New Delhi:
A series of meetings and mutual visits between two sides in recent months have laid
focus on various aspects of defence ties and also taking regional and international security into the grasp.
India has inked a Rs 423 crore contract with the United States for procurement of MK 54 torpedoes, officials said.
India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defence.
India intends to utilise MK 54 Lightweight Torpedoes on its P-8I aircraft.
The MK 54 Lightweight Torpedo will provide the capability to conduct anti-submarine warfare missions.
The US recognised India as a "Major Defence Partner" in 2016 and this move has facilitated India to buy more advanced and sensitive technologies from America at par with that of the US' closest allies and partners.
Officials said the Ministry of Defence signed the contract with the US government on Oct 21 for procurement of MK 54 Torpedo and Expendable (Chaff and Flares) for the Indian Navy.
The Indian Navy has a total of 11 P-8I aircraft, which are manufactured by US aerospace company Boeing.
The P-8I aircraft is known for its advanced maritime reconnaissance capabilities and also as anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
The Mk 54 torpedo can be deployed from surface ships, helicopters or fixed wing aircraft and can track, classify and attack underwater targets.
It uses sophisticated processing algorithms to distinguish false targets and countermeasures.
Experts say the defense relations between US and India are the 'brightest area' of mutually significant strategic cooperation.
Later this year the 4th round of 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue is scheduled to take place in Washington and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will travel to the US to attend the same.
ends
Jaishankar and UK counterpart Liz Truss lay stress on defence cooperation, infra tie-ups
New Delhi:
The visiting British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss held wide-ranging bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart, Dr S Jaishankar here on Friday and both sides underlined the need for launching Free Trade Agreement negotiations at the earliest.
Both the Ministers welcomed the progress in delivering the Enhanced Trade Partnership announced at the Virtual Summit between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson, an MEA statement said.
Ms Truss also held meetings with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.
Assertive Moditva
Ahead of her India visit, Ms Truss said, “I want the UK and India to step up their partnership in
critical areas like technology, investment, security and defence. India is the world’s largest
democracy, a tech and economic powerhouse and a vital strategic partner for the UK.”
She also tweeted, “In Delhi on my first visit as Foreign Secretary. I’ll be discussing how to boost our partnership with our great friends India and deliver for the British people in areas like Tech and infrastructure investment; building back better after COVID; security and defence.”
Both Ministers undertook a detailed review of the Roadmap 2030 launched during the India-UK Virtual Summit held on May 4th.
"They appreciated the progress so far on the implementation of the Roadmap despite the constraints posed by the pandemic. There were detailed discussions focused on enhancing cooperation in the key priority areas of trade and investments, people-to-people relationship, health partnership, climate change, science & innovation and defence & security," the MEA said.
Both the Ministers welcomed the progress in delivering the Enhanced Trade Partnership announced at the Virtual Summit and underlined the need for launching FTA negotiations at the earliest.
Both the leaders also discussed the Migration and Mobility Partnership and the Global Innovation Partnership and committed to their early implementation.
They also acknowledged the establishment of new dialogue mechanisms for discussing consular issues and maritime security.
Namo: Aware of China-challenge
"Both sides also agreed on instituting the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum Track, a new 1.5 Dialogue mechanism to foster expert deliberations on long-term strategic links between the two countries," the statement said.
Dr Jaishankar and Ms Truss also discussed a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest while sharing their commitment to a multi-polar world and multilateralism.
They agreed to strengthen cooperation in West Asia and the Indo-Pacific, on countering terrorism and radical extremism, and addressing emerging challenges in the cyber and space domains.
"On Afghanistan, the need for full, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance was discussed," the statement said and also it was underlined that there is a need to ensure that the Afghan territory "is not used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist attacks".
On Saturday, October 23, the visiting dignitary will be visiting Mumbai where she will participate in business and defence engagements held in connection with the visit of Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21) to India.
She would also pay her respects at the memorial to honour the victims of the terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26 November, 2008.
ends
India hands over Jaynagar-Kurtha Cross-Border Rail Link To Nepal
New Delhi:
Giving a boost to bilateral ties, India on Friday handed over the 34.9 km-long cross-border rail link connecting Jaynagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal to the Nepal government.
Ambassador of India to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra and Nepal Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ms Renu Kumari Yadav witnessed the occasion.
The executing agency for the project, IRCON International Ltd on behalf of Government of India handed over the assets to Nepal Railway Company Limited.
This move is expected to enhance trade and commerce activities as well as help people to people
linkages between the two neighbours.
The Jaynagar-Kurtha section is part of the 68.7km Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardidas rail link built
under the Government of India''s grant assistance of NPR 8.77 billion.
Under the grant assistance of India, the gauge conversion of a 34.9 kms narrow gauge section
into broad gauge, from Jaynagar in India to Kurtha in Nepal, has now been completed,
Indian Embassy sources said.
This section was earlier a narrow gauge rail link between Jayanagar and
Bijalpura. There are total eight stations and halts on the Jaynagar-Kurtha section, which
include the historically important city of Janakpur.
An Indian embassy statement in Kathmandu said - "Cross-border rail linkages are an important facet
of India-Nepal Development cooperation, which include Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link and
Jogbani-Biratnagar (18.6 km) rail link, both being constructed under Government of India
grant assistance".
The Indian government has spent nearly Rs 550 crores to extend 17 km of the 68.72 km
Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway project to improve rail connectivity between India and Nepal, this
was officially stated in January this year.
It may be stated that till 2014, a narrow gauge service ran between Jayanagar and Janakpur
operated by Nepal.
The Indian Railways later extended full cooperation to Nepal in running the BG service by sharing the
know-how and operations and maintenance processes with Nepal Railway Company as well as
imparting training to officials from Nepal.
A draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for starting passenger train operations
in the section was prepared and shared with Nepal Railways by the Indian Railways.
ends
No comments:
Post a Comment