#Doklam conflict 2017

[defencecapital]

India calls China's bluff on Ladakh border peace

India calls China’s bluff on Ladakh border peace

File Photo: India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

By Amit Agnihotri

New Delhi: India today called China‘s bluff on border peace between the two nations, saying the mutually agreed disengagement at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh was not yet complete.

“There is some progress but the process of disengagement is not yet completed,” India’s Mini…

[argumate]

Analysts say it's clear the incident did not pan out as China intended, not in the least because its state media outlets have all but erased the incident from their pages in the week since it took place. The U.S. believes Zhao, the Chinese general who commanded the forces involved, held a memorial service for the PLA soldiers who died in the incident – an occasion that would normally attract some form of state-sponsored publicity. Instead, Chinese censors have since cracked down on social media posts about the incident, including ones that mention "defeat" and "humiliation" when describing the dead or injured Chinese troops.

Zhao, who fought with the PLA during its brief but devastating war with Vietnam in 1979, believes Chinese generals mismanaged that conflict, according to the U.S. assessment. He was also involved in the Doklam standoff in 2017 along a different part of the China-India border, which ended when Indian troops forcibly pushed back Chinese forces before both countries agreed to a mutual withdrawal.

difficult to tell what’s going on here, if it was a diplomatic move it failed, if it was to rally local support well obviously that’s failed, did the general overstep the mark? did the Indians lure them into a trap? seems like a major fuckup either way.

[festeveindia-blog]

Shocking 2020 का चीन और भारत के बीच LAC (Line of Actual Control) का Border Dispute? India-China Disagreement

क्या है चीन और भारत के बीच LAC (Line of Actual Control) का सीमा विवाद? To read more about this India China Border Dispute | India China Conflict (in Hindi) Follow: क्या है चीन और भारत के बीच LAC (Line of Actual Control) का सीमा विवाद? | Indian Festival

This is not the first China-India border conflict. In 2017, both sides confronted each other in Doklam Plateau — a tri-border area between India, China, and Bhutan — for two months, almost triggering armed conflict. Such tensions between the two countries have existed for over seven decades. They triggered the Sino-Indian War in 1962. Today, China claims and refers to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet. On the other hand, India sees the China-controlled Aksai Chin as its territory. Since 1962, both sides have signed a series of agreements and agreed to respect the Line of Actual Control that separates the countries.

To read more about this India China Border Dispute | India China Conflict (in Hindi) Follow: http://festeveindia.online/lac-line-of-actual-control-dispute/

[aajkitaazakhabar-blog]

1967 में वो आज ही का दिन था, जब चीनी सैनिक भारतीय जवानों को पीठ दिखाकर भागे थे

1967 में वो आज ही का दिन था, जब चीनी सैनिक भारतीय जवानों को पीठ दिखाकर भागे थे

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Publish Date:Tue, 02 Oct 2018 11:06 AM (IST)

नई दिल्‍ली [स्‍पेशल डेस्‍क]।सिक्किम से लगते इलाके डोकलाम में चीन की गुस्ताखी तो आपको याद ही होगी। साल 2017 में चीन ने डोकलाम क्षेत्र में न सिर्फ माहौल खराब किए रखा, बल्कि बार-बार 1962 युद्ध की याद भी भारत को दिला रहा था। यह तो आपको ज्ञात ही होगा कि 1962 के युद्ध में भारत को हार का मुंह देखना पड़ा था। चीन अपना रवैया तो नहीं बदलेगा, लेकिन…

[bbcbreakingnews]

Post-Doklam, China developing military camps in depth areas along LAC

NEW DELHI: China has been developing several military camps in their depth areas all along the LAC since the 2017 Doklam crisis to enhance its preparedness during military conflicts, government sources said. China and India are locked in a bitter standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh since April-May this year. The soldiers are likely to remain deployed on the forbidding heights through the long and harsh winter ahead as both the nations are yet to agree on the modalities of troop disengagement. “The Chinese have been developing military camps in their depth areas all along the LAC. Around 20 of such camps have been observed with some civilians also around these places,” government sources told news agency ANI. The sources said that these camps can help the Chinese troops patrol their side of the LAC more effectively as well as react faster to the developing situations in the border areas, they said. The over two-months long Doklam crisis took place in 2017 when India had objected to the Chinese building roads in the Bhutanese areas which would have given them access close to the key chicken’s neck area which connects mainland India with the northeastern states. The stand taken by India was applauded by the global community as that was probably the first time that a country had taken on China militarily on the territorial issues. In Ladakh, the Indian side has more than matched the Chinese aggression. Nearly 50,000 troops of the Indian Army are deployed in a high state of combat readiness in various mountainous locations in eastern Ladakh in sub-zero conditions. The Chinese have also deployed close to 60,000 troops backed by heavy artillery, missile forces and armoured regiments. Meanwhile, India has moved its might to the highest battlefield in the world and deployed three full mountain warfare divisions on the frontline. (With inputs from ANI)

source https://bbcbreakingnews.com/2020/12/08/post-doklam-china-developing-military-camps-in-depth-areas-along-lac/

[indianarrative1]

The standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh region in the last one-and-a-half months is likely to fester for longer than any other such faceoffs in recent years, and could surpass the 73-day conflict in Doklam in 2017.

