Investigators searching for clues in the sighting of two drones over an Army station on the outskirts of Jammu city on Monday had pinned hopes on a CCTV image suspecting it to be of the remote control but it turned out to be of a bundle of newspapers.
IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor in the helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and 12 others, is being shifted to Bengaluru from the Army hospital at Wellington in Tamil Nadu, his father said on Thursday.
The fault line between the West and Russia has widened into a deep chasm and this is likely to endure in the foreseeable future. Far from forcing its way into the European tent, Russia may be reduced to the status of an even more sullen and weakened bystander on its periphery. The US appears to have won this hand with little cost to itself, observes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The US drone strike that killed Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri on the balcony of a safe house in downtown Kabul points to the use of secret Hellfire missiles by the CIA as there was no explosion and, according to American President Joe Biden, "no civilian casualties" either.
'The US will not want to tangle with China landwards.' 'Nor will the US confront the Chinese navy seawards on India's account.'
The SIT has been constituted and has been directed to complete the probe within a month, Shah said.
The major general-level meeting discussed ways to implement the disengagement of troops from Galwan Valley as agreed during high-level military talks between the two sides on June 6. The Indian delegation at the talks was led by Leh-based 3 Infantry Division commander Major General Abhijit Bapat. The two sides held Major General-level talks on Tuesday as well.
However, no casualty was reported in the blast that took place late on Sunday night in front of Triveni gate of the cantonment.
In a major technology push, Indian Army has envisioned construction of "permanent defences" along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh using cutting-edge 3D printing technology, a move that will save time and improve its defence preparedness, sources said on Tuesday.
Indian nationals who have reached the Ukraine-Romania border by road will be taken to Bucharest by officials of the Indian government so that they can be evacuated in the two Air India flights, they added.
Sources said that after the June 6 talks between Military commanders followed by other rounds of talks, there has not been any considerable build-up activity by both sides and Chinese aggressive behaviour has also been toned down, they said.
"Very soon we will have enough systems and we will target.. we will find ways to tackle this threat," the Air Chief Marshal said.
The brief drive through Rockville Pike in Bethesda, a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, that separates the National Institute of Health and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, brought cheers to his supporters who have been praying for the 74-year-old president's health ahead of the presidential election next month.
'This, together with Chinese revisionism, will constitute the major test of the international system.'
The officials said the suspected drone returned to the Pakistani side when the border guards fired half a dozen rounds to bring it down.
The intrusions into India were likely carried out by the PLA's better trained and equipped 'mobile operational units'.
Singh also said that India will give a befitting reply to anyone threatening its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity as it no longer remained a "weak" country.
The last time the Chinese military had taken Indian soldiers captive was in July 1962 after a clash in Galwan Valley.
The Indian Navy plans to acquire a sizeable number of unmanned aerial and underwater platforms in the next few years to significantly ramp up its surveillance capability in the backdrop of China's increasing forays into the Indian Ocean region, people familiar with the development said on Sunday.
The strike by a Hellfire missile in Kabul on August 29, which was launched in an effort to kill ISIS-K planners, instead killed 10 civilians, he said.
We hope that the two sides will work in concerted efforts to achieve the goal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said
In the Union Budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a total of Rs 1,52,369 crore has been set aside for capital expenditure that includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.
India has over 4,000 medium tanks, but not a single light tank. It remains to be seen whether the Ladakh face-off with China galvanises a change, observes Ajai Shukla.
The Army signed a $20-million deal with the Infosys-backed drone maker recently.
A round-up of our favourite photographs from the week gone by.
'The goal seems to be that we do not invest further in our system to make our system more accurate and more reliable or more global in reach,' an ISRO source tells Shivanand Kanavi.
Burned by the shooting down of a MiG-21 aircraft and the capture of its pilot after a dogfight over the India-Pakistan border in February 2019, CATS eliminates the need to send pilots into enemy air space.
Singh said if there is an attempt to hurt the self-respect of India, then it will not be tolerated and will be given a 'befitting reply'. "Whatever progress has been made in the talks, there should be a resolution of the matter. But to what extent it will be resolved, I cannot guarantee."
The Army is set to procure a fleet of light tanks for deployment in high-altitude areas in eastern Ladakh under 'Project Zorawar' to bolster its overall firepower and operational prowess to deal with any eventualities.
The Indian embassy has asked Indians stranded in Kharkiv to proceed to Pisochyn, Babai and Bezlyudivka, anywhere between 11 and 16 km from Ukraine's second largest city, which is bearing the brunt of a massive Russian assault, even on foot if they cannot find vehicles.
The flight, AI1943, took off from the Mumbai airport around 3.40 am and is expected to land at the Bucharest airport around 10 am (Indian Standard Time), senior government officials said.
Official sources said withdrawal of tanks and other armoured elements from certain friction points is nearing completion while pulling back of troops from the North bank areas is being undertaken.
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.
'When the adversary has tasted what you can do, he is going to be more experienced in countering how the Indians think.' 'He will go back, rework and come back.'
The military preparations underway show that the PLA may undertake operations this summer to achieve whatever objectives they could not achieve last May, asserts Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
China and India have agreed to work to maintain peace along the Line of Actual Control and resolve the border standoff through talks while implementing the consensus reached between the two countries' leadership that 'differences' do not escalate into 'disputes', a top Chinese official said.
'The future does not look very promising for peace in Kashmir,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The activation of diplomatic channels is likely to yield better results than a simmering hostility, recommends Ajai Shukla.
In response to another question, he ruled out calling Putin. "No," he said.
US-India defence cooperation must not adversely affect the India-Russia interface, which has its own strategic meaning and content, asserts Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
