SOURCE: NEWS18.COM

Asenior US Administration official told CNN-News18 ahead of the Quad summit held Friday that India is clear about their intention to avert ‘difficulties with China’, when asked about the Quad meeting of the four nations in the face of increasing Chinese aggressiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

When asked about whether the motivation behind the summit is behind China’s encroachment on India’s northern border and other borders in the region, the official replied in the affirmative. “I do want to just say that the our conversation today really is about the Quad. In other conversations, we have seen actions by China that has ramped- up tensions with neighbors,” he said.

SOURCE: NEWS18.COM

Exercising its right of reply on Imran Khan’s statements on Kashmir at the UN, India on Saturday said on the world forum that Pakistan has an established history and policy of harbouring, aiding and actively supporting terrorists. It further stressed that the entire union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, “were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India”, including the areas that are under illegal occupation of Pakistan.

This came after Imran Khan’s recorded message for played at the United Nations General Assembly, where he mentioned Kashmir 13 times in his speech and attempted to spread lies around the last rites of Hurriyat Leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

SOURCE: PTI

India, Australia, Japan and the US on Friday pledged to work together for ensuring peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and the world, as top leaders of the Quad grouping announced a slew of new initiatives to take on common challenges, amidst muscle flexing by an assertive China in the strategic region.

In a way, Quad would play the role as “Force for Global good,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his short address and exuded confidence that this cooperation by the four democracies will ensure peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and the world.

SOURCE: ANI

Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and its involvement in terrorism were among the issues discussed in the Quad summit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral discussions, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.

Responding to a question on Pakistan’s support to terrorism during a press briefing in Washington, Mr Shringla said that Pakistan has really been in many senses instigator of some of the problems India is dealing with in our neighbourhood and beyond.

SOURCE: THE PRINT

Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, presently serving as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, will take over as the Chief of the Indian Air Force next week. And the new Air Chief would hardly have time to breathe easy because his ‘to do’ list is a lengthy one.

The Narendra Modi government’s move to appoint him as the Vice Chief in July was critical — he got the time to understand the crucial juncture at which the IAF currently stands. Before this, he had a ringside view. Ideally, rather than announcing appointments of Chief of Services just days before the incumbent retires, the government should give the name at least a month in advance. This helps the successor gather their thoughts, prioritise and be part of the decision-making even if it is on an informal basis.

SOURCE: INDIA TODAY

Anew security threat has emerged in Punjab in the form of tiffin bombs ahead of the festive season and assembly election. In the last two months, five such tiffin bombs have been recovered in different parts of Punjab.

Police sources said a major tragedy has been averted due to prompt response by the cops based on specific intelligence. On Thursday, Punjab Police claimed to have busted a terror module backed by Khalistan Tiger Force. Three operatives were arrested with a tiffin bomb from Bhikhiwind village of Tarn Taran district, which is located nearly 10 km from the India-Pakistan border.

SOURCE: WION

Now American President and then (1992) Senator from Delaware, Joseph R Biden played a crucial role in denying India the Cryogenic engine technology that powers India’s GSLV series of heavy-lift rockets. The GSLV series of rockets are meant to launch payloads between 2 and 4 tons to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit(GTO), it is the heaviest rocket of this class, which will also launch India’s Human Spaceflight mission Gaganyaan. “This is no minor sale; this is dangerous” he described the then Indo-Russian deal for the Russian ‘KVD-1’ Cryogenic engines, which are among the best in the world. Back then, America tried every dirty trick to scuttle India’s rapidly progressing space programme. It is widely regarded that the Americans did succeed in eventually delaying India’s march into Space. Joseph R Biden was among the overt contributors in this act, which India (to its own peril) refused to resist effectively or immediately overcome. 

Barely 35 years after having established the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in a ramshackle church-turned-laboratory in Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, on India’s Southern Coast, the country was able to launch its PSLV rocket in 1994. This was a significant feat for a country that had been launching experiments ‘sounding rockets’ akin to fireworks until the late 1960s, when America landed Man on the Moon. 