[ladystylestores]

India and China generals hold meeting to defuse border standoff | India News

Top Chinese and Indian generals are holding high-level talks in a Himalayan outpost in a bid to end the latest border standoff between the world’s two most populous nations that has seen thousands of troops sent to both sides of the disputed border.

The talks are being held in the border outpost of Maldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC)  – the de facto border between the two countries, India-based NDTV channel reported.

More:

The talks come after multiple local military level meetings failed to defuse the tension, which arose after troops from both sides were involved in scuffles in early May followed by Chinese intrusion in several border areas that New Delhi claims as its own.

Most of 3,488km-long (2,167 miles) border between the two countries is disputed and non-demarcated.

Retired Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda described the high-level talks  as “unprecedented”.

“I have not seen Corps Commander level officers carrying out military talks,” Lt Gen DS Hooda was quoted as saying by theprint.in website.

As the talks take place, here are the key points that have led to the dispute and the pitfalls as the two nations, who fought a 1962 border war and have clashed many times since, over the solution:

Fist-fights and handshakes at the frontier

The face-off in eastern Ladakh region, which was carved out of Indian-administered Kashmir last August, started on May 5 and May 6 when soldiers of both sides were involved in a skirmish.

On May 9, several Indian and Chinese troops were injured in fights with fists, stones and wooden batons in Sikkim state – about 1,200km east the Ladakh region.

Indian officials say that within days, Chinese troops had encroached on the Indian side of their demarcation line in the Ladakh region further to the west.

India has moved extra troops to positions opposite. The generals are to meet at a point near the face-off known as Chushul-Moldo for the highest-level talks since the fisticuffs, according to military sources.

INTERACTIVE: India-China border dispute [Al Jazeera]

A line out of control

Experts say that new roads on the Indian side of the line may have rankled China.

But the dividing line between India and China is more like a scar – that includes a ceasefire LAC – than a border.

The countries cannot even agree on how long it is. India gives a figure of 3,488 kilometres (2,167 miles). China does not give a number, but state media says the border should be just 2,000km (1,250 miles) when China’s claims in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and other regions are taken into account.

Each side uses different frontier proposals made by Britain to China in the 19th century to back their claims.

Increasingly tense border talks and a series of skirmishes led to the 1962 war, mainly fought above 4,000 metres (14,000 feet), in which China took territory from India in Arunachal Pradesh.

Regular clashes have followed and the rival sides staged a 73-day showdown in the Doklam plateau in 2017.

India-China powerplay

High altitude face-offs have become more frequent in recent years. There have been four since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

The US administration has said this is a new sign of China’s growing military assertiveness.

India has also taken a tougher line on security since nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.

“India does not want to hurt any country’s pride, neither can it tolerate if a country wants to hurt ours,” said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last week.

Tamanna Salikuddin, a South Asia expert at the US Institute of Peace think-tank, linked the tensions to India’s fierce rivalry with Pakistan, an ally of China.

“From the Indian perspective, China’s aggression is seen as supportive of Pakistan’s efforts to contest the borders with India in this highly inflammable region.”

Could China-India border dispute trigger a military conflict? I Inside Story

No shots since 1975

While India and China are better armed and more stubborn, no shots have been fired across the disputed border since 1975. Diplomats say this is part of an unofficial “de-escalation pact”.

And while they blame each other for the latest flare-up and both countries are looking for diversions from the global pandemic crisis, both insist negotiating avenues such as the Chusho-Moldo talks can act as a safety valve for their frustrations.

Salikuddin said there is a risk of escalation because of the high number of “troops and heavy weaponry” in the zone but the two sides have a “robust conflict management arrangement”.

And ultimately there is growing recognition that India and China cannot live without each other.

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told WION TV this week that once the pandemic is over “if there are two engines of growth for the global economies … it is only two countries and they are India and China”.

