India open to including Australia in Malabar naval exercise

India is prepared to expand the Malabar trilateral naval exercise involving India, the U.S. and Japan, to also include Australia, defence officials told The Hindu. While a decision on whether to extend the invitation is expected “soon”, the officials said, it was unlikely to be announced during Thursday’s “virtual summit” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.

Cooperation in the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and the strengthening of defence ties would be at the top of the agenda for the talks, and India and Australia are expected to conclude the long pending Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) as part of measures to elevate the strategic partnership.

“We have a shared approach to a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” said a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “This has led to a convergence of mutual interest in many areas,” the official said, stressing that as “two democratic nations”, the two countries had a better understanding of regional and global issues.
 Despite regular requests from Australia in the last few years, India has resisted issuing the invitation to the Malabar exercise, ostensibly over concerns that it would give the appearance of a “quadrilateral military alliance” aimed at China. However, the recent India-China tensions over the situation at the Line of Actual Control may have brought more flexibility to the decision making process, and the Prime Minister’s Office and MEA are expected to take a final decision in consultation with the Ministry of Defence.

When asked about Malabar earlier this week, Australian High Commissioner Barry O’Farrell said he could not confirm whether India would decide to invite Australia.

“The issue of Malabar is obviously an issue for the partners (India-U.S.-Japan) to decide; we would be delighted to participate in Malabar, but I do think that at times the focus on Malabar gets in the way of the underappreciated growth and significance of defence ties between Australia and India,” Mr. O’Farrell said, adding that bilateral defence cooperation had “quadrupled in the last six years”.

The announcement of the MLSA, which would allow reciprocal use of each other’s military bases for exchange of fuel and provisions to simplify logistical support and improve operational turnaround would mark another step in that direction. Australia was the first country to submit a draft MLSA after India signed the first such agreement with the U.S. in 2016. It was to be signed last year during the scheduled visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Canberra but the trip was cancelled due to his domestic engagements.
It was then expected to be part of the announcements at the Modi-Morrison summit in January 2020, which had to be postponed due to Australian forest fires, and put off again in May because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than putting it off any further, the two leaders “decided to continue the engagement even though it was in the form of a virtual meeting,” officials said.
 A broader maritime cooperation agreement with a focus on Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is also in the works and Australia has agreed to post a Liaison Officer at the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram. The two countries also have increasingly common military platforms as India’s defence purchases from the U.S. continue to grow.

The inclusion of Australia in the Malabar exercise would be a major shift from the past for India’s Indo-Pacific plans. Malabar began as a bilateral naval exercise between India and the U.S. in 1992 and was expanded into a trilateral format with the inclusion of Japan in 2015. Since 2016, Australia has made repeated requests to join the exercises, and in January 2018, the then Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull had said the talks on Malabar were “progressing well”. However, India did not include Australia in the exercises in 2018 and 2019, continuing instead to grow the bilateral AUSINDEX naval and other military exercises.

 thehindu

Mike Pompeo says China’s action on India border part of behaviour of ruling Communist Party

China has moved up its forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday, asserting that authoritarian regimes take these kinds of actions.

Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies recently, in a clear signal of escalating tension and hardening of respective positions by the two sides even two weeks after they were engaged in two separate face-offs.

“We see even today increasing forces of China moved up to the north of India on the Line of Actual Control there on the Indian border,” Pompeo told Marc Thiessen and Danielle Pletka of AEI’s ‘What The Hell Is Going On’ Podcast.The Communist Party of China (CPC) continues to hide and obfuscate and delay the global response to the coronavirus pandemic that began in Wuhan. It has taken actions destroying the amazing freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, he said.

“Those are just two pieces of the behaviour of this regime of the Chinese Communist Party. The nature and the activity that they’re undertaking, the continued efforts to steal intellectual property, to advance in the South China Sea,” he said.

Pompeo said that these are the kinds of actions that authoritarian regimes take, and they have a real impact not only on the Chinese people there in China and Hong Kongers in Hong Kong, but a real impact on people all around the world.

“The United States has a responsibility and the capability to push back against that, ensure that the American people are properly served by a foreign policy that recognises the threats that emanate from China today,” he said.

Responding to a question, Pompeo said that the recent Chinese actions be it on the India border, or Hong Kong or the South China Sea, have been part of the Chinese behaviour in the recent past.

