Newsletter 22 February

Sino-Indian Standoff: India-China disengagement

Indian Navy P-8I spotted a short while ago (around 13.39 hrs IST) over North India, Mon, Feb 22nd 2021 ITBP to continue patrolling in non-friction points

As part of the agreement on disengagement, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army moved its forces to the east of Finger 8 on the North bank, and the Indian Army to its base near Finger 3
Even as the disengagement of frontline soldiers at the North and South banks of Pangong Tso is completed, the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) will continue to patrol areas in Ladakh that were not friction points between India and China.
The border guarding force won’t be patrolling the areas where disengagement has taken place or other friction points like Depsang, Gogra, Hot Springs and Kongka La until the redesigned patrolling terms or status of old patrolling terms in these areas are conveyed by the Indian Army.
“We will continue to patrol the areas which we were patrolling earlier on our perception area of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and are not friction points. These include certain grazing grounds, inner areas and patrolling points towards Uttarakhand as well as the eastern sector,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.
ITBP, another officer said, will also maintain status quo for now at its Border Outposts (BOPs) in the Ladakh region, which were strengthened by some 60 additional companies (~ 6,000 personnel) in June-July last after, after the Galwan valley clash on June 15-16 in which 20 Indian army soldiers and unknown number of PLA troops were killed.
At least 25 to 30 additional personnel had been deployed in most BOPs of ITBP in Eastern Ladakh; usually 100-110 personnel are deployed in each border outpost.
Both officers cited above also confirmed that the infrastructure development, including construction of roads, repair/construction of jawans’ barracks/posts and 47 new BOPs sanctioned by the Govt across the 3,488 km-long border with China will continue as well.
In fact, ITBP’s first “climate-controlled” BOP at Lukung Valley along the strategic Pangong Tso Lake, built at a cost of around ₹17 crore, is currently under testing. The state-of-the-art BOP is likely to be officially operationalized by April or May this year.
Both Indian and Chinese armies had deployed over 100,000 soldiers and advanced weaponry in their forward and depth areas of the Finger Area, a set of eight cliffs jutting out of the Sirijap range overlooking the Pangong Lake, for past eight months now.

India, China agree to ‘further disengagement’ at Ladakh after 16-hour Corps Commander talks-ThePrint

During the Corps Commander level meeting, the issue of disengagement at Gogra, Hot Springs, Depsang Plains and Demchok was discussed.
The Indian delegation led by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen P.G.K. Menon told the Chinese that to maintain peace and tranquility at the Line of Actual Control, it was important to disengage in Gogra, Hot Springs, Demchok and stop blocking of Indian patrols in the Depsang Plains.
Both sides also reviewed the disengagement process that has been completed at Pangong Tso with them withdrawing infantry soldiers, mechanized columns and armored elements from the northern and southern banks including the Kailash Range.
It is understood that both sides have worked out an understanding on disengagement process to be rolled out in the Gogra and Hot Spring area where India and China continue to be in a stand-off.
Later Sun, a joint statement released by India and China read as “They had candid and in-depth exchange of views on other issues along the LAC in the Western Sector. The two sides agreed to follow the important consensus of their state leaders, continue their communication and dialogue, stabilize and control the situation on the ground, push for a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues in a steady and orderly manner, so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas,”.

16-hr-long talks fail to end LAC impasse-TOI

There was no concrete breakthrough in the marathon military talks between India and China in de-escalating the remaining ‘friction points’ at Gogra, Hot Springs, Demchok and Depsang Plains in Eastern Ladakh, but the two reiterated their commitment to work for a mutually-acceptable resolution through further dialogue.

Depsang a friction point from the past

As reported in Aug last year the tensions at Depsang Plains can be traced to several years earlier and was linked to China’s 18-km incursion into the area, which is close to the strategic Daulat Beg Oldi base, in 2013, and during the 2017 Doklam stand-off.
The issue of Depsang Plains relates to China blocking Indian patrol teams from accessing Patrol Points (PP) 10, 11, 11A, 12 and 13.
The Indian patrol has to go beyond a feature called bottle neck area on foot, beyond which vehicles can’t be taken.
Less than a km after this is an area called ‘Y’ junction, which has fork and one route leads to PP 10, 11, 11A and 12, and the other goes directly to PP 13.
This is where the Chinese come on vehicles and stop the Indian patrol team from going further, a development which became more aggressive since the 2017 Doklam stand-off.
Similarly, Indians also block Chinese patrol from coming in through the bottleneck area.
This is because Chinese perception of LAC is beyond the bottleneck area (around 18-20 km from LAC) and just 1.5 km from Burtse, where the Chinese reached in 2015 during President Xi Jinping’s India visit.

