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 The Print December 07, 2020 Snehesh Alex Philip Government sources say India-China tensions could continue to simmer at the LAC even if a temporary disengagement takes place. As winter grips eastern Ladakh, the government has asked the Army, Navy and the Air Force to stay alert and firm, and ruled out any possibility of a premature withdrawal from the Kailash ranges on the southern bank of Pangong Tso where India has the upper hand over China. Top government sources told ThePrint that right at the beginning of the tensions in May, the armed forces were directed to be prepared for any eventuality. They also said the stand-off could last longer than anticipated and the situation was expected to simmer even if a temporary disengagement took place. The sources also said China has been taken aback by India’s determined response to its aggression, which was done to establish Beijing’s global standing as a superpower against the US, and also respond to India’s fast-paced border infrastru...

 Hindustan Times December 04, 2020 Imtiaz Ahmad Pakistan said no attempt was made to link the cases of Jadhav with Indian prisoner Muhammad as India had asserted, adding that the two cases are and remain entirely distinct. Pakistan has rejected as “incorrect and misleading” India’s assertion that its security establishment was putting pressure on a Pakistani lawyer engaged by the Indian High Commission to represent death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav during a court hearing. On Thursday, external Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Pakistan was linking up the Jadhav case with an unrelated case of another Indian prisoner, who had served his sentence but is still in Pakistan. “Pakistan is trying to link the case of Kulbhuashan Jadhav with another prisoner’s case. In routine consular practice, Shahnawaz Noon [the Pakistani lawyer] was selected by our High Commission to appear in the case for release and repatriation of an Indian prisoner, Mohammad Ismail, who has completed his...

 Financial Express Dated 30.11.2020 China’s Defence Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe has lauded Nepal’s leadership for resolutely pursuing the ‘one-China’ policy and offered firm support to the Himalayan country in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, the defence ministry said here on Monday.  Wei, who is also a State Councillor, met Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and exchanged views on matters of mutual interest and held talks with Army chief Gen. Purna Chandra Thapa on ways to resume military cooperation and training impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during his one-day visit to Nepal on Sunday. According to a Chinese defence ministry statement, Wei told the Nepalese leaders that China highly appreciates Nepal for resolutely pursuing the ‘one-China’ policy, and also firmly supports Nepal to safeguard its national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.  Under the ‘one-China’ policy, Beijing emphasises other countries to recognis...

 Financial Express Dated 30.11.2020 Talks between Israel and Lebanon over disputed maritime borders that were scheduled to take place this week have been postponed, Israeli and Lebanese officials said Monday. The two countries have engaged in indirect, US-mediated talks to draw a sea border, despite formally being in a state of war. The last round of talks were held in November and hosted in by the United Nations in a southern Lebanese border town.The negotiations are the first non-security related talks between the two states. An Israeli official confirmed that Wednesday’s scheduled summit was postponed, and said the American mediators “decided to focus on dialogue between the two sides at the moment, in order to prepare the ground for the next round of talks.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the official wasn’t authorized to speak to journalists. In Beirut, a Lebanese official confirmed that the talks have been postponed until further notice. The official, who spo...

 Hindustan Times Dated: November 18, 2020 By: Srivatsan KC In a sign some senior members of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government want to find a circuit-breaker to ease the tensions, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will deliver a speech on Wednesday saying his nation is ready to re-engage in dialogue with Beijing after ministerial contacts were put on ice. China gave one of its most detailed explanations yet for souring ties with Australia, calling on the nation to stop trying to impose its will on others. “Looking back on China-Australia relations in the past few years, we see some people in Australia adhere to a Cold War mentality and harbor ideological prejudice, regard China’s development as a threat, and have then made a series of wrong moves related to China,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing in Beijing on Tuesday. “This is the root cause for China-Australia relations worsening to the current difficult situation,” Zhao said. In a sign s...

 Hindustan Times Dated November 18, 2020 By: Shivani Kumar The deal is the first of its kind for Japan since its 1960 status of forces agreement with the United States, which set the terms for the basing of about 50,000 American troops to operate in and around Japan under the Japan-US security pact. The leaders of Australia and Japan held in-person talks on Tuesday and reached a basic agreement on a bilateral defense pact that would allow their troops to work more closely, as the two US allies seek to bolster their ties to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshihide Suga, said the legal framework, called a Reciprocal Access Agreement, would allow their troops to visit each other’s countries for training and joint operations. It would also enhance their inter-operability and cooperation, they said. The deal is the first of its kind for Japan since its 1960 status of forces agreemen...

 The Economic Times, October November 01, 2020 NEW DELHI: The admission of Pakistan Federal cabinet minister Fawad Chaudhry on Islamabad’s role in Pulwama terror strike should be taken into consideration by UN and other international bodies for initiating tough action against Pakistan for use of terror as an instrument of state policy. Despite damage control by the Pakistan Foreign office, the Minister’s remarks were a public admission of the use of terror as an instrument of state policy. Experts are of opinion that the  community must take cognizance of this fact and hold Islamabad responsible. “The admission of Federal cabinet minister Fawad Chaudhry in the National Assembly that Pulwama was an achievement of the Imran Khan government is the smoking gun proof of Pakistan's direct involvement in terrorism in India. While India has talked about this repeatedly, now a Pakistani minister has confirmed it. Pakistan is thus responsible for the death of 40 brave Indian soldiers. T...

Firstpost October 22,2020 Amid speculations and buzz over India finalising a trade deal with Taiwan, China has said that it 'firmly opposes' any such deal, asserting that New Delhi should abide by the “one China” policy. As per reports, there is increasing support within India to start talks on a trade deal with Taiwan as both countries have seen a decline in their respective relations with China. Taiwan and China have been at odds for a long time with Beijing regarding Taiwan, which lies 160 kilometers off its east coast, as a renegade province. Taiwanese are increasingly asserting an independent identity despite the population’s mostly Chinese roots. India, on the other hand, has been in a border standoff in eastern Ladakh with the Chinese military. Recently, the US has been pushing countries for international support against Chinese unilateralism, with Donald Trump at its forefront, vowing to make China pay for the 'Wuhan flu', with the outbreak of the coronavirus...

The Wire October 22,2020 When the Indian government detained hundreds of foreign Tablighi Jamaat members for allegedly violating COVID-19 lockdown measures in March, the largest group was from Indonesia, key to New Delhi’s Act East policy. In the past eight months, diplomats from both countries had their jobs cut out to keep a lid on the possible consequences that the arrests of hundreds of Indonesian nationals in India could have on the bilateral relationship. For Indonesia, a quick, quiet resolution of the Tablighi issue was important so that it did not flare up into an issue of domestic political concern. But as the months wore on, Jakarta aired its worries at ASEAN meetings. The Indian side had to deal with an internal security system that initially gave conflicting messages. When the government decided to take stringent action against the Tablighi Jamaat for allegedly breaking lockdown measures for their congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi and later, when the visitors trave...