Kautilya

The deal, which will include a mandatory clause for at least 30% offsets to domestic companies, will add to the 12 P8I aircraft that have already been ordered by India and will help maintain strong vigil over a region that has seen increasing deployments by the Chinese Navy. The maritime patrol aircraft, which specialises in tracking and hunting down enemy submarines with lightweight torpedoes and depth charges, are also operated by the US and Australian navies.

In the confession video, one of the terrorists said he and his companion were trained in Pakistan’s Kacherban for a week to cross the LoC from Rawalpindi. Addressing the reporters, Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon said that the arrest of two terrorists associated with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba showed that Pakistan is desperately trying to unleash violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

Defence think tanks have also suggested monetisation of unused and under-used land belonging to the ministry in order to raise revenues. The ministry is further working on a proposal to corporatise the family of 41 state-owned arms factories that are functioning under the Ordnance Factory Board.

Estimated at Rs 300 crore, the ‘mountain radar project’ is part of the ‘national defence modernisation’ plan aimed to ‘enhance air Defence capability in the mountainous terrain of northern and eastern part of the country’. The Board, however, in its meeting held recently here under the chairmanship of Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, made it clear that eco-fragile areas of Gulmarg will not be tampered with as demanded by the State Government.