Defence 360

By Ram Madhav Belt and Road is China’s most ambitious initiative in history. Popularly known as One Belt One Road (OBOR), this infrastructure project of gigantic proportions attempts to bring under its sway more than 60 countries, from the Scandinavian world to the South Pacific Islands, in its land and maritime versions. The ancient Silk Route is said to be the inspiration for this initiative launched in 2013. For President Xi Jinping, Belt and Road is a project of personal ambition and honour. His government has not left any stone unturned to make it a reality in a span of less than four years. In the first three years, various projects have seen the signing of contracts worth more than a trillion US dollars. In a world of competing economic and trade alliances, OBOR has overtaken many others active in the region and beyond. The European Union has some 27 member countries; the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has 13 countries; the East Asia Summit has 18...

By: Dr Srinath Raghavan The recently held strategic dialogue between India and China provides a useful reality check on the state of the play. Over the past year, the relationship had reached an impasse owing to China’s unwillingness to support India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group and to allow Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Mohammed to be placed on the United Nations Security Council’s terror list. In both cases India had insisted that these were litmus tests of its ties with China. New Delhi’s stance stemmed from an under-estimation of the growing importance of Pakistan to China and from an over-estimation of its own clout. If the former underscored the inability of the government to get the measure of China-Pakistan convergence, the latter flowed from the curious belief that international influence was mostly about talking ourselves up. The meeting between the Indian foreign secretary and his Chinese counterpart has evidently not yielded much on either of these iss...

Indian National Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been accused of spying by Pakistan, today allegedly filed a mercy plea before the Pakistan Army chief seeking forgiveness for ‘his espionage, terrorist and subversive activities.’ Major General Asif Ghafoor, the official spokesperson of Pakistan Armed Forces on his Twitter account posted two tweets saying, “Indian Spy Kulbhushan files mercy petition to COAS seeking forgiveness for his espionage, terrorist & subversive activities. His mercy petition to Mil Appellate Court was already rejected.” Along with the tweets, Ghafoor also posted a video on Facebook with the caption, ‘Second confessional video.’  Here is the full text of the transcript released by Pakistan from the alleged second confessional statement of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav- I am Commander Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav. Number 41558 Zulu of the Indian Navy I am a commissioned officer in the Indian Navy. And my alias name was Hussain Mubarak Patel. And I was basicall...

INDIAN MEDIA has been always a culprit when it comes to maligning HINDUS since HINDUS are SECULAR & TOLERANT...They always try to rub them bad while turning blind eye on atrocities committed by other religions on hindus, be it Conversions or murder,eg DHULAGARH RIOTS,KOIRANA HINDU EXODUS or KASHMIRI HINDU PANDITS GENOCIDE. Now a recent Trend has just burst on to the scene to malign Hindus since they are in majority of INDIA..MALIGN their religion is a favourite past time of thousands in INDIA & many in western world as well. Cow which is a revered being in Hindu Mythology as well as religion is a great weapon of ridiculing Hindus for the INDIAN MEDIA as well. Cow urine which is an important addup in some medicines which many dont know is often ridiculed by many Left liberals & even in PAKISTAN who come up & bash HINDUS addressing them as "COW PISS DRINKERS" drawing up a retaliation by "A camel piss drinkers" comment. ...

 BY INDIA TODAY ISIS appears to be pursuing a nefarious gameplan to turn Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir into a caliphate, a blueprint prepared by its terror masterminds suggests. Accessed exclusively by India Today, the wicked plot for the restive Valley -- already plagued by Pakistan's ISI-sponsored terror -- is documented in an Islamic State publication. It calls for carnage in the Himalayan region, extolling jihad and the group's trademark narrative of hate against democratic rule. In a series of spiteful paragraphs, the ISIS has also tried to instigate a dangerous guerrilla warfare against the army. "You are not fighting a strong army but idol worshippers, drinkers of cow urine," reads one of the passages from the Kashmir-centric article in the terror journal. "These are the weakest forces. You must attack them. You must surround them. Wherever you find them, kill them. Follow them to the skies, if you have to." Alongside this dangerou...

