The tender said: “The MoD intends to procure quantity 29,762 Night Sight (II) for 7.62 x 51 mm assault rifles along with accessories for each assault rifle [lens cover, eye guard, cleaning kit, battery pack charger and quantity three sets of batteries (each set of batteries corresponds to number of batteries required to operate the night sight)].” As per the tender, 50 per cent of the content in the night sight will have to be Indian. The last date to submit the bid for this tender is September 27.

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The VL-SRSAM system has been designed to strike at the high-speed airborne targets at the range of 40km to 50km and at an altitude of around 15km. VL-SRSAM is a canisterised system, which means it is stored and operated from specially designed compartments. In the canister, the inside environment is controlled, thus making its transport and storage easier and improving the shelf life of weapons.

DRDO officials have said its design is based on Astra missile which is a Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air missile. Two key features of the VL-SRSAM are cruciform wings and thrust vectoring.

The key DRDO facilities that contributed to the development of the system are Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI), both from Hyderabad, and Research & Development Establishment (Engineers) based in Pune.

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Following the shuttering of Indian consulates in Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Mazar-e-Sharif, India pulled out all its officials and security personnel from Kabul after the fall of the Ashraf Ghani government, largely on account of security concerns. Recent contacts with the Taliban – both behind the scenes and formal meetings – paved the way for the return of Indian officials to Kabul.

The technical team reached Kabul on 23 June and was deployed at the embassy to “closely monitor and coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and in continuation of our engagement with the Afghan people”, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

The statement positioned the re-establishment of India’s diplomatic presence in the context of the country’s “historical and civilisational relationship with the Afghan people” – thereby implying that the move did not amount to any sort of recognition of the Taliban setup in Kabul.

The Indian team travelled to Kabul in an Indian Air Force transport aircraft that also carried the first consignment of relief assistance following the devastating earthquake on Wednesday that killed at least 1,000 people.

The statement also referred to the recent visit to Kabul by an Indian team led by joint secretary JP Singh, the external affairs ministry’s pointperson for Afghanistan, to oversee the delivery of humanitarian assistance and to hold meetings with senior Taliban members. “During the visit, an assessment of the security situation was also carried out,” it said.

“Our longstanding links with Afghan society and our development partnership, including humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, will continue to guide our approach going forward,” the statement said.

The statement didn’t provide details of the technical team, such as its size, though people familiar with the matter said the Indian presence in Kabul will be very limited. The team is expected to be led by a middle-ranking diplomat and will mainly focus on consular issues, the delivery of humanitarian aid and the possible revival of development projects.

Several factors, including security guarantees from the Taliban leadership and a perception that India could not stay out of the picture while regional players such as China, Iran, Pakistan and Russia strengthen their presence in Kabul, were behind the decision to send Indian officials back to Kabul.

The people cited above said an Indian team was scheduled to travel from New Delhi to Kabul on a chartered flight operated by an Afghan airline on June 18, but the move was put off following a terror attack on Gurdwara Karte Parwan in the Afghan capital that was subsequently claimed by the Khorasan unit of Islamic State.

The attack did not lead to a rethink on the deployment of Indian officials in Kabul but only resulted in a delay, the people said.

“Such attacks were factored into the decision-making process. The Taliban have given security guarantees and committed to crack down on Pakistan-based groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. This is something they have never done in the past,” one of the people cited above said.

The people said the Taliban had advance information about a possible attack on Gurdwara Karte Parwan and tightened security at the Sikh shrine. This is being seen as one of the reasons why the attack was thwarted with only two fatalities, an Afghan Sikh and a security guard, and the killing of all three attackers.

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This will be the first major international summit to be held in Jammu and Kashmir after the erstwhile state’s special status guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution was withdrawn and it was divided into two union territories in August 2019.

In September last year, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as India’s Sherpa for the G20. The Ministry of External Affairs had said that India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 leaders’ summit in 2023 for the first time.

Prime Minister Modi has been leading India’s representation at G20 summits since 2014. India has been a member of the G20 since its inception in 1999.

According to the MEA, India will be part of the G20 Troika (preceding, current, and incoming G20 Presidencies) from December 1, 2021 till November 30, 2024.

G20 brings together 19 of the world’ leading economies and the European Union, with its members accounting for more than 80 per cent of global GDP, 75 percent of global trade and 60 percent of the global population, according to the MEA.

G20 member nations are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Under the revised procurement concept, the first part or phase of MRFA will involve the procurement of 54 foreign jets under the Buy Global (Manufacture in India) category of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP), with the contract being awarded to a foreign OEM.

Of these, 18 will be procured in a flyaway condition from the OEM while 36 will be manufactured in India by a local partner selected by the OEM. This partner will be from the private sector.

