Newsletter 18 January

Sino-Indian Standoff: With India immersed in petty and hyper-partisan politics, China is quietly stepping up expansionism in the Himalayan Borderlands.

China Has Built Village In Arunachal, Show Satellite Images-NDTV

The village, located on the banks of the River Tsari Chu, lies in the Upper Subansiri District, an area which has been long disputed by India and China and has been marked by armed conflict.
China has constructed a new village in Arunachal Pradesh, consisting of about 101 homes, show satellite images accessed exclusively by NDTV.
The same images, dated Nov 1, 2020, have been analyzed by several experts approached by NDTV, who confirmed that the construction, approximately 4.5 km within Indian Territory of the de facto border, will be of huge concern to India.
The village, located on the banks of the River Tsari Chu, lies in the Upper Subansiri District, an area which has been long disputed by India and China and has been marked by armed conflict.
It was constructed in the eastern range of the Himalayas even as Indian and Chinese soldiers confronted each other in their deadliest clash in decades, thousands of km away in the Western Himalayas in Ladakh.
In June last year, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash in the Galwan Valley.
China has never publicly stated how many casualties its own army suffered.
The stand-off in Ladakh continues through this winter with thousands of soldiers from both sides deployed on the frontline at extreme altitudes in sub-zero temperatures.
The latest image that establishes the village in question is dated Nov 1, 2020. The image dated a little more than a year before that – Aug 26, 2019 – does not show any construction activity. So, the village was set up in the last year.
In fact, in November 2020, which is when this satellite image was taken, the BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Tapir Gao, had warned the Lok Sabha of Chinese incursions in his state, referring specifically to the Upper Subansiri district.
This morning, he told NDTV that this includes the construction of a new double-lane road.
The Foreign Ministry did not respond directly to a question on whether the village construction has been diplomatically raised with Beijing.
It said to NDTV, ”The Govt keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India’s security and takes all the necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Construction of this village appears to be a violation of a key part of multiple agreements reached with India that ask both countries to “safeguard due interests of their settled populations in the border areas” and decree that ”Pending an ultimate settlement of the boundary question, the two sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control and work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.”
”The imagery is clearly showing the Chinese construction of a residential area within India’s claimed border,” says Sim Tack, a leading military analyst on armed conflicts.
This position ”has allowed China to advance observation into the valley for many years, [and] has been seemingly uncontested.”
This has ”allowed gradual upgrades of mobility from China into the valley (roads and bridges) over time, eventually culminating in the recent construction of this village.”

Indian Embassy in China restricts R-Day flag hoisting ceremony to staff due to COVID-19 measures

The Indian Embassy here on Mon announced that the flag hoisting ceremony for this year’s Republic Day on Jan 26 will be confined to its staff only, citing the resurgence of coronavirus cases in provinces adjoining Beijing and related restrictions

After Tejas, India moves ahead to procure more MiG-29s & Sukhois-TOI

India is formally moving ahead to procure 21 MiG-29 and 12 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters from Russia, along with upgrades of their existing fleets after the Cabinet Committee on Security approved production of 83 indigenous Tejas jets last week.
For starters, the RFP (request for proposal) for the 21 MiG-29 fighters will soon be issued to Russian state-run defense export arm, said sources.
The acquisition of these MiG-29s at “relatively lower prices” will add to 59 such jets already with IAF.
The 12 Sukhoi-30MKIs, in turn, will add to the 272 such jets already contracted from Russia for about $15 billion, with the bulk of them being licensed produced by Hindustan Aeronautics.
IAF has so far inducted 268 of the original 272 Sukhois, with at least 9 of them being lost in crashes in past.
Along with the 83 new Tejas, which will be inducted in the Jan 2024-Dec 2028 timeframe under the Rs 46,898 crore deal cleared by the CCS, the additional MiG-29s and Sukhois are meant to stem the freefall in the number of IAF fighter squadrons.

