India's nuclear strategy, which has traditionally focused on Pakistan, now appears to place increased emphasis on China, the two experts claimed.
As Navy chief, Admiral Singh's immediate priority will be to expedite the long-delayed modernisation of the Indian Navy, including by inducting new warships, submarines and aircraft.
Hoping to get a bigger slice in the pie of massive Indian defence modernisation efforts, the US has said the level of its willingness to share defence technologies with India has never been higher than it is now.
'The debate is not whether the Indian defence apparatus is in a state of disrepair, but whether it is capable of securing the defence of the country if any envisaged threat becomes real.'
'The defence minister is stuck in the trivial and frivolous with a clerical mindset merely to prove his so-called 'honesty" overlooking the primary aim of adding sufficient military muscle and firepower to the defence services,' says Bharat Verma.
Rs 275 cr payment to Tata Power (SED) blocked for putting Indian part
'Overlying his idealism was a hatred of war and of all things military. He gave no deep thought to politico-military matters and this prevented him from making sound security decisions.'
Xi ordered country's 2.3 million-strong military to be absolutely loyal to the party, to focus on how to win in wars, to pioneer reforms and innovation, to scientifically manage commanding a unit, to lead troops in accordance with the strictest standards and to take the forefront in complying with laws and regulations.
As defence minister, Singh's most crucial challenge will be to speed up the long-delayed modernisation of the three services besides ensuring overall coherence in their combat readiness.
India will establish a joint mechanism with China in the next few months to resolve border issues while taking steps to modernise its military infrastructure in the face of Beijing "aggressively" shoring up its defence set up along the Line of Actual Control, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Tuesday.
Stressing on the 'Make in India' initiative, a Ministry of Defence appointed committee has recommended enhanced private sector involvement by granting manufacturers tax and import concessions.
In an address to the air warriors on the occasion of the 89th Air Force Day, the Chief of Air Staff also said that the IAF must demonstrate to the nation that external forces will not be allowed to violate its territory.
As India goes ahead with its plan to modernise the armed forces, US has pitched for India to buy defense equipments from American companies. "We think we have the finest military hardware in the world, and if India is upgrading its defense capabilities, they should buy American," State Department spokesman, P J Crowley told reporters.
He praised the PLA's combat readiness.
The report also revealed that the United States was still king with its expenditure representing about 40 per cent of the total Global Defence budget. India overtook Saudi Arabia and Russia to become one of the top five defence spenders globally.
The State Council, China's cabinet, has proposed the country's top legislature approve a 247.7 billion yuan (29.98 billion US dollars) national defence budget for 2005, a hike of over 12 per cent.
"In an unprecedented move, the ministry of defence (MoD) has decided to delegate substantial financial powers to the Armed Forces for undertaking works for perimeter security of sensitive military installations," the ministry said in a statement.
When China protested strongly over the August decision on J&K -- not once but twice -- we ignored it. And to compound matters, we simply turned our back and walked over to the 'Quad' alliance with the US, upgrading it to ministerial level, and thereafter began following the American footfalls on Taiwan and COVID-19 to taunt and humiliate Beijing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
If the initial analysis of this YJ-21 is correct, then China becomes the first country in the world to operationally field such a missile from a naval vessel.
China was a major focus during talks between United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Indian political leadership during his two-day visit.
The song, called 'Battle Declaration' focusing on winning wars, was posted on the People's Liberation Army daily's website last Thursday. It is the first PLA-made hip-hop video, the state media reported on Tuesday.
Military sources said the research ship Shi Yan 1 forayed into Indian waters in September but was forced to retreat after it was suspected to be involved in spying.
'Let us not, with all our drive for modernisation of the armed forces, send the forces to battle this time with second rung leadership,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Presenting the Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal also said Rs 35,000 crore has been given under the One Rank One Pension scheme in the last three years.
'Once the military starts to draw up plans for using nuclear weapons, then nuclear weapons could be used earlier in a crisis than otherwise.'
Indian elections are won and lost on 'negative' imageries and campaigns - but not certainly on 'negativity' as a political trait and electoral creed, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
A source in the Russian military-industrial complex told Russian information agency RBC that Russia and India are now reaching an agreement on changing the conditions of the 2004 contract for the carrier's overhaul, the paper said.
'In the Balakot operation, we had technology on our side, and we could launch precision stand of weapons with great accuracy.'
The president said China would never allow "any people, organisation or political party to split any part of Chinese territory out of the country at any time, in any form."
The Trump Administration's consideration in this regard comes months after a successful meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump at the White House on June 26.
'In the case of an India-Pakistan confrontation, the Chinese may undertake more than just posturing, thereby constraining us from deploying adequate forces for decisive results,' warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
He asserted that India has never been an aggressor and the Indian Armed Forces are perceived as defenders of humanity and peace across the world.
Boeing said the first batch of the Apaches arrived in India and an additional four choppers will be delivered to the IAF next week.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday indicated that the post of Chief of Defence Staff could be a reality soon, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked defence reforms as a priority and stressed that "jointness at the top" was a need long overdue.
President Xi Jinping has called for better international communication, urging the bellicose official Chinese media and 'wolf warrior' diplomats to adopt a tone that displays openness and conveys modesty, in what observers see as a rare admission of Beijing's growing isolation exacerbated by COVID-19.
French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, with about 12 Rafale jets on board, will arrive in India this week to take part in the 10-day naval exercise 'Varuna'.
No one really knows what proportion of the nation's wealth and income are available for defence
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said the government is planning to legalise representatives of various foreign arms companies in the country, for speedy purchase of military hardware.
Before migrating into the theatre command concept, it would be worthwhile to study the shortfalls experienced by the Tri Services Command in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and make good the deficiencies, suggests Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
He also participated in the 1947-48 war against Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. He was a founder Instructor of the National Defence Academy during 1949-51.
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