Rajnath Singh to take charge as Defence Minister around noon today

As India’s new defence minister, Rajnath Singh’s most crucial challenge will be to speed up the long-delayed modernisation of the three services besides ensuring overall coherence in their combat readiness. His another challenge will be to ensure peace and tranquillity along the frontier with China while developing required military infrastructure to deal with any possible Chinese hostility.

As he takes charge of the ministry just three months after India carried out air strikes on a terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot, it is expected that he will continue with the policy of hot pursuit in dealing with cross border terrorism.

Containing infiltration of terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan will be another key focus area.

U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan criticises China

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan speaks at the IISS Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, June 1, 2019.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

 

U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Saturday denounced China’s efforts to steal technology from other nations and militarize man-made outposts in the South China Sea as a “toolkit of coercion,” saying Beijing’s bad behavior must end.

In his first major speech on the international stage, Mr. Shanahan mixed sharp criticism of China and warnings of North Korea’s “extraordinary” threat with vows that the U.S. will remain strongly committed to the Indo-Pacific region and is ready to invest billions of dollars in securing its stability.

While he didn’t specifically name China in early parts of his speech, he made clear who his target was, making pointed references to Beijing’s campaign to put advanced weapons systems on disputed islands in the region.

“If these trends in these behaviors continue, artificial features in the global commons could become tollbooths. Sovereignty could become the purview of the powerful,” Mr. Shanahan said.

OIC condemns inhumane situation of Myanmar's Rohingya

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman poses during a group picture ahead of Islamic Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, early Saturday, June 1, 2019.   | Photo Credit: AP

 

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit condemned the inhumane situation of Rohingya Muslims, urging a halt to violence, it said in a statement on Saturday.

The summit in Mecca also stressed that Myanmar's government has the responsibility to protect its citizens, the statement added.

(with input from agencies)