By Business standard American aerospace giant Boeing and France’s Dassault Aviation are among the four entities that have responded to he Indian Navy’s ‘Request for Interest (RFI)’ to provide 57 multi-role carrier borne fighters, industry sources said. The other two are Sweden’s SAAB and Rosoboronexport of Russia. While Boeing has pitched its F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault has briefed the navy on its Rafale. SAAB has offered the maritime variant of its Gripen single-engine fighter jet. Naval Chief Sunil Lanba confirmed the development. “We will examine the RFI and take it forward,” he told this newspaper. The deal is valued over Rs 50,000 crore. Sources say it is now mainly between Boeing’s FA-18 and Dassault’s Rafale, as the navy would prefer a twin-engine aircraft against SAAB’s single-engine Gripen. “While the navy did not specify a variant, there is a clear preference for a twin-engine model,” a senior industry executive said. As it had earlier done a deal with the Ind...

The US Air Force has been forced to halt flights of 55 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters after five pilots suffered oxygen deprivation in problems with their air supply systems, according to US media reports. "The US Air Force has grounded 55 of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighters at Arizona’s Luke Air Force base following five incidents in which pilots experienced symptoms of oxygen deprivation," Defense One reported on Friday. US Air Force F-35s had previously been grounded in September 2016 as fight operations had to be suspended after a discovery that electrical lines in their fuel tanks had cracked, the report noted. The pilots "reported physiological incidents while flying," but a reserve oxygen system was activated so they could return to base safely, US Air Force spokesman Captain Mark Graff told Defense One in an email. Graff also stated in the email that the aircraft should be back in the air on Monday. The F-35 program is scheduled to cost...

Former IAF head Air Chief Marshal PV Naik has called for “ruthless measures” – including the use of air power and special zones where intruders can be killed without a warning – to combat militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. In an interview with a news gathering agency, the Indian Air Force veteran has suggested a slew of methods, which, he said, could be “better accomplished” under a few months of Governor’s Rule. “Hard decisions will have to be taken…It (the situation) demands something which others feel we as a nation lack: Ruthlessness,” he said. Naik, who was the IAF chief from 2009 to 2011, said there had to be a “more effective use” of air power, so far “underutilised” in the valley. The retired IAF chief’s aggressive views on battling militancy followed Army Chief General Bipin Rawat’s position that the Army faced a “dirty war” in the valley. Naik believed “Red Zones” should be declared in infiltration prone areas near the LOC. “Each zone should be a bubble 10 km in depth an...

Pakistan's spy agency ISI is planning a major strike in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab as four militants have already infiltrated into India from the Punjab border, according to an Intelligence Bureau (IB) input shared with the state governments. The input, a copy of which is with IANS, warns that the planned Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) attack may take place within the next 15 days in Kathua near Jammu and Gurdaspur and Pathankot in Punjab. "The ISI is planning a major attack in Kathua, Gurdaspur and Pathankot. In this regard, four militants have already infiltrated into Punjab through Bamtal sector a few days ago," says the undated IB note shared with governments in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab earlier this week. The IB says that the "militants" were now waiting for arms and ammunition to be supplied from Pakistan and a drug peddler was being used as a courier. "They are waiting for the supply of arms and ammunition to be provided by ...

By DefencenewsIndia Kashmir hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law, Altaf Ahmed Shah, was today questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with its probe into the funding of terror and subversive activities in Kashmir. Shah, popularly known as Altaf Fantoosh, arrived at the NIA headquarters here this morning and was questioned by a team of officials about the alleged funding of the Geelani-led Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, offical sources said. His Srinagar house was raided by NIA sleuths, who also searched the premises of others, such as Shahid-ul-Islam, a close aide of Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who heads the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, and businessman Zahoor Watali. The NIA had collected “some material” from Shah’s residence which was scrutinised by the sleuths before he was called for questioning here, the sources said, adding his examination would carry on for a few days before his statement was recorded. Apart from bein...