UNSETTLED BORDERS WITH CHINA
China Coast Guard rules the waves and waives the rules
China intimidated Taiwan yet again with its large-scale Joint Sword-2024A exercise on 23-24 May. This saw People's Liberation Army (PLA) and CCG assets surround Taiwan and its outlying islands, underscoring the threat of a future Chinese quarantine or blockade of Taiwan.
Rise of China and unsettled borders will be most formidable challenge for India: CDS Gen Anil Chauhan
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan highlighted the unsettled borders with China as India's most formidable challenge, emphasizing the need for astute handling of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) at disputed borders. He underscored the importance of maintaining legitimacy on these borders and countering efforts to create new facts or narratives. General Chauhan also addressed the impact of technology denial regimes and rising fragility in India's immediate neighbourhood, stressing the need for collective action to address security challenges.
Despite economic turmoil, Pak military remains threat for us: CDS Gen Anil Chauhan
CDS Gen Anil Chauhan stated that despite economic turmoil, Pakistan's military capabilities remain a threat. He emphasized India's readiness to handle border security challenges, especially along disputed borders in the north. Gen Chauhan highlighted the changing nature of warfare, stressing the need for India to adapt with new weapon systems, technologies, tactics, and strategies. He also noted the predictability of threats from China and Pakistan, but emphasized the unpredictability of future warfare as a major challenge.
View: Great powers are abdicating strategic space or being forced to fight for it
So, the latest developments in West Asia, especially Hamas audacity, can be seen as part of a larger global trend where great powers are either abdicating strategic space or are being forced to fight for it. The UN Security Council is a divided house between two groups — US-Britain-France and Russia-China — among the five veto-privileged permanent members. With no consensus on most security issues, non-state actors are bound to get emboldened, taking the cue from countries like Türkiye to use the turmoil as an opportunity to settle old.
Why India needs a fresh approach to de-escalation with China
With China having taken a headstart on building border infrastructure, India will be playing catch-up for most of the next decade, despite the haste being shown. And that’s why Indian military posture will have to be defined, unlike China, with limited flexibility at hand.
The ‘new’ New Delhi response conveys the pivot in India’s China policy
China is seeking a return to normalcy in its overall relationship with India after a military disengagement, but India is reluctant because of unsettled matters in Depsang and Demchok. India's China policy has shifted radically, contesting any efforts by Beijing to downplay the border issue, and placing this issue at the center of the relationship. India is proactively willing to publicly state its concerns, which China may find at odds considering typical escalation aversion by democratic governments with economic dependencies. As a result, India is charting an entire new agenda, including exploring possibilities in emerging technologies and building diverse, reliable defense partnerships.
Did China's balloon violate international law?
While the answers to these questions may not be immediately known, one thing is clear: the incursion of the Chinese balloon tested the bounds of international law. This incident has also added another layer of complexity to the already strained relations between the US and China.
A softer Beijing in the new year is probably signalling its citizens, the US and Pakistan, not India
The more pleasant Qin Gang, former ambassador to the US, has replaced Wang Yi, 'he of the permanent scowl', as foreign minister. Has China entered 2023 with a softer outlook? Should India breathe a sigh of relief?
What is different now about the China-India Tawang faceoff?
Post the Galwan clashes in 2020, the Indian side is not surprised by the irresponsible behaviour of PLA, which had junked all old agreements for peace and tranquility earlier; hence Indian troops resolutely and firmly contested the PLA's effort to close in to the LAC near Yangtse in Tawang Sector presumably to change the status quo.
Iraq emerges as a key pillar in China’s BRI strategy
China’s interest in West Asia and the Arab world is primarily for securing energy supply for its uninterrupted economic growth, but there is a strategic agenda as well. One reason is that the region may act as a hub to expand its market and sphere of influence in Africa as well as Europe.
India could be attacked on all fronts; IAF can deliver desired punch when required: Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari
The Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said India could be attacked on all fronts, starting from military standoffs to information manipulation and blackouts in the future and its security doctrines and capabilities will have to cater to such possibilities. "As a nation, we need to identify our immediate and future threats accurately so that necessary capability responses can be developed to counter them," he said.
Shanghai finds cases after five days of 'zero COVID' but end of lockdown on track
The commercial hub of 25 million found three new cases in the same family in Qingpu district. All had taken three doses of vaccine and their infections were discovered during regular testing, authorities said.
Happenings in Asia should worry Europe, says Jaishankar as he hits back
"When the rules-based order was under challenge in Asia, the advice we got from Europe was 'do more trade'. At least we're not giving you that advice," Jaishankar said at a Town Hall event at the Raisina Dialogue, India's premier geo-political and geo-economic dialogue. "In terms of Afghanistan, please show me which part of the rules-based order justified what the world did there," he said while interacting with his counterparts from Europe.
China steps up construction along disputed Bhutan border, satellite images show
The images and analysis supplied to Reuters by U.S. data analytics firm HawkEye 360, which uses satellites to gather intelligence on ground-level activities, and vetted by two other experts, provide a detailed look into China's recent construction along its frontier with Bhutan.
Army 'strong and tall' in face of challenges on 'active, unsettled' borders: General M M Naravane
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the golden jubilee celebrations (1971-2021) of the Television Wing of the Film and Television Institute of India, General Naravane hailed the role of mainstream cinema in reinforcing core values, preserving the diverse culture of the country and galvanising it in times of crisis.
Trump's legacy: A more divided America, a more unsettled world
Closing out his presidency exactly four years later, Trump leaves behind an even more polarized America, where thousands are dying daily from the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is badly damaged and political violence has surged.
Infra push along border keeps construction equipment companies busy
With increased government emphasis on infrastructure development in border areas after the escalation in tension with the country’s largest neighbour, sales of construction equipment to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has increased 50% in the first half of the ongoing fiscal year.
High road at Chilling: India builds Himalayan bridges and highways to match China
The 283-km- long Nimmu-Padam-Darcha (NPD) highway, where Ligen Eliyas is working, is expected to be completed in three years, officials said. It highlights the efforts by India, which have been redoubled after the latest tensions, to develop key infrastructure - roads, tunnels, bridges and airfields - along the unsettled 3,500 km border with China.
Several strategic objectives at play in India-China border stand-off
There is a larger dynamic at work in the India-China confrontation in Ladakh, one where India faces a pushback for trying to use the communist giant’s new post-Covid vulnerabilities to reduce its ability to flex muscle on the regional and global stage. The LAC face-off may be resolved yet as the Chinese side has toned down its rhetoric but a strategic tussle is on.
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