The days of a thousand cuts are over. These mini wars will remain under the threshold of undeniable war, but will escalate closer to that threshold when their big brother pushes in. Chinese aggression has changed the matrix, the strategies, and surely the objectives too, warns David Devadas.
Amid fresh COVID-19 concerns, Karnataka government on Sunday decided to impose 'night curfew' for 10 days from December 28, between 10 PM and 5 am.
'We should not minimise the seriousness of Chinese encroachments because their perception is different.' 'Nor should we fall into the trap of accepting so-called 'buffer zones' in areas of overlapping claims. We cannot have buffer zones in our own territory,' asserts Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
At least two Sashastra Seema Bal jawans were killed and three others injured after they were ambushed by suspected terrorists belonging to the anti-talks faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland. The ambush happened at the thickly-forested Singhikhola-Laubheta area along the to Indo-Bhutan border in western Assam's Kokrajhar district at around 11 am on Monday.
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The BSF on Thursday said it was making all efforts to secure its jawan, who has been caught by Pakistan after he was swept away by a strong current of the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir.
The BSF on Thursday said it was making all efforts to secure its jawan, who has been caught by Pakistan after he was swept away by a strong current of the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir.
'India's military posture has become significantly stronger than China's on the 3,500-kilometre Line of Actual Control.' 'This is enhancing confrontation between the two sides,' points out Ajai Shukla.
'The last ten months show that India is not going to trust China.' 'Our military commanders are not going to believe that all is well till it actually is.'
Pakistani troops Saturday again violated the bilateral ceasefire on the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu region, according to a defence spokesperson.
Around 15 big camps are active near the LoC (around 15 to 20 kilometre from the LoC). Out of 15, 10 are at the LoC and the other five are in Pakistan, sources were quoted saying.
The commanders will also deliberate on the overall situation in Jammu and Kashmir besides delving into issues having national security implications, they said. However, the main focus will be on the situation in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball face-off in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie, the sources said.
Indian military sources said no firearms were used in the clashes and that most of the injuries were sustained following stone-pelting and use of rods by the Chinese side.
'Tibetans will participate in future conflicts with India (in all probability, some were already present in Galwan).' 'As nobody in India would like to have a deadly fight with Tibetan soldiers and officers, the issue needs to be closely followed,' observes Claude Arpi.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said Saturday's incident along the LoC was an outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "flip-flops and somersaults" on Pakistan.
Pakistan's political leaders on Friday adopted a resolution against India, condemning the killing of 2 Pakistani soldiers in BSF firing.
Though General Naravane's visit will not deal with 'impermanent' issues like the changing stands of politicians, it will certainly reinforce the deeper 'permanent' links between the people of Nepal and India. Time will hopefully tackle the present impermanence of the Sino-Nepalese romance, notes Claude Arpi.
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.
At least eight personnel of the Border Security Force were killed and eight others injured in an ambush by the anti-talks faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland in Assam's Kokrajhar District on Monday evening. Militants of the Ranjan Daimary-led faction used automatic weapons to ambush the BSF convoy in remote Ultapani Forest area near the India-Bhutan border. The patrol was on its way from Bangladoba in Chirang District of Assam to Ultapani in Kokrajhar.
Border Security Force has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan Rangers over ceasefire violation in forward areas of Poonch and Kathua districts along the Indo-Pak border, in which a BSF jawan and a civilian were injured.
At least 13 security personnel were killed on Friday when Naxals triggered a blast and then opened fire on a patrol party near Tongada village, bordering Andhra Pradesh, in the Maoist-affected district of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh. The patrol party, comprising 21 police personnel, was returning from Terla village when the rebels unleashed the attack.
The BSF said the force was retaliating with "pinpointed" fire which destroyed firing positions, mortar launching pads and ammunition and fuel dumps of the Pakistan Rangers at multiple places.
At least 38 PLA troops drowned while crossing a fast-flowing, sub-zero river in darkness, according to an article in the Australian newspaper The Klaxon which cited a report prepared by a group of social media researchers after a year-long investigation.
The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach involving the Army, the Indian Air Force and the Navy as well as diplomacy and economic measures to send out a firm and clear message to China that its misadventure in eastern Ladakh was not acceptable at all.
After making incursion bids in Ladakh through land route, Chinese troops have made several attempts to enter Indian waters at Pangong lake nestled in the higher reaches of Ladakh with the latest incident reported on Friday.
A Border Security Force jawan, who was swept away into Pakistan by strong currents of Chenab River and picked up by Pakistan Rangers, on Friday said he was treated "better" than his expectation and was looking forward to meeting his family.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to China with a bagful of initiatives, but not all seems to have been fulfilled given China's reluctance to go the whole hog with him
BSF Inspector General (Assam and Meghalaya Frontier) Prithvi Raj told PTI on Friday that the BSF fired some six rounds in the air to disperse them. He added the BSF had lodged a protest with the Bangladesh Rifles over the incident.The IG said, "One cannot stop such things; we can only minimize them.
Close on the heels of over a dozen incursions since the face-off in Ladakh in April from across the Line of Actual Control, Chinese troops made a fresh attempt to violate the International Border at Chumar area in north-east of Leh on July 20, but were forced back by Indian troops.
A man died of cardiac arrest following a grenade attack by militants on a security patrol in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, official sources said.
Due to both sides undertaking patrolling up to their perception of the LAC, transgressions do occur.
Virtually defending the latest incursion by the People's Liberation Army in the Chumar sector in Ladakh, China on Thursday said its troops were patrolling on its side of the Line of Actual Control and asserted that "status quo" should not be changed pending a final settlement.
Two Chinese helicopters entered Indian territory in Uttarakhand on two occasions in April and June after which the Army launched protests with the Chinese Army, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
A senior BSF officer said the three Pakistani soldiers strayed into this side of the border on Sunday evening, and were immediately arrested by the alert jawans of the BSF patrolling in the area.
A naxal commander, who was carrying a reward of Rs 2.10 lakh on his head, was killed in a fierce gun-battle with the security personnel in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday afternoon, the police said.
"Issue should be closed within 1-2 months," Manohar Parrikar said.
West Bengal has a 2,200 km porous border with Bangladesh over 10 districts.
A range of retaliatory measures are being weighed by India's generals.
Three Border Security Force jawans were killed and six were injured on Wednesday after a Maoist ambush on a BSF party near the Sukma-Malkangiri border in Chitrakonda, Odisha.
Eight suspected Pakistani nationals, with some of them involved in terror activities, were detained by security forces in Maharajgunj when they allegedly tried to cross Indo-Nepal border, official sources said on Sunday.
A BSF patrolling party observed some movement in forward area of Garkhal, 30 km from Jammu, in Pargwal belt around 0400 hours and challenged the infiltrating terrorists, police said. The terrorists opened fire and the BSF troops fired back. The exchange of gunfire continued for half an hour following which the terrorists fled back, they said.
