India’s nuclear strategy shifts focus from Pakistan to China, Beijing now in range of New Delhi’s missiles: Media Report

• The report said that this posture has likely been reinforced after the 2017 Doklam standoff, during which Chinese and Indian troops were placed on high alert over a dispute near the Bhutanese border.
• India’s nuclear strategy, which has traditionally focused on Pakistan, has now increased emphasis on China.
• Beijing is now in the range of Indian missiles, according to a report.
• The report said that this posture has likely been reinforced after the 2017 Doklam standoff.
• “Def min Rajnath Singh has also publicly questioned India’s future commitment to its no-first-use policy, tweeting in August 2019 that “India has strictly adhered to this doctrine. What happens in the future depends on the circumstances”.
• Recent scholarship has further called India’s commitment to its no-first-use policy into question, with some analysts asserting that “India’s NFU policy is neither a stable nor a reliable predictor of how the Indian military and political leadership might actually use nuclear weapons”,” it added.

India bans 47 more Chinese apps, clones of 59 banned apps; another 275 on radar including PubGs apps

Indian Govt has banned 47 more Chinese apps which are reportedly, clones of the 59 applications which were earlier banned. Reportedly, India has drawn up a list of 275 more Chinese apps, including PUBG, that it will examine for any violation of national security and user privacy, signaling heightened scrutiny and the possibility of more Chinese internet companies being banned in the country.

Indian spy satellite passes over Tibet, China mobilizes troops

• India’s premier intelligence-gathering satellite EMISAT, operated by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), has taken a good look at the positions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in occupied Tibet.
• The satellite which carries Kautilya, an ELINT (electronic intelligence) package whose “capabilities are among the most highly-classified and closely-guarded aspects of operation for military purposes on Sat carried out a pass over PLA positions in occupied Tibet near Arunachal Pradesh,” an official source said.
• Built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), EMISAT’s ELINT missions monitor radio signals which are used to determine the nature and location of all the sources of transmissions in an enemy area.
• The satellite pass came a day after talks between India and China over the stand-off over Chinese structures on Finger 4 area along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Pangong Tso in Ladakh, made no headway, even as both sides have agreed to continue their meetings aimed at disengagement and de-escalation.
• Sources said the Chinese troops have also been mobilized in Depsang sector, as soldiers could be spotted digging the area on their side of the LAC. The PLA had also intruded into Depsang in 2013.
• On July 11, EMISAT’s ELINT (Project Kautilya) carried out a pass near Pakistan Navy’s Ormara base (Jinnah Naval Base). The base also has submarine berthing facilities and has reportedly hosted Chinese submarines in recent years.
• Though India and China remain engaged in talks over the LAC standoff, there is speculation in Ladakh and Kashmir that Pakistan and China are preparing for a two-front war against India during the coming winter.

While 5 Rafales are landing in Ambala on Wed, 5 more are expected come by Oct.

• The first 5 IAF Rafales have taken off from Dassault Aviation Facility, Merignac, France today morning.
• These 5 include 3 single-seater and 2 twin-seater aircraft.
• The ferry is planned in two stages and is being undertaken by IAF pilots. Air to Air Refueling planned during the first leg of the ferry will be undertaken by dedicated Tanker support from French Air Force.
• The aircraft are likely to reach AF Stn Ambala on 29 Jul 20. No 17 Sqn, ‘The Golden Arrows’, is being raised at Ambala with Rafale aircraft.-IAF
• To meet the Indian Army’s light mountain tank requirement, India’s L&T and DRDO have tied up to mate the K-9 chassis with a new modular gun, reports Sandeep Unnithan, India Today’s reports said. Can be built in large numbers at L&T’s ready K-9 line in Hazira, Gujarat.

