 25 kg of morphine.
A Rs 7,056 crore outer harbour project by VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port in Tuticorin is garnering interest from domestic and global majors in the sector, such as Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Singapore's PSA International, Dutch major Van Oord, JM Baxi, and JSW, among others, according to sources close to the development. The project aims to capitalise on the newfound investor interest in the region, spurred by mega investments such as the Rs 16,000 crore electric vehicle manufacturing unit by Vietnamese major VinFast, the Indian Space Research Organisation's second spaceport in Tamil Nadu's Kulasekarapattinam, and Singapore's Sembcorp's Rs 36,238 crore investment in renewable energy.
Saturday's Quad meeting in Delaware is taking place against the backdrop of China's assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, its sabre-rattling in the Taiwan Strait and increasing footprints in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
India is acquiring the drones primarily to crank up the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the contested frontier with China.
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.
There has been an "exponential" rise in the seizure of drugs in India in the last five years with the darknet and the maritime route emerging as the most preferred modes of trafficking, NCB director general S N Pradhan said on Tuesday.
The world needs to wake up to this new dimension of war at sea and be prepared to face the 'unknown enemy' who have the advantage of attacking at their choice of location and time, cautions Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
A year after a Hamas attack against Israel on October 7 and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, India's trade with most West Asian countries has largely escaped any major disruption, except with countries like Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. However, repeated flare-ups of geopolitical tensions in the region continue to drive up shipping and logistics costs.
In a year bookended by intractable conflicts and geopolitical fragmentation, India focused on ramping up military prowess by broadly firming up defence procurement worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore even as Indian and Chinese militaries completed pulling back their troops from border face-off points in eastern Ladakh.
The magistrate court has remanded the accused Pakistani national Subair, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau to 14 days of judicial custody.
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The boat was spotted off the Mumbai coast during patrolling on Tuesday morning, a police official said.
'Due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, a faction operating in the Red Sea -- which is a typically safe area - has been firing projectiles arbitrarily.' 'Additionally, there have been two incidents involving Somali pirates, and one vessel has been hijacked.'
India's trade deficit with Russia continued to widen for the second consecutive year to $57 billion in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), with Moscow becoming New Delhi's largest source of crude oil imports. All eyes will now be on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia during July 8-9, where he is set to meet President Vladimir Putin. This will be Modi's first visit to the Kremlin since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began over two years ago.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday apologised to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and those hurt by the collapse of the warrior king's statue in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, an act coming in the backdrop of a huge row over the crash which provided ammunition to the opposition to target the Mahayuti government ahead of assembly polls.
Ridiculing the claim by Pakistan navy chief Admiral Noman Bashir that there was no evidence to show that Mumbai attackers had taken the sea route, India on Saturday said its investigation has conclusively proved that they came from the neighbouring country through the maritime route. Commenting on his counterpart's claim, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, also said that the 'full and complete' probe by the investigating agencies have proved that the attackers came via sea.
The Indian Coast Guard has evacuated a Chinese national from a Panama-flagged research vessel on the Arabian Sea after he suffered a heart attack, the maritime security agency said in a statement on Thursday.
'In a joint operation carefully planned by the NCB and the Indian Navy in the high seas, NCB officials have successfully seized around 529 kg of very high quality of hashish, 234 kg of finest quality of crystal methamphetamine and some quantity of heroin,' the anti-drug agency said in a release.
'When there are no good roads and no buses plying to villages, your spending on development is skewed.'
He said India would continue to actively pursue and promote its geo-political, strategic and economic interests on the seas, in particular the Indian Ocean.
The trigger that led Japan and the Philippines to ink the deal was because of the deteriorating security situation in the South China Sea. China's coast guard increased the frequency and intensity of incursions into Philippine waters, provoking the Philippines to take countermeasures to deter China, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
Top government officials in New Delhi have started discussions with stakeholders ranging from shipping and container companies to export promotion councils to understand the impact of the Iran-Israel tensions and plan ahead. Inter-ministerial talks are also being lined up amid the crisis situation in West Asia, sources confirmed. While the crude flows are not directly under any threat, elevated oil prices remain a concern, according to officials.
'Modi knows the people here are opposed to this project, but he is using the might of government to push this port down our throats.'
Russian oil supplies to India will continue to flow unhindered and suppliers will come up with ways to sidestep secondary sanctions, a Russian official told Business Standard.
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.
Seven aid workers who were working for the World Central Kitchen, a charity delivering food to besieged Palestinians, were killed in the Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday. The victims comprised three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian.
'Given that the situation is quickly escalating, such attacks will affect the flow of crude in the short term from West Asia' Subhayan Chakraborty and Dhruvaksh Saha report.
The compulsion behind India and Japan to deepen security cooperation is in response to China's growing political and economic clout and its assertive behaviour in disputed areas. This has been the key driver for bringing both India and Japan closer in the domain of security cooperation, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.