SOURCE: API.

The upcoming months of June and July are poised to be significant for the United States and France, as both nations are set to receive Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the state level. During his visits, there is anticipation that an announcement may be made regarding the winner of the Indian Navy’s fighter jet competition between Boeing and Dassault. The aerospace industry is eagerly awaiting a decision.

The Indian Navy has announced its decision to hand over the final verdict on the selection of the next generation fighter jets to the Government of India. Both the Rafale M by Dassault and the Super Hornet by Boeing have been deemed to meet the Navy’s technical criteria, making it difficult for the Navy to make a clear-cut choice between the two.

SOURCE: API.

Rear Admiral Deepak Bansal, the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff for Air Materials, recently spoke about the Indian Navy’s plans to collaborate with capable industry partners to produce more flight-critical and mission-critical components. In a report by “The Hindu,” he explained that flight-critical items are crucial for the safety of the entire aircraft, and there are only a few such items that the Navy has been able to indigenize so far.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Naval Aviation Industry Outreach Programme held at Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) trade fair complex in Coimbatore, Rear Admiral Bansal emphasized the importance of building more of these critical components in India.

SOURCE: PTI

Goa-based INS Hansa has become the first Joint-User International Aerodrome in the South-Asia Pacific region to be augmented with the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) approach, a senior Navy official said on Friday.

The Indian Navy spokesperson said that the RNP approach will reduce dependency for navigation on ground-based equipment such as Very-High Frequency Omni Directional Radio (VOR) and Instrument Landing System (ILS).

SOURCE: ANI

In his maiden tour outside the country, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan will embark on a four-day visit to the US starting from Saturday. CDS Chauhan will be attending a conference on the Indo-Pacific region and also interact with top military officers from global military powers such as the US, Japan, Australia and the UK.

This is the first time after taking over as the CDS in October that General Anil Chauhan is visiting any friendly foreign country.

SOURCE: ANI

A new port in Myanmar built with assistance from New Delhi has begun to receive container ships as both India and China seek closer economic ties with the Southeast Asian country Myanmar, Nikkei Asia reported. The first cargo vessel from the Indian metropolis of Kolkata arrived Tuesday at Sittwe Port in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Officials from India and Myanmar’s military government attended the port’s inauguration ceremony.

Sittwe Port forms a link in India’s Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, a sea lane connecting Kolkata in eastern India to Sittwe on Myanmar’s western coast. From there, the corridor traces an inland route through Myanmar via the Kaladan River and a highway, crossing into northeastern India, Asia Nikkei reported. Ahead of the ceremony, Indian shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal hailed the port as “unlocking [India’s] northeast for Southeast Asia.”

SOURCE: The Manila Times

THE driving force in a meaningful bilateral partnership is the convergence in perspectives on shared challenges and concerns, coupled with collaborative steps to counter it. Most soft attributes, such as shared commitment to democracy, the English language, a colonial past, to name a few, are essentially peripheral to a relationship, though they can certainly be enablers.

India and the Philippines share many such commonalities. Yet, for decades, the relationship was at best polite and at worst, lacked depth and substance. This has dramatically changed with the shifts that took place within Manila’s domestic politics, and the alterations in the overarching regional security architecture brought by the expansionist aspirations of China and the intensifying power competition between Washington and Beijing in the Western Pacific region.

SOURCE: PTI

Pakistan’s Army has ruled out the possibility of imposing martial law in the country amidst the political turmoil and deteriorating law and order situation following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, saying Army chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership believe in democracy.

The remarks of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry came after an almost four-day political turmoil erupted due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Khan’s arrest, in which Army’s installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, were also targeted.

SOURCE: PTI

Security forces today foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri sector, officials here said. They said there was an infiltration bid by terrorists in the early hours in the Uri sector of Baramulla district but it was foiled by the alert troops.

The Army has launched searches for possible recoveries from the area, which is densely vegetated, they added.

