Military Power

Burkina Faso's ruling military junta sacks prime minister, dissolves govt

Burkina Faso's ruling military junta issued a decree on Friday dismissing Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela and announcing the dissolution of the national government. The military's leader, Ibrahim Traore, said officials in the dissolved government will continue to perform their duties until a new government is formed. No reason was given for the move. The junta in Burkina Faso seized power in September 2022 by ousting the military rule of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba about eight months after it staged a coup to remove democratically elected President Roch Marc Kabor. The country is one of several West African nations where the military has recently taken over, capitalising on popular discontent with previous democratically elected governments over security issues. However, since its inception, the junta has struggled to end Burkina Faso's security challenges the very reason that it claimed had prompted it to take power. Growing attacks by extremists lin

Corruption in Chinese army continues to haunt Xi Jinping; PLA purge expands

Admiral Miao Hua, a member of China's highest military body chaired by Xi, is under investigation for 'serious violations of discipline'

China outpaces India in nuclear aircraft carrier race with new breakthrough

Reports of a prototype reactor in Sichuan shed light on Beijing's long-term ambitions to expand its naval power

Myanmar's military ramps up attacks including rapes, torture: UN expert

Myanmar's desperate military junta is ramping up attacks on villages that have fallen to opposition groups, carrying out beheadings, gang rapes and torture, with women, children and the elderly among the victims, the UN independent human rights investigator for Myanmar said in a new report. Thomas Andrews, a former US congressman from Maine, said in the report to the UN General Assembly circulated Friday that the junta has responded to military defeats and the loss of territory by using sophisticated weapons against civilians and seeking to destroy towns that it cannot control. Calling Myanmar an invisible crisis because the world's attention is focused elsewhere, he said, Escalating atrocities against the people of Myanmar are being enabled by governments that allow, or actively support, the transfer of weapons, weapons materials, and jet fuel to junta forces. Andrews didn't name the governments. But he praised Singapore for cracking down on weapons transfers that has led to a 90 p

Militants unleash carnage in Pakistan, kill 19 troops in deadly attacks

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnesses fierce gunfights, a suicide bombing, and mortar fire as militants attack, leaving widespread damage and sparking calls for peace

India dispatches first Akash air defence missile battery for export: BEL

Akash surface-to-air missile system battery being exported to 'friendly foreign country', widely speculated to be Armenia, though not officially confirmed

China flexes naval might, reveals 2 new jets and dual-aircraft carrier ops

Indian Navy also conducted dual-aircraft carrier operations in June last year, involving INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant

UPSC CDS 1 final results 2024 released, here's how to check and download

UPSC CDS I 2024 Final Results have been released by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). A total of 237 candidates are named for various defence forces, in INA, IMA and Air Force

Taiwan urges China not to undermine its status quo through military threats

MOFA also thanked its allies for addressing China's provocations and showing concern for Taiwan in recent weeks

Xi Jinping inspects military brigade, calls for strengthening deterrence

Chinese President Xi Jinping has inspected a brigade of the military's strategic missile force that underwent a massive purge of officials for corruption in recent years, according to a media report on Saturday. Xi on Thursday visited at Hefei the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Rocket Force, a key arm of the military operating the missiles, including nuclear weapons, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. He urged the strategic missile troops to strengthen their deterrence and combat capabilities and resolutely fulfil the tasks entrusted by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people, the report said. The Rocket Force, established in 2015 as part of Xi's military overhaul, has been at the centre of the latest anti-corruption campaign targeting the military. Besides heading the ruling CPC and the Presidency, 71-year-old Xi also heads the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military. His visit to the Rocket Force, which operates

Major countries must lead in safeguarding global security: China's minister

Dong's remarks come as communications ease between the US and Chinese militaries

Taiwan reports increase in Chinese military activity near its borders

Total of 10 Chinese aircraft and 6 Chinese vessels were detected operating in proximity to Taiwan

Maldives says it cannot fly three aircraft donated by India. Here's why

The move comes after Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, a pro-China leader, insisted on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel by May 10