India gives Nepal 'Iron Clad' commitment on vaccine, supply schedule coming week-HT

While Nepal PM Oli’s political detractors has painted Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali’s visit to India a damp squib, New Delhi found the visitor committed to cementing bilateral ties.
The BJP Govt has given iron clad assurances to Nepal that it will be among the first countries to receive India developed twin Covid-19 vaccines, supply schedule of which will be announced in the coming week.
This assurance was conveyed to Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali during his visit to New Delhi for the Joint Commission Meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
The interlocutors of Nepalese Foreign Minister in New Delhi were impressed by his professionalism and sobriety with which he approached the bilateral relationship.
Gyawali could not meet PM Modi as the Indian PM was totally involved in the launch of Covid-19 vaccines on Jan 16, according to top Govt sources.
It was only due to PM’s prior commitments that Gyawali was received by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who is number two in the Modi Govt.
It is understood that India will be taking care of emergency requirements of its friends by supply vaccines for restricted use to priority neighborhood countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Maldives apart from Nepal with supply schedule being worked out now.
Nepal has a total of 2,67,056 Covid-19 cases with as many as 1,954 persons losing their lives to the pandemic, which had origins in China.
During Gyawali’s visit the two sides agreed to gradually open the air and land route connectivity, which had been hit by the pandemic.
The two countries agreed to expedite the field location survey related to the Raxaul-Kathmandu railway line.
While India-Nepal decided to deepen defense cooperation by closer military to military cooperation, Rajnath Singh also offered to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training and capacity building to the Oli Govt.
India is unlikely to hold boundary talks with Nepal until Nepal amends the unilateral step by the Oli Govt of changing its map to include areas which India claims as its own.
This was a message given to Nepalese FM during his meetings with the Indian Govt this week.
“Nepal wants the bilateral relationship to go on as if nothing has happened. That cannot happen,” TOI reported.
Sources in Kathmandu said the protests against the dissolution could increase as the winter eases.
The Prachanda faction, as well as opposition parties like Nepali Congress, continue to insist on a rollback of the dissolution decision, as well as insisting that the party would not be able to get back together.

First shipment of Indian equipment arrives at Chabahar port of Iran

The first consignment of Indian equipment for the development of port activities at Iran’s Chabahar port worth $8.5 million arrived at the Southeastern Port on Sun, the Director-General of Sistan-Baluchestan Province’s Ports and Maritime Department announced.
“The first shipment of strategic loading and unloading equipment worth $8.5 million has arrived in Chabahar Port to mark the activation of the contract between the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) and the Indian side,” Behrouz Aghaei said on Sun.
According to Aghaei, the mentioned equipment is going to be installed in Shahid Beheshti port, as part of a contract between the two sides, based on which India is going to invest $85 million in this port.

UK PM Johnson invites PM Modi to G7 summit

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited PM Narendra Modi to participate in-person for the G7 summit to be held in the Cornwall region from June 11 to 13. Apart from India, the UK has also invited leaders from Australia and South Korea amidst talk of expanding the grouping to include the 3 countries as well.

Farmers Protest

Deal with it, SC tells Delhi Police on farmers' Republic Day tractor rally-ANI

While hearing the Centre’s plea against the proposed tractor rally by farmers on Republic Day, the Supreme Court on Mon said that entry into Delhi is a law and order issue and the police should determine who should be allowed the entry and on what conditions.
A three-judge bench of the SC headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, told Attorney General KK Venugopal appearing for the Centre that the court cannot be the authority to decide who can enter in Delhi and who cannot.
AG Venugopal told the Bench that tractor rally by farmers will be illegal and 5000 people are likely to enter Delhi during that time.
To this, the bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked the AG whether the Union of India needs the Supreme Court to state what powers it has under the police act.
Replying to the court, the Attorney General said that order on the issue may be passed and this will strengthen the police’s hands. “We are facing an unprecedented situation,” he added.
“But why do you want us to tell what powers you have? The intervention of the court had been strongly misunderstood.
Who will come in the city and who will be allowed will not be seen by us,” the Bench said while adjourning the matter for hearing till Wed.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sun said farmers are prepared to protest against the Centre’s new farm laws “till May 2024”, and termed the ongoing agitation by peasants at Delhi borders as an “ideological revolution”.

Protesting Union Leaders on Mon said that farmers have a constitutional right to take out their tractor rally peacefully and asserted that thousands of people will participate in the proposed event on Jan 26.

