A former JAG officer writes to Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, asking him to ensure ‘Indian Military Veterans like me command respect and dignity in my own country too, just as we do, ironically, in other democracies’.
The Indo-US Defense Policy Group meet to be held in Washington DC this week comes shortly after a perceived snub to the US offer to co-produce Javelin ATGMs with the Indian order for Israeli Spike ATGMs.
The team is in the US to discuss the Defense Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) and terms for the new Defense Framework Agreement in a trip timed just before the Modi visit.
Manmohan Singh is likely to undertake a ‘thanksgiving’ visit to the UAE for its cooperation in the arrests of terrorists like Abdul Karim Tunda, Yasin Bhatkal and Abu Jundal. Could this first visit by an Indian PM in over 30 years help India bring Dawood Ibrahim to justice?
Notwithstanding naysayers, the long and short of it is that Mian Nawaz Sharif and Sardar Manmohan Singh will have a bilateral meeting in New York likely to be held on September 29th.
The failure to consider the order by the DAC has wider implications as it is unlikely that any decision can be taken on this order by October 15, after which the value of the deal will see a 37 percent hike.
Foreign Affairs Editor, Archis Mohan, narrates how the battle for the position of India’s foreign secretary is to be decided by the government’s discomfort with the perceived proximity of S. Jaishankar to the United States, leaving the field open for Sujatha Singh.
Life Cycle Cost was not a consideration in the earlier contest, in which the Airbus A-330 MRTT was selected over the IL-78, before the tender was withdrawn. This time the factor is expected to be a key determinant of the acquisition cost of the two aircraft.
