'With Pakistan's 'first use doctrine' threatening the use of nuclear weapons early in a war with India, the S-400 will shield vulnerable targets like Delhi and Mumbai, complicating Pakistan's targeting calculations.'
A leading US daily describing nuclear-armed Pakistan as "unquestionably the biggest concern" to stability in South Asia.
The strategy, President Donald Trump said, is tailored and flexible to address the wide array of threats in the 21st century.
Referring to Pakistan's NSG membership application, the CRS said according to US law, the Obama Administration could apparently back Islamabad's NSG membership without Congressional approval.
What must India do now?
'No matter how severe sanctions the UN security council imposes on North Korea, the impact of the sanctions would depend on how faithfully they are enforced by China,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
Seconds into the test, the anti-ballistic missile deviated from its planned path and it quickly became clear that it would not hit the target.
Serious question marks remain over how effectively, or whether at all, India can actually execute a disarming CF strike that takes out most of Pakistan's nukes, says Ajai Shukla.
'If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,' Trump said.
'Much depends on Moon's persuasive skill to make both Trump and Kim shed some of their rigidity and be flexible to accommodate contrarian viewpoints,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
The US president said new sanctions would be imposed, adding 'America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail'.
'Given the present force levels, India cannot fight and win.' 'India can't hope to terminate the conflict on India's terms and impose the nation's will upon the adversaries,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'China's growing nexus with Pakistan and the two countries' unresolved territorial disputes with India continue to pose a formidable national security threat to India,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Meanwhile, the test drew strong criticism from North Korea's neighbours and the West which warned of a robust response to its "grave provocations".
A fighter aircraft's lethality in air-to-air combat is governed by the air-to-air missile that it carries. Since the Independence, the Indian Air Force has mounted French, Russian and British missiles on its fighters. On Sunday, an IAF Sukhoi-30MKI fighter conducted the first test launch of the indigenous Astra air-to-air missile, which the Defence R&D Organisation is developing at its missile cluster in Hyderabad.
China's and India's nuclear doctrines mandate 'No First Use' of nuclear weapons, so use against each other seems unlikely.
'The military aim in a future conflict, if it can't be avoided, should be to cause maximum damage to the adversary's war waging capability and capture limited amount of territory as a bargaining counter,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'This was undoubtedly a premeditated strategy to thwart India's entry into the NSG.' 'If India hopes to be a major player, it must use its rising clout on the world stage to influence amenable members of the group to alter such discriminatory practices and ensure fair rules of engagement,' says Vivek Gumaste.
'The government has sent a clear message to Pakistan: It is no longer business as usual.' 'The rules of the game have changed and a new game is at play,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Diplomatic engagement will continue even as India keeps all its options open with respect to discretely targeting the Pakistani military and its terrorist proxies.'
Is North Korea really dismantling its nuclear programme? Rajaram Panda explains the many challenges to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.
Will the unpredictable North Korean leader provoke conflict on the Korean peninsula?
The Korean summit, laden with symbolism in everything from the choice of location to the mango mousse for dessert, could just be the first round in a continuing dialogue, says Dr Rajaram Panda.
The United States, which spends billions monitoring adversaries like Al Qaeda, North Korea and Iran, pays an equal amount of attention on ally Pakistan and has ramped up surveillance of its nuclear arms, according to a report.
Donald Trump, Hardik Patel, Kangana Ranuat... The year 2017 wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for these personalities and many more. As we herald in 2018, here's a look at the faces and stories which left an indelible mark on us.
The explosion aboard the country's frontline submarine 'Sindhurakshak' was quite a setback, said former commanders and top naval experts, even as they expressed hope that the Indian Navy would soon be able to set things right.
Despite four disarmament section talks and six strategic dialogues between the two foreign ministries, China's intransigence on recognising Indian nuclear status resulted in no confidence building measures in the nuclear field between the two, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
The aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, formerly the Admiral Gorshkov, expected to join the Indian Navy later this year, is already late by five years and its price has risen three-fold, from $947 million (about Rs 5,735 crore) in 2004 to $2.3 billion (Rs 13,928.8 crore) today.
How will the navy's six Scorpenes fight, when their primary weapon -- the Black Shark torpedo -- is blocked by a ministry of defence ban on the company chosen to supply these? This gloomy scenario provides a heaven-sent opportunity to revisit the navy's torpedo purchase plan, handled without strategic vision and economic foresight.
20 years ago this day, May 11, 1998, India conducted its second nuclear test at Pokharan in Rajasthan. In a fascinating interview on Rediff.com, K Subrahmanyam revealed how Indian PMs reacted to nuclear ambitions.
'If Indian armed forces entered Pakistan and succeeded in inflicting major damage on the Pakistani army and occupied territory in the Pakistani heartland, there is reason to think the Pakistani military would use some nuclear weapons against the incoming Indian forces to compel India to stop.'
The Long Range Surface to Air Missile jointly being developed by India and Israel is an answer to potential threats from Pakistan's anti-ship missile.
It is time to throw an outer ring around India's national security by proactively engaging in areas immediately outside our neighbourhood. Such a ring will not only insulate India from emerging threats, but also create new leverage in securing our own neighbourhood, says Nitin Pai.
After Pyongyang tests a missile potentially capable of reaching the US, Dr Rajaram Panda explores the realistic -- and peaceful -- options before Donald Trump and the international community at large.
He was ready even to take on Germany's collective guilt over the Holocaust
Negotiating a sustainable compromise with Iran is not getting any easier, and this delay might not yield the desired result of bringing Tehran's nuclear programme under stringent limits, says Claude Smadja
India has built two top-secret facilities in Karnataka to enrich uranium in pursuit of its hydrogen bomb dream.
'The clique that runs that country is treating us like suckers. We are very foolish, giving people money who involve themselves in activity that's harmful to America.' 'When you look at the cold hard facts, Pakistan is not an ally to the United States. They have facilitated, they have encouraged, they have been a protector of enemies.'
Two US warships fired at least 50 cruise missiles at the Ash Shai'rat airfield in Homs province in western Syria, from where the US administration believes Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad fired the chemical weapons against his own people, media reports said.
'With the recent challenging of the notion of the Indian Ocean Region being India's strategic backyard, China is gradually upping the ante in the maritime realm around India.'
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