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from World Wide News https://ift.tt/30bz8nv

[dungtranmilitary]

In an article in Gulf News, journalist Sanjib Kumar Das said that China – the second largest economy in the world, and India – the fifth largest economy in the world, share a common border stretching over 4,056km. The last time these two Asian powers broke out in military conflict has been since 1967.

Since then, although small skirmishes have frequently taken place between the two sides in disputed land territories (mainly along the Line of Actual Control), no single bullet has been shoot out.

In 2017, two armies, with ground forces ranked second and third in the world in size, had a 73-day border confrontation in Doklam, Bhutan, but everything was then settled through diplomatic channels.

[newstfionline]

India and China Face Off in Border Standoff

AP, July 24, 2017

NEW DELHI--It was the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan that sounded the alarm: Chinese soldiers had arrived with bulldozers and excavators, and were building a high-mountain road near India’s border--in an area the two nuclear-armed Asian giants have disputed for decades.

India responded to the call by sending troops last month to evict the Chinese army construction party from the Doklam Plateau. Within a few days, Indian media were running leaked video footage of soldiers from both sides shoving one another atop a grassy flatland.

The tense standoff has only escalated since then, raising concerns in both capitals of an all-out military conflict. Both sides have made threats while simultaneously calling for negotiations. The U.S. State Department has urged the two sides to work together toward a peaceful resolution.

India told China last week that it was ready to hold talks if both sides pulled their forces back from the disputed border area. But China countered on Monday by insisting the road was being built on its sovereign territory, and warned India not to “push your luck.”

India, taken aback by the escalation, has said the two governments reached an agreement in 2012 that the status of the Doklam area--which falls between China and India on a Bhutanese plateau--would be finalized only through joint consultations involving all parties. A look at the background:

AN OLD QUARREL. India and China have faced off frequently since fighting a bloody 1962 war that ended with China seizing control of some territory. Troops from both sides still regularly patrol other unmarked territories, though neither side has fired any shots in decades. Negotiations since 1985 to settle the boundary dispute have seen little success.

The land they’re currently arguing over spans 269 square kilometers (104 square miles) on a sparsely populated plateau in western Bhutan, which has no diplomatic ties with China and coordinates its relations with Beijing through New Delhi.

But India and China have rival claims to other Himalayan areas as well, including 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) in what India considers its state of Arunachal Pradesh and China refers to as “Southern Tibet,” as well as 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of another plateau called Aksai Chin.

Bhutan said the road China has been building would run from the town of Dokola to the Bhutanese army camp at Zompelri.

Bhutan’s foreign ministry called it a “direct violation” of agreements reached in 1988 and 1998 to maintain peace and refrain from unilateral action in the area pending a final border settlement. “Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Doklam area will be maintained,” it said in a June 29 statement.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said last week that India’s border guards, in responding to Bhutan’s call for help, had “illegally trespassed the boundary into Chinese territory” when they confronted the Chinese army construction team.

A STRATEGIC AREA. For India, securing the Doklam Plateau is seen as essential to maintaining its control over a land corridor that connects India’s mainland with its remote northeastern states.

India has said the Chinese road project threatens its access to the corridor, while China has questioned why India should even have a say in a matter that concerns only Beijing and Bhutan.

India’s army chief warned earlier this month that India’s army was capable of fighting “2 1/2 wars” if needed to secure its borders.

Indian analysts said China appeared to be trying to pre-empt settlement negotiations by establishing a Chinese presence in Doklam.

“China has been trying for a long time to gain a tactical advantage in this sector,” having already established dominance along the Indian borders at Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, said security expert Uday Bhakar, a retired Indian navy officer. “The Chinese did not expect this resolute Indian response, and that’s why the standoff has continued.”

The dispute was discussed briefly without resolution by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit earlier this month in Hamburg, Germany. It is expected to be taken up again when Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval visits Beijing for another security forum on Thursday and Friday.

UNEASY NEIGHBORS. The Doklam standoff is just the latest of many irritants dogging relations between the world’s two most populous nations.

For years, India has watched uneasily as China vigorously wooed Bhutan and other, smaller countries in India’s traditional sphere of influence, including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

“This is not the first time that we have a standoff with China,” said foreign affairs analyst and retired Indian diplomat G. Parthasarthy, predicting there would likely be a period of stalemate followed by a political compromise if the current tensions follow past patterns.

“China is in an ultra-nationalist mood of establishing a hegemony power in Asia,” he said. “The best thing for China is to sit down and talk.”

China, meanwhile, has been frustrated with India’s refusal to sign onto a massive effort to build railways, ports and roads reaching from Asia to Europe and the Middle East. The project includes a China-Pakistan economic development program aimed at absorbing as much as $46 billion in investment, most of it from Chinese banks.

