places India among a select group of nations with hypersonic missile technology, reinforcing its strategic deterrence and operational flexibility in a contested environment. The missile’s design shares similarities with the Agni I-class, indicating progress in hypersonic weaponry.

The BM-04 is designed as a boost-glide vehicle, enabling it to achieve hypersonic speeds (Mach 5 and above). This makes it capable of evading radar and missile defenses. The missile was showcased at the Vigyan Vaibhav 2025 defense exhibition in Hyderabad, marking a significant step in India’s missile development.

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The resolution on “Illegal So-Called Referenda in Ukraine” failed to get adopted as Russia, as expected, vetoed it. It was supported by 10 of the 15 members of the Council. China, Gabon and Brazil were the other countries that abstained.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed Russian rule over four regions that make up 15% of Ukraine’s territory – the biggest annexation in Europe since World War Two.

US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield introduced the resolution that called on member states not to recognize any altered status of Ukraine and obliged Russia to withdraw its troops.

Accusing the West of provoking colour revolution for geopolitical gains, Russian President Vladimir Putin on 30 September said that the West has “plundered” countries like India in contradiction to the values of “truth, freedom and justice”, according to Reuters translation of Putin’s annexation speech.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said “We urge that all efforts are made by concerned sides for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities. Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment.”

“The path to peace requires us to keep all channels of diplomacy open,” she said. Underlining that India’s position has been clear and consistent from the very beginning of this conflict, Kamboj said the global order is anchored on the principles of the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all states.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on 30 September announced Russia had “four new regions”. In a speech in the Kremlin, he outlined Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow’s forces have partially seized during a seven-month conflict with Ukraine.

 “Escalation of rhetoric or tensions is in no one’s interest. It is important that pathways are found for a return to the negotiating table. Keeping in view the totality of the evolving situation, India has decided to abstain on this resolution,” she said.

Kamboj said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “unequivocally conveyed” the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in his discussions with world leaders, including Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She also referred to statements made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Ukraine during the high-level General Assembly session last week.

Referring to Modi’s remark to Putin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand last month that “today’s era is not an era of war”, Kamboj said New Delhi sincerely hopes for an early resumption of peace talks to bring about an immediate ceasefire and resolution of the conflict.

India has previously abstained on two occasions in the Security Council and once in the General Assembly on resolutions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after the meeting the abstentions “clearly were not a defense of Russia.” “Not a single country voted with Russia. Not one,” she said.

Thomas-Greenfield said if Russia chooses to shield itself from accountability, then “we will take further steps in the General Assembly” to send an unmistakable message to Moscow that the world is still on the side of defending sovereignty and protecting territorial integrity.

She argued in the council’s chamber that the attempted annexation of a sovereign nation’s territory went against the founding principles of the United Nations. She said before the vote that the outcomes of Russia’s “sham referenda were pre-determined” in Moscow.

Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia said before the vote that the results of the referendum speak for themselves and that the residents of these regions do not want to return to Ukraine.

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Adani Defence Systems and Technologies Ltd will leverage its military drone and AI/ML capabilities and work with General Aeronautics for providing end to end solutions for domestic agricultural sector, the company said in a statement.

The deal value was not disclosed.

General Aeronautics is an end-to-end agri platform solution provider, based out of Bengaluru and incorporated in 2016. It provides robotic drones and drone-based solutions for crop protection services, crop health, precision-farming and yield monitoring using artificial intelligence and analytics for the agricultural sector.

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An Indian Navy spokesperson said, “The duty staff observed smoke emanating from the part of the warship having accommodation for sailors.”

The personnel on duty quickly doused out the fire. After accounting for all personnel on board, the navy is launching an inquiry into the incident.

The warship was homeported at INS Kadamba, the Indian navy base situated near Karwar, Karnataka, when the incident happened. With the end of its Phase II development in a couple of years, INS Kadamba will be the largest naval base in Asia.

INS Vikramaditya

Weighing about 45,000-ton, the INS Vikramaditya can carry more than 30 long-range multi-role fighters with anti-ship missiles, air-to-air missiles, guided bombs, and rockets.

Other than MiG-29k fighters which were purchased from Russia along with the carrier, the ship has Kamov 31 radar picket Airborne Early Warning (AEW) helicopter, Kamov 28 naval helicopter, Sea King helicopter, ALH-Dhruv, and Chetak helicopter onboard.

With an overall length of 284 meters and a maximum beam of 60 meters, the carrier has been likened to three football fields put together. At the height of 20 stories, the ship has 22 decks and can house 1,600 personnel.

