Prime Minister Modi had met President Xi on the sidelines of the 9th BRICS Summit.

Kolkata, September 23

China and India are working together to “take forward” their relationship leaving behind the Doklam episode, the Chinese Consul General here has said.

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Chinese Consul General Ma Zhanwu also asserted that by working together cooperation and exchanges can be further enhanced.

“India and China are working together. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping had a meeting on September 5 to discuss how to enhance the relationship,” Zhanwu said here on Friday night while addressing an event to mark the 68^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

“As long as the two countries work together, we will able to enhance and develop exchanges and cooperation,” he said.

Asked if both the countries have left behind the Dokalam episode, Zhanwu said, “Yes we have left that behind and are working together to take forward the bilateral relationship”.

Prime Minister Modi had met President Xi on the sidelines of the 9^th BRICS Summit on September 5.

The two leaders had agreed that both the countries should put in more effort to strengthen the cooperation between their security personnel and ensure that Dokalam-like incidents do not recur.

The Chinese and the Indian troops were engaged in a prolonged standoff in Dokalam area of the Sikkim sector since June 16 after the Indian side stopped the construction of a road by the Chinese Army.

On August 28, India’s External Affairs Ministry announced that New Delhi and Beijing have decided on “expeditious disengagement” of their border troops in the disputed Dokalam area. PTI

Indian, Chinese troops exchange sweets at Nathu La on Independence Day
At the Nathu La. AFP file
Gangtok, August 15
There was no ceremonial meeting between officers of the Indian and Chinese armies on the Independence Day on Tuesday at the strategic Nathu La border amid the continued standoff at Doklam, but personnel from two sides exchanged sweets.
The Army and ITBP personnel took part in the informal exchange of sweets at Nathu La, barely 25 km from Doklam where the two armies are face-to-face for over two months now, Army sources said.
Earlier, a ceremonial meeting used to take place between the two sides on India’s Independence Day which was attended by officers of the Chinese Army.
The Army also celebrated the occasion by distributing sweets to the local people.
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Sikkim shares international borders with China, Nepal and Bhutan. It shares a 220.7 km border with China, 95.6 km with Nepal and 32 km with Bhutan, and is connected to the country through a narrow 27 km stretch of land known as the ‘chicken’s neck’.
Speaking at the day’s main function in Gangtok, Chief Minister Pawan K Chamling said the state’s location showed its strategic importance for the unity and integrity of the nation.
“Our people are like unpaid soldiers defending our motherland. Unbounded peace and harmony for people living in the border states are great assets for the nation.
“I am pleased to say that the state government of Sikkim and every Sikkimese citizen stand solidly behind the Centre to safeguard the integrity and sovereignty of our great nation,” he added. PTI

New Delhi, September 18The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to provide the files on the basis of which the services of some ex-Army officers, caught for allegedly spying for Pakistan in 1978 in the infamous Samba spy case, were terminated.Between August 1978 and January 1979, several Army officers were arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir between 1972 and 1978.A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said a three-judge bench of the apex court had already decided the matter in 2014.Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for these officials, told the bench that a division bench of the Delhi High Court had in 2010, while setting aside the termination order of former officers Major SP Sharma, Captain Arun Sharma, Major Ajwani and Major RK Midha, had held that the action taken against them was bad in law.He said thereafter the matter came to the apex court and a three-judge bench had upheld the Centre’s decision to terminate the services of Army officers while overturning the high court’s verdict.Bhushan claimed that the government had shown some files to the three-judge bench to buttress its argument that these Army officers were Pakistani spies but these were not made available to them.“I am not challenging the termination of service at all,” he said, adding, “at least those files should be shown to these officials”.“This is a huge stigma. Please give us an opportunity to restore our honour,” he said, while referring to a book by a former chief of the Intelligence Bureau who had said the case was doubtful.He alleged that the case was based on false testimonies of two persons and there was no evidence against the officers whose services were terminated.“The petitioners have a right to access the documents on the basis of which they have been defamed, their reputation has been tarnished and on the basis of which the judgment of the High Court of Delhi was set aside by this court.”“Denial of documents which gravely concern and affect the petitioners is not only in violation of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution but the same is also subversive of rule of law and democracy,” the plea said. — PTI

