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The Hindu
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Hope U.S. can complete major pending defence sales to India: Defence Secretary Hegseth
The U.S. has expressed hope that it can complete several major pending American defence sales to India, as it stressed that Washington and Delhi are 'mutually aware' of the security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday (July 1, 2025) at the Pentagon and said he had a productive conversation on advancing the India-U.S. defence partnership, building on growing convergences of interests, capabilities and responsibilities. According to the Department of Defence (DoD) news article, Mr. Hegseth said the U.S. and India are 'mutually aware of the security concerns in the region, and both nations have the ability to counter that threat together.' Mr. Hegseth also touched on U.S. efforts to provide India with the tools needed to counter threats in the Indo-Pacific region, the DoD news said. Also Read | Vance calls for closer ties between U.S., India in defence, energy sectors 'The United States is very pleased with the successful integration of many US defence items into India's inventory," Mr. Hegseth said, according to the DoD news article. 'And building on this progress, we hope we can complete several major pending US defence sales to India, expand our shared defence industrial cooperation and coproduction efforts, strengthen interoperability ... between our forces, and then formally sign a new 10-year Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership ... which we hope to do very soon.' Mr. Jaishankar, in his opening remarks, said, 'We believe that our defence partnership is, today, truly one of the most consequential pillars of the relationship. Also Read | U.S. notifies potential sale of maritime surveillance tech worth $131 million to India "It's not built merely on shared interest, but we believe really deepening convergence and of capabilities, of responsibilities and what we do in the Indo-Pacific, we believe, is absolutely crucial to its strategic stability," he said. Mr. Jaishankar said that the world is a complicated place, 'perhaps growing in its complexity, and certainly our partnership and the contribution that we can make together, I think, would be of immense importance, not just for us, I think, but for the larger region, I would even argue for the world.' Mr. Hegseth said that 'almost right at the beginning of the administration, President [Donald] Trump and Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi set a strong foundation for our relationship, which we're building on here today: productive, pragmatic and realistic. Also Read | U.S. pushes for more defence deals, offers F-35 fighter jet 'And our nations boast a rich and growing history of cooperation driven by a shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,' Mr. Hegseth said. According to DoD news, Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Jaishankar discussed participation in the next India-U.S. Defence Acceleration Ecosystem Summit, where the two nations will continue to build on U.S.-India defence industrial cooperation and produce new innovations in technology and manufacturing. "We're eager to work alongside you to realise our shared goals," Mr. Hegseth said. "They're deep and ongoing."
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Gambhir & Agarkar Plot at the Birmingham Nets
Trump Gives Troops Free Hand At Border? More Trouble For Immigrants As U.S. Expands Military Zones Amid global tensions over Iran-Israel war, Donald Trump was 'secretly' rushing more troops to the U.S. borders. The Department of Defence is expanding a militarised zone along the southern U.S. border, where troops are authorised to detain people who enter illegally. The Air Force announced Monday the annexation of a 400-kilometre stretch of the border in Texas amid a buildup of military forces under President's declaration of a national emergency at the border. Watch for more details. 9.5K views | 11 hours ago
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump Gives Troops Free Hand At Border? More Trouble For Immigrants As U.S. Expands Military Zones
Amid global tensions over Iran-Israel war, Donald Trump was 'secretly' rushing more troops to the U.S. borders. The Department of Defence is expanding a militarised zone along the southern U.S. border, where troops are authorised to detain people who enter illegally. The Air Force announced Monday the annexation of a 400-kilometre stretch of the border in Texas amid a buildup of military forces under President's declaration of a national emergency at the border. Watch for more details.
Irish Examiner
25-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Defence Forces Chief of Staff warns that specialised personnel are not paid enough
The Defence Forces chief of staff has said the State is not paying highly specialised military personnel enough money for them to stay in the army. Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy said that while he recognised much had been done to pay soldiers more money, 'a disparity between the pay rates of highly specialised military personnel and their civilian equivalents remains'. He was speaking at a special sitting of the Oireachtas committee on defence and national security to deal with recent revelations that Irish military flight operations at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel in Dublin are to move to part-time hours, and may even have to cease entirely due to severe staff shortages. The cuts could impact rescue, medical, and policing services. As a result, Tánaiste and minister for defence Simon Harris, got Cabinet approval to immediately extend a current service commitment scheme — which includes annual bonus payments of around €22,000 to Air Corps pilots who agree to stay longer — to air traffic control personnel. Lt Gen Mulcahy said: 'Despite extensive efforts, staffing challenges have persisted as a competitive commercial aviation market has targeted this highly specialised, highly trained stream within the Air Corps." While I wish to acknowledge the significant uplift in the remuneration package for the Defence Forces in general over the last number of years, a disparity between the pay rates of highly specialised military personnel and their civilian equivalents remains. 'This disparity makes it extremely difficult to retain the services of such personnel, including trained ATS (air traffic services) personnel. 'This is the reality of the environment the Defence Forces and indeed the wider public sector are operating in." Dublin Bay North TD Tom Brabazon asked what can be done to make sure the air traffic control issues do not emerge again, as they have on three occasions since 2010. Department of Defence Secretary General Jacqui McCrum said in reply that the Department of Defence is to carry out a peer review of how other militaries around the world operate their own air traffic control systems. In her opening address earlier, Ms McCrum said: 'The challenges facing the Air Corps in retaining air traffic controllers has changed significantly since 2021. 'We have seen an increase in commercial activity in terms of there being other opportunities for air traffic controllers in Ireland. 'It's a fact that there is a growing shortage of air traffic controllers globally.' Read More Government signs new sonar contract to enhance maritime security
The Age
23-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Iran launches missile attacks on US base in Qatar
Washington: Iran has fired missiles at US military assets in Qatar in the regime's first act of retaliation for the US bombing of its nuclear facilities at the weekend. People in Doha, Qatar's capital, stopped and looked up as the missiles flew, and interceptors fired and struck at least one missile in the night sky. The Qatari defence ministry said its defence systems intercepted the attack on the Al Udeid Air Base and the incident 'did not result in any deaths or injuries'. In Washington, a senior White House official said the White House and Department of Defence were aware of and closely monitoring potential threats to the base, which is jointly operated by Qatar and the US. A defence official also confirmed the Al Udeid base was attacked 'by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran'. 'At this time, there are no reports of US casualties,' the person said. CNN reported Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Dan Caine, were in the White House Situation Room early on Monday afternoon, local time. In a statement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack was a response to 'the blatant military aggression by the criminal regime of the United States'. It described the missile bombardment as 'powerful and destructive', said Iran 'will never leave any aggression against its territorial integrity, sovereignty, or national security unanswered'. The US hit Iran's nuclear assets with 75 projectiles on the weekend, including 14 so-called 'bunker buster' bombs aimed at obliterating the country's ability to develop nuclear weapons.
