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Written by Shubhajit Roy | New Delhi | Updated: February 22, 2019 The statement is significant because China has single handedly blocked the listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” at the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 sanctions committee for the last 10 years. As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed his Scorpio SUV laden with explosives into a CRPF bus in south Kashmir. Signalling a clear shift, China Thursday signed off on a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) statement that “condemned in the strongest terms” the Pulwama terror attack and named Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad for the “heinous and cowardly suicide bombing”. The statement is significant because China has single handedly blocked the listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” at the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 sanctions committee for the last 10 years. At least three attempts in the last decade — in 2009, 2016 and 2017 —...

COL. VINAYAK BHAT (RETD)  Updated: 22 February, 2019 For nearly two decades, China has been denying rumours that its People’s Liberation Army plans to set up overseas bases, yet over the last few years, the presence of at least one base in the African nation of Djibouti has been confirmed. And now four days ago, The Washington Post reported that for at least the last three years, Chinese troops have been stationed in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan, a few miles away from its border with China and a proverbial stone’s throw from the strategic Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan. ThePrint takes a closer look at this foreign base through open source satellite imagery to understand its significance and its international impact. Strategic significance The US Department of Defense and many of the world’s intelligence agencies believed that China would have its second overseas base in Pakistan. There have also been several rumours on the Chinese internet about s...

First Post August 07, 2018 The government will set up a group of ministers (GoM) to look into issues related to the proposed mega free trade agreement Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), official sources said. The GoM will deliberate upon the issues being raised by the industry as well as government departments, they said.  The first meeting of this group is expected to be held on 10 August. The RCEP bloc comprises 10 ASEAN group members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and  their six FTA partners — India , China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The development assumes significance as the domestic industry has raised apprehensions about the presence of China in the bloc, with which India has a huge trade deficit. India had trade deficit with as many as 10 member countries, including China, South Korea and Australia, of the RCEP grouping of 16 nations which have ...

The Times of India,  PTI  |  Jan 29, 2018, Beijing China today said it is ready to hold talks with India to resolve their differences on the contentious $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) that passes through PoK. Asked about Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale's interview to state-run Global Times in which he had said that differences on the CPEC should not be swept under the carpet, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China is willing to hold talks with India in this regard. "I noted the relevant report. Regarding the CPEC, China has repeatedly reiterated our position. As to the differences between China and India, China stands ready to communicate and hold talks with India to seek a proper solution so that these differences will not affect our general national interests. This best serves the interests of the two countries," she said. As to any differences arising between the two countries, the...

The Economic Times, BY ET CONTRIBUTORS | JAN 26, 2018, By Kanwal Sibal India-Asean relations are receiving a considerable political, psychological and symbolic boost with the presence of 10 Asean leaders in New Delhi for a commemorative summit celebrating 25 years of ties. All will witness the R-Day parade as collective guests of honour, which is unprecedented and sends a powerful message about the future of the relationship.  The Asean region is an area where India's civilisational impact outside the subcontinent is the most visible. The imprint is that of ancient India, Hindu and Buddhist. Secular notions have inhibited the celebration of these historical bonds. If secular Europe can acknowledge the Judeo-Christian roots of its civilisation, India should not hesitate to leverage its rich links with Asean to deepen people level exchanges.  Asean's great achievement until now has been to make the big powers stakeholders in its economic prosperity, peace ...

Live Mint Jan 25, 2018 Given the recent media reports about fresh transgressions by the Chinese troops on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since the Doklam crisis, it is now safe to say that the high-octane national security rhetoric by the Narendra Modi government has done little to strengthen India’s military stance on the disputed border. On the contrary, the Indian Army has skewed even more towards a border policing force (from a border guarding one) on its watch. This has slowed down the army’s modernization and blunted its combat capabilities. Worse, it has hampered defence reforms necessary to make the Indian military suitable for modern wars. According to official statistics, there were 415 transgressions in 2017, compared to 271 in the previous year, with 216 of them leading to face-offs between the two troops. In 2016, there were 146 face-offs. What’s more, there are now 23 areas of major disputes on the LAC. In 1995, there were two, which rose to 12 after the 199...

The Economic Times January 23, 2018 India's hordes of business graduates — many of whom have reached the top at American multinationals such as Sunder Pichai at Google and Satya Nadella at Microsoft — are of no use to the country if it does not create its own multinationals, unlike China.  "Observers who are interested in comparing the growth prospects of China and India often cite the large pool of MBA talent as one of India's major strengths, but the jobs these graduates do ironically reflects the weakness of the economy," says an article in state-run Chinese news outlet Global Times.  It says it is disturbing to think that so many high-level technical and management staff are working and creating great value for foreign companies.  And that's not how India would be able to match or overtake China in economic growth. India needs its own multinationals driven by talented Indian managers. "To accelerate its economic growth, India needs its...

