US Secretary of Defence Mr Lloyd Austin and German Federal Minister of Defence Mr Boris Pistorius are visiting New Delhi for bilateral talks with Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh. The Raksha Mantri’s meeting with the US Secretary of Defence will be held on June 05, 2023, while talks with the German Federal Minister of Defence will take place on June 06. A host of bilateral defence cooperation issues, with focus on industrial cooperation, are likely to be discussed during the two meetings.
The US Secretary of Defence will arrive on 4th June from Singapore on a two-day visit. It will be Secretary Austin’s second visit to India, the previous one being in March 2021.
The German Federal Minister of Defence will be on a four-day visit to India beginning June 05. He will arrive from Indonesia. Apart from his meeting with the Raksha Mantri, Mr Boris Pistorius is likely to meet a few defence start-ups during an event organised by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) in New Delhi. On June 07, he will travel to Mumbai where he is likely to visit Headquarters, Western Naval Command and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. Click here to read... [2]
General Manoj Pande, the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) has proceeded on a two-day visit to Bangladesh from 05 to 06 June 2023. During the visit, the Army Chief will be meeting the senior military leadership of Bangladesh where he will discuss avenues for further enhancing Indo-Bangladesh defence relations.
On 6th June, the COAS will be reviewing the Passing Out Parade (POP) of officer cadets.
Other engagements of the Army Chief include formal interactions with the Chief of Army Staff, Bangladesh Army and the Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division apart from briefings by senior Bangladesh Military officers on bilateral cooperation issues. Click here to read... [3]
RM held a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defence Mr Lloyd Austin in New Delhi on June 05, 2023. The meeting was warm and cordial. The two sides discussed a substantial range of bilateral defence cooperation issues, with particular focus on identifying ways to strengthen industrial cooperation. The two Ministers explored ways of building resilient supply chains. Both sides will identify opportunities for co-development of new technologies and co-production of existing & new systems and facilitate increased collaboration between defence start-up ecosystems of the two countries. Towards these objectives, they concluded a roadmap for US-India Defence Industrial Cooperation which shall guide the policy direction for the next few years.
They welcomed the inaugural dialogues held recently focusing on Defence Artificial Intelligence and Defence Space. They also discussed the regional security issues given their shared interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Senior officials from Ministry of Defence, including Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane and Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr Samir V Kamat, participated in the meeting. Click here to read... [4]
RM held a bilateral meeting with German Federal Minister of Defence Mr Boris Pistorius in New Delhi on June 06, 2023. Both Ministers reviewed the ongoing bilateral defence cooperation activities and explored ways to enhance the collaboration, particularly defence industrial partnership.
The Raksha Mantri highlighted the opportunities that have opened up in the defence production sector, including the possibilities for German investments in the two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh & Tamil Nadu. The Indian defence industry could participate in the supply chains of German defence industry and add value to the ecosystem, besides contributing to supply chain resilience.
India and Germany have a Strategic Partnership since 2000, which is being strengthened through Inter-Governmental Consultations since 2011 at the level of Heads of Government. This is the first visit of a German Defence Minister to India since 2015.
On June 07, he will be travelling to Mumbai, where he is scheduled to visit the Headquarters, Western Naval Command and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. Click here to read... [5]
New Generation Ballistic Missile ‘Agni Prime’ was successfully flight-tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha on June 07, 2023. During the flight test, all objectives were successfully demonstrated. This was the first pre-induction night launch conducted by the users after three successful developmental trials of the missile, validating the accuracy and reliability of the system. Click here to read... [6]
India, France and UAE trilateral cooperation achieved another milestone in history with successful completion of first ever trilateral Maritime Partnership Exercise between three navies from 07 -08 Jun 23.
During the maiden edition of the exercise, a wide spectrum of operations at sea such as surface Warfare involving tactical firing and drills for Missile engagements, close quarter manoeuvres, Advanced Air Defence Exercise with French Rafale and UAE Dash 8 MPA, Helicopter Cross Landing Operations, Drills for Replenishment at sea were undertaken by the participating units.