China also has complained bitterly for decades over India’s accepting the Dalai Lama as a refugee in 1959. The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has kept his headquarters in northern India since fleeing Chinese-ruled Tibet.

Despite their disagreements, India and China entered a trade agreement in 1985 and have stepped up cooperation in agriculture, science and cultural exchange. But a $46.6 billion trade deficit favoring China has irked Indian members of parliament, who call regularly for more balance.

[cardamomoespeciado]

China claims new sovereignty in Bhutan...shaking India

7/13 (Monday) 18: 20

Yomiuri Shimbun Online

China has claimed new sovereignty over the small eastern Bhutan of the Himalayas since June. Bhutan and its backing India revolt violently. There is a strong belief that China's movement has the aim of shaking up India, where military forces clash in the border area. (Takayuki Nakagawa, Director General of China, Sho Komine, New Delhi Branch)

　China began to claim its sovereignty at a video conference in early June of the Global Fund for Global Environment, which supports the environmental protection of developing countries. According to the minutes, a representative of China argued that "the protected area is a conflict area that has been the subject of demarcation talks between China and Bhutan" over the "Sakten Wildlife Reserve" in the eastern part of the country where Bhutan applied for a grant. Appealed.

In response, South Asian representatives who represent Bhutan's interests at the meeting argued that "the protected area is a territory specific to Bhutan. The Chinese side has never claimed sovereignty in the past."

　China and Bhutan have no diplomatic relations. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it has conducted border demarcation talks with Bhutan 24 times since 1984, but it remains undeclared. According to diplomatic sources, the Chinese side claimed only a sovereign right in the Doklam area in western Bhutan and a territory in the central part of the talks in the series of talks, and "we have never raised it" in the eastern part of the protected area.

Protected area is 650 square kilometers, and it is a highland rich in nature where the Himalayan ecosystem remains. It is located in a place that is sensitive to Sino-Indian relations, as it is adjacent to Arunachal Pradesh, where India effectively controls and China also claims sovereignty. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to strengthen its influence on Bhutan, which is a buffer zone with China, by choosing Bhutan as the first foreign destination after assuming office.

The aim of Xi Jinping (Shijinpin) administration has expanded the territorial claims, Mr. expert Bharat Karunado of security strategy of India pointed out that "It is the aim to restrain India".

　The Trump administration of the United States also regards the movement of China as a problem. Secretary of State Pompeo touched on the matter at a press conference on the 8th, saying that "China is fighting for territorial sovereignty (in various places). The world should not allow this bullying." ].

Dokram Area A plateau located in the border area between Bhutan and China. When China started building roads in 2017, India sent out a request from Bhutan, and the Chinese and Indian troops were in close sight for about 70 days. Bhutan and India have stipulated in the Treaty of Friendship that they "cooperate closely" in matters of mutual interest.

[nratelugu]

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday issued clear signals that India is ready to give due diligence to China if it moves beyond its borders. Courageous adventures are essential before peace is established. There are plenty of Indian jawans in the world, so the Indian Army has once again talked to the world about the potential. Similarly, imperialist ambition is a danger to the world. Against this backdrop, many countries, including the US, France, and the growing support of India from the international community are all positive.The opposite of such actionsJapanese Ambassador to India Satoshi Suzuki made key remarks in the wake of Prime Minister Modi's visit to Ladakh. The Dragon has been criticized for its vehement opposition to unilateral actions that would change the status quo. He asserted that India will always support its country. Japan seeks peaceful settlement through talks At the same time, he tweeted after a conversation with Indian Foreign Secretary Harshavardhan Shringla, who strongly opposed efforts to change the status quo. Japan, during the Doklam dispute with China in 2017, is said to be supporting India.The decision of India is BashUS President Donald Trump has expressed outrage over China's actions, saying that the Chinese Communist Party's ruling role in India and China's borders underscores the true nature of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The White House issued a statement to this effect. US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo has said that India welcomes the ban on Chinese apps. Criticized that the apps work under the CCP. China has been warned that it will always be ready to deploy US forces.Armed forces will be deployed if necessaryFrance is backing India, in the face of Chinese aggression along the line of reality. It is ready to do whatever it can to help India, including to move its armed forces if needed. India is ready to hold talks with Rajnath Singh in the face of difficult situations, India said. In a letter to Defense Minister Florence Parli, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh condoled the death of 20 Indian Jawans in the June 15 clashes.We are looking closelyAustralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison made key remarks Wednesday on the outrage over China from the earliest years of the Corona outbreak. During the launch of Australia's 2020 Strategic Defense Policy and 2024 Plan ... "We are closely examining the causes of a confrontational climate in the Indo-Pacific region, which is very important strategically and defensively."India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and India have been instrumental in providing free trade, investment, and mutual aid to the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region during a ten-year budget of $ 270 billion. China has indirectly criticized the way it wants to dominate the region. Australia has banned Huawei Technologies Ltd. for threatening the country's security.Conflict within boundaries is a concernBritain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for India and China to resolve the border dispute through dialogue. He said that the consequences of the clashes and tensions between the soldiers of the two countries were alarming. Although Boris has not made it clear that he is on the other side, Britain has become a symbol of China over Hong Kong. The Prime Minister said on Wednesday that the Chinese had violated the agreement with Hong Kong and had been aggravated by the breach.