“It’s not just over the past six months. We’ve seen over the past number of years continued Chinese build out of their military capabilities, and then continually more aggressive action. I mentioned India. You’ve mentioned the South China Sea.

“We see these same kind of things with them attempting to build ports around the world as part of their Belt and Road Initiative, places where they can move the People’s Liberation Army Navy. We’ve seen their continued efforts to expand militarily,” Pompeo said.

For the past 20 years, the US has not responded to these things in a real way, he said.

“We’ve viewed the 1.5 billion people in the Chinese market as so important to the American economy, and the risk that the Chinese would respond by closing us out for the favour of some other nation – I think people have just been too worried about that to actually take the responses that we take to every other country that behaves in the way that China has done,” Pompeo said.

President Donald Trump has not done that, he asserted.

“Trump’s made it very clear whether it’s the signature issue on trade… reciprocal trade… and now beginning to move to all the other elements of power that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to expand,” he added.

  Financial Express

Indian Army matched Chinese troop build-up at LAC: Rajnath Singh

In the first official acknowledgement of a troop build-up along the disputed border with China, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said a significant number of Chinese troops were present along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and the Indian Army had matched the neighbour’s military moves. This came on a day the two sides met again to ease the tensions.

“Achchhi khaasi sankhya mein Cheen ke log bhi aa gaye hain lekin Bharat ne bhi apni taraf se jo kuch bhi karna chahiye…kiya hai. (Chinese soldiers are there in large numbers (on the LAC) but India has also done what it had to,” Singh told a news channel when asked to comment on the ground situation along the border. Singh’s comments came against the backdrop of silence on the issue from the external affairs ministry. The defence minister said differing perceptions of the LAC had led to the standoff, and talks were on at the diplomatic and military levels to break the stalemate.

Singh told CNN-News 18 that a meeting between senior Indian and Chinese military officials would take place on June 6 to discuss the border situation.Meanwhile, Indian and Chinese officials, led by major generals, met on Tuesday to ease border tensions but there was no breakthrough, officials said. This was the third meeting between two-star ranked officers.

China has marshalled close to 5,000 soldiers and deployed tanks and artillery guns on its side of the disputed border in the Ladakh sector where India has also sent military reinforcements and matched the neighbour’s military moves, as reported by Hindustan Times on May 26.

Northern Army commander Lieutenant General YK Joshi on Tuesday visited Leh, the headquarters of 14 Corps in Ladakh, for a security review of the sensitive sector at a time when Indian and Chinese soldiers are eyeball-to-eyeball at four locations along the LAC.

Several rounds of talks between local military commanders have failed to end the standoff that began with a violent confrontation between rival patrols near Pangong Tso four weeks ago.

Around 250 soldiers from the two countries clashed near Pangong Tso on the night of May 5-6 with the scuffle leaving scores of troops injured. While an immediate flare-up was avoided as both armies stuck to protocols to resolve the situation, tensions swiftly spread to other pockets along the LAC.

 Hindustantimes

US, UK want India in expanded G-7

India may be invited to join the G-7 grouping if proposals by the US and the UK for its expansion are accepted by the other five members —- Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and France. Senior officials of G-7 countries are expected to discuss the expansion in the weeks leading to a rescheduled summit in the US in September.

Seeking the entry of four countries in the G-7 with the express purpose of isolating China, US President Donald Trump said he would invite leaders of these nations – India, Russia, Australia and South Korea – as special invitees to the rescheduled G-7 summit. Three of these countries, barring Russia, are already partnering the US in a “Quad” grouping that aims to counter Chinese assertion in South China Sea. After being isolated at the previous two summits, Trump has called the grouping “outdated”.’

If the invites are sent, India will attend its second successive G-7 summit as a special invitee. Usually, special invitees, who also include chiefs of multilateral organisations, interact for about four hours with G-7 leaders over two sessions. Then PM Manmohan Singh along with then Chinese President Hu Jintao had attended five successive G-8 (Russia was then a member) summits from 2005 onwards as part of G-5, which also included Mexico, Brazil and South Africa.After just over a decade, India is the only survivor from that G-5 club. The other G-5 members — China, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil – do not appear to be eligible for the global high table. Trump has suggested the inclusion of India, Australia, South Korea and Russia while the UK proposal wants the G-7 to exclude Russia and include the three democracies of India, Australia and South Korea.

