US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday named Robert Destro, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, as the special coordinator for Tibetan issues. Destro will focus on advancing dialogue between the Communist-run government in Beijing and the Dalai Lama, protecting the distinct religious cultural and linguistic identity of Tibetans, improving respect for their human rights and much, much more, Pompeo said.
At an online media briefing, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava gave a run down of the events along the LAC in the eastern Ladakh region and held China responsible for the Galwan Valley clashes off June 15.
Did Xi deliver a message to Modi at Mamallapuram, which though couched in a velvet glove was time-bound? What was that message? It is clear Indian/Israeli/US spy satellites would not have missed detecting Chinese troop movements towards the Ladakh-Tibet frontier. Then why did some important functionaries in the Government of India choose to only ask the Russians about this in April 2020? Was Russian reassurance of Chinese troop movements being part of a routine exercise the reason that the Leh-based XIV Corps did not mobilise itself for its annual summer exercises near the LAC? A fascinating excerpt from Iqbal Chand Malhotra's new book Red Fear: The China Threat.
Jaishankar said full restoration and maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas was essential for the development of the bilateral ties.
'China is well aware of our position. It is not for other countries to comment on the internal affairs of India'
The average age of those who died was 80.3, and 90 per cent of the fatalities were aged 65 or over, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
In a video address, Putin on Thursday said, "The fact that we are fighting neo-Nazis is proved by how the hostilities are going, nationalist neo-Nazi's units are using foreign mercenaries from the Middle East. Also, they use civilians as human shields, hiding behind their backs and we have facts, pictures of how they deploy heavy weapons in residential areas."
From early indications, the Modi government's foreign policy seems to be pragmatic and reciprocal, says K G Suresh.
This will be the fourth visit of Modi to China after he came to power in 2014.
"Against such background, the words and deeds of relevant important military and government officials and military deployments should be conducive to deescalating and cooling down the situation, and to enhancing mutual trust, rather than the opposite", the spokesman said.
During the meeting, President Xi addressed the ministers and discussed the bilateral issues among the countries and the issues affecting the South-Asian regions.
India has been maintaining that China has no locus standi in commenting on Jammu and Kashmir.
China urged the US to immediately address its wrongdoings, take practical measures to undo the adverse effects caused by Pelosi's visit.
Why did the Chinese military take over the lab in Wuhan in end January? Did something go wrong? Claude Arpi glances at the mystery surrounding the origin of the coronavirus.
The loan will be utilised in several developmental projects that Nepal wants to undertake. Nayanima Basu reports.
The ministry of external affairs said India has conveyed its "consistent position" on the issue to China on several occasions.
'No matter what Modi may boast about 'new India', the geopolitical reality is that India's stature diminishes when it needs a small country like Saudi Arabia under an autocratic ruler to help out with what is arguably one of the most critical templates of its diplomacy,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The meeting between Jaishankar and Pompeo comes at a time both India and the US are at loggerheads with China.
The fault line between the West and Russia has widened into a deep chasm and this is likely to endure in the foreseeable future. Far from forcing its way into the European tent, Russia may be reduced to the status of an even more sullen and weakened bystander on its periphery. The US appears to have won this hand with little cost to itself, observes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Admiral Sam Locklear heads the US Pacific Command, making him the most powerful military commander on earth. With 60 per cent of the US Navy under him, PACOM oversees 52 per cent of the planet. Locklear is America's military pointsman for 36 countries, including India and China.
Dr Lobsang Sangay entered the United States White House on Friday -- a historic feat. This is the first time in the last six decades the head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has been invited into the White House, the CTA said in a statement.
'We stress that the boundary issue shall not be linked with the overall bilateral relations. That is an important experience we have gathered through many years' effort to keep the ties moving forward
China criticised the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the United States in Tokyo, saying it is opposed to the formation of "exclusive clique" harming third party's interests.
Amid the Sikkim standoff, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday held talks with his Chinese Counterpart and State Councillor Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of the BRICS NSAs meeting.
The Taliban is showing its strong discontent as the high hopes given to it by the Pakistani military have been dashed, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"Our relationship is so big that it is no longer a bilateral relationship. It has global dimensions," the report quoted Jaishankar as saying.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said complete disengagement requires re-deployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the Line of Actual Control(LAC) and this can be done only through mutually agreed actions.
'We called on relevant countries to have dialogue and communication as soon as possible and launch a thorough investigation into this incident, strengthen information sharing and establish a notification mechanism in time to ensure the recurrence of such incidents and prevent miscalculation'
The Ministry of External Affairs said the two ministers discussed the outstanding issues related to disengagement from all friction points along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
"First, is Azhar a terrorist? Second, was the Pathankot attack perpetrated by the Jaish-e-Mohammed group? To the first question, the answer should be yes," he said.
India on Wednesday delivered a strong message to China that the 'unprecedented' incident in the Galwan Valley will have a 'serious impact' on the bilateral relationship and held the 'pre-meditated' action by Chinese army directly responsible for the violence that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead.
However, there will be no bilateral meetings between Swaraj, Sitharaman with their Pakistani counterparts.
The paper also includes musing that SARS -- which hit China in 2003 -- could have been a man-made bioweapon deliberately unleashed by "terrorists".
Much on the expected lines, Beijing reacted angrily to Hands' visit, saying that it violates the one-China principle to which London is a signatory.
'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.
Japan will offer more than $8.11 billion in loans to construct India's high speed rail network.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said China's claim over Galwan Valley was not in accordance with its own position in the past, noting that attempts of transgression by Chinese side were invariably met with appropriate response from the Indian troops.
The legislative amendment was passed on Thursday by voice vote as part of an en bloc (all together as a single unit) amendment during floor consideration of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA).
China and India have agreed to work to maintain peace along the Line of Actual Control and resolve the border standoff through talks while implementing the consensus reached between the two countries' leadership that 'differences' do not escalate into 'disputes', a top Chinese official said.
Modi will meet Xi at 12.30 pm (10 am IST).
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