http://pointbreaknews.blogspot.com/2020/07/border-dispute-growing-support-for-india.html

[khalilhumam]

India bans TikTok, 58 other apps amid rising anti-China sentiment, border clashes

Register at https://mignation.com The Only Social Network for Migrants. #Immigration, #Migration, #Mignation ---

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/india-bans-tiktok-58-other-apps-amid-rising-anti-china-sentiment-border-clashes/

India bans TikTok, 58 other apps amid rising anti-China sentiment, border clashes

“These apps are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India”

Tik Tok in Chat. Image via Flickr by Christoph Scholz. CC BY-SA 2.0.

The border clashes and the stand-off between Indian and Chinese security forces in the Galwan valley on June 15, reached naught after India, Asia's third-largest economy, decided to impose an interim ban on the wildly popular Chinese video-creation platform TikTok and 58 other apps due to “security issues” on Monday, June 29, 2020. There are also speculations of India advising domestic telecom companies to refrain from using Chinese telecom hardware, particularly Huawei and ZTE. In the weeks following the border clashes after India reported the death of 20 soldiers, instances of anti-China protests were rampant across the country with many trade groups burning Chinese products, and social media users warning Indian citizens of buying China-made products. This has prompted Chinese brands like Xiaomi to cover their signages with “Make In India” banners to prevent instances of vandalism. Make in India is an Indian government-promoted campaign encouraging companies to manufacture their products in India and benefit the Indian economy. In the wake of these bans, the use of Indian apps with similar functionalities to those of banned Chinese apps like Tik Tok, Helo, and WeChat increased. One such app — Chingari — saw an increase of 100,000 users in just 30 minutes.  The June 15 clashes were the first deadly violence between Chinese and Indian forces in 45 years after decades of carefully-cultivated economic ties. For example, Chinese smartphone makers established factories in Southern India to cater to a growing demand for low-cost Chinese smartphones.

Prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India

India is a key market for ByteDance's TikTok with roughly over 30 percent of its global users coming from India, estimated at 120 million users. Losing the Indian market could throw a spanner into the company's valuation as the firm readies for an IPO listing. The Indian government termed the Chinese-owned applications as “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order.” The government further said it had “received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.” Besides TikTok, India also banned music and image sharing app ShareIt, UC Browser, short video sharing app Likee, messaging and social media app WeChat, and streaming service Bigo Live.   Chinese state media Global Times described the ban as Modi government's “political crackdown on Chinese companies”. Yet, tech researchers pointed out that the ban does not include any of the Chinese apps that deal with financial transactions using the Indian government-regulated payments system Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and have access to private data of users.

.@logic: They haven't touched any of the UPI apps coming from China such as MiPay, etc. which handle more sensitive data including Aadhaar, biometric (facial recognition) and financial data. This is not an economic warfare angle at play, but these particular apps. — MediaNama.com (@medianama) June 30, 2020

#AntiChina protests

In recent weeks, India's government procurement website barred the selling of Chinese-manufactured goods asking global e-commerce giants Amazon.com and Walmart to show “Country of Origin” tags on goods sold. In addition, local media reports reported that India has been delaying the clearance of imported goods from China in ports, especially electronic items. In a statement, TikTok India noted:

We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government including the Chinese government.

The #AntiChina sentiment on social media currently driven by border conflict is not a new phenomenon. Anti-China sentiments have been on the rise since Doklam stand-off in 2017. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Indians were blaming China and advising their fellow citizens from using China-made goods and services due to security or privacy issues. Joining the chorus of #AntiChina sentiments, a village in India's Maharashtra state, Kondhawe-Dhawade, announced a boycott of products from China, adding to the optics of nationalistic sentiments. Indian dairy company Amul had its Twitter account blocked briefly in June, after it posted advertisements that read “Exit the dragon?” hinting at China's boycott in the Indian social media ecosystem.