When India hosted the BRICS summit, it had invited leaders from BIMSTEC countries instead of SAARC to keep out Pakistan.

 The Tribune

Make in India: BMP 2 vehicles for the Indian Army to be made at of Medak OF

With the Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) project being pushed to the backburner, the Ministry of Defence has cleared the proposal for procurement of 156 BMP 2 Infantry Vehicles for the Indian Army. The whole project of 156 BMP Vehicles is going to be roughly for Rs 1100 crore.

Confirming this to Financial Express Online, Dr Uddipan Mukherjee Joint Director and PRO, OFB, said, “These 156 BMP Vehicles are going to be manufactured by the Ordnance Factory Medak, which is under Ordnance Factory Board.”

In 2018, the plan was to involve the private sector companies in the upgrading of the fleet of infantry combat vehicles in which top companies including Tata and Mahindras were expected to participate in the bidding process.
 The whole contract for modernizing around 1600 in service BMP2 armoured vehicles was to be done in two rounds and around 640 Soviet Origin Vehicles were to go to the private sector and depending on how the project moved the decision for the balance was expected to be taken. However, in the background, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) was trying hard to get the balance of the BMP 2 vehicles.


What had the Indian Army proposed earlier?

A comprehensive up-gradation of BMP 2 armoured vehicles.

These vehicles are to be modernised with control systems.

To have Kornet E anti-tank missiles and third-generation night vision capability.

These vehicles have the capability to be deployed in various roles. Besides the offensive combat mission, they can be used as an armoured ambulance or an amphibious dozer.

These BMP 2 Vehicles have been renamed as ‘Sarath’ and are the mainstay of the mechanised infantry.

Over a period of time BMP platform has been used to develop a number of variants such as Armoured Engineer Recce Vehicles, Armoured Amphibious Dozers, Armoured Ambulance, Armoured Vehicle Tracked Light Repair, Missile and Mortar Carriers, NBC Recce Vehicles etc.

Expert View

“Infantry Combat Vehicle BMP2 is an extremely potent and formidable weapon platform that equips Indian Army’s Mechanised Infantry battalions,” says Brig N Bhatia, an Indian Army veteran.

Sharing a bit of the background of these vehicles, Bhatia says, “The Infantry was initially equipped with Armoured Personnel Carriers that were meant to transport it into the battlefield to keep the pace with fast-paced armoured formations. This was the birth of Battle Taxi concept where infantry was merely being moved in armoured carriers providing it limited protection from enemy weapons.”

“However the concept of Battle Taxi underwent a complete change with the introduction of Russian made BMP 1 transforming it into an Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) enabling Infantry to fight a mounted battle using its small arms from the safety of armoured protection with enhanced weapons mounted on the vehicle,” says the former officer who was first commissioned in the Mechanised Infantry.

This changed the entire concept of modern battlefield necessitating the creation of specialised Mechanised Infantry battalions in Indian Army.

“Originally sourced from erstwhile Soviet Union, an upgraded BMP went into indigenous production by setting up manufacturing facilities for BMP 2 series of ICV at Medak, now in Telangana with Russian collaboration. It is now produced with almost indigenously sourced material. It has been rechristened “Sarath” to give it an indigenous name.”

According to Bhatia, “Over last more than four decades the employment of Mechanised Infantry, equipped with BMP 2 has evolved due to its being a very versatile weapons platform. It’s light weight makes it suitable for high-speed manoeuvres, quick deployment through air transportation and its ability to float through rivers and canal networks.”

“A need is being felt to further modernise the BMP 2 under Modernised Infantry Combat Vehicle (MICV) project but this has met with little success. Overall BMP 2 will remain the mainstay of Mechanised Infantry units in the foreseeable future,” he opines.

 Finance Express

Chinese fighters flying 30-35 kms from Eastern Ladakh, India watching closely

Amid the ongoing tensions over People's Liberation Army (PLA) build up along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, India is keeping a close eye on the movement of Chinese fighter aircraft stationed around 100-150 kms at their bases in Hotan and Gargunsa.

"The Chinese have kept a fleet of around 10-12 fighter aircraft stationed there at the moment and they are also carrying out flying activity close to the Indian territory. We are keeping a close eye on the movement of these J-11 and J-7 fighter aircraft," sources told ANI here.