The exercise also saw cross embarkation of personnel that facilitated exchange of best practices.
The exercise has further strengthened the maritime ties between the navies and enhanced interoperability to address traditional and non-traditional threats in the maritime environment thus ensuring safety of mercantile trade and freedom of navigation at high seas in the region. Click here to read... [7]
The 12th edition of joint military exercise “Ex Ekuverin” between the Indian Army & the Maldives National Defence Force has commenced at Uttarakhand from 11 to 24 June 2023. Ekuverin meaning ‘Friends’ is a bilateral annual exercise conducted alternatively in India and Maldives.
A platoon strength contingent from Indian Army and Maldives National Defence Force will be participating in 14 days long exercise. The exercise is aimed at enhancing interoperability in Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terrorism Operations under the UN mandate and carry out joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations. The focus is to share best practices, enhance coordination and cooperation between both the forces at tactical level.
The 11th edition of the exercise was held in Maldives in December 2021. The defence cooperation between the two countries extends from joint exercises to assisting Maldives with defence training and equipment requirements. Click here to read... [8]
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is on an official visit to New Delhi from 13-14 June, 2023 at the invitation of Shri Ajit Doval, KC, National Security Adviser of India. He is accompanied by a delegation of senior US government officials and leaders of US industry. The two NSAs have engaged regularly in extensive discussions on a broad bilateral, regional and global agenda. The current visit, which comes in the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US, will give them the opportunity to continue their high-level dialogue, which will include a review of the robust and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries as well as a survey of the India-US global strategic partnership.
Following the launch of the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) by Prime Minister Modi and President Joseph Biden on the side lines of the QUAD Summit in Tokyo on 24 May 2022, the two NSAs have also driven a concerted effort between the two countries to engage on the identified areas of collaboration, including Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Semiconductors, Telecommunications, Defence and Space. The current visit by Mr Sullivan will thus provide an opportunity to the two NSAs to review the progress thus far and set new priorities and objectives for iCET.
On 13 June the two National Security Advisers met for restricted discussions on regional and global issues of mutual interest. Later in the evening, they attended the second Track 1.5 dialogue on iCET organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The first edition of this dialogue had been organised by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. on 30 January 2023. The NSAs addressed the participants at the dialogue, which included leading representatives of academia and industry from both the countries. They expressed satisfaction at the progress made under iCET and encouraged stakeholders on both sides to strive for technology value chain partnerships that would lead to co-development and co-production of high technology products and services in both countries. Click here to read... [9]
Ministry of Defence inked a contract on June 15, 2023 in New Delhi with ICOMM Tele Limited, Hyderabad for the procurement of 1,035 numbers of 5/7.5 Ton Radio Relay Communication equipment containers. The value of the contract under Buy (Indian) Category is nearly Rs 500 crore. The delivery of the containers is scheduled to commence from the current Financial Year 2023-24.
The Radio Relay Containers will address a long overdue requirement of mobile communication detachments of the Indian Army. The company would produce the containers with all equipment and sub-systems sourced from indigenous manufacturers. The development of such state-of-the-art equipment will also help in boosting exports to friendly countries. Click here to read... [10]
In a week-long coordinated operation, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) killed over 100 terrorists of Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad (JASDJ), a Boko Haram faction, in the fringes of Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria.
The airstrikes conducted by the NAF, under Operation WARUN 3, between 9 and 11 June 2023, in Grazah and Wa-Jahode, in the fringes of Mandara Mountain range. Click here to read... [11]
On 13 June 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) attached two more properties of an accused in ‘Hurriyat Terror Funding’ case. On the directives of Special NIA Court (New Delhi) and under Section 33(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UA(P)A], 1967, the NIA attached properties of Mohammad Akbar Khanday, a separatist leader of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), including nine Kanal land and 2-storeyed house in Srinagar, Kashmir.
