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First Post
01-08-2025
- Business
- First Post
India rejects Trump's F-35 offer? Report says new defence purchase off the table amid US tariff blitz
Even as India is looking at ways to address some of the concerns of US President Donald Trump, such as reducing the trade deficit, India has made it clear that any major purchase of defence equipment, such as F-25 fighter planes, is not on the cards, according to a report. read more (File) A flight deck crew signal to F-35 jet on USS George Washington during Freedom Edge trilateral exercise among United States, Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea, south of the Korean peninsula and west of Japan's main islands November 14, 2024. Reuters Even as India is looking at ways to placate US President Donald Trump, no major purchase of American defence equipment, such as the F-35 fighter plane, is on the cards, according to a report. In recent days, Trump has been on a constant offensive against India, firing off one angry social media post after another. In addition to slapping India with 25 per cent tariff, he has threatened additional penalties for any trade with Russia. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump's announcement of 25 per cent tariff on India even as the two countries were engaged in trade talks came as a shock and disappointment to the Indian government, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. They said that India was looking at ways to address some of Trump's concerns, such as reducing the trade deficit, but no major defence purchase, such as F-35 fighter plane that the US president has wanted to sell to India, is on the cards. The United States is the largest Indian trading partner. The US runs its 11th-largest trade deficit with India. What's on the table in India-US table — and what's not Even though India and the United States have close defence and security ties, and India uses US defence equipment such as military transport aeroplanes, no new purchases of any equipment like F-35s is on the cards to decrease the trade deficit, according to Bloomberg. To reduce the trade deficit in a bid to placate Trump, India is considering increasing the purchase of natural gas, communication equipment, and gold from the United States, the report said. Even as the India reserves the right to impose retaliatory measures, no immediate retaliation is expected as India hopes to resolve the crisis with ongoing negotiations and concessions described above. However, it is not known if Trump would be convinced as he has made the purchase of US defence equipment a key demand in his dealings with India, the report said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Korea Herald
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Military chiefs of S. Korea, US meet but avoid thorny issues
The top military officers of South Korea and the United States met Thursday but avoided thorny issues such as a potential increase in Seoul's payment for the stationing of US Forces Korea on the peninsula, sources close to the matter said. Adm. Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his US counterpart, Gen. John Daniel Caine, held a 40-minute meeting at Seoul's JCS headquarters. Their agenda focused on updates on North Korea's military and security cooperation between the allies. The meeting came amid heightened concerns in South Korea as US President Donald Trump has ramped up calls for Seoul to shoulder more of the costs of stationing US troops here, on Tuesday, local time. South Korea pays the US "very little" for US military support, Trump said. It also took place as reports grow of Washington's possible plans to change the role of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea to prioritize deterring threats from China. Thursday's talks were held as part of a broader South Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Chief of Defense meeting scheduled from Thursday to Friday. Two separate bilateral meetings between Kim and Caine and Kim and the Chief of Staff of Japan's Joint Staff, Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, took place Thursday. The trilateral meeting involving all three generals is scheduled to be held at Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters on Friday. Aligned with their efforts to bolster trilateral security cooperation, the three countries are in talks to hold their third round of the multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise in September, sources close to the matter said Thursday. The exercise, which kicked off in June last year, aims to better counter North Korean provocations across various military domains, including air, sea and cyberspace. The second round was held in November last year. The latest trilateral meeting among the chiefs of defense marks the first of its kind since the start of the Lee Jae Myung administration in June. Caine's visit marks the first visit to South Korea by the highest-ranking US military officer since his predecessor, CQ Brown, visited Seoul in November 2023.
Straits Times
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
US military's logistics drill aims to burnish East Asia crisis response
U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington is pictured during Freedom Edge trilateral exercise among United States, Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea, south of the Korean peninsula and west of Japan's main islands November 14, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo TAIPEI - Drills in East Asia this summer by the U.S. military body charged with moving munitions and equipment will help it better coordinate and communicate with allies in response to a crisis, its commander said on Friday. Alarmed by growing Chinese assertiveness, whether in the disputed South China Sea or around Chinese-claimed Taiwan, Washington and its friends in the region have been drilling together regularly. The U.S. Transportation Command, or TRANSCOM, is responsible not only for coordinating the pre-positioning of weapons and other equipment around the world by land, air and sea, but also for resupply in the event of conflict. On a visit to East Asia, TRASNCOM Commander Randall Reed, told reporters it was essential to maintain and expand ties in the region so as to ensure a swift U.S. response to disasters and counter threats to peace and security. "We're going to have a series of exercises and will test the current logistics architecture and infrastructure which provides sustained freedom of manoeuvre," he said on a teleconference, without giving further details of location or timing. "We're seeking to demonstrate our ability to rapidly mobilise, then deploy forces from within the United States to locations throughout the region here," Reed added, describing the aim of one exercise, Mobility Guardian. The tasks will permit testing of tactics, techniques and procedures with allies and partners and enhance connectivity, he said. "It will help us deepen relationships and work together even more closely than we already are to bolster regional security." On his trip, Reed has visited Japan and the Philippines and will go to South Korea, all treaty allies of the United States. The militaries of the Philippines and the United States have sailed together in the South China Sea for a seventh time to boost interoperability between the two sides, Manila's armed forces said on Thursday. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Korea Herald
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Naval chiefs of S. Korea, US, Japan discuss trilateral cooperation against NK threats
The naval chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a teleconference Thursday to discuss ways to strengthen their trilateral cooperation against North Korean threats, the South's Navy said. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Yang Yong-mo underscored the need for further bolstering their cooperation during the talks with his US and Japanese counterparts, Adm. James Kilby and Adm. Akira Saito, according to the Navy. "Through continued cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan, North Korea's provocation should be effectively deterred and dealt with and maritime security capabilities should be strengthened," Yang was quoted as saying. The three nations are seeking to strengthen their joint capabilities against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, and have conducted trilateral drills, such as the multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise, as part of such efforts. In March, the nations held joint naval drills involving the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, which marked the first such exercise conducted this year and since US President Donald Trump returned to office in January. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
N. Korea warns of stepped-up actions against arrival of US aircraft carrier in S. Korea
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday warned of a stepped-up action against the arrival of a US aircraft carrier in South Korea, claiming the US move justifies the North bolstering its nuclear forces. Kim Yo-jong made the condemnation as the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class US aircraft carrier, arrived at a key naval base in the southeastern city of Busan on Sunday, in the US commitment to providing extended deterrence against North Korean threats. She said the United States has been deploying its strategic assets into the Korean Peninsula at the "constant" level, denouncing the arrival of the US aircraft carrier as Washington's expression of its "most hostile and confrontational will" against the North, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "The action-accompanied hostile policy toward the DPRK pursued by the US at present is offering sufficient justification for the DPRK to indefinitely bolster up its nuclear war deterrent," Kim said in a statement carried by the KCNA. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The DPRK is also planning to carefully examine the option for increasing the actions threatening the security of the enemy at the strategic level," Kim warned. She stressed if the US continues to renew its records in conducting military demonstrations against North Korea, her country will be "naturally compelled to renew its records in the exercise of strategic deterrence." The latest arrival of the USS Carl Vinson marked the first such visit by a US aircraft carrier to South Korea since US President Donald Trump's return to the White House in January. The nuclear-powered vessel last visited South Korea in November 2023. Its latest visit also came about eight months after the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier arrived in Busan in June last year to take part in the inaugural Freedom Edge multidomain exercise conducted among South Korea, the US and Japan. (Yonhap)