Their fighter aircraft have been carrying out sorties from air bases in Hotan and Gargunsa and fly 30-35 kms from our territory in Ladakh region, they said. Sources said they are more than the 10-kilometre distance from the Indian areas as per the international norms.
 India had scrambled its Su-30 MKI in the first week in May when an Indian Army chopper and Chinese chopper were close to each other in the air. The Hotan base has been under the surveillance of the Indian agencies for quite some time now as the Pakistanis have been holding aerial exercise with the PLA Air Force there.

"Last year also, we had closely monitored a movement of six Pakistani JF-17s that flew from the Skardu airfield opposite the western side of Ladakh in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir to Hotan where they took part in an exercise named Shaheen-8," they said.

On the Indian side also, the unmanned aerial vehicles of the Ladakh-based Surveillance and Target Acquisition batteries of defence forces and intelligence agencies are using their Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to carry out extensive reconnaissance of both sides of the LAC and Chinese positions along the Galwan Nala, the sources said.

 Timesnow

US Foreign Affairs Panel Chief Slams "Chinese Aggression" Against India

Elliot Engel, chief of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, on Monday said that he was "extremely concerned" by the Chinese aggression against India along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and urged Beijing to "respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions".

"I am extremely concerned by the ongoing Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control on the India-China border. China is demonstrating once again that it is willing to bully its neighbours rather than resolve conflicts according to international law," Mr Engel, a Democrat, said.

"Countries must all abide by the same set of rules so that we don't live in a world where 'might makes right.' I strongly urge China to respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions with India," he added.
 Indian and Chinese troops have been facing off along the de-facto border in Ladakh since early May, after Chinese troops intruded into Indian territory, Indian military officials say. Both sides have dug in defences and brought equipment in recent days.

India has said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops along the Line of Actual Control or LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim, and strongly refuted Beijing's contention that the escalating tension between the two armies was triggered by trespassing of Indian forces across the Chinese side.

The standoff is the most serious since India and China, who fought a brief war in 1962, were locked in a similar faceoff in Doklam, in the eastern Himalayas, that lasted nearly three months in 2017.

Despite talks spread over two decades, the two countries have not been able to settle their 3,500-km border and lay claim to large tracts of remote territory in each other's possession.

China's military friction with the US has also been on the rise with the American navy stepping its patrols in the disputed South China Sea as well as the Taiwan Straits. Washington and Beijing are also engaged in a war of words over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, both India and China have rejected US intervention in their disputes including an offer from US President Donald Trump himself. Sidestepping Mr Trump's offer to mediate, India said it is in talks with China to deal with the military standoff.

NDTV

As US-China tensions escalate, Beijing Warns India not to side with US

Amid the rising US-China tensions over a wide range of issues including coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, China has advised India not to get involved in US-China confrontation. Beijing has said that India should not become a US pawn attacking China in a new Cold War or else India would face a massive economic blow amid COVID-19 pandemic.

"With nationalist sentiment on the rise in India, there have been some voices calling for the Indian government to join the new Cold War and exploit its position for more gains. Such irrational voices are nothing but misleading, which should not represent the mainstream voices and sway the Indian government's stance. Fundamentally speaking, India has little to gain from engaging in a US-China conflict over any topic, with more to lose than gain, which is why the Modi government needs to face the new geopolitical development objectively and rationally," said an article published in Global Times, which is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper.

The article added that under the current circumstance, India must not include the US factor in its handling of any problem in its relations with China, otherwise it will complicate the relations between Beijing and New Delhi.
 Referrign to the recent China-India border tension, the article said that the offer of US mediation in the issue is unnecessary and both India and China are capable of resolving their problems peacefully. The article asserted that there is no need of a third-party intervention in this matter.

"If in a new Cold War, India leans toward the US or becomes a US pawn attacking China, the economic and trade ties between the two Asian neighbors will suffer a devastating blow. And it would be too much for the Indian economy to take such a hit at thesks current stage," said the article.

The article also mentioned about Indian government's deicsion to lift the nationwide lockdown, noting that though India is yet to flatten the coronavirus cases curve the decision to end the lockdown is understandable, as its economy has been under enormous strain from the lockdown.

 Zee News

Will order for 83 Tejas soon, HAL to deliver 70 aircraft by 2026: IAF chief Bhadauria

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to place an order for 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LAC) Tejas MK IA soon and expects deliveries to commence in three years, Air Chief Marshal R.K.S Bhadauria told ThePrint in an email interview.