Carefully crafted narrative

The carefully crafted narrative, which was buttressed by the state media releasing new footage from the Galwan clash of June 15, was timed for full effect.
The announcement was made a day after China returned to work after a seven-day national holiday for the lunar new year, and nine days after India and China announced the beginning of a disengagement process.
PLA said the announcement, made 8 months after the clash in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives, was aimed at honoring the soldiers and “setting the record straight”, after it accused India of “distorting the truth” and “slandering the Chinese border troops”.
The details of the PLA’s withdrawal did not get in the way of the most popular social media hashtag of the day, which said, “Not an inch of our country’s mountains and rivers can be lost.”
That was shared by some of the most popular Chinese celebrities including singer Hua Chenyu, who shared the message with his 39 million followers.
The popular pop group TFBoys did the same to its 21 million followers, adding a message of thanks to the PLA soldiers.
By the end of Fri, the hashtag had 1.6 bn views and generated more than 1.7 mn posts.

China detains bloggers for questioning official version of Galwan clash

Three Chinese bloggers were detained by authorities in China for questioning the official Chinese version of theGalwan Valley clash against Indian troops which took place on June 15 last year, reports said. As per the police, he has been handed 7-day detention.
China’s state-run Global Times said “following the arrests of 2 web users who slung mud at the PLA’s heroes who were killed in the Galwan Valley border clash with India, a blogger in Southwest China’s Sichuan province ‘confessed’ his misdeeds for having insulted the martyrs has been arrested.“

Chinese FM said Mon that China supports India in hosting this year’s BRICS conference, and is willing to work with India and other BRICS members to continue strengthening cooperation in various fields, in response to question on whether border clash would affect BRICS cooperation, tweeted China’s state-run Global Times

UN thanks India for offering 200,000 COVID vaccine doses for UN Peacekeepers- ANI

United Nations on Sat thanked India for offering 200,000 COVID vaccine doses for UN Peacekeepers and appreciated efforts to strengthen COVAX Facility for ensuring equitable access to vaccines for all.
“India has been a global leader in pandemic response efforts. Appreciate efforts to strengthen COVAX Facility for ensuring equitable access to vaccines,” TS Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to UN, quoted UN Sec.-General Antonio Guterres as saying.
Guterres also thanked External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for offering 200,000 COVID vaccine doses for UN Peacekeepers.
India has supplied a total of 229.7 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine to the global community as of last week, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
Addressing a weekly briefing, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said India plans to gift vaccine doses to Oman, CARICOM countries, Nicaragua, Pacific Island states.
He further said that New Delhi plans to supply 10 mn vaccine doses to Africa and 10 lakh to UN health workers under GAVI’s (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) COVAX facility.

PM Modi launches several oil and gas projects in poll-bound Assam

In his 3^rd visit to the poll-bound state within a month, Modi launched several oil and gas projects, inaugurated an engineering college and laid the foundation stone of another.
The PM dedicated the INDMAX unit at Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) Bongaigaon refinery to the nation.
INDMAX is an indigenously developed technology by IOC to produce a high yield of LPG and high-octane gasoline from various petroleum fractions.
The unit will increase the refinery’s crude processing capacity from 2.35 to 2.7 MMTPA (million MT/ yr).
Its commissioning will also significantly enhance LPG production from 50 to 257 TMT (thousand MT) and the Motor Spirit (Petrol) production from 210 to 533 TMT.
The farm has been built for the safe storage of about 40,000 kilolitres of crude oil and the separation of formation water from wet crude oil.
The ₹490 crore project, will also have a dehydration unit with an operating capacity of 10,000 kilolitres per day, said a press information bureau release.The gas compressor station will increase the nation’s crude oil production capacity by nearly 16,500 MT/ annum.
Built at a cost of ₹132 crore, the station comprises 3 low-pressure booster compressors and 3 high-pressure lifter compressors, it added.

