Indian Air Force To Retire MiG-21 Fighter Jets: A Look At IAF's Fighter Jets And Aircrafts
Rafale: A multirole fighter jet from France. It is the largest entry into the air force, having being inducted in July 2020. It is equipped with advanced avionics and weapons for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. (File Pic)
Sukhoi Su-30MKI: Developed in collaboration with Russia, it is India's frontline fighter jet. It is known for its long range and versatility. (File Pic)
Mirage 2000: A French-made multirole jet famed for its precision strikes. Known for its agility and precision strike capability, it played a key role during the 1999 Kargil conflict and was instrumental in the 2019 Balakot airstrikes. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
SEPECAT Jaguar: First operated in 1979, the Jaguar has been a key strike aircraft in the IAF's fleet for decades. The Indian jaguar have now been upgraded with modern avionics and navigation systems to enhance precision strike capabilities. Reportedly, it was recently involved in Operation Sindoor. (Image: X)
The IAF also operates a combinations of various transport aircraft including Antonov An-32, Dornier 228, and Hawker Siddeley HS 748 aircraft. (File Pic)
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Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Explained: The rift in Western world over Gaza, and its possible impact
With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza growing more alarming, Israel Sunday said it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors. Days before, Israel and the United States had withdrawn from ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, citing the Palestinian group's lack of 'good faith'. The following day, on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country would declare its recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September, drawing criticism from both the US and Israel. On July 21, 25 countries including Italy, Canada, UK, Japan, France and the EU had asserted that 'the war in Gaza must end now'. In recent days, multiple Western leaders, including Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian PM Mark Carney, and Australian PM Anthony Albanese have strongly criticised Israel's actions in Gaza. These developments represent a global rift — including in the West — when it comes to Israel and Palestine. It is yet to be seen what this will mean on the ground. Israel's war on Gaza Over the past month, Israel's approach to Gaza has turned more decisive. With the US withdrawing from the ceasefire negotiations, Israel appears to have a carte blanche both for its maximalist military objective of eliminating Hamas and its maximalist political objective of a permanent occupation of Gaza. A chorus of Israeli ministers, like Itamar Ben-Gvir, continue to call for Palestinians to 'leave' Gaza. Defence Minister Israel Katz has laid out Israel's immediate plans for the Strip. This includes building a 'humanitarian city' on the ruins of Rafah where 600,000 Palestinians would initially be 'moved' and 'not be allowed to leave, except to go to other countries'. This plan, which will eventually include all of Gaza's population of roughly 2.1 million people, has been described as a potential concentration camp by several experts, including former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert. Israel's latest strategy of allegedly shooting unarmed Palestinians lining up for aid has triggered more pointed criticism from Western capitals outside the US. The July 21 joint statement stated that the 'Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity'. Aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave is currently being routed through the Israeli-American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). There is growing evidence of starving Palestinians being slaughtered outside GHF centres; the UN reports that more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israel since the GHF began operations on May 27. This comes even as more than a hundred humanitarian aid organisations have warned that a 'mass famine' is spreading in Gaza. The World Food Program, an arm of the UN, said recently that the hunger crisis in Gaza had reached 'new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row.' Global positions on Palestine The French decision to recognise Palestinian statehood is representative of a growing rift in the global order vis-à-vis Israel and Palestine. * The US and Israel reject any push for a Palestinian state. The alliance of the two stakeholders with the greatest ability to affect changes on the ground has held firm even as global pressures on Israel increase. * Several Western states, such as Canada, UK, and Germany, however, are seemingly breaking from the US-Israel alliance. While they do back Israel's immediate objectives, they also remain committed to potentially implementing the two-state solution. Note, however, that these countries also retain their broader support for Israeli interests. Macron, for instance, called for a demilitarised Palestinian state — which would effectively deny Palestinians full sovereignty. * The Global South and Arab states seek an immediate end to Israel's current war in Gaza and an inclusive, negotiated two-state solution to the original dispute. However, most of these states have markedly limited abilities to actually shape events on the ground, and Arab states remain disinclined to undertake punitive economic or military measures against Israel. Status of two-state solution Broadly, despite the failure of the Oslo Accords of 1995, most states have stood by the two-state solution as the only achievable outcome — even as Israel progressively removes the physical contours of a future Palestinian state and has killed Palestinians at record rates each day since October 2023. A day before ceasefire talks broke down, the Israeli Knesset passed a non-binding resolution calling for Israel to annex the West Bank. Another Knesset resolution a year ago had rejected the possibility of allowing a sovereign Palestinian state. In June, Israel approved 22 new Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Most of Israel's West Bank settlements are deemed illegal by the UN and a majority of its member states, including India. That Israeli ministers also look to re-settle Homesh and Sa-Nur in the Northern West Bank, evacuated along with the settlements in Gaza in 2005, is indicative of Israel's concerted push to leverage the war to expand