The Indian government said it will invest more than $8.82 billion over the next five years to explore and extract deepwater oil and gas reserves in the country’s exclusive economic zone and save tens of billions of dollars in crude oil and natural gas imports in the long run. The decision is driven by India’s severe overseas dependence for crude oil, with the country importing up to 89% of its crude oil from abroad.

A career Armoured Corps officer, General Sharma was commissioned into the Indian Army in June 1950. In a career spanning forty years, he served in various prestigious posts, including as the chief of the Eastern Command, as ADC to the President of India, as the Commandant of the College of Combat (now Army War College) in Mhow, as the Director General of Military Operations at Army Headquarters, and ultimately as the Chief of the Army Staff.

The Indian Navy is poised to induct three new MH-60R Seahawk multi-role helicopters in July out of the 24 helicopters it ordered in a $2.6 billion deal in 2020 to replace its obsolete Sea King Mk42B fleet. The arrival of the new helicopters, announced by the U.S. Embassy on 17 July, ensures that the Indian Navy has received 23 out of the 24 helicopters it ordered from Lockheed Martin back in 2020. The final helicopter will arrive later this year.