Bhadauria further said the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is expected to complete the delivery of 70 Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) by 2026.

The IAF is also sure HAL will complete the full development of the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) this year and is already progressing on the procurement of an initial batch of the choppers.
 The Air Chief’s statement comes amid a renewed push for the indigenous defence industry by the Narendra Modi government under its ‘Atmanirbhar initiative’ given the economic downturn in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures such as a negative list for the import of defence equipment which could be built in India, a separate capital budget for indigenous weapons procurement, and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), among others.


On indigenous Tejas, trainers

The Air Chief said that the order for 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) MK IA is likely to be placed soon and the deliveries will commence in three years.

On Wednesday, Bhadauria flew a Tejas, which is part of the IAF’s 45 Squadron, at the Sulur air force station.

He was in Sulur to operationalise the IAF’s 18 Squadron, called the Flying Bullets.

“In the long run, the IAF will have 40+83 Tejas Mk I/IA and around six squadrons of Tejas Mk II. Eventually, we aim to boost our capabilities with the fifth generation plus AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft),” he said.

“The IAF’s current induction plan, coupled with capability enhancements underway through upgrades of many aircraft and weapons, will take care sufficiently of our current threat scenario in the short term,” he added.
 Currently, the IAF has 30 active fighter squadrons.

Bhaudauria said depletion will be offset by deliveries of Rafale and the LCA MK IA, while a follow-up acquisition plan will start to recover the overall squadron strength.

Asked about the projected timelines for India’s indigenous trainer program and the plans to fill up the gaps in the pilots’ trainer programme, Bhadauria said the IAF is assisting HAL with concurrent user assisted trials on HTT-40 to cut down on development timelines.

“We expect to start receiving the trainer in 2022 and complete deliveries of 70 aircraft in four years. The HTT-40 will augment the already inducted trainer aircraft in a three-stage training programme,” he said.

He added that the exact cost details of the HTT-40 are being worked out by HAL.

The state-owned firm’s programme to develop a basic HTT-40 trainer is nearly six years behind schedule.The IAF is currently running low on trainers with plans to procure more aircraft hitting a dead end. The crisis reportedly had affected the training of pilots due to a lack of aircraft.

In an earlier interview to ANI, Bhadauria had said that the IAF shelved its plans to buy 38 Pilatus basic trainer aircraft from Switzerland and 20 additional Hawk planes from Britain.

Currently, Pilatus PC 7 turbo trainers are used for the first stage of training of Air Force pilots. For the intermediate training, Kiran Mk 2 are being used, which are being phased out, while the Hawk jet trainers are being used for advanced training.

As many as 75 of the aircraft were bought under an emergency purchase in 2012, however a plan to get an additional 38 aircraft was cancelled following allegations of corruption in the deal.

Another indigenous programme to develop an intermediate jet trainer was delayed by nearly 15 years over quality concerns.

Asked about the status of the current LUH programme, Bhadauria said it had proven productive but still needs to demonstrate some operational requirements at high altitude and fix some flying qualities issues.

“We are confident that HAL will complete the full development this year and the IAF is already progressing a case for procurement of an initial batch of Limited Series production of LUH,” he said.

Apart from improvements to equipment and infrastructure, Bhadauria said that the IAF will continue inducting women into fighter streams in the future as a regular mode of entry.
 “The numbers will depend on volunteers and those who clear the selection and training process,” he said.

Presently, the IAF has a total of 111 women pilots, of which nine are on fighters and the rest are on transport and helicopter fleets.


DRDO challenges lies developing in niche tech

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said that the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s technology and quality issues have improved significantly over the years in many areas such as ground radars, air-to-air missiles, missile defence systems, networking, etc., even as some challenges lie in niche technologies.

The LCA programme has also undergone major improvements, he said, adding, “Current challenges lie in niche technologies such as sensors, guided weapons and advanced technologies. To counter rapidly evolving threats, timely deliveries are essential to sustain the capability and technological edge.”

He emphasised that “timely deliveries” are essential to sustain the capability and technological edge to counter “rapidly evolving threats.”
 Talking about making HAL more accountable for quality, timely delivery and lifetime support, he said there are plans underway to instil greater user participation at various levels by deputing more IAF officers to HAL.

“I am sure HAL will evolve its structures and processes to become competitive,” he said.