its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. It is thus notable that France and Saudi Arabia are set to co-chair an international conference on the two-state solution at the UN from July 28. While a ministerial-level conference on the two-state solution was held at the UN in September 2024, Israel's war of attrition, combined with forced mass starvation, has sparked a renewed push to explore methods to advance the solution. However, unlike earlier global pushes for a Palestinian state alongside Israel according to pre-1967 borders, the current international effort arguably occurs with the US and Israel being the least amenable. Even as questions over the reform of the Palestinian Authority (restricted to the West Bank since 2007) can be addressed, the question of Hamas' future remains a dead-end. The upcoming international conference will bolster support for Palestinian statehood (recognised by 147 of the UN's 193 member states) but the degree to which participating states can influence Israeli actions remains unclear. It remains to be seen if the conference propels states to undertake punitive measures of any nature and scale against Israel, failing which Tel Aviv has little incentive to cease hostilities and territorial expansion, especially with continuing US support. Bashir Ali Abbas is a Senior Research Associate at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research, New Delhi
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Trump-Xi to meet? US, China resume tariff talks to extend truce
Top negotiators from the United States and China met in Stockholm on Monday to resume trade talks aimed at resolving long-standing economic disputes. The meeting comes days before an August 12 deadline to reach a deal and avoid a sharp increase in tariffs that could further disrupt global Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng led the talks. The meeting follows a temporary trade truce in mid-May and a draft deal in June, which helped ease tension between the two if no long-term solution is reached by the August 12 deadline, both sides may impose retaliatory tariffs of over 100% on certain goods. While President Donald Trump secured a major breakthrough in trade deal with the European Union during his visit to Scotland. As part of that agreement, the EU accepted a 15% tariff on exports to the US and promised $600 billion in investments, along with large purchases of US energy and military no similar breakthrough is expected with China, reports claimed that both sides may agree to extend the current truce for another 90 days. This would give negotiators more time to work out a broader agreement and could set the stage for a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this KEEP TENSIONS HIGHAccording to the South China Morning Post, both sides are likely to hold off on new tariffs for another 90 days."We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," President Trump the current talks focus mainly on tariffs and halted exports like rare earth minerals and US-made AI chips, deeper economic issues remain unresolved. The US has been criticising China's state-backed economic system, which it says floods global markets with cheap goods. Meanwhile, China argues that US export controls are unfairly targeting its tech TRUMP AND XI MEET?There is speculation that President Trump may visit China later this year. A successful round of talks in Stockholm has opened the door to that possibility, according to Wendy Cutler of the Asia Society Policy has stated that he wants to extend the current tariff truce past August 12 to avoid a surge in import duties — which could jump to 145% on the US is also likely to ask the US to lower the 55% average tariffs it currently faces and ease restrictions on buying American high-tech goods. Beijing argues that buying more from the US could help reduce the trade deficit, which reached $295.5 billion in 2024.- EndsWith inputs from ReutersMust Watch
Mint
6 hours ago
- Mint
France Maintains Tough Stand on Israel Despite Pause in Gaza War
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the European Union is having 'tough discussions' with Israel to help speed humanitarian and financial aid to Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza. The Israeli government has made 'first commitments that have not been fulfilled yet,' Barrot said on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday. 'We expect the Israeli government to stop the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has caused a bloodbath in humanitarian help distribution lines in Gaza.' Barrot was referring to the US-backed foundation that Israel set up after sidelining the United Nations relief network in Gaza. The operation has been dogged by allegations, including by the UN, that Palestinian aid seekers have been shot and killed near distribution points — incidents for which the agency and Israel deny responsibility. Tensions rose after President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France would recognize a Palestinian state in September. That triggered a backlash from the US and Israel, which argues its offensive in Gaza is necessary to topple and disarm the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which the US and the European Union have designated a terrorist organization. On Sunday, the Israeli army suspended some military operations against Hamas to facilitate the movement of UN relief convoys into Gaza, and restored electricity to a desalination plant for the first time since March. Macron's move complements President Donald Trump's strategy for the region, Barrot said. He argued that recognizing Palestinian statehood will create the conditions for ending hostilities, releasing Israeli hostages and bringing Arab countries to call for the disarmament of Hamas. French and Saudi officials are expected to lead a conference to discuss Palestinian statehood in New York this week, he said. France and the EU expect the Israeli government 'to pay the €2 billion they owe to the Palestinian Authority and to lift the financial blockage that is now preventing the Palestinian Authority to implement its most basic missions,' Barrot said. He also called on Israel to abandon its latest plan to establish additional 3,400 housing units in the West Bank, saying it would split the occupied Palestinian territory in two and prevent the emergence of a viable Palestinian state. France would be the first Group of Seven country to recognize Palestine as a state. Other Western countries that recognize Palestine include Spain, Ireland and Norway.
