Newsletter 12 April (Weekly)

April 12, 2021
 Team

National

Sino-Indian standoff:

Disengagement in the rest of eastern Ladakh will ‘take time’, but India ‘satisfied’ with China talks

As per The Print reported, Disengagement in the remaining areas in eastern Ladakh will take time as both India and China are working out “granular details”, but India is “satisfied” that it has “achieved” what it wanted in dealing with the “more urgent cases requiring disengagement”, which is at the Pangong Lake area, while talks on residual areas are on.

This comes after the 11th round of Corps Commander meet went on for 13 hrs ended late Fri, and the proposals arrived at there detailing how the disengagement in the remaining areas will occur will now be studied at the highest level of both Govt.

‘Disengagement will take time’

Both sides are now working out the “more granular and smaller details” while a thorough analysis is being done to ensure the process is not done in a haste leading to “disadvantage”, The Print article read.

According to a statement issued by India Sat, both sides agreed on the “need to resolve the outstanding issues expeditiously under the existing agreements and protocols”.

For its part, China said after the senior commanders’ meeting, both sides discussed “issues of mutual concerns” and have agreed to “maintain communications” at the military and diplomatic levels.

Tackling a ‘challenging’ de-escalation

After disengagement, the process of de-escalation (pulling back troops from border areas) is going to be a more “challenging process”, The Print reported, noting it is essentially the next step that will require greater engagement and discussions.

The disengagement on the remaining areas will also mean that the Marsimik La (20 km from Pangong Lake, where India has built a road where a minor face-off has been going on) will have to be opened after it is mutually accepted. De-escalation from Ladakh, which entails moving units and formations to respective peace locations, is “quite some distance away and much more ground will have to be covered”, he said.

Last week, the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “We would like to see disengagement in the remaining areas, which will lead to de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and that would hopefully lead to restoration of peace and tranquillity and provide conditions for the progress of our overall bilateral relationship.”

Compared with previous rounds of meetings, the 11th round has two new changes, said the Chinese mouthpiece, Global Times, citing an expert.

  1. The issuer of Chinese statements was the Chinese Defense Ministry, while this time it was the PLA Western Theater Command spokesperson, and
  2. from the 6th round of meeting in Sept 2020, China and India had all released joint statements, but this time no joint statement was released.

This indicated that the latest meeting did not result in an agreement of a full disengagement in other areas as expected, and the statement showed China’s ‘dissatisfaction and concerns’ over the ‘slow development’ of the current situation.

This indicated that it could be challenging to solve the remaining issues, GT reported while adding that “some Indians have a delusion of colluding with the US over the border dispute and playing “smart,” which could damage the restoration of military trust between China and India.

What to Watch

It will be interesting to see how and where this Sino-Indian standoff shifts in the prevailing, which is a rapidly changing geopolitical scenario.

Deepening of US-India partnership in military & security sphere is ‘destined’: Ash Carter

A deepening partnership between the US and India in the military and security sphere is “destined to occur” as there is too much in common between the two large democracies that share really good values, said former American defense secretary, Ash Carter, while speaking at a US Chamber of Commerce hosted session added that the US must be aware of India’s past, including policies of non-alignment and its historic military ties with Russia.

Big Picture

  • Firstly, Carter ‘was’, not ‘is’ American defense secretary.
  • And in the recent past, the US did nothing which can go against China except issuing warnings to Beijing from time to time, especially after Biden has taken over the oval office.
  • Ironically, the US sends the message through sailing in Indian EEZ.
  • Also, the US providing an 8 F16 fighter jet to Pakistan, of course, it will be used against whom? China! No.

What to Note?

Those two things (Nonallingnment and Relation with Russia) and other things will mean that it will go steadily, but at its own pace, he said.

“I’ll give you two ways among many that you do that,” Carter responded to a question on “how can the US create a significant deterrent presence including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)”.

  • One is by having longer-legged aircraft for ISR, that is intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance,
  • And the other way you do it is our bomber, the B-2 bomber, it’s going to be part of this future.

“Chinese are not turning out the way America wanted back in the 90s and the US needs to protect itself”, he concluded.

Chhattisgarh: Naxal carrying Rs 1 lakh reward killed in encounter

A Naxal carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head was killed following an exchange of fire with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district on Sun. One 8 mm pistol, a country-made gun, 2 kg of IED, and other items were recovered from the encounter site.

The gunfight took place at around 2 pm in a forest between Gaadam and Jungampal villages under Katekalyan police station limits when a District Reserve Guard (DRG) team was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava told PTI.

Hunga was a “militia commander” of the outlawed Maoist movement.

Maoists burnt 5 vehicles involved in the construction of a water filter plant in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur

Naxals set ablaze five vehicles being used in the construction of a water filter plant being built on the banks of Miganchal River at a cost of Rs 34 crores and is supposed to provide water in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur on Sun.

“A dozen armed ultras reached the construction site, located around 450 km from Raipur, and threatened the vehicle and machine operators to halt construction activities and then set ablaze two concrete mixing machines, two earthmovers, and a tractor before fleeing from the spot,” an official said.

As soon as the incident was reported, the police rushed to the spot. An operation has been launched in the state for the elimination of the Maoists involved in the act.

Encounters between the security forces and the Naxalites are common in Chhattisgarh. Even in the past, they have left no stone unturned in damaging or destroying public property in the state.