Focus should be on providing defense equipment to smaller nations: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Mon while addressing the webinar on effective implementation of budget provisions in the defense sector, outlined that the country now has to step out from an import-dependent status and fast track its defense manufacturing capabilities as third-world nations with relatively small economies will look forward to India for their defense needs.
“The changes in the world order that we are observing have made smaller nations aware of the need to strengthen their defense. Defense is one of the primary concerns for these countries. It is natural for these nations to look forward to India to help these nations strengthen their defense capabilities,” the PM said.
Earlier in the day, defense minister Rajnath Singh said that India is focusing on bringing a turnover of ₹175,000 crore through defense export.

India signs $50 mn def agreement with Maldives to boost maritime capability

Indian Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishnakar, who is here on a 2-day visit, held discussions with Maldivian Defense Minister Mariya Didi
India will always be a reliable security partner for the Maldives, Jaishankar said here on Sun, as New Delhi signed a USD 50 mn defense Line of Credit agreement with the island nation to facilitate capability building in the maritime domain.

Mehbooba Mufti urges Centre to start dialogue with Pakistan after terrorist incidents in Kashmir ANI

After the recent terrorist attacks in Kashmir earlier this week, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti on Sat urged the Centre to start a dialogue with Pakistan to stop the bloodshed so as to ensure peace in the Union Territory.
Talking to reporters on Sat, Mufti urged the Central Government to hold talks with Pakistan and the people of JnK, saying the Govt must find ways to resolve the issues afflicting the Union Territory to curb violence.
The BJP Govt should think and start the process of dialogue so that the bloodshed is stopped, the PDP president added. Expressing concern over the terrorist activities in the UT, she said,
On Feb 19, two policemen were killed in a terrorist attack in Srinagar’s Baghat area of Barzulla.
In another encounter on the same day, 3 terror associates were also killed in the Budgam area of the Shopian district of JnK.
One police personnel of JnK lost his life and another was injured in a separate encounter that broke out between the security forces and terrorists in Budgam district on Feb 19.

Politicians demanding early J&K Assembly polls must cooperate with Delimitation Commission: LG Sinha

JnK’s Lt Governor Manoj Sinha Mon said that those demanding early assembly elections in the UT must cooperate with the Delimitation Commission to complete the exercise at the earliest.

Security forces bust terrorist hideout in J-K's Anantnag, weapons recovered ANI

After the arrest of the conspirator of the Krishna Dhaba attack, Jammu and Kashmir Police and Army in a joint operation busted one hideout of terrorist in Anantnag forest, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, said on Sun.

Suspected IED has been found on Mon’s morning at the National Highway near railway crossing Kenihama, Nowgam of Srinagar under a bridge. Bomb Disposal squad has rushed to the spot. Security forces have cordoned off the area. Traffic suspended. More details are awaited.

BJP won’t stake claim, Puducherry heads for Prez rule after Narayanasamy's exit

We will not try and form a Govt at this stage. With the people’s blessings in the forthcoming elections and Modiji’s leadership, the NDA will form a Govt, said BJP state unit President V Saminathan

Charles de Gaulle carrier to exercise with Vikramaditya in Indian Ocean in April

India and France will cement its defense cooperation in April when Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier strike force will exercise with INS Vikramaditya in 2 phases in Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
The dates of the exercises are being scheduled between the two navies.
The nuclear powered French carrier force, comprising two frigates and on support ship, is on mission “Clemenceau 21”, which is involved in the fight against terrorism for several months in Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea/ Persian Gulf.
According to people aware of the developments in the Navy, the Western Fleet with its newly appointed commander Rear Admiral Ajay Kochhar will be conducting advanced exercises with the French carrier task force. While Charles de Gaulle is a 42,500 ton aircraft carrier with Rafale M fighter on board, INS Vikramaditya is a conventionally powered aircraft carrier with displacement of 44,500 ton and has MiG-29K fighters on board.

