India rejected China’s interference in her internal affairs

• Ministry of External Affairs issues statement after China raises J-K at UNSC
• We firmly reject China’s interference in our internal affairs: MEA on China’s attempt to raise JnK in UNSC. As on previous occasions, this attempt too met with little support, PTI reported.
• Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, expounded on China’s principled position on Kashmir during the Security Council’s closed-door discussions on Wed, said the spokesperson.
• Zhang said that India unilaterally changed the status quo of Kashmir through constitutional amendments in Aug 2019, stoking tensions in the region.
• A year later, there is no fundamental improvement but a risk of further escalation in the situation of Kashmir, according to the spokesperson.
• A day after China prompted the UNSC to discuss the Kashmir issue in a closed-door meeting, India “firmly” rejected the Chinese initiative and reiterated Kashmir was a domestic issue.
• “As on previous occasions, this attempt too met with little support from the international community. We firmly reject China’s interference in our internal affairs and urge it to draw proper conclusions from such infructuous attempts,” the Ministry declared in a press statement.
• China initiated a similar move on Aug 16 last year, when it revived “The India-Pakistan Question” at the UNSC. The issue had not been taken up at the council since it last figured in the world body before the India-Pakistan war of 1971.

Yesterday, China on Wed said that India’s move to strip JnK of its special status under Article 370 was “illegal” and that the dispute must be resolved peacefully through dialogue.

• “China follows closely the situation in the Kashmir region,” the country’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference, in response to a question on the impact of India’s decision to strip Kashmir of its autonomy a year ago.
• Chinese side has no locus standi on this matter: MEA reacted on China’s comment on JnK.

Establishment has Officially Acknowledged that Chinese soldiers Intruded into Indian Territory

• The defense establishment has officially acknowledged that Chinese soldiers intruded into Indian Territory in eastern Ladakh in May, amid the ongoing deadlock over troop disengagement at the faceoff sites in Pangong Tso and Gogra despite five rounds of top-level military talks.
• “The Chinese side transgressed in the areas of Kugrang Nala (near Patrolling Point-15, north of Hot Springs), Gogra (PP-17A) and north bank of Pangong Tso on May 17-18,” a new document, uploaded on the defense ministry’s website on Tue, said.
• “The situation in Eastern Ladakh arising from unilateral aggression by China continues to be sensitive and requiring close monitoring and prompt action based on the evolving situation,” it added.
• The word ‘transgression’ — used by India as a understatement for ‘intrusion’ across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China — has not found mention in any official statement or document since the military confrontation erupted after the first clash between rival troops on the north bank of Pangong Tso on May 5-6.
• The document said the stand-off could be prolonged and the evolving situation may need prompt action.
• Defense minister Rajnath Singh, in a television interview in end-May, had said a sizeable number of Chinese soldiers had “come a little further than they used to earlier”. But it was officially clarified that it should not be “misinterpreted as if Chinese troops entered the Indian side of the LAC”.
• After the bloody clashes in Galwan Valley on June 15, which left 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese troops dead, the external affairs ministry said the Chinese attempt to erect structures “just across the LAC” had led to the clashes.
• The MEA also said China had hindered “traditional” Indian patrolling patterns.
• Subsequent MEA statements stressed the need for restoration of status quo through early and complete disengagement of troops “along the LAC” and de-escalation in accordance with bilateral agreements and protocols.
• Some of media and defense experts have been reporting since May that PLA soldiers have intruded into Indian Territory at multiple points in eastern Ladakh.
• After the Chinese ‘transgression’, the first corps commander-level talks were held on June 6 to defuse the situation, but the “violent faceoff” took place on June 15, “resulting in casualties of both sides”, the government said.
• Taking note of the second corps commander-level talks on June 22, it said, “While engagement and dialogue at military and diplomatic level is continuing to arrive at mutually acceptable consensus, the present standoff is likely to be prolonged.
• The situation in eastern Ladakh arising from unilateral aggression by China continues to be sensitive and requires close monitoring and prompt action based on the evolving situation.”
• the 5^th round of corps commander-level talks on Aug 2 failed to break the stalemate over the stalled troop disengagement in the Pangong Tso area, where a large number of PLA troops have occupied the 8-km stretch from ‘Finger-4’ to ‘Finger-8’ (mountainous spurs jutting into the lake) since May.
• A smaller number of PLA troops have not withdrawn from PP-17A at Gogra.
• The PLA has also remained intransigent about its deep intrusion into what India considers its territory in the strategically-located Depsang-Daulat Beg Oldie sector.
• Sources on Wed reiterated that more military talks, with higher politico-diplomatic intervention, will be required to break the stalemate.
• “There was no meeting ground during the military talks on Aug 2^nd.
• Both sides did not agree to each other’s proposals,” said a source.

