China and Bhutan held the 15th Expert Group Meeting to discuss boundary alignment, focusing on areas where there are no disputes, and agreed to maintain the momentum of negotiations.
Is Bhutan merely experimenting with digital finance -- or is the Himalayan kingdom punching far above its weight, quietly playing one of the most sophisticated strategic games in Asia today? asks Varun Arya.
India may adopt a "calibrated" and a "step-by-step" approach to easing norms on investments originating from China, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. He was in a conversation with A K Bhattacharya on Day 1 of Business Standard's two-day annual event, Manthan 2026. The minister said foreign direct investment (FDI) from China was certainly not "banned", but it goes through an approval process. "The government's approach at the moment is to accelerate the approval process."
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Bhutan the destination of his first foreign visit. Now two weeks later, the foreign minister of the Himalayan kingdom, Rinzin Dorje, is in Beijing discussing the China-Bhutan border issue. The move poses a serious challenge to New Delhi because any negotiation on China-Bhutan border dispute is bound to affect India's border negotiations with China. Bhutan and China share 470 kilometres of border, which is also close to India's 'chicken's neck' -- the narrow Siliguri corridor which links the northeast.
'If Washington has to balance Chinese power, she will have to turn to the third biggest power in the world which is India.' 'The United States and India will have to work together in order to keep Chinese ambitions in check.'
Bhutan on Thursday announced that it firmed up a "three-step roadmap" for expediting the negotiations with China to resolve the long-pending boundary dispute between the two countries, a development that India said it has taken note of.
Foreign policy is always a work in progress and ups and downs are built into foreign policy process. What is permanent is national interest. Hopefully, this year, which will also witness general elections in the country, will also clear clouds in the foreign policy horizon, observes Rup Narayan Das.
Bhutan firmly abides by the one-China principle meaning Taiwan and Tibet are part of China and stands ready to work with China for an early settlement of the boundary issue and advance the political process of establishing diplomatic relations, it said.
Although the special relationship might compel Bhutan to be considerate of Indian interests, new challenges will likely arise. An emerging new phase of relations will also call for fresh redlines between India and Bhutan, observe Harsh V Pant and Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy.
'In Eastern Ladakh the Chinese attempted salami slicing.' 'Our response has been superb. Our military has responded magnificently.'
Gandhi took a swipe at the government on Twitter by tagging a chart that showed IMF growth projections for 2020-21 for Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, China, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and India.
Asserting that sovereignty and territorial integrity of China are "sacred and inviolable", the country's national legislature has adopted a new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas, which could have bearing on Beijing's border dispute with India.
The government accords top priority to secure the international border in Arunachal Pradesh that has borders with China, Bhutan and Myanmar.
...with extravagant claims in both the eastern and western sectors, observes Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad, as India is fixated on asserting its border claims based on the McMahon Line.
China's national legislature -- the National People's Congress (NPC) -- on October 23 adopted the new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas which drew sharp reaction from India as it was passed amid the protracted military standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh region.
The strategically located Tezpur Air Force Station in North Assam is all set to host the Sukhoi-30 aircraft which will arrive in the second week of June. This will make Tezpur the third air force base to host Sukhoi-30 combat aircrafts in the country and the first one in the North East India.
The operational alert allows troops to get acclimatised to high altitudes, renovate the bunkers and trenches from which they would fight, break out ammunition, and carry out the coordination needed to fight an integrated defensive battle.
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.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay, however, refused to comment whether there was reduction of Indian troops at the tri-junction between India-China-Bhuta.
The "caution level" among the troops has also been raised.
A group of shepherds were asked to vacate the land by troops of the PLA.
Suddenly the sands are shifting and even friends are acting strange.
'How can a State, which claims to be a responsible power, unilaterally grab a "disputed" area to build a road on it?' asks Claude Arpi.
China's Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said "the ball is in India's court" and it was for the Indian government to decide what options could be on the table to resolve the standoff.
The government on Friday expressed deep concern over China constructing a road in the disputed Doklam area near Sikkim
Indian Admirals say Malabar 2018 will involve unprecedented complexity, featuring enemy threats in all three dimensions, but especially underwater threats from submarines -- a key Chinese strength. For the first time, officers from all three navies will be posted on other navies' warships. That means Indian Navy officers will obtain the unprecedented benefits of operating on US nuclear attack submarines and Japan's highly regarded Soryu submarines.
Gurung is worth his weight in gold to the BJP which is trying hard to make inroads in West Bengal
The Foreign Ministry also posted a 15-page fact sheet with maps and other details about the standoff since it began on June 16.
Ten days later, with the Indian Army in full control of the area where the incident took place, New Delhi has signalled a face-saver for Beijing.
'China's growing nexus with Pakistan and the two countries' unresolved territorial disputes with India continue to pose a formidable national security threat to India,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The earthquake with epicentre at Lamjung, around 80 kilometres northwest of Kathmandu, and had its impact inseveral cities in Bihar and West Bengal and eastern India. Anumber of aftershocks were felt for a long time after the quake.
'Breaking out of the corner into which China has painted itself would be a feat.' 'Whether Xi is able to pull it off will be known in the coming days,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant and member of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the time of China's invasion of India.
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.
'India is a huge market for Chinese goods. I don't think a war stands to logic when you have economic compulsions, but then Chinese are known to do illogical things.'