Chinese mogul expelled from party after calling Xi Jinping a ‘clown,’ accused of corruption

• Ren Zhiqiang often speaks his mind, earning the label ‘China’s Donald Trump’ from some outlets
• A Chinese real estate mogul has been expelled from the Communist Party after he called President Xi Jinping “a clown,” with the party bringing charges of corruption against him.
• Ren Zhiqiang reportedly disappeared in March following a scathing criticism he wrote over Xi’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in China. Ren published an essay accusing Xi of covering up the early stages of the outbreak, saying that no one in the party “took responsibility,” the Independent reported.
• “Standing there was not an emperor showing off his new clothes but a clown who had stripped off his clothes and insisted on being an emperor,” Ren wrote, not naming Xi specifically.
• In this Dec. 3, 2012, file photo, Chinese real estate mogul Ren Zhiqiang poses for photos in his office in Beijing. Ren, former chairman of a state-owned real estate company who publicly criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and will be prosecuted on corruption charges, the party announced Friday, July 24, 2020.
• The party shortly after launched an investigation, citing allegations of corruption and political misdeeds, including embezzlement from his state-owned company Huayuan Group, accepting bribery and abuse of power.
• The Discipline Inspection Commission in Beijing also said that Ren had “publicly published articles opposing the four basic principles” of the Communist Party.
• The party accused Ren of “distorting party history” and showing disloyalty and dishonesty to the party.
• Friends say they believe the probe against Ren was politically motivated and prompted by his essay, according to the Wall Street Journal. Ren has long been considered a symbol of dissent from Xi, regularly voicing his opinions on the government and party operations, and some believe that he is being used as an example to show that no one is above loyalty to the party.

China has been hoarding waters of international rivers to such an extent as to cause recurrent droughts in continental Southeast Asia, as my recent essay points out: Given China’s insatiability for water, Mother Nature rewards it with a record flood year. While the international attention remains on China’s recidivist activities in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where it continues to incrementally expand its strategic footprint, Beijing is also quietly focusing its attention on the waters of rivers that originate in the resource-rich, Chinese-controlled territory of Tibet. [Details see Article by Brahma Chellaney

India for incremental progress, status quo ante at LAC

• India and China are expected to schedule the 5^th round of talks at the Corps Commander level next week to resolve the situation along the LAC in Ladakh.
• New Delhi has decided to stick to its strategy of “incremental change despite slow progress” while pressing for the end-goal, the restoration of status quo ante as of April — before the start of the military standoff.
• It has also ruled out application of any kind of military pressure against China as an option, so as to avoid any inadvertent escalation.
• A government official told The Sunday Express that both sides have agreed to hold the talks at the level of the Corps Commander during the meeting Fri of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs, but the agenda for the talks is yet to be approved.
• The date for the talks will be finalized only after the agenda is approved, and can be expected to be held towards the end of next week.
• “It is a much institutionalized process. Before every Corps Commander Talks, the agenda is approved in Delhi. There is a meeting of the China Study Group which sits down and approves what the commander can propose and agree to. He is an instrument in the process, not the decision-making authority,” the government official said.
• After the last round of talks at the level of the Corps Commander on July 14 which failed to break the deadlock, there was a view within the Govt that there was a need to keep the Chinese off-balance in the next round of talks, as Beijing seemed to be comfortable with the new status quo on the border.
• This view was based on the argument that if military options are ruled out and India is prepared for a prolonged standoff and winter deployment, it should not accept any half-measures or proposals for partial disengagement on the LAC at this stage.
• “There was a view that we should adopt a strong and rigid posture on our demands for restoration of status quo ante. At this stage, we should show our stubbornness, we need to keep the Chinese off-balance, not comfort them,” an official told The Sunday Express.
• It rules out any use of military options, either as a quid pro quo action or in any other form of military leverage, while focusing on the end goal of restoration of the status quo ante.
• “Our end goal is restoration of the status quo ante, in as many steps as it takes. Anything which facilitates the stated outcome is important for the end goal.
• A senior Army officer confirmed the government official’s stance on status quo ante and prolonged stand-off by pointing to a television interview given by Northern Army Commander, Lt General YK Joshi to CNN-News18 on Saturday.
• “What I can tell you in simple words is that we shall continue all efforts to restore the status quo ante along LAC. I believe the negotiations and process of disengagement and the commitment of both sides to adhere to the laid down methodology would dictate the timelines of the stand-off,” Lt General Joshi told the news channel.

After Ouster From Houston Consulate, China Seizes US Consulate in Chengdu

China took over the premises of the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Monday, after ordering the facility to be vacated in retaliation for China‘s ouster last week from its consulate in Houston, Texas.

• On Friday, Beijing announced that it had asked the United States to close its Chengdu post, and gave the Americans 72 hours to vacate, the same amount of time China was given to leave its Houston mission, which was shut on Friday.

“We are disappointed by the Chinese Communist Party’s decision and will strive to continue our outreach to the people in this important region through our other posts in China,” a US State Department spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.