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 Indian Navy said warships and aircraft were deployed to establish presence, provide a sense of reassurance to the Indian merchant men
India said it is committed to building up Indian Ocean Rim Association in line with its own expanding bilateral ties with the members of the grouping.
A robotic mini-submarine deployed to unprecedented depths has searched approximately 50 per cent of the focused underwater area of the Indian Ocean floor, as it ended its seventh mission on Sunday with still no sign of wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
The search for the crashed Malaysian jetliner continued on Saturday with fresh objects spotted by planes scouring a new area of the southern Indian Ocean.
In line with the government's vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', the ministry of defence on Thursday signed contracts with Indian shipyards for the acquisition of 11 next generation offshore patrol vessels and six next generation missile vessels at a cost of nearly Rs 19,600 crore, officials said.
The chief of air staff also said that independent air defence systems in the field will have very little relevance in tomorrow's wars unless they are a part of a larger integrated air defence system.
Air search operations to hunt for the crashed MH370 were suspended on Tuesday due to a tropical cyclone heading south over the Indian Ocean, as a robotic mini-submarine neared completion of its underwater search with no sign of wreckage.
Autonomous underwater vehicle Bluefin 21, a US Navy probe equipped with side-scan sonar, has focused the search on an area in the southern Indian Ocean where four acoustic signals were detected that led authorities to believe that the plane's black box may be located there.
A mini-submarine deployed to locate the missing Malaysian plane's wreckage on the floor of the Indian Ocean has completed a full 16-hour mission mission at its third attempt, authorities said.
The multinational search for the Malaysian jet's debris was today suspended due to bad weather in southern Indian Ocean, a day after it was announced that the missing plane had crashed in the remote area.
Although the India-Japan relationship has its own driving forces in terms of robust economic ties and shared values, China is the elephant in the room in the strategic parleys between the two countries, says Rup Narayan Das.
A robotic mini-submarine deployed to unprecedented depths underwater to hunt for the crashed Malaysian airliner has searched nearly two-thirds of the focused area of the Indian Ocean floor, as it ended its eighth mission on Monday with still no sign of any wreckage of the plane.
Multi-nation search teams hunting for the missing Malaysian plane said they will stop listening for pings coming from the floor of the Indian Ocean and now deploy an unmanned submarine to track down the jet's black box.
An Australian aircraft searching for the crashed Malaysian plane on Thursday detected a new possible underwater signal in the remote Indian Ocean consistent with a plane's black box, fuelling hopes of a breakthrough in the arduous month-long hunt.
India's decision to heed to Australia's request to be part of the mega naval drill comes in the midst of growing strain in ties with China over the border row in eastern Ladakh.
Indonesia is not even counted as a next-door neighbour of India, though the southern-most tip of India is less than a hundred miles away from the northern-most tip of Indonesia. Bringing Indonesia back in the mainstream of the Indian strategic calculus is a step long overdue, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
'India does not wish to remain silent in improving its strategic space so that its leverage to counter China's expansionist designs is maintained, besides enabling it to play a responsible role from a position of strength for peace and stability in Asia,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
'The Indian Navy has sufficient combat power in areas of interest to India that can quickly scale up operations if the need arises.' 'This includes all the choke points leading into the Indian Ocean as also areas within.'
Twenty-three nations, 47 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise scheduled June 26 to August 1, in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
The Chinese navy has kicked off 10-day military exercises in the disputed South China Sea amid heightened tensions in the region, especially with the United States.
The search for the crashed Malaysian jet on Friday dramatically shifted to a new area 1,100 km further northeast in the Indian Ocean after authorities received "the most credible lead" of radar data suggesting the plane flew faster and ran out of fuel more quickly than estimated.
The mechanism will serve as a platform among the Indian Ocean Rim countries to have regular dialogue and exchange of information for ensuring safety of ships and maritime resources. "It is an initiative to ensure peace, security and economic propriety in the region," said Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta.
The Indian desire to deepen its ties with Vietnam, especially in the oil sector, besides defence and trade, was conveyed to the top leadership in Hanoi by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
It is the first such case of a sizeable number of military personnel being treated for COVID-19. The Indian Army has reported eight cases of the deadly virus so far.
In his address to the high-level UN General Assembly session, Jaishankar said those who politicise the UNSC 1267 Sanctions regime, sometimes even to the extent of defending proclaimed terrorists, do so at their own peril.
A Thai satellite has spotted hundreds of floating objects in southern Indian Ocean that could possibly be the debris of the crashed Malaysian plane, even as bad weather on Thursday grounded multination aerial search for the aircraft's wreckage.
Clarifying the latest Supreme Court order in the matter in which the apex court allowed NIA to probe the case against Italian marines, official sources said the order had been read out of context leading to misleading reports.
Confusion prevails over the laws under which the Italian marine duo, accused of killing two Kerala fishermen, are to be prosecuted amid indications that the high-profile case may be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation from the National Investigation Agency.
India and Bangladesh have opened a new chapter in their ties as they settled the 41-year-old boundary dispute and promised to do more in other areas amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a fresh line of credit of $2 billion (Rs 12,821 crore) to the neighbouring country.
The deep depression in Bay of Bengal that crossed the coast close to Kakinada in East Godavari district on Tuesday morning left a trail of devastation as it brought with it a massive downpour in several districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Eight crew members were rescued from a sinking ship off Beypore in Kerala on Saturday by the Coast Guard.
In the opinion piece after the summit, the leaders said the cooperation, known as "the Quad," was born in crisis. It became a diplomatic dialogue in 2007 and was reborn in 2017.
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The National Investigation Agency will file a chargesheet against two Italian marines, accused of killing two Kerala fishermen, after getting sanction to prosecute them under a law which provides only death penalty.
Biden on Friday opened the first Quad Leaders' Summit held virtually and attended by Prime Minister Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Ahead of the International Fleet Review being held in Vizag, Naval chief Admiral RK Dhowan spoke of the changing perception of the navy and the many challenges it faces.
China will prioritise the development of a floating nuclear power platform in the coming five years.
Pranab Mukherjee inspected the fleet along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi from aboard the INS Sumitra.
At least 48 people, including many women and children, were killed on Sunday when an overcrowded ferry with over 150 passengers sank after a collision with a trawler
