The crises of the 21st century, 9/11, the economic meltdown, COVID-19, Russia-Iran war and the Hamas-Israel war seem to be never ending. In this situation, Iran might be contemplating a nuclear deterrent to defend itself, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the distinguished long-time Rediff contributor who turns 80 on June 17..
'Its aim is to force the Bhutanese government to cede territory that China wants elsewhere in Bhutan to give Beijing a military advantage in its struggle with New Delhi.'
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said this at his media briefing as he parried questions on India's assertion that consensus reached by the leaders on maintaining peace along the border cannot be swept under the carpet.
Once the tanks roll back, a zero-based assessment of future equations with China is necessary. Given the conflict situations that China is imposing on India time and again, the red, amber and green lines of interactions with China need to be laid down and communicated in no uncertain terms, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
'India has to prepare for future warfare where kinetic use of force at the border will be limited. War will take place in the realms beyond the border.'
'If the Chinese military gets hold of some western sectors on the India-China boundary, it will give them added military advantage.'
India has expressed concern about the movement of the Xiang Yang Hong 03 vessel in Indian Ocean waters and also prevailed on Sri Lanka to refuse permission for the ship to dock at Colombo port.
The coming together of the Quad and the Australia-UK-US grouping would be a formidable adversary, moving toward the creation of a 'thousand ship navy' that reins in the PLA navy in the Indo-Pacific.
On Thursday, in his first interview with the local media since assuming office, Muizzu said India was instrumental in providing aid to the Maldives and has implemented the "greatest number" of projects.
In his address to the high-level UN General Assembly session, Jaishankar said those who politicise the UNSC 1267 Sanctions regime, sometimes even to the extent of defending proclaimed terrorists, do so at their own peril.
'And this mirror imaging is the most dangerous thing because it leads to tremendous misunderstandings.'
'With China falling out of favour, India is where investors see the demographic and digital dividend apart from the benefits of reforms playing out.' 'Your prime minister has also done a great job of sharing this story with the world.'
By jettisoning the vision of multilateral world in favour of a Han Empire, China has posed a major long term challenge to India. India must stand firm against Chinese expansionism but also keep a door open for future detente by making a clear distinction between Chinese people and the current Chinese leadership, observe Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (Retd) and Colonel Anil Athale (Retd).
China on Friday expressed shock at the deadly suicide attacks at Kabul airport, saying the security situation in Afghanistan remained "complicated and severe" and that Beijing will work with the international community to cope with terrorist threats and prevent the war-ravaged country from becoming a hotbed of terrorism.
The coveted QS rankings indicate that India is slowly but steadily overtaking other nations in the field of education.
....a long-term boundary agreement is reached between the two countries.
At the same time China said that it does not mean China should "appease" India to prevent it from playing "little tricks".
A day after the nearly 12-and-half-hour talks, the two sides, in a joint statement on Monday, reaffirmed that the resolution of the pending issues would help in the restoration of peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the region and enable progress in bilateral relations.
'India cannot allow Beijing's policy of stabilising and destabilising the border at will to perpetuate its own ends.' A riveting excerpt from Manish Tiwari's 10 Flashpoints; 20 Years National Security Situations That Impacted India.
US envoy Eric Garcetti on Thursday said he respects that India likes its "strategic autonomy", but in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy, even as he pitched for forging a stronger partnership between New Delhi and Washington.
'India's move has grossly violated China's territorial sovereignty, seriously violated relevant agreements, protocols and important consensus reached between the two countries'
The former army chief-turned-minister did not provide any evidence to support his statement. He said China historically never accepted any war casualties including in the 1962 conflict with India.
In March 2021, Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal was seen surveying an empty 500-acre land surrounded by shoe factories, temples, bakery shops, coconut trees and dusty roads in Pochampalli town of Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu. Many excavators and workers were busy at the construction site to build the Ola Futurefactory for electric vehicles.
'It is a breathtaking journey towards the Tibet border, especially since the Border Road Organisation has accomplished a fabulous feat in black-topping the road till the border.' 'One is left with a salute for the dauntless Indian soldiers who spend the winter in these majestic, though inhospitable areas (we were told that the temperature comes down to minus 40 in winter),' recounts Claude Arpi.
China has not limited the 'battle' to the diplomatic field alone; the People's Liberation Army has become aggressive on the ground too. The recent 'fights' in Northern Sikkim and Ladakh are part of the pattern, asserts Claude Arpi.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday defended the Agnipath scheme underlining that the future of youths joining as Agniveers would not be impacted, even as he said the government was 'open' to bring any change in it 'if required'.
"The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas," the Army said in a statement.
'India would not like to see Pakistani domination and tutelage of Afghanistan against Indian security and economic interests.'
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Saturday said that China's ambitions and aspirations to global power presented an 'omnipresent danger' to stability in South Asia.
China has put a hold on a proposal moved at the United Nations by the United States and co-supported by India to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir, one of India's most wanted terrorists and the main handler of the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks, as a global terrorist.
With the fight now having been taken to the seizure of nuclear plants, it is one more warning to Europe that this prolonged war could end up with disastrous consequences, observes Rashme Sehgal
'These tactics are particularly evident in China's pursuit of its territorial and maritime claims in the South and East China Seas as well as along its border with India and Bhutan'
Russia proceeds "from the postulate, a negotiated solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has no alternatives," said Putin while speaking at the Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Bishkek, Kyrgystan on Friday.
India's engagement with China is "complex" and Chinese attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh starting from April-May 2020 seriously disturbed the peace and tranquillity in border areas, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said in a report on Monday.
In August, the top BRICS leaders at the grouping's summit in Johannesburg approved a proposal to admit six countries, including Argentina, into the bloc with effect from January 1.
In outbound travel, India will be ahead of Italy, South Korea, Australia, Canada and France.
'We can expect heightened belligerence from China.'
Chushul and Depsang are not vital in this game of Chinese checkers, the Indian Ocean Region is. Keeping our maritime prowess restricted has to be a key Chinese strategic interest and it would appear that the LAC affair has helped China achieve its aim, points out Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
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.
India has emerged as a 'major power' by achieving outstanding results in economic development and social governance and its transformation as a stronger, assertive country has made it a 'new geopolitical factor', according to a commentary by a Chinese scholar in a state-run newspaper in Beijing.