SOURCE: ANI

The Indian Army has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters to keep an eye on sensitive areas across Manipur as authorities work to restore normalcy in the violence-hit state. Indian Army’s Spear Corps on Friday shared about the ongoing efforts and about the deployment of UAVs and helicopters for Aerial Surveillance. “Approximately 130 columns on the ground, UAVs and helicopters for Aerial Surveillance working relentlessly to restore normalcy.

The escorted move of the remaining approx 6000 persons is underway. Round-the-clock aerial surveillance continues,” Indian Army said in a tweet while sharing a video captured through a UAV during aerial surveillance.

SOURCE: UNI

A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) was injured as the Army foiled an infiltration bid of militants near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri sector, officials said on Saturday. They said the JCO received minor injuries during the exchange of fire in the Uri sector of Baramulla district. Srinagar based defence spokesman Col Emron Musavi linked the latest infiltration bid as “ yet another failed attempt” by militants and abetted by Pakistan Army to “disrupt” the upcoming G20 meeting scheduled to be held in Srinagar later this month.

Col Musavi said an infiltration bid in the Uri sector was foiled by the Indian Army during early morning hours today. “A group of armed terrorists, while attempting to cross the Line of Control, were engaged in an exchange of fire with the alert troops resulting in a failed attempt to intrude into Kashmir Valley.

SOURCE: PTI

Life-size replicas of Brahmos, Prithvi and four other missiles are on display for the public at the Missile Park in Science City, Kolkata, which was opened on the National Technology Day on Thursday.

The Missile Park has been developed jointly by the Centre for Millimeter-wave Semiconductor Devices and Systems (CMSDS), Kolkata, a unit of DRDO, and Science City, Kolkata, a unit of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) to showcase the missile development programme of India through the life-size replica of missiles.

SOURCE: pti

The situation in Pakistan will not have any impact on Jammu and Kashmir, the J-K BJP said on Friday after some regional political parties expressed concern about the state of the affairs in the neighbouring nation and its ramifications.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti have expressed worries about the “dangerous” situation in Pakistan, claiming it will affect India. Widespread protests broke out across Pakistan after the arrest of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan by the paramilitary Rangers, prompting the deployment of the army as well as in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

SOURCE: ANI

Pakistan government on Friday night released 198 Indian fishermen at Attari-Wagah border who were caught for crossing the maritime international border. The fishermen who cross the maritime international border in the Arabian Sea are charged with violation of the Passport Act of the respective countries and are punished for a period of about six months.

The Indian fishermen who were released by the Pakistan government said that they crossed the border while fishing as they were unaware of the border in the sea.

SOURCE: API

The Eurojet consortium, which proposed its EJ200 engine during a tender process in 2008, was initially the preferred choice for the Tejas Mk2 program. This was because, even at that time, the EJ200 engine had a lower power output than the F-414 engine (98 kilonewtons). However, the F-414 engine had a larger diameter, which meant that it could potentially require modifications to the fuselage of the aircraft. As a result, the Tejas Mk2 program was considering the EJ200 engine as a viable alternative due to its more compact size.

The EJ200 engine, which incorporates a reheat system, was capable of producing only 90 kilonewtons of thrust. However, it was a lightweight engine that had a sufficient power-to-weight ratio when compared to the earlier version of the Tejas MkII aircraft, which was expected to have a maximum takeoff weight of just 15 tons.

SOURCE: ANI

To counter China’s footprint in Gulf, India is planning an ambitious connectivity project that aims to link New Delhi to the Middle East, reported Foreign Policy. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held a meeting with his US and UAE counterparts, which was also attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The leaders discussed a joint infrastructure project that would connect the Middle Eastern countries via rail.

The ambitious connectivity project aims to link the Middle East to India through roads, rails, and seaports. The idea emerged during meetings of the I2U2 group–which also includes Israel–over the last year, Axios reported.