Amit Shah promises welfare fund for refugees, for girls free education, travel

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sun promised that a BJP Govt in Bengal would constitute a “Mukhyamantri Saranarthi Kalyan Yojana (Chief Minister’s Refugee Welfare Scheme CMRWF)” for all refugees and said that every girl will be provided free of cost education from Kindergarten to Postgraduate. Also, under CMRWF, they will be provided Rs 10,000/year, and the farmers will also be provided the welfare money amounting to Rs 18000/yr. The present state Govt has asked the center to transfer the money via state channel, which the center has turned down.

Offering a bouquet of promises to woo ‘Matuas, Namasudra community’, and refugees of other communities, Shah said, “The day BJP forms a Govt in West Bengal we will take back the anti-CAA ordinance which was passed by Mamata Banerjee.

Though, it has no value as Citizenship is the federal issue, where the state can’t do anything.

What is Matuas Community

Matuas a group with a population of over 3 crores across the state, influencing over 70 assembly constituencies and spread across the districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, and other smaller pockets of North and South Bengal.

The 8th and final round of elections is scheduled for Apr 29th, when the remaining 35 assembly segments would go to the polls.

Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra set to become next CEC

Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra is set to become the next chief election commissioner, sources said as the current CEC, Sunil Arora, is retiring on April 30.

Since the Election Commission has 3 members, it has been a tradition that the senior-most commissioner is appointed as the chief election commissioner.

Sushil Chandra: A 61-year-old Chanda is an IIT graduate, and a 1980 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service was appointed as EC on Feb 14th, 2019.

Since Chandra has expertise in taxation and investigation, he could help the poll panel in election expenditure by political parties and candidates, a senior EC official felt.

Lynched Bihar cop's mother dies of shock, cremated together

Mother of Bihar, SHO of Kishanganj Police Station officer Ashwini Kumar, who was allegedly beaten to death by a mob in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district during a raid, died due to shock on Sunday. Both were cremated together in their village.

This is a conspiracy and I demand a CBI probe. They left my father alone despite having guns. Not only circle inspector Manish Kumar, but all those who ran away should be punished. My grandmother also died of shock after my father’s death: Daughter of slain SHO Ashwini Kumar.

This is also supported by a statement by Bihar Police Association has said ‘while Ashwini Kumar had approached the local police seeking help, they had promised to send a team along with him but failed to do so’.

National

Myanmar Coup: 701 killed, 3,100 people detained, 650 arrest warrants issued during protests

Since Feb 1st coup by the Myanmar military, at least 701 people have been killed, 3,100 people detained, and 650 arrest warrants were issued during the protests (Assistance Association for Political Prisoners).

The report also said that there were new casualties from areas where security forces intervened with civilians, reported Anadolu Agency.

The report updated the casualty figure and said 3012 people were detained. It said 656 arrest warrants were issued for demonstrators who are against the coup.

At least 82 people were killed in Bago on Friday when the military intervened with protesters, reported Anadolu Agency.

Pakistan hoping for USD 1 billion debt relief from G-20

Pakistan is hoping to get around US$ 1 billion relief from G-20, the said Pakistan Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Khusro Bakhtiar on Sat. It will include USD 785 million worth of pause on principal loan repayments and the remaining on account of interest repayments, reported Gulf News.

  • However, the debt relief will provide much-needed fiscal space to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and meet the urgent economic needs of the country.
  • The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in a joint communique recently announced a final 6-month extension through Dec 2021 in Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to help developing countries deal with the coronavirus pandemic, reported Gulf News.
  • DSSI is the initiative for a time-bound suspension of loan repayments (of both principal and interest) for countries that request it.
  • Pakistani officials are looking for debt suspension of about USD 900 million to USD one billion from bilateral creditors under DSSI Phase-III and would submit a formal request for relief after discussion within the relevant ministries.
  • Pakistan along with other developing countries had qualified for the G-20 debt relief initiative, announced in April last year to combat the adverse impacts of the pandemic, reported Gulf News.
  • The global debt payments suspension initiative has provided temporary relief of around USD 3.5 billion to Pakistan, according to local media reports.
  • On Mar 30th, Pakistan received nearly USD 500 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the USD 6 billion IMF loan program resumed, reported Gulf News.

US issues ‘warning’ to China; says action against Taiwan would be 'serious mistake'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sun (local time) issued a warning to China stating it would be a “serious mistake” for anyone to attempt to change Taiwan’s “status quo” amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over the island country’s sovereignty.

What did he say?

  • increasingly aggressive actions by Beijing, directed at Taiwan, raising tensions in the straits.
  • we commit Taiwan, under a bipartisan commitment to make sure that Taiwan can defend itself and to make sure that we’re sustaining peace and security in the Western Pacific.
  • When pressed on whether Washington’s “commitments” included military action, Blinken responded that he would not be discussing “hypotheticals” and stated the US would stand by its commitment.

How does it Matter

The US, last week issued new guidelines that encourage exchanges with Taiwanese counterparts, State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

According to SCMP, the guidelines are a move made to bring Washington into compliance with a law signed by former President Donald Trump.

US Reminds China of Its Shortcomings From Covid's Early Days; 'Must Get To Bottom Of It'

  • The United States on Sun launched a fresh broadside against China after Blinken said that Beijing did not maintain transparency during the early stage of Covid-19.
  • He also insisted upon ‘a deep-rooted investigation’ for the origins of Covid-19.
  • These remarks came after a recent investigation jointly by WHO and China showed inconclusive results on when and how the virus spread.

It was also claimed that the concerns of the west were not considered while the Chinese Govt twisted the investigation in their favor.

Team
  • Team
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