Farmers’ protest: Cracks in uUnions as key leader charts own agenda

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha said efforts by Bharatiya Kisan Union Leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni to organize an all-party meeting on the farm laws were not “authorized”
A platform of farm unions leading the ongoing agitation against a set of Agricultural Laws is staring at a split, with a prominent leader spelling out a separate agenda for the protests that includes talking to key political parties. Other unions say they want to keep the protests apolitical.

Security tightened outside NIA office. Traffic stopped and barricades installed along with heavy deployment outside the office. NIA had summoned around 40 people, including farmer leaders, for questioning.

Govt asks SC to accept recommendation favouring wider strategic roads for Char Dham project

Majority view of the SC-appointed expert committee had noted that the court’s earlier order to reduce the width of roads in Char Dham project to 5.5-m was not feasible.
The Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has told the Supreme Court that its 2018 guidelines on the construction of roads in hilly and mountainous terrains was issued without keeping the strategic requirements of the military in mind.
The Ministry also asked the top court to accept the majority view of the High-Powered Committee (HPC), which was set up by the SC last year that has favored a 10-m carriageway for the strategic roads that are part of the 189-km Char Dham Road Project costing around Rs 12,000-crore.
On 8 Sept 2020, the SC had ordered that the road width on the entire Char Dham Route, which falls in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region, should be 5.5 m, according to the standards laid down by the Highway Ministry’s Mar 2018 circular.
However, in a report submitted in Dec last year, 21 members of the 26-member HPC noted that it was not feasible to revisit the project — where the work was already completed to reduce the road width — in accordance to the SC order.

Budget session of Parliament: Key dates, Covid-19 protocol & more

The Budget session will on Jan 29. President Ram Nath Kovind will address the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.
The session will conclude on Apr 8. Both Houses will adjourn on Feb 15 and meet again on Mar 8.
The Budget will be presented by the Govt on Feb 1^st.
The Economic Survey would be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Jan 29 after the President’s address, as per reports.
India’s Lower House the Lok Sabha and Upper House the Rajya Sabha will operate in shifts with the Rajya Sabha meeting in the forenoon and Lok Sabha in the evening between 4 pm and 9 pm, according to COVID- 19 protocol. The Lok Sabha will sit for 5 hours during the Budget session.

PM Modi flags off 8 trains to boost connectivity to Statue of Unity

Indian Railways made history on Sun when seven express trains from different parts of the country and a local train, all headed to Kevadia, site of the Statue of Unity, after being flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The PM said the world’s tallest statue is attracting more tourists than even the Statue of Liberty at New York Harbor in the US.

PM announces Rs 1,000-crore 'Startup India Seed Fund'

PM Modi on Sat announced the launch of Rs 1,000-crore ‘Startup India Seed Fund’ to support startups and help budding entrepreneurs pursue innovative ideas. Addressing the ‘Prarambh: Startup India International Summit’, Modi exuded confidence that the growth of startups will help in generating jobs and improving lives of people in the region.

Overnight blaze damages several residential houses in Srinagar-GK

In a third such incident in the Downtown Srinagar in past 24 hours, a massive mid-night fire damaged several residential houses at Ganderpora Chowk in Sekidafar area of Safakadal. An officer of Fire and Emergency Services department, Noor Alam Khan was also injured while dousing the flames and was shifted to a hospital.

J&K Govt signs MoU with ICSI for up-skilling of college students-GK

The MoU is part of the Hr Edu Deptt’s initiative of up skilling the undergraduates across J&K by embedding skill courses in the curriculum or offering them as Certificate, Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Degrees while they graduate from the institutions of higher learning, a statement said.

IED detected on road of Lonhare area of Kupwara.

Indian Army detected IED at 8:30 am in morning and then controlled explosion by Bomb Disposal Squad Unit of Rashtriya Riffles.