The IAF is pushing for an early Acceptance of Necessity (AON) for Phase-I from the Defence Acquisition Council, and aims at issuing an RFP by the end of 2022.

Part-II of MRFA is not yet a programme but a concept, sources disclosed. It involves procurement of 60 jets from the Indian production partner selected by the OEM for Part-I. The Part-II procurement model will be Buy Indian, with the Indian production agency being the prime for the issuance of contract.

The IAF has bounced the revised plan off global OEMs interested in the acquisition. Boeing and Lockheed Martin of the US, Dassault of France, the Eurofighter consortium of Europe, Saab of Sweden and Sukhoi and MiG of Russia are in the IAF’s selection pool which involves eight fighter aircraft types.

The other significant shift in the MRFA programme is the rejection of the Strategic Partnership (SP) Model by the IAF.

By splitting the requirement, and with ambiguity after Phase-I, India could end up paying many times over for aircraft, reasoned another.

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India has offered an attractive financial package for its Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and has committed that it can keep Malaysia’s fleet of Su 30 jets flightworthy, given the vast spares reserve and technical expertise available with Hindustan Aeronautics NSE 1.46 % Limited (HAL).

Other contenders for the deal — primarily South Korea and China — are not in a position to offer this package as they do not have backend contracts with Russian manufacturers to work on the Sukhoi fighters. Malaysia has 18 of the Su 30 MKM fighters, which are very similar to the MKI version that is in service with the Indian Air Force.

It is learnt that detailed discussions on the dual package have taken place and a final decision may be possible under the government to government route. Several nations like Malaysia have been impacted by western sanctions on Russia that have made ordering spares and other supplies for legacy military equipment challenging.

The Malaysian air force has been scouting for 18 new light fighter jets, with the Indian LCA emerging as a top contender given its low acquisition cost and high technical ratings. India is offering the LCA Mk1A version with a modern AESA radar, new avionics and capability to integrate a variety of air to air and air to ground weapons. The Indian Air Force and Navy have also recently placed an order for indigenous Astra beyond visual range air to air missiles.

Senior teams from the Malaysian air force have visited India in the past to discuss the proposal. India is also offering to create a full maintenance, repair and overhaul facility for the LCA fleet in Malaysia to ensure a high rate of availability.

The Indian LCA is priced at around $42 million per unit, a price made possible given economies of scale after the IAF placed an order for 83 fighter jets under the Make in India initiative. In 2019, India had dispatched two of its LCA fighters for the LIMA show at Langkawi as part of its efforts to pitch the jets for export order.

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The northern-most part of Kashmir borders China and Nagri expressed fear that Pakistan may cede GB to China. Nagri is arousing people and has asked them “not to be scared of ISI and be prepared to go to jail,” Pakistani media reports have said.

Pakistan ceding GB that it illegally occupies would be a boon for China’s South Asian expansion. It has made use of territory in the region that Pakistan ceded earlier and would like GB since the Karakorum is right on the trail of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Any such move could earn Pakistan hefty lease money that could help tide over its current economic woes. But this could also annoy the US to deny or delay the USD three billion bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But, this could also blacklist Pakistan for the foreseeable future from getting funds from the IMF, World Bank and other global agencies, reported Al Arabiya Post.

A move on GB would not be easy, despite complete civil and military control from the federal government and extremely limited powers given to the local administration. For, it could trigger local protests as the population already feels short-changed by the way CPEC has bypassed GB at Islamabad’s behest when it comes to development projects.

Pakistani media reports said that GB has a dwindling population, able-bodied people migrating with their families wherever they get work and poor living conditions. One report alarmingly states that nine per cent of all suicides in Pakistan occur in GB.

Despite providing power to the rest of the country, Gilgit-Baltistan has just two hours of power available, because the region is not part of Pakistan’s national grid. In addition to this, it suffers food shortages and has no control over its hydropower or other resources.

With such socio-economic conditions prevailing in GB, there could be trouble from a desperate population.

On the other hand, the US, smarting under a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, and in no mood to quit the region, wants to prevent this likely Chinese expansion into South Asia and instead, may want an outpost of its own, reported Al Arabiya Post.

Bob Lancia, a US Congress candidate for Rhode Island, said, “The US could have benefited in Afghanistan if Gilgit-Baltistan was in India and Balochistan was independent,” reported Al Arabiya Post.

(An) “Indian controlled Gilgit Baltistan would also be a major blow to America’s number one rival, China, and China’s belts & roads initiative, by denying China direct access to ports on the Arabian Sea,” Lancia said in a June 8 report widely carried in the US.
Lancia said that the US failed to exit from Afghanistan had much to do with not having India as a partner, reported Al Arabiya Post.

