Thimpu apparently didn't think it necessary to take Delhi into confidence. Bhutan is loathe to getting dragged into the geopolitical rivalry between India and China. And for Beijing, this was too good an opportunity to be missed to thumb its nose at the powers-that-be in Delhi, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A report details the campaign conducted by a China-linked threat activity group RedEcho targeting the Indian power sector.
A naval formation consisting of aircraft carrier Liaoning, several destroyers and frigates was on training and testing missions last week, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday, quoting military officials.
China's state-run media said that the leadership of the two countries successfully solved the Doklam standoff in 2017 with 'concerted efforts and wisdom'.
Chinese foreign policy will acquire a more ideological and less pragmatic character. It will be conducted with more nationalist overtones, predicts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'Its internal economic rot and corrupt political elite have made the resurgent supremacy of the military establishment more invincible,' says Sunil Sethi.
So far, the Central Sector has never seen active hostilities, remaining peaceful even through the 1962 war. A reason for the Central Sector having remained peaceful is the towering Himalayan watershed that defines the border.
India has maintained there is no scope for a third party mediation.
With the role of the venerable elder thrust on him in UP, Mr Singh has had to attune himself to the politics at the Centre, observes Aditi Phadnis.
We understand the electoral compulsions, the desperate need for the BJP to have at least 50 per cent of the Hindus vote for them in Uttar Pradesh in a few months. For that, you need polarisation, put your own Muslim compatriots on the 'other' side. This is how your domestic politics runs contrary to your national, strategic interest, warns Shekhar Gupta.
'From Doklam to Wuhan and the return of the India-China relationship to its previous equilibrium is indeed a major contribution of President Xi and PM Modi. Without any doubt they deserve the kudos for their sagacity and their wisdom,' says Ambassador Gautam Bambawale, India's envoy to China during the Wuhan summit.
Important for India was Xi's meeting with representatives of PLA officers and soldiers stationed in Tibet. The video of the encounter was interesting to watch, especially the large number of lieutenant generals and major generals, observes Claude Arpi.
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Unlike the Chinese army that has been largely a peace time force, the Indian Army is a battle hardened force,' explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The BJP has done the Uri surgical strikes, handled the Dokalam crisis and the Balakot strikes.' 'So if there is a de-escalation only at the diplomatic level and not resolving this issue of a colonel being killed, then it translates into public anger.'
'With the recent challenging of the notion of the Indian Ocean Region being India's strategic backyard, China is gradually upping the ante in the maritime realm around India.'
'It seems likely that the February 2019 crisis is over.'
China's closer and enhanced relationship with Pakistan is putting considerable strain in India-China relations, says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
'Clarifying that modernisation of national defence and armed forces should be completed by 2035, Xi Jinping asserted the goal is to make the People's Liberation Army a "world class force" that "can fight and win" by 2050,' points out former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Xi, the most powerful leader in recent decades heading the ruling Communist Party and the military, will now be the first Chinese leader after the founder chairman Mao Zedong to remain in power lifelong.
A visit by Indian journalists, sponsored by the Chinese government, on Monday turned into a propaganda exercise by the Chinese Army for delivering its message on the prolonged standoff between troops of the two countries in Doklam near Sikkim.
Annoyed over conflicting reports about the missing plane, China on Wednesday night asked Malaysia to verify rumours and share all information about the flight MH370 after official admission that it may have turned back and disappeared over the Straits of Malacca.
'The meeting marks the first tentative step in the effort to understand whether the two largest Asian nations can co-exist peacefully while realising their aspirations.' 'Caution and watchful wariness will dominate the effort of both sides,' says Jayadeva Ranade, former RA&W officer and China expert.
An aggressive Pyongyang is likely to force Seoul and Tokyo to build nuclear deterrents and thus thwart Beijing's ambitions.
If the initial analysis of this YJ-21 is correct, then China becomes the first country in the world to operationally field such a missile from a naval vessel.
In anticipation of a verdict to be delivered by the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday, China has orchestrated a worldwide campaign to defuse its findings.
'At the previous 18th party congress, Xi vowed to protect China's 'core' interests.' 'As a result, India faced a barrage of serious incidents on the borders with China -- at Depsang, Chumar, Pangong Tso and Doklam.' 'New Delhi will watch closely the political signals emanating from Beijing this week,' says China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
52 world leaders, including Narendra Modi, will attend this week's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC. Obama will meet separately only with the Chinese president.
China also hinted that India was objecting to its efforts to build the road in Donglang area of the Sikkim sector on behalf of Bhutan.
Samdong Rimpoche's visit to China materialised against the backdrop of strained India-China relations consequent to the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam, says former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
In a setback for China, an international arbitration court ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear some territorial claims the Philippines has filed against it over disputed areas in the South China Sea, a ruling rejected by China as null and void.
India and China on Friday agreed to set up a dedicated communication channel to boost security cooperation as Home Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with China's security czar on issues like cross border terrorism from Pakistan and the Afghan situation.
'In India, China's capacities to conduct new types of warfare is critically underestimated,' says Claude Arpi.
At the young age of 15, Wang joined the People's Liberation Army as a guard.
'The Chinese mindset and approach to India is far different from that in Pakistan.' 'This reality makes it possible for us to follow an engagement policy with one, while militating against engagement with the other.'
No account of the 1962 war could be complete without Maxwell's authoritative analysis. Which is why we are reprinting this article which was run on Rediff.com in June 2001.
The India that needs strategic alliances, defence cooperation and engaging meaningfully with neighbouring countries is quietly moving ahead with confidence, says Tarun Vijay
The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement with China needs closer scrutiny, says Rup Narayan Das.
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The eternal question remains unanswered, what price security and what cost liberty, says Vikram Sood.
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