Jaguars to operate well beyond 2035

Bhadauria addressed the issue of how likely budget cuts on the planned induction of weapon systems could impact the IAF, saying there is always a constant endeavour to balance security needs with budget constraints.

“The IAF is already prioritising its capital and revenue expenditure plans for the year to adapt to the evolving budget realities. Our focus would be to economise and reprioritise without affecting our immediate combat capability requirements,” he said.

The Air Chief had earlier told ANI that the upgradation of 80 Jaguar fighter planes with engines from Honeywell Corporation America has been shelved.

However, he told ThePrint that the IAF have initiated other measures to sustain the engines and maintenance aspects of the fleet.

“Jaguar fleet is expected to operate well beyond 2035 with its upgraded avionics, sensors and EW (electronic warfare),” he said.

Bhadauria said while there are logistical and operational challenges of systems from different countries, especially of Russian and western origin, these are overcome by proper procedures, management and technology.“There is no effect on interoperability as the IAF has trained for several decades with these systems,” he said.

“However, we are focused on reducing the number of types of aircraft in the future to optimise the logistical and maintenance issues,” he added.

 The Print

India, China bring in heavy equipment and weaponry to their rear bases near eastern Ladakh

Indian and Chinese armies were moving in heavy equipment and weaponry including artillery guns and combat vehicles to their rear bases close to the disputed areas in eastern Ladakh as the two militaries remained engaged in a bitter standoff along the troubled border for over 25 days, military sources said on Sunday.

The enhancement of combat capability by the two armies in the region came even as both the countries continued their efforts to resolve the dispute through talks at military and diplomatic levels.

The Chinese army has been gradually ramping up its strategic reserves in its rear bases near the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh by rushing in artillery guns, infantry combat vehicles and heavy military equipment, the sources said.

 The Indian Army has also been moving in additional troops as well equipment and weapons like artillery guns to aggressively match up to the Chinese build-up, they said, adding that India will not relent till status quo is restored in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and a number of other areas.

The Indian Air Force has been keeping a strict aerial surveillance in the disputed region.

A sizeable number of Chinese army personnel entered into the Indian side of the de-facto border earlier this month and have been camping in Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley since then. The Indian Army fiercely objected to the transgressions by the Chinese troops and demanded their immediate withdrawal for restoration of peace and tranquility in the area.

The Chinese army has ramped up its presence in Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie too - the two sensitive areas with a history of skirmishes involving the two sides.

The Chinese army is learnt to have deployed around 2,500 troops in Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley besides gradually enhancing temporary infrastructure and weaponry. However, there is no official figure about the numbers.

Sources said satellite images have captured significant ramping up of defence infrastructure by China on its side of the de-facto border including construction activities at a military airbase around 180 km from the Pangong Tso area.

The assessment by the Indian Army is that the build up is aimed at putting pressure on India.

"We are well aware of the Chinese ploy. The Indian Army is firm on its stand that we are not going to accept anything less than restoration of status quo in the area," said a senior military official.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said bilateral talks were on at military and diplomatic levels with China to resolve the row.
The trigger for the face-off was China's stiff opposition to India laying a key road in the Finger area around the Pangong Tso Lake besides construction of another road connecting the Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie road in Galwan Valley.
The sources said China was also laying a road in the Finger area which is not acceptable to India.

The sources said military reinforcements including troops, vehicles and artillery guns were sent to eastern Ladakh by the Indian Army to shore up its presence in the areas where Chinese soldiers were resorting to aggressive posturing.

The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on the evening of May 5 which spilled over to the next day before the two sides agreed to "disengage".

However, the standoff continued.

The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.

The troops of India and China were engaged in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017 which even triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long LAC. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it.

Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.

 TOI

We can be good partners with allies including India: US amid Indo-China border tension

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that China has been making threats, like the one that is happening on its border with India, for a long time, adding that Washington can be “good partners” with its allies including India considering the military capabilities of Beijing.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, the Secretary of State said that China is using a tactical situation on the ground to its advantage, adding that the threat posed by Beijing is real.

“The Chinese Communist Party has been on this effort, on this march, for an awfully long time. They'll certainly use a tactical situation on the ground to their advantage. But each of the problems that you identified there are threats that they have been making for an awfully long time,” he said in a response to a question on the aggressive Chinese behaviour on the Sino-India border and the South China Sea.
 “Threats like the one that is happening on its border with India, they have been making for an awfully long time. With respect to the Chinese Communist Party's military advances, they are real,” he added.