Maiden test of DRDO’s Vertically Launched-Short Range Surface to Air Missile, VL-SRSAM soon. Based on Astra the highly capable missile has a range of 40km. Around 8000 people residing 2km around ITR have been shifted to shelters temporarily for safety reasons.

NEIGHBORHOOD/ WORLD

Arab world is making Pakistan pay and plan is to mortgage the largest park

The IMF is unlikely to hand out more money to Pakistan and even China has begun seeking loan guarantees. Pakistan has exhausted all its options.
Its economy is ailing and Islamabad is in urgent need of money.
And PM Imran Khan has come up with a bright idea and is “considering” mortgaging a park in Islamabad to get a loan of around $3 billion.
He plans to secure by offering a park as security.
For the unversed, Fatima Jinnah Park is based in the heart of Islamabad and is named after the youngest sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
This is the largest recreation park of its kind in capital and is spread across 759 acres of land.
According to Dawn news, the proposal to mortgage this park has been included in the agenda of Pakistan’s federal cabinet conference which will be held on Thu.
The Pak govt has confirmed this and recently issued a clarification justifying its plan under the Shariah law.
Simply described, the Pakistan Govt is trying to say that mortgage or ‘sukuk’ is compliant with Sharia law.

Pakistan, Turkey waging information war against India: ANI

Pakistan and Turkey are part of an information war launched against New Delhi to create political instability and unite anti-India forces within the country and across the world, according to a report.
Writing for the Greek City Times, Paul Antonopoulos has analyzed the recent Disinfo Lab report titled ‘The Unending War: From Proxy War to Info-War’.
Antonopoulos has expressed shock at how that Islamabad has now roped in Turkey to combine the Khalistani and Pakistani projects to help each other and support the information warfare.
The report has exposed the K-2 (Kashmir-Khalistan) plan by Pakistani intelligence agency- ISI to bleed India.
It also highlights that information warfare is a key part of the game plan and is led by Pieter Friedrich who runs a group by the name of Organization for Indian Minorities (OFIM).
A case study in the report documents how global warfare is being waged against India in the realm of perception management.
It also documents that the methods have changed – from proxy war to info-war.
According to the report, this elaborate design and planning that is underway since 2007, is driven by a singular motive – to target India’s interests.
This is being attempted in four major ways:
1. “Targeting idea of India – non-violence and Mahatma Gandhi – replacing it with an alternate image of ‘fascist India’;
2. Targeting India’s territorial integrity – working towards K-2 design;
3. Targeting India’s interests abroad by working against Indian origin American politicians; and
4. Whitewashing Pakistan’s sins – clean chit to ISI in Kabul Gurudwara Bombings and questioning Pulwama attack.”
In a detailed report, the Greek City Times has unearthed how Turkey has been an “integral part of this warfare” and has been aiding Pakistan in its disinformation campaign against New Delhi’s interests.
The report has a list of media and social media amplifiers, which includes who’s who amongst social media luminaries.
Not surprisingly, a lion’s share in OFMI and Pieter’s promotion come from Pakistan, from Cabinet Minister to Influencers and Media.
Besides this, one of the most prominent names revealed in the report who has been promoting Pieter Friedrich’s propaganda as an ‘amplifier,’ is Constantinople based propagandist Ali Keskin.
According to the sources cited by Greek City Times, Keskin is the key figure responsible for collaboration between the Pakistani ISI and the Turkish intelligence agency (MIT) on information warfare.
A review of the Keskin’s Twitter feed indicates that he has peddled hundreds of propaganda content against Greece, UAE, Israel and France.
“Several investigations by news organizations have revealed that disgruntled with the emerging India-UAE ties, Ali Keskin, with the help of his amplifiers in Pakistan, began a hashtag #BoycottUAE, which became a top trending hashtag within a couple of minutes,” the Greek City Times report said.
“Geopolitical experts believe that countries like Greece, India, the UAE and France shall come together to hit hard on the nexus so that it ceases to be a threat,” Antonopoulos wrote.
He further stressed that these countries should collectively urge the new US administration to ensure that the US is not used for the activities of extremist and anti-state actors that could jeopardize peace across the world.