Khanday, who is currently being held in Tihar Jail on terror funding charges, was the Hurriyat Conference (G) spokesperson/Media Advisor. He was raising and collecting funds from within and outside Bharat through various illegal channels, which he was using to sponsor and promote separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
A day before, on 12 June, the NIA attached 17 properties of Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali, a financier of terrorism in J&K, in the abovementioned case. Properties belonging to Watali in the Handwara area of Kupwara, Kashmir, have been attached by the NIA on orders by Special NIA Court, Patiala House, under section 33(1) of the UA(P)A. Click here to read... [12]
On 11 June 2023, Chhattisgarh police arrested three Maoists— i) Vikesh Goyal, ii) Balram Tamo, and iii) Sumit Dixit, from Gidam-Bijapur road, Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh. Click here to read... [13]
Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur village have put up banners and distributed pamphlets threatening the local village heads of Besmeta village with consequences if they continue to support development work in the region.
The Maoists have accused the Sarpanch and Upa Sarpanch of Besmeta village of supporting the proposed mine under the banner of the outlawed CPI Maoist's Gaytapara Area Committee. The Maoists have also claimed that the opening of the mine in the area will have a disastrous effect on the environment, for which both village heads will be held responsible. Click here to read... [14]
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on 13 June 2023, arrested Nossam Mohamed Yunus, a Popular Front of India (PFI)’s master weapons trainer, living under a false identity in Karnataka, for his involvement in the Nizamabad terror conspiracy case.
The case pertains to a criminal conspiracy hatched by the leaders and operatives of the now banned outfit PFI to recruit and radicalise youth and provide them with arms training to promote and carry out terrorist activities with the ultimate objective of establishing Islamic rule in Bharat. The NIA investigation also revealed that Yunus provided weapons training to the youth recruited by the PFI in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana region. Click here to read... [15]
On 06 June 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Gagandeep Singh aka Miti, a close aid of two Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terrorists— Arshdeep Singh (based in Canada), and Manpreet Singh (based in Philippines). Gagandeep Singh is the fifth aid to be arrested as part of NIA’s operation against Organised Crime Syndicate being operated by Arshdeep and Manpreet in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Rajasthan.
Earlier, in February 2023, NIA arrested Lucky Khokhar from Rajasthan, Jassa Singh and Amritpal Singh aka Ammy on 18 and 19 May 2023 respectively, from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. Click here to read... [16]
A Khalistani terrorist— Avtar Singh Khanda, associated with Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) died at a hospital in Birmingham, UK. He was arrested for vandalising the Bhartiya flag at the embassy in London on 19 March 2023.
Khanda had assisted Amritpal Singh, so-called head of ‘Waris Punjab De’ while the later was on run from the Punjab police. Avtar Singh Khanda, also known as Ranjodh Singh, had sought political asylum in the UK. His father, who was a Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) operative, was killed by security forces in 1991. Khanda’s name had been mentioned by the NIA for his alleged involvement in an attempt to vandalise the Bhartiya High Commission in the capital city of England on 19 March, a day after the crackdown on ‘Waris Punjab De’ (a pro-Khalistan outfit) began in Punjab. Click here to read... [17]
On 07 June 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court, Mumbai, sentenced two pro-Khalistan activists— i) Harpal Singh, and ii) Gurjeet Singh Nijjar to five-years’ imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiring the revival of Khalistan movement. The duo was pleaded guilty and requested the Judge that they be given a minimum sentence as they were sole earning members of their families. Both are convicted under the relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UA(P)A], the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Maharashtra Police Act (MPA). Click here to read... [18]
On 11 June 2023, the Bhartiya community members of the group— Australian Hindu Association (ASA), which organised a car rally, was attacked by the pro-Khalistan activists at Griffith, in New South Wales, Australia. The ASA has filed a police complaint in this matter and expecting an investigation.