#Amul Topical: New Delhi bans 59 Chinese apps! pic.twitter.com/f01D1gNBLt — Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) June 30, 2020

Many Twitter users questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign, “PM Cares Fund”, for receiving money from Chinese smartphone brands and continuing official presence with @MyGov account on TikTok. The MyGov on TikTok account was eventually deleted, and Modi also quit micro-blogging website Weibo.

Trade ban can hurt India more

Beijing-New Delhi diplomatic relations were always relatively frosty but had witnessed a thaw due to economic relationships and an increase in imports-exports in recent years. India-China trade relationship is estimated at over $90 billion, with around $50 billion in the latter's favour. Plus, India is highly dependent on chemical API's (active pharmaceutical ingredients) needed for manufacturing medicines and vaccinations and electronic components powering India's large manufacturing industry, imported from China. On July 1, Indian Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari said the country would not allow Chinese companies to participate in highway projects through any joint partnerships. He further said Chinese investors would not be allowed in various sectors. The Indian telecom ministry has also asked telecom providers and other private companies to boycott all future deals and equipment upgrades involving China. Economist and policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy said:

Nothing will come of this current call for a ban. If there is no escalation of events at the border, I see Modi taking a trip to China in December.

Industry veteran Deepak Jain, who heads Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India told Livemint:

These (imports) are components in which India currently does not have the manufacturing capability and probably because of the scale we have gone to China for sourcing. Hence there should be no knee jerk reactions to China.

Analysts warn that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should recognize that if India takes this path, “it has scant ability to hurt China economically, but it has plenty of ability to hurt itself”.

Shubhashish Panigrahi contributed to this post.

Written by Vishal Yashoda · comments (0) Donate · Share this: twitter facebook reddit

[manjushriwisdom]

Bhutan invasion by Red Blood China

With its scenic mountains and stunning Buddhist monasteries on hilltops, Bhutan is a traveller's dream and described by some as the last Shangri-La - a mystical beautiful place where everything is perfection.

The country's capital, Thimphu, is a refreshing delight to those who are tired of traffic and pollution in mega cities. The fresh air and the lush green mountains and snow peaks in the distance offer a visual treat.

Men, women and children calmly walk around in the country's traditional attire. It is probably the only country in the world where there are no traffic signals - just traffic police officers giving hand signals.

But beneath the surface, this picture-postcard country has been experiencing an undercurrent of tension and nervousness since last year.

Sandwiched between two Asian giants - China in the north and India in the south - the Himalayan nation, with a population of about 800,000, was anxious when troops from the two military powers squared up to each other over their border dispute.

The flare-up was in a strategic plateau called Doklam - situated in the tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China.

The remote mountainous region of Doklam is disputed. Bhutan and China both claim the area. India supports Bhutan's claim over it.

When China started to expand an unpaved road in June 2017, Indian troops went across and stopped the work, triggering a face-off between the two sides.

Delhi argued that the road had security implications. The fear is that in any future conflict, Chinese troops can use it to seize India's strategically important Siliguri Corridor, known as the Chicken's Neck, which connects the Indian mainland with its north-eastern states.

Some experts said the fears were far-fetched

Source

Bbc

[ngakpakonchokdorjetsondonmystic]

Bhutan invasion by Red Blood China

With its scenic mountains and stunning Buddhist monasteries on hilltops, Bhutan is a traveller's dream and described by some as the last Shangri-La - a mystical beautiful place where everything is perfection.

The country's capital, Thimphu, is a refreshing delight to those who are tired of traffic and pollution in mega cities. The fresh air and the lush green mountains and snow peaks in the distance offer a visual treat.

Men, women and children calmly walk around in the country's traditional attire. It is probably the only country in the world where there are no traffic signals - just traffic police officers giving hand signals.

But beneath the surface, this picture-postcard country has been experiencing an undercurrent of tension and nervousness since last year.

Sandwiched between two Asian giants - China in the north and India in the south - the Himalayan nation, with a population of about 800,000, was anxious when troops from the two military powers squared up to each other over their border dispute.

The flare-up was in a strategic plateau called Doklam - situated in the tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China.

The remote mountainous region of Doklam is disputed. Bhutan and China both claim the area. India supports Bhutan's claim over it.

When China started to expand an unpaved road in June 2017, Indian troops went across and stopped the work, triggering a face-off between the two sides.

Delhi argued that the road had security implications. The fear is that in any future conflict, Chinese troops can use it to seize India's strategically important Siliguri Corridor, known as the Chicken's Neck, which connects the Indian mainland with its north-eastern states.