He further said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is intent on building out his military capabilities, while asserting that US Department of Defence is doing everything it can to understands the threat.

“I am confident that under President (Donald) Trump, our Department of Defence, our military, our national security establishment will keep us in a position where we can protect the American people, and indeed we can be good partners with our allies from India, from Australia, from South Korea, from Japan, from Brazil, from Europe, all around the world,” he said, PTI reported.

“We can be good partners alongside them and ensure that the next century remains a Western one modeled on the freedoms that we have here in the United States,” he said.

The impasse has worsened the bilateral relations between the two countries that had improved three years ago after the Doklam deadlock.

India-China border tension
For the past few weeks, Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a tense standoff in eastern Ladakh. Tension in the region flared up on May 5, when around 200 army personnel from India and China clashed along northern bank of the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh.

Days after Ladakh clashes, scores of Indian and Chinese military personnel were involved in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector of the Indo-Sino border on May 9.

The Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in eyeball to eyeball situation at two locations in the Galwan Valley, near Aksai Chin, and a spot about 200 km away at the Pangong Lake with both sides enhancing its presence and building up troops.

Trump offered to mediate India-China border dispute
Last week, US President Donald Trump had offered to mediate between India and China to de-escalate simmering border tension between the two, stating that his country is "willing to arbitrate their raging dispute".

"We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute," he had said in a tweet.

 Times Now

Indian-American aerospace expert Vivek Lall appointed General Atomics Chief Executive

Vivek Lall, a prominent Indian-American aerospace and defence expert who played key roles in some of the major defence deals between India and the US, has been appointed as the Chief Executive of General Atomics Global Corporation at its headquarters in San Diego, California.
Lall had resigned in April as vice president of Aeronautics Strategy and Business Development at Lockheed Martin, an American security and aerospace giant, to spend more time with his family in San Diego, where he resides. However, weeks later the world's premier drone manufacturer roped him in. 
"We are pleased to announce that Dr Vivek Lall will assume the position of Chief Executive at General Atomics Global Corporation, effective immediately," GA said in a statement emailed to on Sunday.
General Atomics (GA) is one of the world's leading privately held nuclear and defense company.

"With Dr Lall's expertise, GA Global will expand its global footprint for managing sales, service, and international industrial collaboration in strategically important countries like Japan, Australia, the UAE, and others," the company said.

"Dr Lall's extensive experience in the US and international markets will strengthen the company's international growth," said General Atomics, which along with its affiliated companies operates on five continents.

For the Jakarta-born, Lall, this is his second stint with General Atomics, which produces a series of unmanned aircraft and provides electro-optical, radar, signals intelligence, and automated airborne surveillance systems.

In his capacity as Chief Executive of Strategic Development at General Atomics from 2014 to 2018, Lall played key role in the decision of the Trump Administration to sell category 1 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to India, a non-NATO country.

The UAVs that can carry missiles fall under the category-1 classification.

In his new role as Chief Executive, Lall, 50, would be heading the General Atomics Global Corporation.

General Atomics is the principal private sector participant in thermonuclear fusion research through its internationally recognized DIII-D and inertial confinement programs. It is also a leader in development of next-generation nuclear fission and high-temperature materials technologies.

For over a decade now, Lall has been instrumental in major bilateral defense deals worth around USD 18 billion. This includes the procurement of 24 MH-60R Multi-Role Helicopters from Lockheed Martin for the Indian Navy worth USD 2.6 billion, which was announced during the India visit of President Donald Trump in February.

In his capacity as vice-president and country head for India, Boeing Defense Space & Security, Lall was instrumental in several multi-billion bilateral defence deals. Prominent among them being 10 C17 strategic lift worth USD4 billion, P-8I Anti-submarine warfare aircrafts (eight and then four) worth USD3 billion, 28 apache helicopters and 15 chinooks worth USD 5 billion 22 harpoon missiles worth USD 200 million.

He was appointed to the US Federal Aviation Advisory Committee two years ago and has overseen multiple campaigns as well as pan India strategic industrial tie-ups.

Trained as a private pilot at the Phoenix International Flight Training Center in Florida, Lall has conducted his doctoral work in collaboration with NASA.

ET