Lancia is a former member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He also took to Twitter to focus on India’s strategic location and geopolitical prowess as a player in ensuring the interests of South Asia on the global map.

He said that if Balochistan was an independent country, the US could have used it for supplying US forces in Afghanistan instead of depending on Pakistan, reported Al Arabiya Post.

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The two Defence Ministers held wide-ranging discussions on effective and practical initiatives to further expand bilateral defence engagements and regional and global issues were held between the two sides.

The Ministry of Defence said, “The two Defence Ministers also signed the ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’, which will significantly enhance the scope and scale of existing defence cooperation. A Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Logistics Support was also inked in the presence of both the Ministers.”

This is the first agreement which Vietnam has signed with any country. “In these times of increasing cooperative engagements between the defence forces of the two countries, this is a major step towards simplifying procedures for mutually beneficial logistic support and is the first such major agreement which Vietnam has signed with any country.”

Both Ministers also agreed on the early finalisation of the $US 500 million Defence Line of Credit extended to Vietnam. “Implementation of the projects shall add substantially to Vietnam’s Defence capabilities.

The Raksha Mantri also announced gifting two simulators and monetary grants towards setting up of Language and IT Lab at the Air Force Officers Training School for capacity building of the Vietnamese Armed Forces.

Defence Minister Rajnath, beginning from Wednesday, is on a three-day official visit. He paid respects to late President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum in Hanoi. He also visited Tran Quoc Pagoda, a revered Buddhist temple which reaffirmed the age-old civilizational and people-to-people linkages between the two countries.

Before leaving for Vietnam, the Defence Minister had described the relationship as significant and called Vietnam an important partner. “India and Vietnam have shared a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since 2016 and defence cooperation is a key pillar of this partnership. Vietnam is an important partner in India’s Act East policy and the Indo-Pacific vision.”

Bilateral defence engagements have expanded over a period of time to include wide-ranging contacts between the two countries, including Defence Policy Dialogues, military to military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity building and training programs, and cooperation in UN Peacekeeping, ship visits and bilateral exercises.

The logistics agreement will add endurance to the warships and aircraft of the two countries and will open the airbases and ports for the assistance of fuel, rest and ration and also basic maintenance

India has similar logistics agreements with the US, Singapore, France, South Korea, Japan, and Australia and one with Russia is pending.

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Ms Parly, on a visit to India, also said that France is fully committed to supporting the ‘Make in India’ initiative and further integrating the Indian manufacturers into its global supply chains.

The French Defence Minister made the comments at an interactive session organised by Ananta Centre on India-France cooperation.

“I am very happy that the Indian Air Force is satisfied with its Rafale and we are very proud that despite COVID, the 36 aircraft will be delivered on time according to the contract, it is a real achievement,” she said in response to a question.

“Using the same aircraft is a real asset and strength. I am sure that there is room for new developments. We are ready to answer any additional needs of request that could be made by India,” she said.

The French embassy, on 16 December, said a total of 33 Rafale jets have already been delivered to India as per schedule despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around ₹ 59,000 crore.

The first batch of five Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, arrived in India on July 29 last year.

The French minister also referred to India’s planned induction of a second aircraft carrier and indicated that France will be interested to supply the carrier-based jets.

“We know that the aircraft carrier will soon be (there)…that aircraft are needed. We are open and ready to provide any other Rafale if this is India’s decision,” she said.

India’s first home-made aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant is scheduled to be inducted into the Indian Navy by August next year.

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“Indian intercepts reveal that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in face-off in the Galwan Valley,” ANI said quoting sources.

ANI further reported that an increase in chopper activity has been observed on the Chinese side of the LAC to airlift casualties suffered by their troops during the face-off.

The report comes moments after the casualty figure on the Indian side was updated from three to 20. Earlier it was reported that one Indian Army officer and two Jawans were killed in action. However, the Indian Army has now confirmed that “17 Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty at the standoff location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20.”

The Indian Army statement did not mention casualties on the Chinese side.

The over five-week-long stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops turned violent on Monday night, inflicting casualties on both sides.

The armies on two sides have been engaged in the standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh since May 5. A sizeable number of Chinese Army personnel even transgressed into the Indian side of the de-facto border in several areas including Pangong Tso.

The Indian Army has been fiercely objecting to the transgressions and demanded their immediate withdrawal for the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the area. Both sides held a series of talks in the last few days to resolve the row.

The Indian side has been pitching for the restoration of status quo ante and immediate withdrawal of thousands of Chinese troops from the areas which India considers on its side of the LAC.

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