Defence
Manohar Parrikar’s son rebuts Sharad Pawar on Rafale claim
Manohar Parrikar’s son on Monday delivered a sharp rejoinder to Nationalist Congress Party boss Sharad Pawar over claims that the former defence minister had quit the union cabinet over the Rafale deal. “This is yet another unfortunate and insensitive attempt to invoke my father’s name to push blatant falsehoods for political gains,” Utpal Parrikar, a …
India’s military brass wants swifter build-up of border infrastructure with China
India’s military brass is once again pushing for “timely development” of all-weather connectivity along the long unresolved borders with China through a network of roads, tunnels and underground shelters to ensure faster troop mobility and logistics as well as storage of ammunition, missiles, and other weapon systems. Sources said one of the major thrust areas …
India hopes to avoid US sanctions over Russian missile deal
India is hopeful it will avoid US sanctions over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told AFP. New Delhi has been “heard and understood” by the US administration over its accord to buy the S-400 missile defense system for $5.2 billion, the minister said in an interview this week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the …
China faces ‘tentative’ ultimatum on blacklisting Masood Azhar
The United States, France, and the United Kingdom are reported to have posted a deadline for China to lift its hold on their proposal for a UN Security Council body to blacklist Masood Azhar, founder of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, which has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack in February. The three powers want China to …
India wants to know if US teams were at Pakistan bases
India has ordered the United States if American personnel were present, as per its end-user conditions, at Pakistani bases from where F-16 fighters were deployed on February 26-27, when Islamabad decided to bomb Indian military installations after India struck a terror camp at Balakot. ET has reliably gathered that while the US had not yet given a …
Vice Admiral Bimal Verma moves Armed Forces Tribunal after being superseded for Naval Chief post
Vice Admiral Bimal Verma on Monday moved the Armed Forces Tribunal against his supersession and appointment of Vice Admiral Karambir Singh as the next Chief of Indian Navy. In his petition, the Vice Admiral has challenged the government’s move to ignore seniority and appoint his junior as the next chief of Navy. Vice Admiral Karambir Singh will take …
Indian Army gets first batch of Dhanush artillery guns
The Indian Army on Monday received its first batch of artillery guns ‘desi Bofors’ in Jabalpur. It will be deployed along India’s borders with Pakistan and China. The Dhanush, which has a calibre of 155x45mm, is the first ever indigenous artillery gun of this calibre. In army parlance, it is classified as ‘medium artillery’. The army’s artillery arm …
Pakistan can’t spare ships for Chinese navy’s birthday, India sends stealth destroyer
The Pakistani navy is unlikely to send warships to take part in China’s high-profile maritime parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to be held off China’s east coast later this month. At least two Pakistani ships were expected to attend the review to be inspected by President Xi …
‘Pulwama attack convinced world Pakistan exporting terror to India’: PM Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Pulwama terror attack has proved India’s stand that Pakistan was in the business of exporting terror to India and that the world was now standing beside India in its fight against terror. “Pulwama has convinced the world that what India says is right. Because of that, the …
‘Not aware’: Pentagon on Pak F-16 count after Feb aerial dogfight with IAF
The United States defence department on Friday said it was “not aware” of any investigation that was conducted to ascertain if Pakistan had lost an F-16 in a dogfight with Indian fighter jets on February 27, contrary to a report by a news publication that had gone on to say, citing unidentified defence officials, the …
India says Pak F-16 was shot down in Feb dogfight, refutes US media report
India has refused a US report claiming that none of the F-16 fighter jets of the Pakistan Air Force was shot down in the February 27 aerial dogfight along the Line of Control. The Indian Air Force stated that “electronic signatures” indicate that the downed PAF fighter jet was an F-16. “During the aerial engagement …
Short of fighter planes, IAF eyes 21 MiG-29 jets and air-defence aircraft
Desperately short of fighters, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is moving the government to get an additional 21 Russian-made MiG -29 ground attack and air-defense aircraft, a senior official with knowledge of the development said. IAF needs a minimum of 42 squadrons [each comprising 16 -18 fighters] but has only 30. More squadrons will be …