The Chinese military is planning to revamp its English-language instruction in its academies to improve graduates' communication skills on the international stage, according to an article by senior lecturers from the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
China displayed a range of new weapons at a military parade, including laser weapons, nuclear ballistic missiles, giant underwater drones, and fifth-generation aircraft.
We need to equip the Indian Armed Forces, not 'commercial' as Trump wants, but 'operationally' looking at growing Chinese military capabilities, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The American platforms at the exercise 'Cope India' that started off Kalaikunda will also include a fleet of F-15 E fighter jets, C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft.
He said China's "growing imprint" will surely increase contestation and competition in the economic domain and it will attempt to keep India engaged on issues relating to the unsettled borders.
India and China held a special round of military talks on Tuesday at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in Eastern Ladakh to discuss air space violations and provocations by the Chinese side in that area in the last 45 days.
'This was Indian land the PLA advanced on and occupied.' 'The Chinese then 'negotiated' a pullback of their troops a small distance on Indian territory even as Indian jawans draw back further into India from the forward position.' 'An apparently satisfied Indian government says this is a great move for peace! How great is that for China!'
Key to China's decision regarding Taiwan will be its leadership's assessment whether the US will come to Taiwan's defence, explains Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Gen Wang is the fourth commander to head the Western Theatre Command after the eastern Ladakh standoff began in May last year.
China's official media reported air and ground movement of troops in Taiwan Straits -- the waters that separate China and Taiwan -- as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei on Tuesday disregarding Beijing's stern warnings.
China on Wednesday said it will take "strong and effective" countermeasures against the US and Taiwan for violating the "One-China policy", as the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi successfully completed her visit to Taipei disregarding Beijing's vociferous threats.
The meeting started at around 11.30 am at Moldo on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Chushul to defuse the tensions in Eastern Ladakh sector due to Chinese military build-up, the sources said. This is the second meeting between the two corps commanders.
This is perhaps the most authoritative portrayal so far of Indian air power as a threat to China.
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.
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.
'This is the first time that active PLA army personnel would be reduced to below one million,' PLA Daily said.
The PLA Air Force has conducted a combat air patrol in the South China Sea recently, which will become "a regular practice" in the future
With tensions between China and Taiwan rapidly increasing, the tone of China's official media has also become progressively more strident, observes former senior RA&W officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
A suspicious low-altitude drone flying in the restricted airspace of the Chinese capital that sparked a major security alert and delayed a number of commercial flights, was shot down by the People's Liberation Army military helicopter, state-media reported one year after the incident.
General Zhao Zongqi is well known in India for having commanded the Chinese troops during the Dokalam episode. Zhao knows every inch and corner of the Indian border, at least the Eastern and Central sectors, including the Naku La area which witnessed fist-fights between Indian and Chinese troops in April/May. Claude Arpi introduces us to the PLA generals masterminding the Chinese aggression in Ladakh.
New Delhi must clearly demonstrate to Beijing that China will pay a price for its relentless strategic undermining of India, says Ajai Shukla.
The entire gamut of China's activities is aimed at keeping India on tenterhooks, cause fatigue to its troops and keeping its security system unstable, so that it cannot play a meaningful role in international geopolitics as an effective partner of the US and Japan, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'Clearly, there is a wide gap between the stated intentions of China's top leadership to improve relations with India and the PLA's aggressive border management,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The military officers at China's National People's Congress reflect Xi Jinping's preference for elevating politically reliable, younger, officers with good professional qualifications,' says former RAW officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
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.
In fact, given the current tensions and massed troops on both sides, there is a danger that the LAC will become more like the Line of Control with Pakistan, a heavily fortified and strongly defended border where weapon fire exchanges regularly occur. Indeed, Stratfor Worldview research has listed a sharp increase in new Chinese facilities along the LAC in 2019-20.
The photo published by the People's Liberation Army Air Force showing a long-range strategic bomber flying within visible range of Yushan, Taiwan's highest mountain, has caused great concern in Taiwan amid debate about whether the mainland will reunify the island by force, state-run Global Times reported.
To rise quickly in the PLA's hierarchy, you need to be close to Xi Jinping. Retired RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade on the changes in China's military leadership.
The 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army, the world's largest, adopts a more aggressive posture with massive structural revamp.
'China's latest defence White Paper has been issued against the backdrop of the upgraded Sino-Pakistan strategic relationship which has impinged on India's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Beijing's continuing intransigence on tackling the issue of the disputed border or intrusion by PLA troops,' says Jayadeva Ranade.
According to convention, Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi should be named as General Dalbir Singh Suhag's successor as army chief
'Clarifying that modernisation of national defence and armed forces should be completed by 2035, Xi Jinping asserted the goal is to make the People's Liberation Army a "world class force" that "can fight and win" by 2050,' points out former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Opposition to tri-service structures comes not just from bureaucrats and politicians as the generals like to lament, but equally from within the military. Neither the army, navy or air force chiefs want to relinquish control over their theatre commands, with these cutting edge units placed under some commander who reports elsewhere, says Ajai Shukla.
'There are major implications for India. Though there was a transparently thin attempt to project the troop reduction as intended to promote peace, the downsizing is actually part of plans to streamline and strengthen the PLA, capable of defending China's national interests at home and abroad,' says Jayadev Ranade.
India has planned 14 strategic railway lines in areas bordering China, Pakistan and Nepal, but most of these projects are stuck for want of funds. Anusha Soni reports
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