It is the Indian Navy’s largest short take-off but assisted recovery (STOBAR) aircraft carrier. The naval variant of India’s indigenous LCA Tejas multi-role fighter carried out a landing trial on INS Vikramaditya on January 20, 2020.

INS Vikramaditya is the Russian Navy’s decommissioned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) missile cruiser carrier, Admiral Gorshkov. Known as Baku, it belonged to the Kiev-class, the first class of both heavy aircraft cruisers, and battlecruisers in the Soviet Army.

After being decommissioned by Russia in 1996, the vessel was purchased by India in 2003 for $974 million. But the cost was hiked after extensive refurbishing, which included new propulsion systems, hull sections, sensors, and flight deck. A three-year-long negotiation process led to a $2.3 billion contract for the carrier.

INS Vikramaditya entered the Indian service in 2013, about the time INS Vikrant, India’s first aircraft carrier was sold. The latter had served effectively during the 1971 war and a new indigenous built carrier by the same name, part of the ‘Make in India’ scheme, is set to enter service this year.

India is also planning to acquire a third addition, INS Vishal in the next decade. The state-owned Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) has been tasked with constructing both the indigenous aircraft carriers.

According to Robert Farley, who wrote an article in The National Interest, one of the reasons for India’s interest in developing a fleet of aircraft carriers is that it hopes to dominate the Indian Ocean.

Aircraft carriers are like floating airfields and will be crucial in controlling the ocean better than any foreign competitor through the combined use of naval and air power.

The ships will also be needed with the Indo-Pacific theatre becoming a conflict-prone zone. India has more experience than China with aircraft carriers even if the latter’s fleet outnumbers India’s. And the former can take advantage of its proximity to naval bases in the event of any conflict, Farley wrote.

Unlike countries such as China which focuses more on submarines, India commands its waters through carriers, mainly because of its crucial role in ensuring the safe passage of oil ships. Their prominence will increase as Chinese aggression rises in India’s surrounding waters.

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After the March 4 Combined Commanders Conference at Kevadia in Gujarat, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh mentioned the requirement of SSNs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 3 while discussing the Indian Navy’s operation Samudra Setu II to garner much-needed oxygen from India’s close allies in West Asia. The Naval warships are also involved in providing medical support to its Island territories in Lakshwadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The nuclear powered attack submarines will give Indian Navy the much needed long legs for deterrent patrols and access denial in the Indo-Pacific without giving away its position. “The future not only lies in the Indo-Pacific but also the arctic route that will open up due to receding snow fields,” said a serving admiral.

The SSNs only need to surface for food supplies and other logistics and can go for long distance patrols with conventional weapons and missiles on board. As of now, India has one Akula class SSN, which is on lease from Russia, and one indigenously build ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) with another joining the strategic forces command next year.

While the Navy is still to approach the Union ministry of defence for acceptance of necessity, a term for need to buy, the national security planners are concerned about China adding 12 SSNs to its fleet apart from seven ballistic missile submarines to its strike force.

It is not for any other reason that French SSNs base at Toulon and French SSBN base at Brest was on the agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his now cancelled visit to France around the May 8 India-EU summit at Lisbon. While the India-EU summit was reduced to virtual summit, the physical bilateral visit to France was postponed to a later date.

Although the Indian Navy has no preferences, the national security planners are looking at France, the UK, the US and Russia as possible partners for joint development of SSNs in India under Atmanirbhar Bharat programme.

The French Naval Group is one of the key contenders for the SSN project as France is one of the most trusted allies of India since post 1998 nuclear tests sanction days. Unlike the US, France does not have any regulatory regime that can stall the on-going program using international traffic in arms regulations (ITAR). Finally, France has offered to jointly develop the SSN with India with full transfer of technology. It is already building six diesel attack submarines (called Kalvari class) for India which will be retrofitted with air independent propulsion technology developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

Earlier this week, Admiral Singh called on Prime Minister Modi and briefed him about various initiatives being taken by the Indian Navy to assist the people of the country during the pandemic.

The Admiral said the Navy has reached out to all state administrations and have offered help to set up hospital beds, transportation and conduct of vaccination drives and deploying its ships to ferry oxygen containers and essential medical supplies from various countries.

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A portable helipad is a temporary structure, which can be assembled or dismantled quickly providing helicopters a safe place to land and take-off. These cost-effective and makeshift helipads would be deployed where the terrain isn’t favorable or a place where a permanent helipad isn’t required, or where time is a critical factor.

