The Indian Navy has a big role to play in support of our strategic objectives in the Indian Ocean. The increasing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean is a matter of concern and need to be factored. Hence, the requirement of an Aircraft Carrier is a foregone conclusion, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Know the forts India has nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
'India should respect Maldivian nationalism and their desire to be not over-dependent on India.' 'India should not behave like a big brother towards Maldives as many times, we tend to behave like that.'
The UK said the deployment of the carrier strike group marks the start of "a new era of defence cooperation with allies in India and the Indo-Pacific."
Giving final touches to its most ambitious plan to build a wide network of new silk roads on land and seas to enhance global connectivity, China has invited India to join President Xi Jinping's pet project that would revive the ancient trade route and benefit the region.
While acknowledging Shivaji's naval contributions, questions are being raised about the inadequate acknowledgement of Chola sea-power in southern Tamil Nadu, which dates back by a few centuries, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Since multilateral trade creates a stable, peaceful world, normalisation of bilateral trade between India and Pakistan will start a series of peace building measures, especially along the bordering areas of both states which is the worst affected from the on-going conflict, say Riya Sinha and Shehzad Poonawalla.
Singh said the warship's commissioning will boost India's maritime power.
The Quad has come of age and its agenda covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies makes it a force for global good, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the first summit of the coalition. In his opening remarks, he also talked about shared values and promoting a secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
The shipping business is like the heaving sea -- it's up and down, observes Shyam G Menon.
Asserting that "maritime muscle flexing" by some countries and other factors have made the Indo-Pacific region "more contested and more volatile," naval chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Tuesday said that the Indian Navy has its task cut out as it has been a major security provider in the region.
His remarks without naming any country came against the backdrop of tension between India and Pakistan after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status.
'What matters is that India's perspective on global issues -- climate change, intellectual property, free trade, trade routes being kept free, digital technology -- are listened to with respect,' says Ambassador B S Prakash.
He said that "the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship, that's natural".
Chances are any such disruption will not occur on the major shipping lanes but on some edge of the ocean between India and China. Even if there is no actual disruption, the costs of averting one can be punitive. The setting for this is provided by the energy shortage both countries face, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Once the scheme is implemented 70-80 per cent of the freight would move along national highways as against the current 40 per cent, says Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
China will increase its defence spending by "around seven per cent" this year, as it vowed to guard against "outside meddling" in its territorial disputes.
'There is no Buddha or Gandhi among countries, existing for the service of others; they all exist for the good of themselves.' 'For each country, its own interests should be paramount, and it is futile and churlish to expect China to be an exception to this rule,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant and long-time China-watcher.
India and the United States are working on efforts to improve cooperation on UN terrorist designations and expand the sharing of information on known or suspected terrorists "no matter where they may be located," says US Ambassador to India Richard Verma
As a model of transport, the A380 strikes a parallel -- a shared fragility -- with giant container ships, observes Shyam G Menon.
India, China must further strengthen business ties for growth.
The WTO toolkit provides various instruments to deal with such situations - anti-dumping duties, countervailing duties and safeguard measures.
Pitching for making the country's 7,500-km long coastline an "engine of growth", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India wants to mobilise Rs 1 lakh crore investment to enable port development and invited global community to invest.
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).
'Chinese companies have acquired stakes in 13 ports in Europe, including in Greece, Spain and, most recently, Belgium.' 'Those ports handle about 10 percent of Europe's shipping container capacity,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The logical step is to challenge the very legitimacy of the Chinese claim over Tibet,' recommends Inspector General Gurdip Singh Uban (retd).
Hometown diplomacy mixed with a Silk Road touch is expected be part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's reciprocal gesture when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits China before end of May.
India and Japan are natural partners at sea, and Narendra Modi's recent visit underlined the need to keep the association going
Industry officials say the crunch has not only affected manufacturing of edibles but even of items like nozzle pumps and other goods used in packaging.
The pitch comes close on the heels of China launching its multi-billion dollar OBOR initiative
Trump had accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to terrorists.
The prime minister also pitched for respecting freedom of navigation against the backdrop of South China sea dispute.
'During my visit to Japan and after meeting with Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe, I gladly recall that in our joint declaration we mentioned Asia-Africa growth corridor and proposed further conversation with our brothers and sisters of Africa,' Prime Minister Modi said.
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.
As a percentage of the military budget, the navy's share has fallen from 19 per cent in 2010-2011 to just 15.5 per cent this year. With the Indian Navy's annual budget declining steadily, security planners are reluctant to green light crucial projects, discovers Ajai Shukla.
China has demonstrated that it has the power to not be isolated, and it is likely to become more powerful over time.
By hosting the 10 ASEAN leaders on Republic Day, India amply demonstrated that ASEAN is a central pillar of its Act East policy. But is India 'central' for ASEAN, asks Dr Rahul Mishra.
We do not know, because there has been no discussion, no transparency and most likely no real thinking on this matter at our end, observes Aakar Patel.
If the aim is to become a player with some strategic space of its own, not just in the Indian Ocean region but also in the adjoining region, then greater interaction with China is desirable, even necessary.
'After many rudderless years, India and Japan have prime ministers with a sense of purpose and direction,' says Brahma Chellaney.
