With reports suggesting that India, in response to China’s recent renaming of locations in Arunachal Pradesh, is planning to rename about 30 places within China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, let us talk about ‘consensus’ between India and China (not only about Taiwan and Xinjiang, but about Tibet), for which the posts have constantly been changed by Beijing. In October 1950, the People’s Liberation Army crossed the Upper Yangtze river and advanced into Kham Province of Eastern Tibet. A month later, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Patel was concerned about India’s northern borders and pointed a finger at the Indian Ambassador in Beijing: “The Chinese government has tried to delude us by professions of peaceful intention. My own feeling is that at a crucial period they manage to instil into our Ambassador a false sense of confidence in their so-called desire to settle the Tibetan problem by peaceful means. …The final action of the Chinese, in my judgement, is little short of perfidy. The tragedy of it is that the Tibetans put faith in us. …Our Ambassador has been at great pains to find an explanation or justification for Chinese policy and actions.”

Nishant Agrawal, a former BrahMos scientist who was sentenced to life by a sessions court here on June 3 for leaking military secrets to Pakistan, worked in the missile assembly unit at Nagpur and was involved in delivery of close to 80 missiles to the armed forces during his four-year stint. He had access to customers and delivery locations of missiles, as per Major General (retd) Achyut Deo, general manager, BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL), who deposed as a witness during Nishant's trial. Last week, Nishant was sentenced to life imprisonment by the sessions court under the IT Act and Official Secrets Act. He was accused of passing on secret information on BrahMos missiles to Pak intelligence operatives, who contacted him on social media in the guise of girls. His defence counsel has filed an appeal in high court. TOI has access to his case papers.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stated on Tuesday after assuming charge for a second straight term that India will focus on finding solutions to the border issues with China that has long strained ties between the neighbouring countries, They have engaged in a military standoff since July 2020 when at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed in the worst clashes in five decades. India and China share a 3,800 km (2,400 mile) border – much of it poorly demarcated – over which the nuclear-armed nations also fought a war in 1962. Relations and problems with China and Pakistan were different, Jaishankar told reporters. “With regards to China there are still some issues at the border and our focus will be on how to solve them,” he said. India and Pakistan, which is also nuclear-armed, have fought three wars, including two over control of the disputed Kashmir region in the Himalayas.

The Allahabad High Court noted in a recent ruling that the Union government should use "light words" instead of offensive language when putting out warnings like "trespassers will be shot at first sight" and "dekhte hi goli maar di jayegi" on signs outside defense facilities and stations.

In an effort to increase its domestic procurement, the Indian Army signed all of its capital procurement contracts—including those falling under the emergency category—with regional businesses during the most recent two fiscal years, 2022–2023 and 2023–2024.

Shortly after President Vladimir Putin warned that NATO members in Europe were "playing with fire" by proposing to let Kyiv use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia. As quoted by Reuters, Putin indicated that such actions could trigger a global conflict Dmitry Suslov, a member of the Moscow-based Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, made the proposal that Moscow consider a "demonstrative" nuclear explosion to intimidate the West and deter them from allowing Ukraine to use its weapons against targets inside Russia, Reuters reported on Thursday, May 30. Ukraine's leadership argues that it needs the capability to strike Russian forces and military targets inside Russia with long-range Western missiles to defend itself and prevent air, missile, and drone attacks. The report added that this view has garnered some support among Western countries, though not from Washington.

The report comes at a time when Iran has refused to engage with the IAEA over its nuclear plan’s transparency. The International Atomic Energy Agency says that Iran has further increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to nearly weapons-grade level. The United Nations’ Nuclear Watchdog says that Iran now has over 140 kilograms of Uranium enriched up to 60 percent. The agency says that Uranium enriched to 60 percent is enough to make nuclear weapons and an atomic bomb. he alarming development comes after President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash last week. Meanwhile, Iran says that its nuclear ambitions do not include a nuclear weapon,

According to the statement, 825 days have passed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, during which 4,65,000 Russians have been killed or wounded, which includes 980 daily casualties from January to April this year and an estimated 1,000 a day in May, the highest rate since the start of the war. Russia can minimise its losses by withdrawing all of its forces from all of Ukraine,” UK’s political and military counsellor Ankur Narayan said in a statement to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The defence sector now takes up 40 percent of the Russian government’s spending, equivalent to 6 percent of its GDP. Moreover, Ukraine has liberated 70,000 square miles of land seized by Russia in 2022.

This move is seen as part of efforts to strengthen China's ties with Pakistan and safeguard Chinese investments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, particularly related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). China has been actively bolstering the defence capabilities of the Pakistani army along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir over the past three years which includes the construction of steelhead bunkers and the provision of Unmanned Aerial and Combat Aerial Vehicles, officials said on Wednesday. China has also deployed highly encrypted communication towers and the laying of underground fibre cables along the LoC. Moreover, advanced radar systems of Chinese origin, such as the 'JY' and 'HGR' series, have been deployed to enhance medium and low altitude target detection capabilities, providing crucial intelligence support for army and air defence units, they said. Additionally, the presence of the SH-15, a 155 mm truck-mounted howitzer gun manufactured by a Chinese firm, has been noticed at various locations along the LoC. This move is seen as part of efforts to strengthen China's ties with Pakistan and safeguard Chinese investments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, particularly related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Though the presence of senior PLA officials at forward posts, as was detected in 2014, was not found, some intercepts suggested that Chinese troops and engineers were setting up infrastructure along the LoC, including building underground bunkers, officials said. Chinese experts were engaged in tunnel construction in the Leepa Valley of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), signaling preparations for an all-weather road to connect with the Karakoram highway.

The petitioner former sergeant Gopi Ram was enrolled in IAF as a regular combatant airman in the trade of radar operator, and on completion of training on Dec 10, 1964, joined Operational 43 Signal Unit. He actively participated in the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971 and also received decorations/medals. He completed nine years of service on Dec 26, 1971, and was abruptly discharged on March 28, 1972. Almost 52 years after an IAF war veteran was "illegally" discharged after only nine years of service, disentitling him from pension, the Punjab and Haryana HC has held that such an order could not have been passed "to the detriment and disadvantage of a defence personnel". After hearing his plea, HC observed that no reasons had been cited in the order discharging the petitioner, and held that he was entitled to "benefit of completing 15 years of service for the purpose of pension alone". The court found the AFT order "laconic", and said: "His discharge order having been quashed, he would be entitled to full pension on completion of his full service on attaining the age of 58 years."