Newsletter 18 February

Sino-Indian Standoff: India, China came close to war last year, said Indian Lt-Gen

India and China came close to a full-fledged conflict during the jostling between rival soldiers for Ladakh’s Kailash range heights towards 2020 end-August, said Northern Command Chief Lt General Y K Joshi Wed in Leh.

What all he said after disengagement at Pangon Tso.

“We were on the edge, absolutely on the brink… war was actually averted”, Joshi said.
In the Galwan clash, around 45 PLA soldiers could have been killed.
India lost 20 soldiers during the Galwan Valley clashes, while China has so far refused to disclose the number of casualties in its ranks.
While India has not ceded any territory to China, the latter has “achieved nothing except a loss of face”.
The situations after Indian troops surprised the PLA by occupying the Kailash range heights to the south of Pangong Tso on Aug 29/30, and even moved up tanks there, which “could have blown up into an armed conflict”.
With the PLA also moving its tanks up the heights and Indian troops sitting on the top with tanks and rocket launchers, the “easiest thing would have been to pull the trigger after seeing them in the cross-hairs of the telescopic sights” but utmost restraint was maintained.
More than 60, actually. But whether they were fatal or non-fatal, we can’t say with authority”.
Over 200 tanks and Artillery pieces have been moved back by PLA. This activity has been verified through satellite images and Photo Recce Missions of Air Force.
It can be seen from the vantage points that PLA has started removing the shelters, dismantling the fortifications and helipads.
The jetty at Finger 5 has been moved out and the related infrastructure removed.
It has been agreed upon that all the structures that were created post April will be removed and they are seen adhering to this commitment.
Disengagement from Kailash Range is part of the whole and not an isolated activity.
Sequencing of disengagement was meant to ensure that areas where troops are in close proximity are disengaged first.
The very principle of disengagement was based on the commitment that PLA will not occupy these locations again.

Within 48 hours of the current disengagement being completed, India and China will hold the 10^th round of corps commander-level meeting to discuss the remaining trouble spots at the strategically-located Depsang Plains as well as Gogra, Hot Springs and the Charding Ninglung Nallah (CNN) track junction in the Demchok sector.

China says disengagement of Chinese, Indian troops in eastern Ladakh going on smoothly.

At workshop with 10 nations, PM Modi stresses on regional cooperation

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his speech by urging nations to focus on what unites all the countries so that the South Asian region can come together to fight against other common ills like poverty, climate crisis, and illiteracy.
PM on Thu called for greater integration among South Asian countries as well as creation of a regional air ambulance pact.
He said this while addressing a workshop on coronavirus management titled ‘Covid-19 Management: Experience, Good Practices and Way Forward’.
Nine countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles – participated in the event.

Brahmaputra is a manifestation of Assam's diversity, peaceful coexistence, says Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thu highlighted the inseparable links of the Brahmaputra with Assam’s life, livelihood and culture and said it is not just a river but the manifestation of the State’s ethnic diversity and harmonious coexistence.
Virtually launching a series of development initiatives for road, waterways and digital connectivity named ‘Mahabahu Brahmaputra’, PM Modi especially mentioned the late musician Bhupen Hazarika and said along the banks of this mighty river, grew the culture and civilization of Assam.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari were among those who attended the event at Majuli.
The PM also highlighted the Govt’s focused attention for the development of Majuli, the country’s largest river island, and said the Govt was committed to preserve Majuli’s unique culture, its ecology and protect it from erosion and connect it with mainland.

PM Modi to review China, Pak situation at military meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the operational situation on the China and Pakistan fronts as well as progress in the much-needed integration of the armed forces during the Combined Commanders’ Conference (CCC) in the first week of Mar will be held at Kevadia in Gujarat.
The CCC, which with all top 17commanders (7, 7 and 3 from Army, Air Force and Navy Respectively)
It will also take place ahead of the impending creation of two unified tri-Service commands in the shape of the “functional” Air Defense Command (ADC) and the “geographical” Maritime Theatre Command (MTC).
“The PM, for the first time in his second tenure, will address the CCC and is likely to give directions to the armed forces to be prepared to meet all challenges with greater integration among themselves in a cost-effective manner,” said a senior official.
The new unified commands, in turn, are part of the biggest-ever military restructuring plan to build an integrated land-air-sea war-fighting machinery.
The MTC, (headquarters at the Karwar naval base in coastal Karnataka), will have operational control over the western and eastern naval fleets, maritime strike fighter jets and transport aircraft, two amphibious infantry brigades and coastal patrol vessels.
This becomes crucial in face of China’s ever-expanding naval footprint in the Indian Ocean Region.
China already has the world’s largest Navy with 350 warships and submarines, and plans to reach a force-level of 420 by the end of this decade.
The theatre commander will report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff committee led by the Chief of Defense Staff.
The Andaman & Nicobar Command was set up as a “geographical” command in Oct 2001, while the “functional” Strategic Forces Command to handle the country’s nuclear arsenal came up in Jan 2003.