This morning, the document vanished from the website and the link is not working anymore. A defense ministry spokesperson said the document “did not go through him”.

‘China is obviously stretching negotiations into the winter, possibly anticipating operational advantages in the severe winter of the high mountains’ China specialist-Jayadeva Ranade

Security agencies seek four to six dedicated satellites for keeping close eye on Chinese military activities ANI

• Seeking to keep a closer eye on the activities of the Chinese military both near the Indian Territory as well as in its depth areas all along the 3,488 km LAC.
• The Indian security agencies feel there is a requirement of four to six dedicated satellites, very high-resolution sensors and cameras giving ability to keep a close watch even on the movement of small objects and individuals,” which can help them keep a check on the adversary’s moves.
• The need has been felt after the Chinese Army in the garb of an exercise in the Xinjiang region on its side of the LAC mobilized more than 40,000 troops along with heavy weaponry and artillery.
• These started rushing them towards India and transgressed into Indian Territory at multiple locations surprising the Indian formations located in Leh including the 14 Corps headquarters.
• The capability and assets would also help the country to reduce dependence on foreign associates to keep a watch on Chinese and other adversaries, they said.
• The Indian Armed Forces already have a few military satellites which are used for keeping a close watch on the adversaries but there is a need to further strengthen that capability.
• Because of the lack of clarity about the Chinese activities, the Indian side took time to build up its numbers in Ladakh and additional forces had to be pumped in from adjoining areas and reserve formations were also moved there.

Five Eyes alliance could expand in scope to counteract China

• Plans mooted to pool strategic resources and lessen west’s dependency on China.
• The Five Eyes alliance is composed of 5 English-speaking countries outside of Eurasia, including the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
• The five Eyes intelligence alliance could be expanded to include Japan and broadened in to a strategic reverses such as critical minerals and medical supplies, according to center-MPs working internationally to decouple the west from China.
• Critical minerals, known as rare earth elements, are the key components in a wide range of consumer products including mobile phones, laptops and TVs, and have widespread defense applications in jet engines, satellites, lasers and missiles.
• On average, China has accounted for more than 90% of the global production and supply of rare earths during the past decade, according to the US Geological Survey.
• Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono has said Japan would welcome an invitation to join the Five Eyes alliance.
• China, Japan should avoid new animosity: Global Times (Chinese’s State Media)

If Japan joins the “Five Eyes” alliance, it would mark a tectonic shift in the Indo-Pacific region, given India’s strategic repositioning following China’s brazen aggression in Ladakh. Such a move could help to rein in China.

China shares slip on Sino-U.S. tensions; consumer, healthcare stocks drag

China shares fell on Thursday, dragged down by consumer and healthcare firms, due to profit booking after four days of gains and as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated further over a U.S. move to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps. Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 1.38% to 10,115.26, while the Hang Seng Index was down 1.63% at 24,692.59.

Chinese’s Foreign Ministry Responded US action

• FM spokesman Wang Wenbin slammed US Secretary of State Pompeo’s announcement to clean up US networks by banning Chinese apps from US app store.
• Wang stressed many Chinese companies unilaterally sanctioned by the US are innocent and their products and services are safe.
• Initiative “absurd and laughable,” noting that there has been no data security incidents involving Chinese firms unlike the many “stains” brought by the US and their PRISM surveillance program.
• The US’ actions are completely groundless and malicious smearing and political manipulation that aim to preserve its dominance in the high-tech sector; such an arbitrary move runs counter to market principles and international trade rules.