Mulayam Singh Yadav. File photo

Etawah (UP), August 15The country faces the “biggest” threat from China, former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday said, claiming that it is plotting to attack India in collaboration with Pakistan.“There are a number of threats before the country but the biggest threat is from China…it is continuously encroaching on our land and is planning to attack but is not able to advance because of our Army,” he said at a function here.“China is preparing to attack India in collaboration with Pakistan. This collaboration of China and Pakistan is dangerous for us…this matter should be taken seriously,” the Samajwadi Party patriarch said.Referring to the contribution of Lohia, JP and other socialist leaders in the freedom struggle, the SP founder said people have faith in the socialists and they need to raise their voice against injustice.There are a number of problems before the country like unemployment, poverty, farmers’ plight, women’s safety, terrorism and security of borders and all need to stay together in dealing with them, he said.Mulayam, who had been dethroned by his son Akhilesh from the post of party president earlier this year, however, did not respond to a suggestion made by his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in his speech earlier that it was time for him to think about the party.Shivpal had said that those who claimed to have strengthened the party in fact weakened it and appealed to Mulayam that it was time now for him to decide as the “Samajwadis” of the state are looking to him for taking the party forward. — PTI

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. File photo

Islamabad, August 14

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday urged the international community to play its due role in resolving the Kashmir issue with India.“It is incumbent upon the international community to play its role in the resolution of the regional conflicts, particularly the Kashmir dispute, in conformity with the UN Resolutions on the subject with a view to ensuring durable peace in the region,” Abbasi said in his address to the nation on the occasion of Pakistan’s Independence Day.

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He said Pakistan desired to have positive and constructive relations with all countries of the world, especially with its neighbours, on the basis of sovereign equality.“The people of South Asia have suffered enormously in the last 50 years due to the festering conflicts. Until and unless those conflicts are resolved amicably, the people of the region cannot achieve prosperity and progress,” he added.Praising the freedom fighters of the country, Abbasi said, “We are greatly indebted to our ancestors for their sacrifices and we can repay that debt only by making Pakistan a free and independent country.”He noted that the recent transition of power through a democratic process was quintessential of the accelerated strengthening of democratic values in the country.Abbasi stressed on strengthening and reinforcing the state institutions so that they could play their prescribed role within the limits of law and the constitution.Asserting that a strong economy could ensure a strong defence, Abbasi said a moderate society guaranteed stability of the state, where people enjoyed all their fundamental rights and national resources were equitably and judicious distributed.Pakistan was created out of a partitioned Indian subcontinent on August 14, 1947. ANI

Army men near the police complex in Pulwama which came under Jaish attack on Saturday. Tribune Photo

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 30

At the crack of dawn on Saturday last week, three fidayeen militants stormed a heavily fortified police installation in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Their intention was to go for the maximum kills and their message was terse: Jaish-e-Mohammad is back, and it has the capability to mount deadly attacks deep inside the Kashmir valley.The Jaish, which faced near extinction of its cadres in the Valley till recently, has made a quiet entry in recent months into south Kashmir — the epicentre of the region’s new-age militants.The police now estimate that the Jaish has around a dozen militants in south Kashmir who operate in three units, one of which moves around the fringes of Srinagar.“We have reports that their two groups (with possible strength of six to eight) are floating in south Kashmir and one may be on the fringes of Srinagar,” Kashmir IGP Muneer Khan said, adding that another Jaish unit was suspected to be hiding in Tral sub-district.The Jaish militants operating in south Kashmir are believed to have infiltrated this year, with the latest unit of six to eight militants that operates around Pulwama town suspected to have infiltrated only a month ago. Abdul Mateen and Muhammad Bhai, both foreigners, are believed to be commanding the Jaish in south Kashmir, police sources said.The sudden surge in the Jaish strength in the Valley comes after years of lying low; even though, in recent years, it had launched devastating attacks against security installations along the Line of Control and the International Border.The Jaish was formed in January 2000 by militant cleric Maulana Masood Azhar, days after he along with two others were released in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in exchange for release of passengers aboard the hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814. Azhar had spent six years in Indian jails before his release in December 1999.The group had emerged on the militant scene in Kashmir within months after its formation and marked a dramatic escalation in the conflict. The first attack, which signalled its arrival, targeted the Army’s 15 Corps Headquarters in the city here when an 18-year-old Srinagar boy detonated a car bomb outside its main entrance in April 2000.However, the militant group faced an existential crisis in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks on the United States and as Pakistan became a frontline ally in the ‘war on terror’, the Jaish faced desertions with its leadership staying quasi-neutral.In subsequent years, the Jaish strength came down and by July 2013 it had only eight cadres left in the Valley. The last known Jaish militants — Adeel Pathan and Chota Burmi — who operated in south Kashmir were killed in October 2015.So far, six Jaish militants — including the three foreign fidayeen, who attacked District Police Lines on Saturday last week — have been killed this year in south Kashmir. Two local Jaish cadres — both south Kashmir residents — have also died this year.Pulwama SP Mohammad Aslam told The Tribune that the police were investigating whether the three fidayeen, who attacked the police installation in which eight security men were killed last week, were part of the older group that was in the area for the past month or whether they had freshly infiltrated.“Some Jaish militants have managed to infiltrate and there is a movement of eight to ten militants in this area,” the police officer said.The entry of Jaish makes an addition to the number of insurgent groups and militants operating in south Kashmir, dotted with dense orchards and ringed by forests and mountains.Another police officer said the entry of Jaish militants would impact the overall security scenario in the region. “They are better equipped, better committed and better trained than militants from other groups,” he said.

