'Don't play the American game... India is too big for a US game.'
'The lesson Beijing would have learned is that there is, cost-benefit wise, no better option than to keep the Pakistan military supplied with its most advanced armaments, certain that in hostilities with India these would be used for maximum effect.'
Lisa Curtis, who served as deputy assistant to President Trump and as National Security Council senior director for South and Central Asia from 2017 to 2021, said she expected the same bumps for India and the US, as in Trump's first term, including tariff, dependence on Russia over arms supply and oil purchase from Iran. Curtis, however, said both countries could never enter an alliance but develop a partnership that is "short of an alliance". She hoped them to achieve a cooperation that deters China, but also prepares both countries in case of a crisis or conflict, be it in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, or another flare-up on the India-China border.
NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday said there should be a presentation by the government on what is happening on the India-China border, particularly in Ladakh, where the armies of the two countries are involved in a face-off. Pawar, who is in the national capital to attend a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, said there are other defence-related issues on the table for discussion, but he will make a request that a presentation is made on it.
India and China plan to resume the next round of talks to resolve differences over demarcation of borders and conduct joint military exercises so as to boost bilateral ties, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon said on Tuesday.
In the wake of reported incursion attempts by China, India on Wednesday said such incidents take place due to difference of perception about boundary and leaders of both the countries are in talks to resolve the issue.
Playing down recent border stand off in Ladakh ahead of Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India, China on Thursday said the two sides have the ability to prevent such issues from affecting overall growth of ties, while working "very hard" to find a solution at an "early date".
Both India and China have realised that if border incursions keep reoccurring, other issues of mutual interest will remain unstable. Sheela Bhatt reports
Committing to maintain peace and tranquility on the boundary, India and China on Saturday agreed that it was an "important guarantor for growth in ties and in this context pledged to early conclusion of negotiations on a proposed pact aimed at avoiding flare-ups on the border.
India and China on Monday decided to deepen bilateral defence ties and maintain peace and tranquillity at the Line of Actual Control besides strengthening cooperation against terror, including at the international level.
Sitharaman had a brief conversation with Chinese soldiers during her maiden visit to the Nathu La border post in Sikkim.
Jaishankar also spoke about how he expected a change in Russia's direction towards the rest of the world and it may likely want multiple options in Asia.
'After more than 20 years of understanding, nothing much seems to have been achieved. What the two countries have been trying to do is to manage the recurrence of border incursions. The two sides must address the disease, and not the symptom of the disease,' says Rup Narayan Das.
The talks took place over video call on Sunday. According to sources, talks were held for over two hours in a cordial and forward-looking manner.
'Unsurprisingly, Trump shared Modi's podcast with Fridman on his Truth account.' 'The intentions of Trump, a transactional president, are never easy to tell.' 'We will know in the next fortnight if and when he unfolds reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, whether Modi's flattering words made any significant difference to Trump's compass,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Disengagement from the LAC will remain a chimera because China has given enough indications that the PLA will not move back any more. China has even deployed drones to monitor and deny any patrolling by Indian troops even in the buffer zones which are all in Indian Territory, explains Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Against the backdrop of recent incursions by Chinese troops into India, the two countries are working to conclude a new border defence agreement with an aim of signing it when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Beijing possibly in October.
The disengagement plan was discussed between the two sides during the 8th Corps Commander-level talks which were held on November 6 in Chushul.
In his farewell remarks posted on the Chinese embassy website, Sun said it is only natural for important neighbours China and India to have some differences but the key is how to handle the differences.
Almost five years later, the three services have still not fully understood that joint/theatre commands are not a discussion point; they are the prime minister's diktat on a military reform measure that is in line with what armed forces around the world have implemented, points out Ajai Shukla.
A broad consensus has been achieved by India and China on restoring the 'ground situation' along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) pursuant to talks, including for patrolling and grazing cattle in the traditional areas, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.
Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo will return to sponsor the IPL this season after its attempts to transfer the rights to another company failed to materialise as offers were not upto its "expectations".
India on Thursday strongly rejected China renaming 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that the state has 'always been' and will 'always be' an integral part of India and that assigning 'invented' names does not alter this fact.
India and China on Monday began talks to put in place a mechanism for management of the border between the two nations, an issue that has been an irritant in bilateral relations.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed the border agreement to ensure that both countries do not tail each other's military teams along the LAC. Sheela Bhatt reports from Beijing
External affairs minister S Jaishankar has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the two sides should work for an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas as this has been an essential basis for progress in Sino-India ties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold bilateral talks on Wednesday on the margins of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) summit in Russia, in their first structured meeting since the eastern Ladakh border row erupted in May 2020.
Asked about the recent meeting between Modi and Xi, and if Russia had any role in it, Alipov said, "We have not played any role in it, but we are happy that it took place in Kazan... We wholeheartedly welcome the meeting."
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will travel to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers' meeting being held in Goa on May 4 and 5, the foreign ministry in Beijing announced on Tuesday.
"We should not have a repeat of what happened in Mumbai. That there was a terror attack and there was no response," Jaishankar told reporters in Mumbai.
Army chief General Naravane said the ongoing dialogue will sort out all the perceived differences between the two countries.
Chinese ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, on Wednesday expressed hope that the recently completed Indo-China border disengagement in Eastern Ladakh would smoothen relations and pave the way for a better understanding between the two neighbours in the days ahead.
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 Indian Army guards the Line of Actual Control -- India's border with China -- along with the ITBP.
An improvement in political relations, anchored in a restoration of peace and tranquillity at the border, could open up opportunities for expanded economic and commercial relations between them, suggests former foreign secretary Ambassador Shyam Saran.
"The current border situation is overall stable," the Chinese diplomat said.
The situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh is stable but sensitive and not normal, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi said on Tuesday on the dragging military standoff between China and India in the region.
Against the backdrop of recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Saturday said the two countries are working on a new Border Defence Cooperation Agreement.
Trump on Wednesday said in a tweet that he was "ready, willing and able to mediate" between the two countries.
