Today, the Vietnam-China relations are definitely more complicated than what is overtly visible. Vietnam, along with other Asian nation, Philippines have territorial disputes with China over the Spratly Islands. This, apart from the bilateral dispute the country has over the Paracel Islands with the world’s most populous nation.
The island also lies on seaways from Pakistan’s Gwadar port — a stepping stone on China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure initiative giving Beijing access to the Arabian Sea — to Djibouti and into east Africa.
The Israeli company had been shortlisted as the lowest bidder in an international competition in 2019 after undergoing extensive tests by the army. However, the contract has not moved ahead for almost two years as India has been considering the ATAGS programme as well.
Israel and Hamas have announced a cease-fire to end a bruising 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill.
The skirmish took place around 5.30 am in the forest at Kotmi in Etapalli, where the Naxals had gathered for a meeting, said Sandeep Patil, Deputy Inspector General of Gadchiroli.
Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) has arrested two men with over 7kg of uranium, a highly explosive and radioactive material.
Deliveries of Russia’s latest heavy Okhotnik drone to the Russian troops are scheduled to begin in 2024. these drones can operate under control of a fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet pilot. The Okhotnik features stealth technology and the flying wing design (it lacks the tail) and has a take-off weight of 20 tonnes. The drone has a jet engine and is capable of developing a speed of around 1,000 km/h.
Russia’s Rezonans-N radar, capable of spotting hypersonic missiles and deployed on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in November last year, will enter service by June 2021. It will ensure “round-the-clock control of the airspace above northern regions of Norway and Finland.”
Delivery schedule of S-400 long-range air defense systems had been on track for the end of 2021 despite the COVID-19 pandemic and would begin by November. Former IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa has on several occasions termed the S-400 air defense systems and Rafale fighter jets “game changers” and “booster dose” for the IAF.
The first formal summit of the heads of state of the four-member group of nations known as the `Quadrilateral Security Dialogue’ (Quad) (India, the US, Japan & Australia) is a significant development. In the US, the transfer of power to the Biden administration has only increased commitment to reviving the Quad. At a separate briefing in the US, the State Department spokesperson Ned Price has said that “maritime security is, of course, an important one, but our shared interests go well beyond that”.