StratPost Podcast

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is on a visit to Ladakh a day after India's foreign ministry categorically said no territory had been ceded in the region. The fire onboard the U.S. Navy's amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard at San Diego Naval Base has finally been put out, Japan has inducted it's first Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and Saudi Arabia has announced a new defence exhibition.

Indian armed forces personnel with less than the qualifying 10 years of service are now eligible for invalid pension, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has delegated powers for urgent purchases of upto INR 300 crore or USD 40 million to the Armed Forces to meet their emergent operational requirements, US Navy continued firefighting efforts onboard the USS Bonhomme Richard light aircraft carrier for the fourth day, Japan has announced it will operate the Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing F-35B from the helicopter destroyer JS Izumo and former Afghan vice president and ethnic Uzbek warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum has been promoted to the highest military rank of marshal by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

China calls US rejection of its claims in the South China Sea completely unjustified, as the United Kingdom makes plans to base an aircraft carrier in the Far East, Boeing has been awarded a USD 1.2 B contract for the first eight F-15EX fighters, the US Navy is still dealing with a fire onboard a forty thousand ton aircraft carrier, the Delhi High Court has rejected a serving Indian Army officer's plea to allow him to keep his Facebook account and the British government has finally settled the issue and banned equipment supplied by China's Huawei from it's 5G networks.

India and China to hold their fourth corps commanders meet tomorrow, Indian Army officer challenges Facebook ban in court, Indian Army to buy a second batch of 72,000 Sig Sauer assault rifles, a fire has raged for over 24 hours onboard a US light aircraft carrier at San Diego naval base and authorities on the Japanese island of Okinawa are horrified after more than 60 U.S. marines are infected with the novel coronavirus.

India has decided to invite Australia to the international naval exercise Malabar, Nepal has banned all private Indian television news channels, Boeing completes delivery of 22 Apache and 15 Chinook helicopters to India and the U.S. has cleared a $23B sale of F-35 fighter aircraft to Japan.

The Indian Navy has brought out new rules to restrict the use of social media and smartphones by its personnel, India rejects Chinese claims on the Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh and HAL Management Academy has launched two postgraduate programs in aviation management and production management.

Indian Army orders all personnel to delete their Facebook accounts, Boeing completes delivery of the last five of 22 Apache attack helicopters to the Indian Air Force, Saab begins production of the Gripen in Brazil and the Indian Navy completes Operation Samudra Setu.

Podcast: India's Supreme Court gives the army a month to offer women officers permanent commissions, Taiwan says the Dalai Lama is welcome to visit the island, Social media giants suspend cooperation with authorities in Hong Kong and the US clears arms sales worth USD 7.5 billion.

Podcast: Troop withdrawals have been reported in the Ladakh region that might be the beginning of a reduction in tensions between India and China and two US aircraft carrier battle groups decided to go exercise their freedom of navigation in the South China Sea over the weekend.

Podcast: Prime Minister Modi visits troops in forward areas in Ladakh, India's defence ministry approves the purchase of new missiles and fighter aircraft, Japan has changed its laws to secure information shared with friendly militaries and Nepal's prime minister might have his fate decided on Saturday.

Today's Playlist: Progress is scarce on a resolution to the Ladakh stand-off, Australia plans to hike defence spending, NATO allies France and Turkey have had a row, Finland's air force has discarded its old insignia and Germany has disbanded a special forces unit over right wing extremism.

Today: No word from India-China corps commanders meet, China passes security law for Hong Kong, Airbus to cut 15,000 jobs, Boeing suffers a 97 aircraft order cancellation, Rude morale patch gets US Navy aviators a scolding & Boris's ride is back from the body shop

Daily fix of news, analysis and commentary on defence and strategic affairs, every weekday. India bans the TikTok smartphone app Indian and Chinese corps commanders to meet on Tuesday Japan cancels Aegis Ashore US-Russian intercepts New AESA radar for German Eurofighter Typhoons

Angad Singh, military author and Project Coordinator at the Observer Research Foundation examines the response of the Indian armed forces to the Covid-19 contagion, its impact on operational availability, defence supplies and defence budgets.

Veteran defence journalist Sujan Dutta explains the setting of the Coronavirus outbreak in the Indian Navy establishment in Mumbai and its implications.

A Kargil martyr's daughter used to get angry waiting for someone to write about her dad. She finally wrote a book, herself. Diksha Dwivedi tells Saurabh Joshi why she wrote Letters from Kargil, how families of other personnel killed in action opened up to her and what it was like growing up for the daughter of Major Chandra Bhushan Dwivedi, 315 Field Regiment, Indian Army.

Angad Singh and Pushan Das help StratPost editor Saurabh Joshi understand how the new Indian Air Force contest for fighter aircraft will be different from the last one, why cost needs to be a priority and why it will take two general elections before an order is placed.

Ankit Panda, Senior Editor at The Diplomat reviews the 'Indo-Pacific', the 'Quad' and Indo-U.S. relations with Saurabh Joshi at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2018.