Top UN court to rule on Nicaragua's plea for Germany to halt aid to Israel

The United Nations' top court is ruling Tuesday on a request by Nicaragua for judges to order Germany to halt military aid to Israel, arguing that Berlin's support enables acts of genocide and breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza. Nicaragua's case is the latest legal bid by a country with historic ties to the Palestinian people to stop Israel's offensive. Late last year, South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the court. The cases come as Israel's allies face growing calls to stop supplying it with weapons, and as some including Germany have grown more critical of the war. On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel must still do more to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip. At hearings early this month, Nicaragua's Ambassador to the Netherlands Carlos Jos Argello Gmez told the 16-judge panel that Germany is failing to honour its own obligation to prevent genocide or to ensure respect of international humanitarian .

India fourth largest military spender globally in 2023: SIPRI report

India was the fourth largest military spender globally in 2023 with an expenditure of USD 83.6 billion, behind the US, China and Russia, according to a report by an independent international think-tank. The report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shared on its website in April also said the "rise" in global military spending last year can be attributed "primarily to the ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating geopolitical tensions in Asia and Oceania and the Middle East". The military expenditure went up in all five geographical regions, with major spending increases recorded in Europe, Asia and Oceania and the Middle East, it said. The report comes amid ongoing conflicts in various parts of the world such as the ones involving Israel-Hamas, Iran-Israel, Russian-Ukraine besides volatility in the Red Sea region. "World military expenditure increased for the ninth consecutive year in 2023, reaching a total of USD 2443 billion. The 6.8 per cent increase in 202

UK pledges an additional $620 million in new military supplies for Ukraine

The UK on Tuesday pledged an additional $620 million in new military supplies for Ukraine, including long-range missiles and four millions rounds of ammunition, at a time when Ukraine is struggling to hold off advancing Russian forces on the eastern front line of the war, now in its third year. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday morning to confirm the assistance and "assure him of the UK's steadfast support for Ukraine's defence against Russia's brutal and expansionist ambitions, Sunak's office said. Sunak was travelling to Warsaw later Tuesday to meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for talks about further aid for Ukraine. Ahead of the visit, the UK government said Sunak would announce 500 million pounds ($620 million, 580 million euros) in new British military supplies, including 400 vehicles, 60 boats, 1,600 munitions and 4 million rounds of ammunition. The shipment wi

Defence Minister Rajnath visits Siachen; reviews military preparedness

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday visited Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, and reviewed India's overall military preparedness in the region. Singh's visit to Siachen came over a week after the Indian Army marked the 40th year of its presence in the strategically key region. The defence minister, accompanied by Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande, reviewed the overall security situation in the region, officials said. Singh also interacted with the soldiers deployed in Siachen. The Siachen glacier, which is at a height of around 20,000 feet in the Karakoram range, is known as the highest militarised zone in the world where the soldiers have to battle frostbite and high winds. Under its 'Operation Meghdoot' the Indian Army established its full control over the Siachen Glacier in April, 1984. The Indian Army strengthened its presence in Siachen over the last few years. In January last year, Captain Shiva Chauhan from the Army's Corps of Engineers was posted at a frontline pos

Soon India will become provider of services to other nations: CDS Chauhan

Addressing the Indian Defspace Symposium 2024 here, General Chauhan said that space is called the final frontier

Modernised Indian military has reduced its dependence on Russian arms: US

Observing that India has showcased itself as a global leader, the top intelligence official from the US Department of Defense has told the Congress that in 2023, India took steps to modernise its military to compete with China and reduce its dependency on Russian origin-equipment. During the past year, India has showcased itself as a global leader by hosting the Group of 20 economic summit and demonstrated a greater willingness to counter PRC (People's Republic of China) activity throughout the Indo-Pacific region, Lt Gen Jeffrey Kruse, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency told members of the House Armed Services Committee the subcommittee on intelligence and special operations during a Congressional hearing on defence intelligence countering China. India, he said, has advanced partnerships in the Indo-Pacific with regional South China Sea claimants, such as the Philippines, through training and defence sales and deepened cooperation with the US, Australia, France and ...

The quickest path to WWIII

The Return of Great Powers argues that we are living through a Cold War redux