India’s army chief said on Thursday the border situation with China is stable but unpredictable after a nearly two-and-a-half-year standoff between tens of thousands of soldiers from both countries in the eastern Ladakh area. Gen. Manoj Pande told reporters the countries were continuing to talk both at the diplomatic and military levels, and that India's military maintains a high level of preparedness. Read more: Indian and Chinese soldiers engage in new border combat "We have adequate forces. We have adequate reserves in each of our sectors to be able to effectively deal with any situation or contingency,” Pande said. "I would say the situation is stable and under control, yet unpredictable,” he said. Pande added that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has impacted the supply of spare parts for India’s military but did not provide more details. He also spoke about India’s reliance on equipment from these countries. "The sustenance of these weapons systems — equipment in terms of spares, in term of ammunition — is one issue that we have addressed,” he said. Experts say up to 60% of Indian defense equipment comes from Russia, and New Delhi finds itself in a bind amid the standoff with China over a territorial dispute. Twenty Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers died in a clash in 2020. The Times of India newspaper reported on Thursday that India is having problems transporting back one of its diesel-run submarines after a major refit in Russia, which has been hit with sanctions over the Ukraine war. Read more: Indian, Chinese troops clash at border in fresh faceoff India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin Plateau, which India considers part of Ladakh, where the current face-off is happening. India says any unilateral change in the border status quo by Beijing is unacceptable. The Line of Actual Control separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. India and China fought a deadly war over the border in 1962.

India on Wednesday named a former Army general as the country's new military chief, putting an end to months of speculation about who would occupy the coveted post. Lt General Anil Chauhan superannuated from active military service as the Eastern Command chief in May 2021. He has also been named the military affairs secretary to the Indian government. The new Chief of Defence Staff will report directly to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The post of the Chief of Defence Staff fell vacant in December last year, following the death of India's first military chief General Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 12 other armed forces personnel in a chopper crash. Read: Indian Army Chief meets his Bangladesh counterpart The 63-year-old Chief of Defence Staff was on his way to deliver a lecture at Defence Services Staff College in the southern state of Tamil Nadu when the ill-fated Mi-17 V5 chopper crashed just before landing in a hilly terrain and burst into flames.   General Rawat had a chequered career in the armed forces spanning over 40 years, rising from the rank of a junior officer to the Indian Army chief and eventually the first head of the tri-services -- the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force.

A month after distributing hi-tech specialised hearing aids among the deaf and mute villagers of Dadhaki in Doda district, the Indian Army has gone a step ahead and adopted the village to address the concerns of its people, reports Rediff.com. The hilltop tribal village, 105 km from Bhaderwah town, is home to 105 families. Of these, 55 families mysteriously have at least one person who can neither speak nor listen. Read: Rapid COVID-19 home tests surge in India, experts flag risks There are 78 such people in the village, of which 41 are women and 30 children aged three to 15 years. An Army spokesman said its Rashtriya Rifles has adopted the village in order to ensure the overall welfare of the population, with multiple social security programmes aimed at giving them the confidence to survive and make a living on their own. In the first step, besides looking after their basic needs such as clothing, food and healthcare, the Army has begun door-to-door personalised teaching classes for the mute children by deploying sign language experts who have been specially trained in Telangana, the spokesman said. In the next step of the ongoing scheme, a school with a hostel facility will be provided in Dadhkai panchayat, he said. “We want to help them in a comprehensive and long-lasting manner. To teach them the best possible sign language, two teachers were sponsored by the Army to get specialised training at Hyderabad and Secunderabad (Telangana) and now, the deaf and mute population is being taught by them at their homes,” the spokesman said. Bhalessa block development council chairman Mohammed Hanief, a resident of Dadhkai, expressed gratitude to the Army for its continuous welfare efforts. “Whenever a woman conceives, not only the family but the entire village lives in constant fear of the offspring being deaf and mute. If it happens, it only increases miseries,” he told PTI. He said a number of government officials and NGOs visited the village in the last couple of decades, but “nothing concrete was done”. “The Army has initiated practical steps which will surely go a long way to minimise the miseries due to the disability, the root cause of which has not been identified yet,” Hanief said. Read: India dismisses OIC's ‘motivated and misleading’ statement on hijab row Some of the girls, who have learned the sign language, expressed their desire to start sewing centres. They sought sewing machines and a residential school. “We have pinned our hopes on the Army as it is the only one looking after us for the last 10 years. My three daughters -- Asran Bano (8), Reshma (12) and Asha Bano (23) are born with the disability and the Army has recently provided them with hearing aids,” a Hussan Bibi, a local woman, said. She said her daughters are showing a keen interest in stitching and said she is hopeful that the Army will help them achieve their dream by providing sewing machines and setting up a tailoring centre. In January, the Army gave hearing aids, costing Rs 17,000 each, to 10 children in the first phase, besides starting tutorials to teach them sign language.

