Whether it liked it or not, the Ukraine crisis forced India to choose between the aggressor Russia and the US-led free world, a decision it hated to make, Virendra Kapoor points out. In the end, it abstained from the vote in the Security Council.
"The military relationship at the strategic level has been sustaining itself. Advancing military relationship in other ways at the operational and tactical levels -- getting our two militaries more acquainted with one another through operations or through counterpart visits -- has not advanced," Pacific Command Commander, Admiral Robert Willard, said.
As India's international role expands, so must our capabilities, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
China's first aircraft carrier is likely to be commissioned on August 1 and deployed in the disputed South China Sea, boosting its blue water aspirations.
A top US Air Force official's remarks that his country is planning to station a military aircraft in Thiruvananthapuram as part of its policy of encircling China with defence bases has created flutters in New Delhi and the government has dismissed any such possibility.
'The Thai junta, who immediately took control of the operations in a military manner, took the decision to involve the best world professionals for the rescue.' 'This made a huge difference.' 'It is highly probable that in India, the authorities would have said, "We have the expertise, we don't need foreign aid",' says Claude Arpi.
'Both India and Pakistan are now, for the first time in history, very closely allied and connected with the US -- economically and politically.'
'A three generation US-Pakistan relationship is not likely to be snapped any time soon. All this presents an irritant to an India that wishes to concentrate on economic development,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Pitching for increased foreign investment for a growth of 9 to 10 per cent, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said India will have to pay more attention to the Asia-Pacific region but asserted that the country's "strategic autonomy" would not be compromised.
'I do not agree that the intent was to send a political message to China that the US treats friends and foes alike.' 'In any case, such acts do not ruffle a feather in China,' observes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Chinese thought India would back off. 'They did not expect such a firm Indian response to their expansionist manoeuvre.'
US President Trump "presented the Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating the US-India strategic partnership," O'Brien said in a tweet.
The global agency said there are "serious deficiencies" on the part of the country in checking terror-financing and it lacks an effective system to deal with it.
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).
'Alas, the Congress party offers no suggestions as to how to unscramble the omlette it cooked during 2004-2014 on which the Modi government may have since lavishly spread some tomato ketchup,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Salary Budget Planning report released by Willis Towers Watson said the median salary increase at the executive level for 2020 is projected at 10.1%, an increase from 9.6 per cent in the previous year.
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.
India and Russia have begun their bilateral naval exercise, which is aimed at increasing interoperability between the two Navies and developing common understanding of procedures for maritime security operations.
Besides their country of origin, General Motors, Ford Motor and Harley-Davidson have another trait in common: all three have failed in India, the world's fifth largest automobile market. All three of them took a tough call to de-prioritise India as a market amid disruption from heightened regulations and sharper focus on capital allocation by the parent.
The US president lauded the announcement on Twitter, writing "Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!"
Even as Barack Obama administration officials believe that the India-US relationship has now "emerged at the world stage" and is no longer a "restricted to narrow" South Asia or subcontinental set of issues, they also concede that America's security partnership with Pakistan over the years still poses challenge to India-US relationship.
'The past year has yielded extraordinary results in the strategic, commercial, and people-to-people components of the India-United States partnership, US Ambassador to India Richard Rahul Verma tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
The mandates which Pakistan has failed include action against all United Nations-designated terrorists like Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar, Lashker-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and the outfit's operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
New Delhi should resist any temptation to act as spoiler and instead should cooperate with its SCO partners in reaching a regional consensus behind the formation of an interim government in Kabul, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Over 20 Russian sailors were killed when a firefighting system went off during sea trials of a nuclear submarine in Russia's Pacific Fleet, Igor Dygalo, a senior navy commander was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency on Sunday.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan W Greenert characterised navy-to-navy ties as "solid and growing" and said bilateral wargames had progressed from "two ships going by doing flashing lights...probably about a decade ago, to coordinated operations, carrier air wing and under sea".
In New Delhi's corridors of power, debate continues on whether the navy even needs a third aircraft carrier.
Putting up yet another dominating performance, defending champions Sania Mirza and Cara Black outclassed Jelena Jankovic and Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-3, 6-2 to reach the summit clash of the WTA Toray Pan Pacific Open, in Tokyo on Friday.
United Nations proscribed terrorist Lakhvi, 61, who was on bail since 2015 in the Mumbai attack case, was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab province on Saturday.
Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), which houses the offices of some of the biggest banks in the country, however, slipped to 26th position from the 16th position.
The 2.3 million strong People's Liberation Army, the world's largest, adopts a more aggressive posture with massive structural revamp.
'The relationship between India and the United States has always been one that seemed obvious -- that seemed like a no-brainer and seemed like it's something that should have happened a generation ago.'
Chushul and Depsang are not vital in this game of Chinese checkers, the Indian Ocean Region is. Keeping our maritime prowess restricted has to be a key Chinese strategic interest and it would appear that the LAC affair has helped China achieve its aim, points out Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'The BJP has done the Uri surgical strikes, handled the Dokalam crisis and the Balakot strikes.' 'So if there is a de-escalation only at the diplomatic level and not resolving this issue of a colonel being killed, then it translates into public anger.'
