SOURCE: NATIONAL INTEREST

The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program has its roots in an Indian effort to modernize the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) stock of older fighters, including the SEPECAT Jaguar and Dassault Mirage 2000. The AMCA project has undergone multiple iterations, but the core requirement is for a stealth, single-seat multi-role multirole fighter.

In 2018, India withdrew from the joint Russian-Indian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) program to manufacture a new fighter based on Russia’s Su-57 fighter jet. Though the IAF had its share of concrete technical reservations with the FGFA– centered mainly on the Su-57’s stealth performance and the production challenges facing its bespoke Izdeliye 30 engine—New Delhi’s decision to withdraw from the FGFA program was not without its political context. Namely, the FGFA partnership gradually became a liability in light of India’s goal to build up its domestic defense industry as part of the government’s 2014 Make in India initiative.

SOURCE: SCMP

India’s move, with a little help from Japan, to develop a strategically located island chain near the mouth of Southeast Asia’s main shipping lane is part of a broader plan by New Delhi to keep a closer watch on China’s naval assets, say analysts and former Indian officials – especially its submarines.

The Andaman and Nicobar archipelago of 524 islands, only 38 of which are inhabited, stretches across some 1,000km (620 miles) of Indian Ocean by the western entrance to the Malacca Strait, through which an estimated 80 per cent or more of China’s seaborne trade passes. “It is like a [permanent] aircraft carrier,” Kanwal Sibal, a former foreign secretary of India, told This Week In Asia, “that gives India very extensive control over maritime space and sea lanes of communication to monitor shipping and naval vessels.”

SOURCE: Press Trust of India

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday flagged China’s assertive moves such as coercing neighbours in the region and hampering freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, while asserting that the transatlantic military alliance is a key platform to forge convergence on responding to the security implications of a rising China.

In his virtual address at the Raisina Dialogue, Stoltenberg also said India is a “pivotal player” in the Indo-Pacific region and asserted there is a huge potential for NATO to work with the country in different ways without being part of an integrated military cooperation.

SOURCE: ANI

The Indian Air Force has inducted Light Bullet Proof Vehicles (LBVPs) for enhancing its airbases’ security. The vehicle that looked like a mini-truck was put on display on Tuesday. The LBPVs, which weigh six tonnes, can withstand any type of bullet and grenade attack and would help in countering any terrorist attack. They can carry six Garud commandos or Quick Reaction Team members.

The induction of LBVPs has come ahead of the proposed review of the security challenges by top commanders of the Air Force. 

SOURCE: IANS

The Vietnam government has launched a high-speed patrol boat built with India assistance, and one more of similar class is in the pipeline. The Vietnamese coast guard had inducted the first India-made patrol vessel in December 2020.

Vietnamese media reported that the patrol boat has been built with Indian support. The launch stands out “as an icon of India-Vietnam defense partnership” and reflects India’s commitment towards building the capacity of the Vietnamese military, says Pranay Verma, India’s ambassador to Vietnam. He added that the comprehensive strategic partnership and defence relations between the countries would contribute to stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The Indian embassy added that despite disruptions by the Covid-19 pandemic, the joint project has progressed at a rapid pace.

SOURCE: ZEE NEWS

The United States annual intelligence report has said that India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “more likely” to respond with force to Pakistan provocation. The annual threat assessment of the US intelligence community report 2021 said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is more likely than in the past to respond with military force to perceived or real Pakistani provocations”

Notably, in the past after the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, India responded with “Balakot airstrikes” deep inside Pakistani territory. Planes of the Indian Air Force had struck terror camps in the vicinity of Balakot town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In 2016, after the Uri attack, Indian forces conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

SOURCE: ZEE NEWS

Even as India and France strengthen ties, Paris has agreed to join New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI). IPOI was proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the East Asia Summit in November 2019. The development comes even as French Foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is on an India visit. Earlier in the day, he met India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. He will also be going to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) headquarters in Bengaluru.

Increasing trade connectivity, maritime transport and maritime security are among the seven key pillars of the initiative. Other five are maritime ecology, maritime resources, capacity building and resource sharing, disaster risk reduction and management, science, technology and academic cooperation.

SOURCE: HT

Diplomatic visits, more often than not, are routine, more a function of bureaucratic necessities than of any real strategic significance. Most visits of foreign dignitaries to India or elsewhere hardly transform the underlying dynamic of the bilateral relationship. But sometimes, the tone and tenor of the engagement manages to convey more than either side perhaps intends to, thereby hinting at a fundamental transformation.

Last week India hosted two important visitors – Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, and the United States (US) special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry. They did not come to sign any major documents or make dramatic declarations. These were routine visits, one to lay the groundwork for a potential Russian presidential visit to India and the other to assess Indian intentions on climate. But these short visits revealed much more about the state of play in India-Russia and India-US ties than any formal policy document.

SOURCE: THE PRINT

Differences seem to have emerged between India and China over the next steps their armies need to take to further ease tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. After the surprise breakthrough in February that saw both sides pulling troops and equipment back from the brink in Pangong Tso, Beijing wants the two armies to de-escalate or withdraw additional troops brought in as back-up to those in the front, ThePrint has learnt.

This is a change in Beijing’s position from what the two sides had discussed in February, it is learnt. New Delhi, however, is insisting on disengagement from the remaining friction areas along the disputed Himalayan frontier first. These were part of proposals exchanged between the two sides at the 11th round of Corps Commander level talks held last week, sources in the security establishment said.

SOURCE: rfi

India and Pakistan recently held their first meeting in three years on water sharing rights after a border ceasefire pledge reflected signs of rapprochement between the two nuclear neighbours who have fought three wars since 1947.

Pakistani delegates were in India for the two-day talks late last month, to pick up the threads of the 61-year-old accord on the sharing of waters of six rivers. A second round will be held in Pakistan in April, said Mehar Ali Shah, who led the visiting team. “It is a good sign that India invited the Pakistani side for a meeting even during the tough times of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Shah said on his way back to Pakistan.

SOURCE: HT

Escalating protests by a hardline religious group in several Pakistani cities have cast a shadow over a visit to the neighbouring country by more than 800 Indian Sikh pilgrims to participate in the annual Baisakhi festival, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

A total of 818 Indian pilgrims were briefly stranded in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province, on Monday after they crossed the border at Wagah. The group left Lahore late on Tuesday afternoon for the city of Hasan Abdal, where they will join celebrations at Gurdwara Panja Sahib, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.

SOURCE: ANI

Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday said that it has arrested two terrorists and three associates of the proscribed terror outfit Al-Badar and seized arms and ammunition from their possession in Handwara. According to the police following specific information, a joint checkpoint was established by police, 32 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and 92 battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Kachloo crossing on Baramulla-Handwara highway.

“During the search, three people riding a motorcycle were found in suspicious condition who tried to escape from the spot but were apprehended by the search team,” police said. The three have been identified as Mohammad Yaseen Rather, Showkat Ahmad Ganie and Gh Nabi Rather, all residents of Kachloo Qaziabad village.

SOURCE: PTI

A40-year-old Pakistani man has been apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) while he was trying to sneak into the Indian territory through the India-Pakistan border in Jammu, officials said on Tuesday. They identified the man as Shabbir and said he was making an attempt to cross over from near the border pillar no 942 in the R S Pura area.

“The man was making a desperate attempt to cross the fence. He was warned to stop but he did not pay attention. Subsequently, he was fired upon due to which he got minor injury,” a senior BSF officer said. The Pakistani man, wearing brown coloured clothes and about 165 cms in height, has been handed over to the police, he said. During preliminary questioning, he told the police he was 40 years old and his father’s name is Yusuf.