SOURCE: ZEE NEWS

India on Friday strongly rejected the statement made by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson that the Galwan Valley incident took place because New Delhi violated all the treaties and agreements and encroached upon China`s territory illegally and crossed the line.

Responding sharply to the Chinese official’s assertion, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that ”India’s position with regard to developments last year along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh has been clear and consistent.” “It was the provocative behaviour and unilateral attempts of the Chinese side to alter the status quo in contravention of all our bilateral agreements that resulted in serious disturbance of peace and tranquillity. This has also impacted the bilateral relations,” said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

SOURCE: PTI

Chairman of Defence, Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) G Satheesh Reddy on Friday said it would fund upto Rs 10 crore for research projects to promote and develop innovative products. “The DRDO has a scheme ‘Technology Development Funding’ to spend on young graduates, those who can join incubation centres and have an idea to convert into a design and a product and we’ll support them with Rs 1 crore,” he said.

Reddy was delivering the convocation address on Friday after handing over degrees to 293 students of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM), Kancheepuram, through virtual platform.

SOURCE: Republic

In an exclusive interview with Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, Leon Panetta, former US Secretary of Defence and ex-CIA director, said that India is an extremely important ally for the United States, particularly for security reasons. He also exposed the Taliban and Pakistan for their role in supporting terrorism.

“This is about the Indo-Pacific, the ability of our countries to work together. We’re facing challenges from China, Russia, terrorism from that region,” Panetta, who was the CIA chief from July 2011 to February 2013 when al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed, said.

SOURCE: TIMES NOW

 In the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States and his meetings with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, two important defence visits are likely. 

Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar will be in the United States to meet senior US defence department officials. This will be the DPG or the Defence Policy Group meeting where the entire gamut of issues like exercises, arms transfers and information sharing are discussed. The meetings are on 8 October and Ajay Kumar is likely to meet US Undersecretary of Defence Colin Kahl.

SOURCE: ZEE NEWS

India on Friday signed the implementing arrangement on the joint development of a small satellite for Bhutan. The agreement was inked by Indian Space Research Organisation’s Scientific Secretary R Umamaheswaran, and Director, Department of Information Technology and Telecom, Bhutan, Jigme Tenzing, in a virtual signing ceremony, ISRO said.

It was attended by Ambassador of India to Bhutan Ruchira Kamboj, and Ambassador of Bhutan to India Major General Vetsop Namgyel, and other senior officials from the Government of India and Royal Government of Bhutan, ISRO said in an update.

SOURCE: PTI

The Sulur Air Force Station, near here, completed the servicing of the 100th Dornier Aircraft on Friday. From a small beginning in year 2000 for servicing of the Dornier, the base repair depot at Sulur has graduated to a higher order in servicing, said a defence press release.

This was achieved by the depot with reduced timelines for the servicing allowing greater fleet availability for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to meet its operational commitments, the release said.

SOURCE : PTI

The Defence Ministry today inked a nearly ? 20,000 crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to procure 56 ‘C-295’ medium transport aircraft which will replace the ageing Avro-748 planes of the Indian Air Force.
It is the first project of its kind under which military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company, officials said.

Under the deal, 16 aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by the Airbus Defence and Space of Spain within 48 months of signing the contract. The remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India by a consortium of the Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) within 10 years of signing the contract, officials said.

SOURCE : PTI

The US and France have “very strong interests” in strengthening their respective relationships with India even more, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, while not getting into the “specific hypotheticals” of a future nuclear submarine alliance between New Delhi and Paris.

Blinken was responding to a question on would the US welcome a nuclear submarine alliance between India and France as the Quad Leaders’ Summit gets underway. He was also asked about the recent telephonic conversation earlier this week between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, who have a “wide partnership”.