Some experts said the fears were far-fetched

Source

Bbc

[itsfinancethings]

The coronavirus pandemic may have brought the world to a halt, but not a decades-old rivalry between India and China at their remote Himalayan border, where a clash has led to the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers and, according to unconfirmed reports, even more on the Chinese side.

A series of standoffs had broken out over recent weeks between troops of both nuclear powers along the disputed demarcation in the Galwan Valley. On Monday, a huge brawl erupted over the construction of a Chinese installation within the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has marked the frontier between the world’s two most populous nations since a war in 1962.

No shots were fired, the Indian army says, but the two sides set upon each other with rocks and clubs, according to reports, with combatants savagely beaten and tossed into the freezing waters of a nearby river. While India says that it lost 20 troops in the skirmish, Beijing has so far refused to release any details, causing murmurs of anger on Chinese social media. Unconfirmed reports from Indian media and U.S. intelligence sources suggest China suffered 43 casualties, including 35 deaths.

Col. Zhang Shuili, a Chinese military spokesman, said in a statement reported by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV that India “deliberately launched a provocative assault” and “broke their promises and once again crossed the [LAC] to engage in illegal activities.”

Some Indian soldiers were reportedly also captured by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In India, posters of Chinese President Xi Jinping were burnt in the street. Extra police were seen posted outside the Indian Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday.

The clashes are particularly worrisome considering high-level deliberations were already taking place after earlier disturbances.

“Both governments want to dampen down the hostilities,” Prof. Bharat Karnada of the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi tells TIME. “But something has been set in motion, certainly in India, in terms of a popular demand for retributory action.”

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said it was “closely monitoring” the flare-up. “Both India and China have expressed a desire to de-escalate, and we support a peaceful resolution of the current situation.”

Tensions boiling over

China’s more aggressive posture in the region is in line with a doubling down on territorial claims since Xi came to power in 2013. The strongman has made the goal of forging an army able to “fight and win wars” a central tenet of his military strategy.

From mid-February to mid-March, China extracted a record quantity of natural gas from the South China Sea, where a Chinese Coast Guard vessel also rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing trawler in early April. The military has engaged in airspace incursions and aggressive naval maneuvers against Taiwan—a self-governing island that Beijing regards as a breakaway province.

China also appears to be taking advantage of the fumbled U.S. handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Recent drills showed China “is capable of driving intruders and unfriendly priers away” as “COVID-19 has significantly lowered the U.S. Navy’s warship deployment capability in the Asia-Pacific region,” Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, told the state-run Global Times.

Prof. Tai Ming Cheung, an expert on China’s military at UC San Diego, says that while the PLA has become more assertive, it has been careful not to get into any shooting wars that might quickly escalate into full blown conflict. “So this clash with India raises the question whether the PLA has changed its calculus.”

The desolate border—which stretches for 2,100-miles—has proved a trouble spot for decades, more recently during a 72-day standoff in the Doklam region in 2017. But tensions now seem to have boiled over due to India’s construction of a new road to an airbase. The Chinese installation appears to have been overlooking it.

China has eight nations on its frontiers—including four nuclear-armed states—and is no stranger to border disputes. However, Beijing has settled those of note over recent years with the exception of the dispute with India.

“Negotiations over defining the border haven’t progressed for the past 40 years,” says Prof. Jingdong Yuan, an Asian security specialist at the University of Sydney. “In the meantime, both sides have continued to strengthen their positions in order to increase their bargaining chips.”

Yuan adds that Monday’s death toll could have been much higher were it not for a convention designed to deescalate tensions that says both sides typically patrol the LAC without firearms.

Beijing’s dollar diplomacy has increased its South Asian sway in recent years, particularly with large investments plowed into Sri Lanka and Nepal though Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a $1 trillion transcontinental trade and infrastructure network.

And while Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have ostensibly maintained a cordial relationship, with face-to-face meetings in both 2018 and 2019, most galling for New Delhi is Beijing’s aggressive courting of India’s old enemy, Pakistan. “Pakistan is turning more and more into a client state with China pulling the strings,” says Karnad.

A cornerstone of the BRI is the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which consists of $87 billion of dams, power plants, roads and railways winding from China’s restive westernmost province of Xinjiang through disputed Kashmir and south to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port. The project has contributed to the geo-strategic importance of the area around Galwan, heightening tensions.

The latest clash may well inflame matters further.

“This looks to be the first time Chinese soldiers have been sacrificed in conflict over the past two decades,” posted Global Times editor Hu Xijin’s on China’s Twitter-like networking platform Weibo. “We should act instead of being bound by the so-called big picture.”

