India set...

There is also the possibility of India placing a follow-up order for 12 more Boeing P 8I maritime surveillance aircraft at a later stage for the Indian Navy in a bid to boost its reconnaissance capabilities on high seas, the officials added.

Although preparations for the two plus two dialogue have begun in the earnest in Delhi, the COMCASA agreement will have to wait for later this year after the Indian side conveyed some concerns on the foundational agreement related to military operations. While both sides have broadly agreed to the text of the key foundational agreement, visiting senior Pentagon official Joseph Felter was briefed about India’s concerns and the way forward. The meetings on COMCASA took place on June 19-20.

Senior government officials did not rule out the possibility of US Defence Secretary James Mattis visiting India later this year to sign the COMCASA agreement.

However, the focus of the two plus two dialogue will be on how India, a major defence ally of the US, will avoid getting hit by the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CATSA) over its future purchases of military hardware from Russia. The funerals add to frenzy and create more chaos,” said the field commander.

Security officials in Kashmir and government officials in New Delhi say the security establishment has been deliberating on the issue for some time to find a way to deal with it.

“It is a crucial issue which needs to be dealt with urgently if South Kashmir is to be brought back to normalcy. Applying a break on such funerals and gatherings was one reason for announcing a halt on operations during the month of Ramzan,” said a Delhi-based government official.

That doesn’t seem to have worked, and so, with the state now under governor’s rule, the security forces are trying a different approach.