Quad's 3rd Ministerial meeting today, to discuss work towards inclusive Indo-Pacific ANI

The 3^rd Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad meeting will be held on Feb 18 to exchange views on regional and global issues especially practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, according to an official statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
The leaders will also discuss ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing global climate change and other issues of mutual interest,” the statement added.
The meeting will be in continuation of the views exchanged in the last quad meeting held in Tokyo on Oct 6 last year.
The Quad initiative is expected to put an end to the economic coercion tactics of China and cooperation with Japan and other allies will checkmate Chinese development assistance and its hegemony in the region.
Earlier, The Japan Times reported that for the first time under the Quad framework, the Foreign Ministers of the 4 countries met in New York in 2019.
The four countries held another meeting last year in Tokyo during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the Oct meeting, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reprimanded the dragon (China) for using its economic power to increase its hegemony over the neighboring countries in South Asia.
Pompeo brought to the forum a denunciation of China’s “exploitation, corruption, and coercion” of neighboring countries. He said, “This is for the soul of the world.
This is about whether this will be a world that operates in this sense that we’re on a rules-based international order system or one that’s dominated by a coercive totalitarian regime like the one in China.”

J-K police, Army brief foreign envoys on Counter-radicalization, community engagements ANI

The 24-member delegation of foreign envoys was briefed by the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir Police in Srinagar about the various program including community engagements, counter-radicalization being undertaken by them and also the Indian Army’s role in convincing terrorists to surrender and countering Pakistan’s nefarious infiltration activities while conducting peaceful DDC elections in the UT.
“How police dealt with challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining a balance between addressing people’s problems and enforcing COVID-19 restrictions,” Superintendent of Police East Srinagar, Sheema Nabi, who hails from Kashmir, briefed the delegation on the 2^nd day of their visit to JnK.
“JnK Police reached out to local people, addressed their issues, and got their cooperation. Human touch and outreach helped the JKP to deal with unprecedented challenges,” Nabi added.

Farmer’s protests

Trains stopped in some places as farmers stage protests at stations- PTI

'Rail Roko agitation passed off without any untoward incident': Indian Railways

The ‘rail roko’ protest for 4 hrs – from 12 to 4 pm was announced by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of farmer unions spearheading the agitations, last week.
Farmers protesting against the Centre’s three contentious farm laws have gathered at railway stations across the country and blocked train tracks as part of a four-hour nationwide ‘rail roko’ protest, in an attempt to pressurize the Govt to repeal the new agriculture laws.
The Railways deployed 20 additional companies of RPSF troops across the country ahead of the protest.
“I appeal to everyone to maintain peace. We will be liaising with district administrations and will have a control room in place,” Director General, Railway Protection Force, Arun Kumar said, adding that extra security measures are being taken in states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
This railway blockade will be 3^rd major demonstration by farmers, following the R Day tractor rally and the ‘chakka jam’ on Feb 6^th.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has closed entry and exit to 4 Metro stations near the Tikri border, one of the sites where farmers have been camping in protest.
Jagtar Singh Bajwa, spokesperson of the Kisan Andolan Committee, Ghazipur border told ANI that the ‘rail roko’ protest will be peaceful, adding that the agitating farmers will do what they can to avoid any troubling.

West Bengal blast linked to 'internal feud' in Trinamool, say railway officials

The incident took place on Wed evening at the Nimtita Railway Station, in which West Bengal Min Jakir Hossain and 26 other people were injured in the bomb blast.
The blast was a result of internal feud among the cadres of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), people in the Railways Ministry who are aware of the investigation.
They also ruled out the terrorism angle, also pointing towards the political rivalry between TMC and Communist Party of India (CPI).
They said that the West Bengal Police had carried out lathi charge at CPI cadres who took out a rally last week in which one of the protesters died leading to tension in the area.
Hossain had filed a police complaint in 2017 against 2 TMC members who were giving him death threats, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity, adding that the WB Govt should tighten the law-and-order situation in the state.
They also said that the resulting chaos may disrupt the train operations and result in inconvenience to the general public.