FIGHTING TERROR: The US State Department”s “Country Report of Terrorism, 2016” notes that Pakistan has failed to act against the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network

G. Parthasarathy

The Trump Administration is dithering and the President has inexplicably blamed his military commander, General Nicholson, for not securing “victory” in Afghanistan. This is naturally promoting unease in Kabul about what US policies are going to be in a country, where the 9/11 masterminds plotted and planned the attacks, under Taliban rule. There are, however, indications that despite the President’s dithering, the State Department, the Pentagon and even the White House staff are clear on how to proceed ahead. Trump is, therefore, expected to adopt the policies advocated by the US Congress and the professionals in his Administration, as he has done in relations with Russia, the Gulf Arab States and North Korea.Led by the ailing head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and once pro-Pakistani Senator John McCain, the US Congress is now proposing closer oversight of how US funds are utilised by the Afghan Government. The US legislation, for the first time, proposes “imposing graduated diplomatic, military and economic costs on Pakistan as long as it continues to provide support and sanctuary to terrorist and insurgent groups, including the Taliban and the Haqqani network”. It links American assistance to “cessation by Pakistan of support for all terrorist and insurgent groups and playing a constructive role in bringing about a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Afghanistan”. In diplomatic terms, it calls for “working through flexible frameworks for regional dialogue, together with Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, India, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and other nations.” The proposed legislation also calls for strengthening the Afghan security forces and authorises the use of US forces to target militants of the Haqqani network, the Taliban and others. The US   House of Representatives is moving in a parallel direction, reflecting a broad national consensus on Afghanistan.In the meantime, the State Department’s “Country Report of Terrorism, 2016” has noted that Pakistan has failed to take action against the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, which continue to operate from “Pakistan-based safe havens”. The Taliban and the Haqqani network are described jointly with India-centric terrorist groups like Lashkar e Taiba and Jaish e Mohammed as “groups located in Pakistan, but focused on attacks outside the country.” The report avers that the Pakistan Government did not take any significant action against Lashkar and Jaish, “other than implementing a publicity ban on their activities”. This is the first time that the State Department, the Pentagon and the US Congress have come out so openly against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism across its borders. It now remains for President Trump to make up his mind on how to move ahead. Indications are that the US will not be averse to calibrated drone strikes on the Taliban and Haqqani safe havens within Pakistan. Trump takes a more cautious line on issues involving American lives than his advisers, though it remains to be seen how much isolationist advisers like Steve Bannon influence him.I had an occasion to spend four days last week in Kabul and the picturesque Panjshir Valley, which was the home of national icon Ahmed Shah Masood. Panjshir is the heartland of anti-Taliban sentiments. It is clear that the domestic military and diplomatic situation is challenging and complex. The role of Daesh (ISIS) is deliberately exaggerated by Pakistan to divert attention from its own pernicious role in backing the Taliban and the Haqqani network, which enjoy sanctuary and support from the ISI, on Pakistani soil. During the course of my stay, the Iraqi Embassy, located in the heart of Kabul, was attacked by the ISIS, in revenge for the ISIS defeat in Mosul by the Iraqi Army. The next day the famous Shia Mosque in Herat close to the Iranian border was attacked and 32 worshipers were killed. The Taliban imposed a 24-hour blockade of the strategic southern highway linking Kandahar to Kabul, effectively shutting down movement between the capital and southern Afghanistan. An American convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber near Kandahar, resulting in the death of seven soldiers. The internal situation remains complex, with First Vice President Rashid Dostum being accused of rape and influential leaders calling for a “Loya Jirga”, which would inevitably undermine the influence of the present dispensation. Afghanistan also faces significant external challenges. The most serious challenge comes from Pakistan, which is determined to make Afghanistan a client state, ruled by its proxies like the Taliban and the Haqqani network. There is recognition that Pakistan would like to promote a dialogue between the Taliban and the government, treating both as “equal participants.” China is lending formidable support to this Pakistani effort. The Russian effort to take the lead in Afghan “reconciliation” by joining China has not exactly been welcomed by the Afghans, especially as the Russians are known to have supplied weapons recently to the Taliban. While Iran joined India in backing the anti-Taliban “Northern Alliance” in the days preceding 9/11, Teheran has, in recent days, faced criticism because of its clandestine links with the Taliban, whose former supremo Mullah Mansour was killed in a US drone strike, while returning from Iran. In these circumstances, Afghans openly and enthusiastically welcome India’s steadfast economic, military and diplomatic support. A major reason for this goodwill has been the economic assistance that India has provided, including building the Salma Dam to provide water and irrigation facilities for the Herat region, building a high voltage transmission line, bringing electricity across high mountains from Uzbekistan to Kabul, mid-day meals for school children, aiding dozens of micro-projects across the country and providing training facilities for thousands of Afghan students and professionals.The diplomatic and security challenges that India faces in Afghanistan are formidable, primarily because of the brazenness of Pakistan support for the Taliban. The stakes are high. An ISI-backed Taliban triumph in Afghanistan will stimulate and encourage a surge of ISI-sponsored terrorist activity in India. Afghanistan and India need to carry out a relentless diplomatic campaign worldwide against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Afghanistan will have to be supported in facing machinations by China and others like Russia, to give the Taliban increasing recognition, as a legitimate stakeholder in Afghanistan, with status on a par with the constitutionally elected Afghan Government. Priority also needs to be given to drawing up a five-year plan for economic assistance, with initial emphasis being given to improving connectivity through Chah Bahar in Iran.