The Economic Times Jan 22, 2018 The amendment of the 49-year-old Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act after which the Narendra Modi government plans to auction more than 9,400 properties of those who took citizenship of China has made China jittery.  Chinese investment in India has grown rapidly in the past few years. China fears India can confiscate assets of its companies, such as Xiaomi and Lenovo, if the two countries enter a military conflict. Last year, Indian and China faced off for months over construction by Chinese troops in the Doklam region. Though the conflict was resolved, tension persists in India-China relations.  "If China and India become involved in a military conflict, the assets of Chinese companies doing business in India may be confiscated by the Indian government," said an article in state-run Chinese news outlet Global Times.  It says economic reforms introduced by PM Modi have made India an attractive investment desti...

The Times Of India  Jan 18, 2018 India is keeping a hawk eye on the continuing presence of Chinese troops and their construction activities in north Doklam near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet trijunction, even as Army chief General Bipin Rawat said bilateral bonhomie had returned to the same level+ that existed before the 73-day troop faceoff in the region last year. The Indian security establishment believes People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers may return in "greater numbers" to the Doklam area (the Dolam Plateau), which is disputed between China and Bhutan, for some muscle-flexing after the harsh winter is over. "They have built infrastructure for it in north Doklam (separated from south Doklam by the Torsa Nala rivulet). But our troops, atop the watershed that dominates Doklam, are much better placed in terms of terrain. We are in a wait-and-watch mode, prepared for any eventuality," an official said. Indian troops will step in again if the PL...

 Reuters, Bejing , December 26, 2017 China sentenced a prominent rights activist to eight years in jail for subversion on Tuesday, his lawyer said, the harshest sentence passed in a government crackdown on activism that began more than two years ago. In a separate case, a rights lawyer avoided criminal punishment despite being found guilty of inciting subversion, because he admitted to his crimes, the Chinese court trying him said. Wu Gan, a blogger better known by his online name “Super Vulgar Butcher”, plans to appeal against the eight-year sentence handed down by the Tianjin Municipality’s No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, his lawyer, Yan Xin, told Reuters. The harshness of the sentence prompted the German embassy in Beijing to issue a statement expressing disappointment. Wu regularly championed sensitive cases of government abuses of power, both online and in street protests. He was detained in May 2015 and charged with subversion. The activist criticis...

The Hindu Suhasini Haidar & Atul Aneja Updated: December  23, 2017  Scope of boundary talks extended China and India must “transcend the bilateral dimension” of their ties for stability in Asia and the world, said National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s State Counsellor Yang Jiechi in their first boundary talks since the Doklam standoff. They discussed enhancing confidence-building measu- res and an “early settlem- ent” of the boundary issue, a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said. The 20th round of Special Representative talks, which officials said were held in New Delhi on Thursday under an extended mandate, referred repeatedly to the consensus reached by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the subject of bettering ties. “We know that President Xi and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi met this year in Xiamen and reached an important consensus. So the special representatives meeting [followed] the ...

India Today Geeta Mohan New Delhi, December 21, 2017  "It is noticed that on an issue as serious as designation of terrorist individuals and entities, the Council-mandated Sanctions Committees fail to make concrete progress and fall victim to narrow political and strategic concerns in some cases," India's permanent representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin, said at the Security Council during an open debate on December 20 on 'Addressing complex contemporary challenges to International Peace and Security.' Hitting out at China and Pakistan, India raised the issue of designation of terrorists and how the former two have frustrated India's efforts at the UNSC 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee against the designation of Masood Azhar, chief of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant group, as a global terrorist. Akbaruddin also referred to what India now calls "mainstreaming" of terrorists such as Hafiz Saeed when he sa...

Business Standard A NI   New Delhi December 22, 2017 This special representative meeting is not only a high-level channel for the border issue discussion but also the platform for strategic communication. National  Security Adviser  Ajit Doval  and his Chinese counterpart state councilor  Yang Jiechi  will hold the next round of formal negotiations on the boundary issue later today. This comes almost four months after the 73-day-long military stand-off at the  Doklam  plateau in the tri-junction region. In the 20th round of special representatives talks since the establishment of the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism in 2003, Doval and Jiechi are expected to discuss ways to maintain peace and tranquillity along the 4,000-km-long border. The two representatives will also discuss the  Doklam  stand-off. Last Doval and Jiechi had met during the BRICS summit in Xiamen in September. Reportedly, the decis...