[newstfionline]

China pushes hard in border dispute with India

By Vidhi Doshi and Simon Denyer, Washington Post, July 6, 2017

NEW DELHI--Their meeting is likely to be all smiles and polite handshakes, as world leaders look on. But as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping left for Friday’s Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, tensions between the rising Asian powers had escalated over a patch of disputed territory claimed by both China and the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Border scuffles between India and China have simmered in the past, but analysts from both sides said the latest spat has the potential to spiral into conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations. So far, the countries’ troops, who are usually unarmed to avoid provocation, have engaged in what is known as “jostling,” when soldiers attempt to physically push rivals back.

The standoff began at the end of June, while Modi was meeting President Trump, prompting some Indian analysts to wonder whether the timing had anything to do with China’s disdain for India’s increasingly close ties to the United States.

“The Chinese are making their unhappiness clear on India and America’s relationship,” said Sameer Patil, director at an India-based foreign policy think tank called Gateway House.

The dispute started after Chinese construction trucks, accompanied by soldiers, rolled south in the disputed region of Doklam to build a road. India and Bhutan consider the region to be Bhutanese territory; China claims the land as its own. The countries disagree on the exact location of the “tri-junction,” where the three borders meet.

The argument bears some of the hallmarks of China’s efforts to fortify islands in the disputed South China Sea, where it has riled the Philippines and Vietnam and risked confrontation with the U.S. Navy.

India and Bhutan have traditionally been close allies; India often provides the small country with financial and military assistance. It was the first country Modi visited after being elected.

Indian analysts say China’s move in Doklam threatens a narrow sliver of strategically important land, known as the “chicken’s neck,” which connects central India to its remote northeast. In response to what it believed was extraterritorial Chinese road-building, New Delhi sent reinforcements supporting Bhutan--according to ex-Indian army officials, at Bhutan’s request.

Chinese officials say India’s intervention amounted to a provocation, violating an 1890 treaty with Britain that appears to grant China access to the region. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, the pact was affirmed by Indian leaders after independence.

The government’s messages were bolstered by stern statements in China’s state-run media. The Global Times newspaper printed a furious editorial warning India of China’s military might. “The Indian military can choose to return to its territory with dignity, or be kicked out of the area by Chinese soldiers,” it said.

Wang Dehua, from the Shanghai Municipal Center for International Studies, said, “By continuing to increase deployment of troops at the border, India once again underestimates China’s capability and determination to safeguard its territory. It also fails to estimate the cost of confrontation.”

Hopes for a discussion between Modi and Xi on the Doklam dispute on the sidelines of the G-20 summit were scuppered after Indian media reported that the government had not requested a one-on-one meeting. Instead, Xi and Modi will meet among leaders from other G-20 countries to discuss international issues.

“China has taken a very stubborn attitude, and there is little appetite in India to accommodate China’s behavior,” Patil said.

Modi had come into office with high hopes of building Sino-Indian relations; experts called him the most pro-China prime minister since the two countries’ 1962 border war. Xi met Modi in India in 2014 shortly after the latter was elected, in the first visit by a Chinese leader in eight years.

Instead, the two nations have become increasingly suspicious of one another. During Modi’s recent visit to the United States, a deal was struck to buy surveillance drones that could be used to monitor Chinese naval activity in the Indian Ocean. In April, China fulminated over the Dalai Lama’s tour of Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India, known in China as south Tibet. China considers the Dalai Lama an opponent and a separatist whose power threatens its control over Tibet.

India also refused to join China’s “One Belt, One Road” program, a massive infrastructure project involving 70 countries aimed at reviving old Silk Road trade routes. Plans include an improved connection between China and Pakistan and would allow Pakistan access to other countries in Central Asia.

China, on the other hand, blocked efforts to designate a Pakistan-based militant outfit, Jaish-e-Muhammad, as a terrorist organization. It has also stood in the way of India’s bid for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an organization of countries that supply--and control--the export of nuclear materials, equipment and technology.

China has billions of dollars in investment deals with Sri Lanka and Nepal and this year took part in a joint military training exercise with Nepal. India considers both neighbors to be allies.

“I think the root cause is that the Chinese feel that their moment has arrived and that they do not need to accommodate Indian interests in any way, given the huge power differential in their favor,” said India expert Ashley Tellis, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Chinese suspicion that India was casting its lot entirely with the United States has only intensified Beijing’s determination to be even less accommodative towards New Delhi.”

Politically, neither Modi nor Xi can be seen to be giving in to the other’s demands. Modi’s nationalist government has insisted upon maintaining the integrity of Indian borders, banning maps and representations of disputed regions in the north. Xi, too, cannot be seen to be relenting on what the Global Times called “unruly provocations” from India, as he prepares to face a Chinese Communist Party conference in the fall.