China”s first domestically-built carrier ”Type 001-A”. Reuters file

Washington, August 30

China is building a modern and regionally powerful navy with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations beyond the country’s shores, a congressional report said.

Chinese navy ships in recent years have begun to conduct operations away from China’s home waters, including the broader waters of the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the waters surrounding Europe, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Consistent with these goals, observers believe China wants its military to be capable of acting as a force that can deter US intervention in a conflict in China’s near-seas region over Taiwan or some other issue, or failing that, delay the arrival or reduce the effectiveness of intervening US forces, Congressional Research Service said in a recent report.

China is building a modern and regionally powerful navy with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s shores, the report said.

The CRS as the name indicates is an independent and bipartisan wing of the US Congress, whose experts prepares reports and research materials for US lawmakers on issues of their interest for them to take informed decision.

Prepared by experts, these are not considered as an official policy of the US Congress.

In its report, dated August 18, the CRS said additional missions for China’s navy include conducting maritime security (including anti-piracy) operations, evacuating Chinese nationals from foreign countries when necessary, and conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.

“The issue for Congress is how the US Navy should respond to China’s military modernisation efforts, particularly its naval modernisation effort. Decisions that Congress reaches on this issue could affect US Navy capabilities and funding requirements and the US defense industrial base,” it said.

Although many of China’s long-distance naval deployments have been for making diplomatic port calls, some of them have been for other purposes, including conducting training exercises and carrying out antipiracy operations in waters off Somalia, it said, adding that China is now looking at military bases overseas.

Its first such military base has been established in Djibouti.

“In March 2017, it was reported that China might deploy a contingent of Chinese marines to the commercial port at Gwadar, Pakistan, to help maintain security at that port,” CRS said.

The report said some observers are concerned that a combination of growing Chinese naval capabilities and budget- driven reductions in the size and capability of the US.

Navy could encourage Chinese military overconfidence and demoralise US allies and partners in the Pacific, and thereby destabilise or make it harder for the US to defend its interests in the region. PTI

The Indian Army has ordered to vacate villages near the Indo-China border in Sikkim.

Following the almost two month old stand-off between India and China over Doklam, the Indian Army has asked the villagers near the Indo-China border in Sikkim to vacate. Nathang, a village 35 kilometers form the border has been ordered to be vacated immediately.

However, the reason for such an order remains unclear. Hundreds of soldiers are moving from Sukhna towards the border and the order could have been issued to accommodate the soldiers in the village. It could also be a precautionary order to prevent villagers from harm in case any skirmish takes place.

While the Nathang villagers have confirmed the heavy troop movement in the area, the Army has said that it is a part of an annual exercise which takes place in September but has been advanced this year. The Army has also said that this troop movement is a regular maintenance exercise since the snow has melted and severe maintenance work has to be carried out. India is supposedly maintaining a strict “no war, no peace” mode.

The Chinese media had published an editorial titled “New Delhi should come to its senses while it has time” and said that,

The countdown to a clash between the two forces has begun, and the clock is ticking away the time to what seems to be an inevitable conclusion.

This editorial has triggered worldwide speculations and analysis. Some of the Chinese defense analysts have taken to the internet to suggest to the two nations that war is economically not feasible. The Indian government has repeatedly asked its Chinese counterpart for a dialogue to solve the dispute. However, the Chinese have maintained that India must withdraw troops if it wants a peaceful dialogue.