“We had Indian and Australian flags on our car, and we were passing through our root when suddenly a group came and attacked our cars with some sharp objects. They also raised Khalistani slogans and showed posters. We are feeling unsafe because these people are leaving near us and the police is not taking the required action,” said Manoj Patel, one of the ASA group members. Click here to read... [19]
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on 15 June 2023, filed a chargesheet against 13 accused, including Sri Lankan nationals, in the Bharat-Sri Lanka illicit drugs and arms trade case. The case pertains to the attempts to revive the LTTE in Bharat and Sri Lanka.
The accused had conspired with others for exploiting the illegal drugs trade in Bharat and Sri Lanka for funding, amassing and stashing weapons for the revival of LTTE. The accused were using various international WhatsApp numbers to carry out clandestine trade. The accused were arrested at the Trichy Special Camp. Investigations had further revealed that the accused were using the proceeds of crime to live a lavish life. Several mobile phones with pre-activated Indian SIM cards were seized from them.
During the course of the investigation, the NIA also seized various digital devices, documents relating to drug transactions, ₹ 80 lakh in cash, and nine gold bars. This cash and gold were narcotics proceeds being channelled through hawala networks between Chennai and Sri Lanka. Several transactions between the accused were also discovered using Crypto platforms. Click here to read... [20]
On 07 June 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court, Mumbai, sentenced i) Abdullah Shaikdar, and ii) Najmul Hasan, two Bangladeshis to 10 years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) with fine of ₹ 10,000 each, under Sections 489C and 489B and Section 16 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UA(P)].
In the case, which was originally registered by Thane City Police in 2015 on the basis of specific intelligence shared by the Anti-Narcotic Cell, Crime Branch, Thane City, high quality counterfeit currency notes with a face value of ₹ 4,08,000/- were circulated in Maharashtra after being procured from Bangladesh. Click here to read... [21]
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Links:
[1] https://www.vifindia.org/defensenationalsecurityterrorism/2023/june/23
[2] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1929565
[3] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1929814
[4] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1929884
[5] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1930200
[6] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1930689
[7] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1931023
[8] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1931728
[9] https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/36679/Meeting_of_National_Security_Advisor_Shri_Ajit_Doval_with_National_Security_Advisor_of_USA_HE_Mr_Jake_Sullivan
[10] https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1932615
[11] https://dailypost.ng/2023/06/12/naf-eliminate-over-100-boko-haram-terrorists-in-mandara-mountain/
[12] https://nia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/PressReleaseNew/1483_1_Pr.pdf
[13] https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/state-editions/three-maoist-aides-arrested-in-c---garh.html
[14] https://organiser.org/2023/06/14/178963/bharat/chhattisgarh-maoist-put-up-banners-threatening-local-village-heads-in-narayanpur/
[15] https://nia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/PressReleaseNew/1484_1_Pr1.pdf
[16] https://nia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/PressReleaseNew/1479_1_Pr2.pdf
[17] https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/pro-khalistan-activist-avtar-singh-khanda-8663839/
[18] https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/mumbai-nia-court-2-sent-to-5-yr-jail-for-conspiring-to-revive-khalistan-movement-101686257002517.html
[19] https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/australia/khalistani-supporters-attack-indians-during-car-rally-in-australias-griffith-articleshow.html
[20] https://nia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/PressReleaseNew/1485_1_Pr.pdf
[21] https://nia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/PressReleaseNew/1480_1_Pr3.pdf
[22] http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?title=VIF News Digest: National Security - Defence Studies & Terrorism, (01-15 Jun 2023)&desc=&images=&u=https://www.vifindia.org/defensenationalsecurityterrorism/2023/june/23
[23] http://twitter.com/share?text=VIF News Digest: National Security - Defence Studies & Terrorism, (01-15 Jun 2023)&url=https://www.vifindia.org/defensenationalsecurityterrorism/2023/june/23&via=Azure Power
[24] whatsapp://send?text=https://www.vifindia.org/defensenationalsecurityterrorism/2023/june/23
[25] https://www.vifindia.org/author/anurag-sharma
[26] https://www.vifindia.org/author/Naval-Jagota