The Israel-Iran conflict has entered a 'decisive phase' after the United States bombed three major Iranian nuclear sites Sunday morning, feel strategic affairs experts with some of them arguing it was Washington, DC's 'responsibility' to not get involved in the military standoff.
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
The annual exercise of a unit was going on at the Pokran field firing range when the incident occurred. However, no loss of life or property was reported.
In the wake of the recent hostilities, both sides have moved from weapons to words, with India dispatching several delegations to visit more than 30 capitals across the world. A similar effort by Pakistan is set to start on Jun 2.
'There is no independently verified imagery or battlefield evidence to support Pakistan's claim.'
Top military officials from India and Pakistan highlighted their views at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia's premier defence forum, amid heightened tensions between the two sides following last month's military confrontation.
The Pakistan Army continued shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in four sectors of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting a befitting response by the Indian Army, officials said on Thursday. The intensity of cross-border firing was less than Wednesday, when Pakistan Army carried out one of the most intense artillery and mortar shelling in years targeting the forward villages in J-K following missile strikes by India as part of 'Operation Sindoor'.
'The lesson Beijing would have learned is that there is, cost-benefit wise, no better option than to keep the Pakistan military supplied with its most advanced armaments, certain that in hostilities with India these would be used for maximum effect.'
Pakistan claims it was a mosque and an educational complex that were hit in the strikes at Muridke, located at about 40 km from Lahore.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday questioned the safety of nuclear weapons in the hands of Pakistan, and said they should be taken under monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Israel's aerial assault on Iran is widely viewed as an act of naked aggression with no basis in international law, carried out unilaterally despite US opposition and aimed at derailing ongoing US-Iran nuclear negotiations, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Dong, whose age is not known, has served in all major naval divisions in the PLAN.
The missile hit a plantation in Margaliot, a moshav (collective agricultural community), in the Galilee region in the north of Israel around 11 am on Monday, Zaki Heller, spokesperson for rescue services Magen David Adom (MDA), told PTI.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia, defence ministry's top acquisition council on Thursday cleared the purchase of an estimated Rs 40,000 crore Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems, besides giving the go-ahead to other projects worth over Rs 25,000 crore.
Speculation about the missing Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu may have been removed and detained became rife after he was conspicuously absent at the meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in Beijing on Friday.
More than 100 BrahMos missiles are planned to be built in the next three years.
Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
China has said that it successfully carried out a land-based mid-course anti-ballistic missile (ABM) technical test on Sunday with Chinese experts claiming that the tests, stated to be the sixth of its kind, validated the reliability of the country's anti-ballistic missile umbrella.
"China is an absolutely impossible factor to ignore in what has been our confrontation with Pakistan," Tharoor said.
The MoD did not reveal the number of missiles procured through the latest contract.
However, this information was inadvertently revealed through an official MoD photograph that accompanied the announcement.
'You can be sure that the Pakistanis knew when the Indian Air Force aircraft took off, which type these were, and what their likely targets were.' 'The question was: How would they determine that the IAF wanted to fire, and when to bounce them?', notes Shekhar Gupta.
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said the major defence equipment that were imported included helicopters, aircraft radars, rockets, guns, assault rifles, missiles and ammunition.
Trump couldn't care less anymore about the Israeli demand for Iran's 'de-nuclearisation' and 'de-militarisation.' Trump pins hopes on a grand bargain with Iran as a partner in America First, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Congress leaders maintained that Indian defence forces had attained complete superiority and dominance over Pakistan before the sudden "ceasefire" was announced by US President Donald Trump.
The exercise was conducted by the Indian Air Force to showcase full integration of air defence missile system into the force, they said.
It was found that he had shared information about various warships and submarines to the Pakistani Intelligence Operative, another official said.
Earlier, United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged the international community to increase pressure on North Korea, saying that failing to do so would bring 'catastrophic consequences'.
India's concerns over a planned naval exercise between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the strategically important waters of Trincomalee led to the shelving of the drills weeks ago. The exercise was planned as part of regular engagements between the two navies, but India expressed its apprehensions to the Sri Lankan government. Trincomalee, situated on Sri Lanka's northeastern coast, is considered a significant hub in the Indian Ocean region, particularly for India's maritime security interests. The Pakistani Navy's close cooperation with China's PLA Navy has raised concerns in New Delhi about any Pakistani warship presence in Trincomalee. This incident follows previous diplomatic rows between India and Sri Lanka over the docking of Chinese vessels at Sri Lankan ports. India has been actively supporting Sri Lanka's development of Trincomalee's energy infrastructure and has recently signed a defense pact with the country to boost military cooperation.
Following the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian Army launched Operation Sindoor, targeting Pakistani terror infrastructure and posts in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Over 600 artillery shells were fired in three days, decimating 20 Pakistani posts used for infiltrating terrorists into India. The precision strikes crippled enemy logistics, material, and morale, prompting retaliatory attacks by Pakistan on civilian areas. Despite the retaliation, Indian Army officers described the operation as a success, highlighting the high morale of the troops and the effective coordination between artillery and air defense units. The article details the intensity of the artillery shelling and the impact on both sides, highlighting the strategic significance of the Poonch sector and the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan.
On Thursday, the Chinese military published its ICBM launch photos, shedding its secrecy.
The Saudi statement came as tensions soared significantly, with Pakistan claiming that its three airbases were targeted by Indian missiles and drones early Saturday.
In October 2018, India had signed a US$ 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.
Bollywood celebrities have extended support to the nation and offered prayers for the safety and well-being of the people.
Neither the BJP, nor the Congress before it, made any manifesto commitments on defence spending, even though allocations have plummeted from 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the late 1980s to less than 2 per cent today, points out Ajai Shukla.
People in several districts of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat spent an anxious night as authorities enforced blackouts amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan.
'With a military-led strategy to counter terrorism emanating from Pakistan, India has clearly signalled that it would respond decisively to future terrorist threats.'
Addressing a special 'Youm-e-Tashakur' event at the Pakistan Monument in Islamabad, Shehbaz said that India and Pakistan fought three wars and got nothing.
'This cannot be credibly explained away by referring to a "technical glitch".'
'There's something called deterrence by punishment.' 'That means you hit in a manner calculated to raise costs and consequences for Pakistan, so that the next time it attempts a Pahalgam-like attack, it has to think ten times.'
The Defence Research and Development Organisation on Friday successfully flight-tested a propulsion system that enables a missile to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds.
