Beijing: Amidst a row over termination of Indian infrastructure major GMR's Male airport contract, China and Maldives on Tuesday firmed up their defence ties with Beijing promising to maintain mutually beneficial relations with the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.
Chinese Defence Minister Gen Liang Guanglie held talks with Maldivian counterpart Col (Retd) Mohamed Nazim in Beijing during which both sides pledged to strengthen military ties, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said. The Ministers exchanged views on regional security as well as relations between the two countries and their militaries, it said.
The visit of Nazim comes days after Maldives eased out GMR from the Male airport project much to the disquiet of India. Nazim, who arrived on Monday, was at the forefront of talks with GMR for the smooth taking over of the airport by Maldives government after it "unilaterally" terminated the $511 million contract, signed by the previous regime of Mohamed Nasheed, on November 27. Media reports had then said that China could be the force behind the move against GMR.
"Looking at the political situation and political framework in Maldives, I can't rule out anything," GMR Airports chief financial officer (CFO) Sidharth Kapur had told journalists last week in a press conference in New Delhi when asked about China angle....
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07:44 PM, Dec 11, 2012
Beijing: China and Sri Lanka on Sunday firmed up their defence relations during a meeting of their top officials who pledged to make efforts to boost relations between the two countries and their militaries. Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met a Sri Lankan delegation headed by Secretary of Defence and Urban Development Ministry Gotabaya Rajapaksa. During the meeting in Beijing, they pledged to make efforts to boost relations between the...
10:47 PM, Nov 11, 2012
Washington: The US is looking to increase defence trade with India and Washington will seek to "address" any concern of New Delhi in this regard, apart from "familiarising the Indian government" with the US system, a senior State Department official has said. "This spring I was in India for the first Political-Military talks in six years. Cumulative defense sales have grown from virtually zero to more than USD 8 billion...
09:44 AM, Jul 28, 2012
Kabul: The Obama administration on Saturday declared Afghanistan the United States' newest "major non-NATO ally," an action designed to facilitate close defence cooperation after US combat troops withdraw from the country in 2014 and as a political statement of support for Afghanistan's long-term stability. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who arrived in Kabul on an unannounced visit to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, disclosed the alliance to diplomats...
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Washington: The "once-nascent" defence ties between India and US has evolved into a "strong and growing" strategic partnership between two of the pre-eminent security powers in Asia, a top Pentagon official said. "Today, US-India defence ties are strong and growing, including a robust slate of dialogues, military exercises, defence trade, personnel exchanges, and armaments cooperation. The strong ties between our two militaries reflect this," James Miller told lawmakers in written...
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Russia will transfer enrichment and reprocessing technologies to India. ...
09:13 AM, Dec 07, 2009
Southampton: Chastened by their experience of the abandoned first cricket one-dayer against India, England would have off-spinner Graeme Swann back in the fold for the second game at Rose Bowl here on Tuesday. Swann, who was laid off due to a stomach bug, is due to return and even though his replacement Samit Patel did nothing wrong on Saturday, the best one-day bowler of the world would only help the...
07:32 PM, Feb 26, 2008
Karachi: Pakistan's left-arm pace bowler Mohammad Amir, who was banned for five years by the ICC anti-corruption tribunal on spot-fixing charges, has vowed to contest and appeal the ban in the international court of arbitration for sports in Switzerland. This is too harsh a decision for charges that I bowled two no-balls deliberately. I was never expecting such a harsh decision. I am in a state of shock but I...
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US Army chief to staff, Gen Peter J Schoomaker will hold talks with top Indian leaders on bilateral defence ties. ...
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