Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

For the first time, the Indian Navy will be part of a French naval exercise known as ‘La Perouse’ in the Bay of Bengal next month. The other Quad nations – the US, Japan and Australia – will also participate. The Indian Navy will be part of a French naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal next month. The participating nations also include the other Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) member countries -- Australia, Japan and the United States of America (USA). This is the first time that the Indian Navy will be part of the France-led war game ‘La Perouse’. Until now, India was not invited for the French naval exercise. After the Malabar Exercise in November last year, during which the navies of India, the US and Japan got together with Australia as the new addition, India’s inclusion in the France-led joint naval drill is a significant step. “The exercise is scheduled between April 5 and 7,” said an official. This will be followed by another important naval exercise ‘Varuna’, wh...

There is also a possibility of the Americans making US fighters in India to help the Make in India process. On the eve of Aero India 2021, the United States of America has offered the Indian Air Force three of its frontline fighter planes: the F-18, the F-15 and the F-21, the newer version of the F-16.  At a briefing where the US Charge d'affaires Don Heflin, deputy undersecretary of the air force Kelli Seybolt and lieutenant general David Krumm of the US air force were present, the message was clear: India was a major defence partner of the US and both countries would continue to work together to strengthen the Asia Pacific, regardless of whether which party was in power. Yes, Atmanirbhar Bharat looked at indigenisation, US officials acknowledged but added that India would need key capability development.  And the relationship wasn't just about buying-selling or even manufacturing. It is about joint exercises and the strategic agreements like LEMOA or COMCASA and more recentl...

CONTEXT Vietnam has invited India for ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus (ADMM Plus) being hosted by Vietnam in December 2020. About ADMM- Plus Consistent with the ADMM guiding principles of open and outward looking, the 2nd ADMM in Singapore in 2007 adopted the Concept Paper to establish the ADMM-Plus. The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region. Eight Dialogue Partners are Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the USA (collectively referred to as the “Plus Countries” ). Agreed five areas of practical cooperation under this mechanism are: Maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping operations and military medicine. In 2013, a new priority area of humanitarian mine action was agreed.

Seeking to develop further closer ties with India, the United States of America (USA) has offered its F-18 naval fighter jets for the Indian Navy's requirements of combat jets for its aircraft carriers. Representative Image The Indian Navy had a few years ago expressed interest in the acquisition of 57 naval fighter aircraft for operations from its aircraft carriers including the present INS Vikramaditya and the under-construction Indigenous Aircraft Carrier. "The American Government has offered to provide their naval fighter aircraft F-18 for the Indian Navy under a government proposal at the meeting between defence delegations of both countries during the 2+2 meetings," government sources told here. Seeking to develop further closer ties with India, the United States of America (USA) has offered its F-18 naval fighter jets for the Indian Navy's requirements of combat jets for its aircraft carriers. https://t.co/7vJhFeGMuf — Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) October ...

The Arab World in a geopolitical sense no longer exists; the  Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO) leadership may have to think of a one-state solution. The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisages an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. Words have meanings that are used and misused. A few weeks ago, someone with evident limitations fulminated against a category of faiths depicted as ‘Abrahamic’ . Around the same time, the global media gleefully proclaimed the newly minted ‘Abraham Accord’ to describe a happening of political significance. Both expressions sought to trace it to the proper name, Abraham, a patriarchal entity who flourished in the Second Millennium BCE, is revered by three religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — and whose followers today account for a little over 55% of the world’s population. Mention is also made alongside of a group of languages as Semitic — principally Arabic, He...

(US orders closure of Chinese consulate in Houston | Image : CNN) The United States government has abruptly ordered China to "cease all operations and events" at its consulate in Houston, Texas, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in what it called an "unprecedented escalation" in recent actions taken by Washington. Late Tuesday evening, police in Houston said they responded to reports of smoke in the courtyard outside the consulate , located on Montrose Boulevard , in the city's Midtown area. Local media shared video of what appeared to be officials inside the compound burning documents . US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the consulate was directed to close "in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information" but did not immediately provide additional details of what prompted the closure. Chinese media reported that the consulate had been given 72 hours to close. Relations between Chi...

The threats from China to India and countries in Southeast Asia and the challenges in the South China Sea are going to dictate the allocation of defence resources U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has cited Chinese Peoples Liberation Army's (PLA) "deadly" confrontation with India as one of the reasons for Washington recalibrating its defence commitments in Europe and looking at countering emerging threats. The threats from China to India and countries in Southeast Asia and the challenges in the South China Sea are going to dictate the allocation of defence resources as US cuts troop levels in Germany, he said on Thursday at a virtual meeting of the Brussels Forum of the German Marshall Fund. He said that China's expansionism is "the challenge of our time" and the US wants to ensure that its resources are in place to meet it. Asked about President Donald Trump plans announced this month to pull back 9,500 of the about 30,0...

US government in a hurry to get new sub-hunting helicopters into the hands of the Indian Navy. Sailors assigned to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) attach a training pallet to an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the ship's flight deck during a vertical replenishment training exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Sarah Myers) To say the Pentagon is concerned about China’s military expansion would be an understatement — just ask the Indian Navy. According to a report by Paul McLeary for Breaking Defense, the US government was in such a hurry to get sub-hunting helicopters into the hands of the Indian Navy that the Americans gave up some of their own helicopters to fill a rushed delivery early next year. “This really was one of the higher priorities the [Indian] navy had, to get these aircraft delivered,” Tom Kane, director of Sikorsky’s Naval Helicopter Programs told reporters last week. “I requested that the air...

The story involves an Indian Air Force Pilot, Americans, Russians and a mystery woman Flying Officer Mervyn Pinto seated in a fighter plane at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada I was on summer vacation at my grandparent’s house in Pune when I first watched ‘Top Gun’. I remember being glued to the television, transfixed by Maverick fearlessly manoeuvring his plane through the sky while ‘Danger Zone’ blasted in the background. My grandmother was sitting by, sipping tea when she laughed and said, “Oh, I remember when your grandfather was Top Gun.” For a second, I thought I heard wrong. Did she just say my grandfather was Top Gun? “Yes, of course,” she said nonchalantly as she glared at Tom Cruise on screen with narrow eyes as if to say, “My husband did it better.”  To my grandfather’s irritation (“It was no big deal,” he grumbled), his old flying logbooks were pulled out and we sat around the dining table pouring over pictures from his days as a fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force....