Conspiracy to level charges against then CJI Gogoi can’t be ruled out: SC

The Supreme Court on Thu said Justice A K Patnaik committee Inquiry report has said a conspiracy to level sexual harassment charges against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi in April 2019 cannot be ruled out.
The report said it could have been because of tough stand taken by then CJI on judicial & administrative side, said a bench of Justices S K Kaul, A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
Justice Patnaik committee said he did not have the mandate to probe the conspiracy as already a 3-judge committee headed by Justice S A Bobde had already given clean chit to Justice Gogoi in the sexual harassment case.
The bench said Justice A K Patnaik expresses inability to probe conspiracy because of lack of mandate and access to telecommunication records as well as WhatsApp and Telegram messages.
Justice Kaul-led bench said as 2 years have passed, recovering electronic data and evidence will be difficult.
It also said since in-house inquiry committee has gone into the merit of sexual harassment charges, “no purpose would be served in continuing the suo motu proceedings.”

Stop 'vaccine nationalism', hoarding superfluous doses will defeat efforts towards health security: India at UNSC

Noting that there is a “glaring disparity” in the accessibility of coronavirus vaccines globally, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wed urged countries to stop “vaccine nationalism”, saying “hoarding superfluous” doses will defeat the efforts towards attaining collective health security.
In his address at the United Nations Security Council’s open debate on Implementation of Resolution 2532, Jaishankar said that India has been “very much” at the forefront of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and is providing vaccines to the world under ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiatives.
Jaishankar cited Bhagavad Gita to reflect India’s approach to meeting the COVID-19 challenge. “The Bhagavad Gita states ‘do your work with the welfare of others always in mind‘.
The Minister, who made his remarks through video conferencing, listed five concerns regarding the vaccine including lack of global coordination regarding the distribution of vaccines and the massive costs of inequitable vaccine distribution.
The Minister said India had earlier provided critical medicines, diagnostic kits, ventilators and PPEs to more than 150 countries, about 80 of them on a grant basis.
“Starting with our immediate neighbors, 25 nations across the world have already received Made in India vaccines.
49 more countries will be supplied in the coming days, ranging from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean to Africa, South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Keeping in mind the UN Peacekeepers who operate in such difficult circumstances, we would like to announce today a gift of 200,000 doses for them.
Resolution 2532, which was adopted by the Security Council on July, 1 2020 (ANI)

NEIGHBORHOOD/ WORLD

Sri Lankan Govt cancels Imran Khan’s address to Parliament ANI

The Sri Lankan Parliament on Thu has cancelled the planned address of Prime Minister Imran Khan during his upcoming visit to the island nation, reported Dawn.
This is being seen as a move by the Sri Lankan Govt to maintain ties with India.
It was being speculated that Khan would raise the Kashmir issue during his speech, which could have upset Delhi.
Express newspaper (Sri Lanka) stated that giving an opportunity to the Pakistani PM could have been implied as giving Khan parity to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so the planned speech was cancelled.
It is significant to mention that Imran Khan’s speech at the Sri Lankan Parliament had been included in PM’s itinerary on the Pak Govt’s request.
Imran Khan is scheduled to travel to Colombo on a 2-day trip from Feb 22 to 24.
He will also meet Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and attend an investors’ conference, reported Dawn.
Different reasons have cited in Sri Lankan Media one of notable is that the Sri Lankan Govt was concerned about Khan speaking about the rights of Muslims in Sri Lanka, who have faced abuses at the hands of the Buddhist majority, rising anti-Muslim sentiments, and biased Govt’s actions, reported Dawn.

Internet services disrupted in Pakistan as undersea cable develops fault

Internet services were hampered in Pakistan on Thu as the country’s telecom authority said one of its six international undersea cables developed a fault.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said the international submarine cable system near Abu Talat, Egypt, developed the glitch on Wed.
The authority acknowledged lower internet speeds and frequent outages.
The PTA said the fault developed at SEA-ME-WE 5 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5), which is operated by the Trans World Associates (TWA).
The Dawn newspaper reported that the TWA had communicated about the service degradation in international connectivity towards Europe and said that repair work was underway through international counterparts in Egypt.
The TWA and the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) are the two license holders for international landing stations of submarine cables.
The fault has occurred in the cable system coming from France and the TWA executive said ISPs were in the process of shifting the load to other submarine systems coming from Singapore, according to Dawn.

Nepal to buy 2 million doses of Covid vaccine from India

Nepal approved on Thu the emergency use of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by an affiliate of China’s Sinopharm, a Govt official said, the second vaccine cleared after Oxford-AstraZeneca’s product. The move paves the way for China to donate 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to the Himalayan nation, which last month received one million AstraZeneca doses from India.