A resolution has been passed in the Assembly, seeking full statehood for Puducherry. The Assembly has also passed a resolution seeking the withdrawal of the three farm laws: Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy (ANI)

NEIGHBORHOOD/ WORLD

Goswami WhatsApp leak shows Modi govt used Balakot crisis to win polls: PM Imran-Dawn

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Mon said purported WhatsApp conversations of an Indian anchor published in Indian media prove that the Modi Govt used the Balakot incident for electoral gains — a point he had already revealed to the world in the 2019 UNGA session.
Firebrand Indian television anchor Arnab Goswami knew of the Modi Govt’s plan to stage a strike in Pakistan days before the Feb 26, 2019, Balakot episode between the two countries, evidence submitted by Mumbai police as part of an ongoing investigation on manipulation of television ratings suggests, multiple Indian media outlets reported on Saturday.
Police have included purported WhatsApp conversations between Goswami, chief editor of Republic TV, and Pratho Dasgupta – the incarcerated head of ratings company Broadcast Audience Research Council – in a transcript that is part of a 3,400-page supplementary charge sheet filed in their investigation into the alleged ratings scam, The Hindu reported.
However, a day after former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta was admitted to JJ Hospital by Taloja jail officials presumably in a very critical condition, the wife of Dasgupta has registered a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission alleging custodial torture against her husband by the Maharashtra Police to falsely implicate Goswami on Sun.
She said that Dasgupta was brought to the hospital at 1 pm on Jan 15 with a high blood sugar condition, in an unconscious state unable to respond to voice commands.
Congress leaders have asked the Govt to institute a JPC inquiry into the ‘Chatgate’ involving Goswami and former BARC head Partho Dasgupta.

Pro-independence rally in Pakistan sees posters of Indian PM Modi, Besides Other world leaders

Pro-independence protest rally in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Sunday saw Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s posters.
The protests were part of a rally to mark the birth anniversary of GM Syed, a vocal proponent of Sindhudesh or a separate country for the province.
The protest rally had pictures of other world leaders as well, including US President-Elect Joe Biden, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina, France’s Marcon, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, British PM Boris Johnson. The posters mentioned, “Sindh wants freedom from Pakistan”.
Sunday marked the 117^th birth anniversary of SM Syed, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern Sindhi nationalism.

After Saudi Arabia, UAE could seek early repayment of loan to Pakistan

UAE could seek the early repayment of a $3 billion financial support package announced in Dec 2018
Months after Saudi Arabia had sought the early repayment of a $3 billion loan, Pakistan is facing the possibility of a similar move by the United Arab Emirates at a time when the country is grappling with economic difficulties.
Saudi Arabia had provided Pakistan a $6.2 billion financial support package in 2018 shortly after Imran Khan became the prime minister – a $3 billion loan and a $3.2 billion deferred oil financing facility.

China to sanction U.S. officials for ‘nasty behaviour’ over Taiwan- Reuters

S. officials who have engaged in “nasty behavior” over Chinese-claimed Taiwan will face sanctions, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Mon, after Washington lifted curbs on exchanges between U.S. and Taiwanese officials.
Sino-U.S. ties have worsened as China has already condemned this month’s easing, announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the waning days of President Donald Trump’s Presidency.
Further adding to China’s anger, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, spoke last week to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, after a planned trip to Taipei was called off.
Asked at a daily news briefing how China would follow through on its pledge to make the United States “pay a heavy price” for its engagements with Taiwan, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said some U.S. officials would face sanctions.

US State Department, almost officially blamed the that Corona Virus has been accidently leaked from Wuhan Lab

Before leaving, the Trump administration, explodes the information bomb—almost officially confirming that Coronavirus leaked from China’s Wuhan laboratory where secret military research was being conducted. In other words, COVID-19 is a biological weapon.
The claims that COVID19 came from a “lab” and the Wuhan virology lab has a “military background” are groundless, & the so-called list made by the US is full of contradictions and lies; nearly every top scientist and CDC expert has already denied them: Foreign Office, China responded, which doesn’t seems to have any content.

COVID-19

World On Brink Of “Catastrophic Moral Failure” On Vaccines: WHO Chief

“Not only does this me-first approach leave the world’s poorest and most vulnerable at risk, it is also self-defeating,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

India reports 13,788 new COVID19 cases, 14,457 discharges and 145 deaths in last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry

Total cases: 1,05,71,773
Active cases: 2,08,012
Total discharges: 1,02,11,342
Death toll: 1,52,419

In a landmark achievement, India’s total recovered cases have leapt over the active caseload by more than 1 crore today. The total number of recoveries has touched 1,02,11,342 with recovery rate of the country touching 96.59%: Government of India