Thirteen civilians and a soldier were killed in the northeastern state of Nagaland after Indian security forces ambushed a truck carrying locals, in a botched counter-insurgency operation. The tragic incident occurred in the remote village of Oting near the Myanmar border in Mon district of Nagaland Saturday evening, prompting the Indian government to order a high-level probe Sunday. Read:India reports first two Covid cases of Omicron variant Highly placed sources told UNB that acting on a tip-off about the possible movement of insurgents through the village, the Indian Army opened fire on the truck carrying local daily wagers, killing eight people. "Five more villagers were killed an hour later after the Indian Army jawans opened fire to control an angry mob that torched several vehicles in protest against the ambush. A soldier also died," the sources said. In a statement on Sunday, the Indian Army described the botched operation as a case of "mistaken identity". "Based on credible intelligence of likely movement of insurgents, a specific operation was planned to be conducted in the area of Tiru, Mon District, Nagaland. The incident and its aftermath is deeply regretted," it said. Read: India defers resumption of international flights Indian Home Minister Amit Shah also tweeted to say that a special investigation team (SIT) will probe the deaths. "Anguished over an unfortunate incident in Nagaland's Oting, Mon. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives. A high-level SIT constituted by the State govt will thoroughly probe this incident to ensure justice to the bereaved families," he wrote. However, India's main opposition Congress was quick to condemn the killings. "What exactly is the home ministry doing when neither civilians nor security personnel are safe in our own land?" Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Visiting Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane made a courtesy call on Bangladesh Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed at the Army Headquarters of Dhaka Cantonment on Thursday. During the meeting, they discussed various issues related to the existing good relations between the armed forces of the two countries and mutual cooperation in the future. Issues related to the implementation of the Border Road Organization, training of Army pilots, exchange of defense experts and trainers, mutual defense cooperation got priority during the discussion, says an Inter Service Public Relation (ISPR) media release. Also read: Indian Army chief arrives in Bangladesh General Aziz expressed gratitude for India's commendable cooperation in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. He also hoped that India would be beside Bangladesh in resolving the Rohingya crisis. Earlier, General Naravane paid tributes to the members of the Bangladesh Armed Forces who made supreme sacrifices during the Liberation War of 1971, by laying a wreath at the altar of Shikha Anirban in Dhaka Cantonment. Also read: India offers Covid vaccine for Bangladesh army Later, the Indian Army Chief was then given a "Guard of Honor" by a smart team of the Bangladesh Army at Senakunja. Then General Naravane planted  a sapling at Senakunja. Indian Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane arrived in Dhaka on Thursday on a five-day visit. The Indian Army chief is accompanied by his wife Veena Naravane and a two-member delegation.

Multinational military exercise "Shantir Ogroshena - 2021" (Front Runner of Peace) will begin here on Sunday to commemorate the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and mark glorious 50 years of Bangladesh's Independence. Indian Army contingent comprising of 30 personnel including Officers, JCOs and Jawans of a Battalion from The DOGRA Regiment will participate in the exercise along with contingent of Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army. Also read: Multinational military exercise "Shantir Ogroshena" to begin Apr 4 The theme of the exercise (April 4-12) is - Robust Peace Keeping Operations, according to Indian Ministry of Defence. Military observers from USA, UK, Turkey, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore will also be in attendance throughout the exercise. Also read: Bangladesh-India joint military exercise ends in Tangail An Indian Air Force AN-32 airlifted a 30-member Contingent of the Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army to Dhaka on Saturday.

Multinational military exercise "Shantir Ogroshena - 2021 (Front Runner of the Peace) will be held in Bangladesh from April 4-12 marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of Bangladesh's Independence. Indian Army contingent comprising of 30 personnel including officers, JCOs and Jawans of a Battalion from The DOGRA Regiment will participate in the exercise along with contingent of Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army. Also read: Bangladesh-India joint military exercise ends in Tangail The theme of the exercise is - Robust Peace Keeping Operations, according to Indian Ministry of Defence. Military observers from USA, UK, Turkey, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore will also be in attendance throughout the exercise.

For the first time, the Indian government has approved financial powers for the entire top brass of the country's armed forces. Earlier only the chiefs and the vice chiefs of the three services -- the Army, the Navy and the Air Force -- were allowed to make such decisions.

India's top court on Monday ordered the federal government to grant permanent commission and command positions to female officers in the army on par with men, asserting that the government's arguments against the policy were based on gender stereotypes.

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka celebrated the 71st Republic Day of India on Sunday at Chancery premises of the High Commission.