The selection of Dassault's Rafale as India's new MMRCA fighter was only the latest step in the Air Force's long and painstaking process to pick itself a winner, writes Ajai Shukla.
The bitter war between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Rafale deal on Tuesday saw more name-calling with the opposition party dubbing Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as a "babble blogger" and dismissing his "clown prince out-clowning himself" barb at Rahul Gandhi as "hollow rants of a court jester".
The 75th Republic Day celebrations at Kartavya Path on Friday showcased India's rich cultural diversity, military prowess, and 'Nari Shakti'.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav had thrown barbs at the prime minister over his having no family.
With alertness very high post the surgical strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Uri attack, Indian Air Force is aggressively upgrading infrastructure in the eastern sector specially in Arunachal Pradesh.
The bribery scandal involving AgustaWestland's VVIP helicopter deal threatens to corner the Congress party and cast a shadow on India's latest $10 billion defence deal with Dassault for 126 Rafale fighter aircraft. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The People's Daily, the Chinese Communist newspaper, says the sale of the Rafale fighter plane 'encourages, excites and spurs India's appetite and ambition to become a great military power.' Does India have a choice, considering the People's Liberation Army's frantic speed of development, wonders Claude Arpi.
As part of the Cope India 2023 exercise, five top-notch fighter jets of the two air forces took off in quick succession from the air force base.
The ceremonial arch, inaugurated in July 1836, in a rather austere ceremony, stands proudly at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle with 12 grand avenues radiating outward from the commemorative landmark.
India had invited United States President Joe Biden to grace the occasion but he expressed inability to travel to New Delhi in January.
The Congress on Sunday kept up its attack on the Narendra Modi government over the Rafale deal with France and questioned why the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was kept out of the agreement for the purchase of the fighter jets.
Modi said the House did not witness any earthquake, an apparent reference to claims of Rahul Gandhi that his revelation on Rafale would create tremors.
The trio said the top court had relied upon 'patently incorrect' claims made by the government in an unsigned note given in a sealed cover in the court.
Which of the two aircraft will India chose? Let's take a closer look at the two aircraft.
The Congress's new treasurer Ahmed Patel has been meeting industrialists and businessmen. He met one of the biggest industrialists of the country last week, but the assurance of any significant donation was half-hearted from the other end. Business houses aren't exactly queuing up to offer donations, reports Archis Mohan.
India plans to sign the $11 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft deal with French Rafale by the end of August and September, a senior Indian Air Force official said on Saturday. "I find no reason why it shouldn't be signed by the end of this month or next month", said Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, IAF, Air Marshal Rajinder Singh.
Speaking at a joint press event with Macron, Modi, who is in Paris on a two-day official visit, said a roadmap to strengthen India-France strategic ties over the next 25 years was being prepared with bold and ambitious goals on the anvil.
Ending months of speculation, India has finally selected Rafale as the best aircraft tailor-made to meet its requirements for at least the next decade and replace its ageing fleet of MiGs. But is it what India needs now to safeguard its skies?
Several aircraft such as Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, Sukhoi, Jaguar, Rafale, IL-76, C-130J, and Hawk displayed their skillful manoeuvres, amid a thundering applause from the gathering.
Enhancing cooperation in the key areas of defence, nuclear energy, counter-terrorism and trade will be focus of French President Francois Hollande's first visit in New Delhi but USD 10-billion deal for Rafale fighter aircraft will not be inked during his two-day stay starting Thursday.
The opposition made it clear during the meeting that it will press for a joint parliamentary committee to probe the Rafale jet deal and raise several issues, including the "misuse" of probe agencies and the autonomy for Reserve Bank of India.
Contract negotiations for the multi-billion dollar deal will resume soon, government sources have told PTI in New Delhi
Marking a breakthrough in the protracted talks in the French Rafale jet deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that India will purchase 36 of these fighter planes that are ready to fly, citing critical operational requirement of the Indian Air Force.
Hearing Gandhi's petition on Tuesday, Justice S V Kotwal of the high court noted that it raises some "important questions of law."
Hurkacz, Swiatek win as Poland march into United Cup final
Passenger vehicles, motorcycles, bikes and commercial vehicles made their presence felt at the Munich Auto Show.
"They probably ran the Defence Ministry with a lot of brokers and 'dalals' in between," she said.
The marching contingents of the Army, the Navy and the IAF will participate in the prestigious parade along with their French counterparts.
India also went on an overdrive in expanding its military engagement with like-minded countries in its neighbourhood and beyond in the face of China's relentless attempts to become a regional hegemon and establish its primacy in South Asia.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the first top-level dignitary from France to meet the new Indian government, on Monday pushed for early purchase of the multi-billion dollar Rafale combat aircraft during his meetings with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the first top-level dignitary from France to meet the new Indian government, on Monday pushed for early purchase of the multi-billion dollar Rafale combat aircraft during his meetings with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj.
The Chinese military has been behaving aggressively over issues in the Yangtse in the vicinity of the Holydip and Parikrama area on the LAC where the Chinese side has been opposing Indian positions.
Reacting to the development, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said in a tweet, "Rahul Gandhi may have survived this one but for how long?"
At present, the IAF has three MiG-21 squadrons with a total of around 50 aircraft, according to officials.
The IAF has already set up a dedicated operations direction centre for coordinating various aspects of the arrangements with security agencies concerned, they said.
They share their excitement :)
Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed a ceremony held at Pakistan Air Force base Minhas Kamra in Attock district of Punjab province to induct the new fighter jets.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said while just 24 hours were taken to disqualify Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha after his conviction in a defamation case, it is to be seen how long will it take to reinstate him after the Supreme Court relief.
The pact is significant as India has been sourcing its military jets from Russia and European consortia.
Quantity has a quality of its own. That is why the USAF and the Israeli air forces have large fleets of single-engine F-16 fighters. That is also the logic for India's MiG-21 fleet and for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft that will replace it, writes Ajai Shukla
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