These helipads could also work as a part of rapid deployment to forward bases for Army and Air Force helicopters in case of hostilities, and also for disaster relief operations.

The Army’s new requirement asks for a platform where all types of helicopters can land and take off, including the transport helicopters like CH-47 Chinook, Mi-17V5, and attack gunships like the AH-64E Apache Guardian, Rudra, and the Light Combat Helicopter.

These aircraft have a crucial role in the Army and combined arms’ operations including much-needed logistics and transportation, special operations missions, search and rescue, human aid & disaster relief, and providing close air support for combat operations.

Apart from the aforementioned rotorcraft, the Indian Army and the Air Force also operate the ALH Dhruv, Chetak, Cheetah, Mi-24/25/35. Light Utility Helicopters will join them soon.

In addition, the IAF operates the huge Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter, which is the heaviest helicopter to ever go into serial production. It is unclear if the new requirement calls for the capability to handle this aircraft as well.

This helipad would have been a crucial technology ramp up for the Indian Armed Forces, as fast deployment in worsening situations is a much-needed capability. There was an acute need for such helipads during the recent Indo-China military standoff where the IAF had to ramp up the far-flung airfields and develop infrastructure in less time to support forward air operations.

According to reports, the Army wants portable helipads with an initial requirement of 25×25 meters, and larger sizes up to 100×100 meters would be considered at a later stage. The size could be reduced or increased with the reduction or addition of separate ‘panels’.

The requirements call for at least 50% of the contents to be indigenous and should be modular, rugged, corrosion-resistant, and strong enough to withstand downward rotor-wash of the aircraft.

Also, it should be able to be quickly deployed by a team of 10 soldiers after a surface preparation within 90 minutes. All the equipment including assembly tools should be able to fit in a single truck, according to the Army.

However, these quick-deploy helipads aren’t a new concept for the Indian Army. It has been used in and around various forward posts to facilitate air maintenance, especially in Siachen.

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Imports from China of finished electronic devices – like bluetooth speakers, wireless earphones, smartphones, smartwatches and laptops – containing wifi modules are being delayed, the sources said.

India’s Communications Ministry’s Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) Wing has withheld approval since at least November, according to the sources, who were familiar with lobbying efforts by firms seeking clearance.

More than 80 such applications by US, Chinese and Korean firms have been pending with the WPC since then, one of the sources said. Even applications from some Indian firms, which bring in some finished products from China, are awaiting WPC approval, the sources added.

Dell, HP, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Lenovo did not respond to requests for comment.

India’s communications ministry did not respond to a request for comment either. Both sources said the government had still to respond to representations made by industry lobby groups and individual companies.

India’s hard stance against Chinese imports comes amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for greater economic self-reliance.

His nationalist policies have helped boost the growth of smartphone assembly in the South Asian nation, and the sources believe the government’s intention is to persuade companies to locate more of their production of electronic devices in India.

“The government’s idea is to push companies to manufacture these products in India,” one of the sources said.

India has become the world’s second-biggest mobile equipment maker [File: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg]“But tech companies are caught in a difficult situation – making in India would mean big-ticket investments and a long wait for returns, on the other hand the government-imposed hurdle on imports means a potential loss of revenues.”
India had previously allowed companies to self-declare wireless equipment, a move that made imports easier, but new rules in March 2019 mandated firms to seek government approval.

While India’s market and export potential have turned it into the world’s second-biggest mobile equipment maker, technology analysts and industry insiders say it does not yet have the size or scale for companies to invest heavily in making IT products and smart wearable devices.

Wary of Chinese tech

The long delay in WPC approvals also underscores India’s strategy to cut China’s influence in its technology economy, especially after a border clash with Beijing last year, though tensions have eased since.

Modi’s government this week omitted Chinese electronics maker Huawei from a list of participants in its 5G mobile telecommunications trials, though European and South Korean rivals were permitted.

And once 5G deployment begins in India, New Delhi will likely block mobile carriers from using Huawei’s telecommunications gear, Reuters has previously reported.

US firms Apple, Cisco and Dell were last year caught up in India’s border tensions with China, as Indian ports held up imports of their products from China.

In another example, reported by Reuters late last year, India’s tight control of quality clearances for electronic goods from China slowed the import of an Apple iPhone model.

Now that firms have obtained safety clearances from India’s quality control agency, getting WPC approval has become the main obstacle to importing electronic devices from China.

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