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Showing posts with the label Doklam

New Chinese village in Bhutan? A tweet by a Chinese journalist starts a row, Thimphu denies encroachment

Satellite imagery analysts claimed the village was two kilometres inside Bhutanese territory. The Chinese journalist has since deleted his tweet about the village. Representational image of Chinese soldiers | Photo: D. Myles Cullen | Commons A Chinese journalist has sparked controversy after tweeting, and then deleting, the map of a new village of the country.  Satellite imagery analysts claimed the village was two kilometres inside Bhutanese territory and near the Doklam Plateau , but Bhutan has contested the analysis, asserting that there is no Chinese encroachment on its territory. “There is no Chinese village on Bhutanese territory,” Major General V. Namgyel, Bhutan’s envoy to India, told ThePrint. Asked if the village was on Chinese land, he repeated that all he can say is that there are no Chinese villages on Bhutanese land. To combat this Chinese engineers have constructed a small retaining wall, I assume designed to keep any flood water out of the village. I'm not sure I...

12th BRICS Summit 2020: A new agenda for cooperation?

One of the key principles guiding the BRICS since inception is that member countries do not cross each other’s “red lines” and follow the general “club” principle of not publicizing members’ disagreements. The BRICS leaders at the tenth summit held in South Africa in 2018 The main challenge ahead of the BRICS is not procedural nor bureaucratic, but to continue to lead with innovative thinking and practical responses to some of the most pressing development challenges of our time. The 12th BRICS Summit on November 17 will be a test for the grouping under Russia’s helm. Since the creation of the BRICS in 2009, the five countries have strengthened their participation in the world economy. Pushed by China and India, the total BRICS GDP amounted to 25% of global GDP (US$21 trillion) and BRICS share in international trade stood at almost 20% (US$6.7 trillion) in 2020. Over the past five years, intra-BRICS exports grew by 45% and the share of intra-BRICS exports in total BRICS internationa...

India withdraws from Russia military exercise, participation of China & Pakistan a factor

India had earmarked 200 military personnel, including 180 soldiers from an infantry battalion and observers from the IAF and the Navy, to take part in the exercise, Kavkaz-2020.    ( Representative image | Zee News) India on Saturday withdrew from a multilateral military exercise — Kavkaz-2020 — that was scheduled to be held in southern Russia next month as it did not want to perform drills with Chinese soldiers amid tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), ThePrint has learnt. The decision was taken after a high-level military and diplomatic meeting, sources in the defence and security establishment said.  India had planned to send 200 military personnel, including 180 soldiers from an infantry battalion and observers from the IAF and the Navy, to take part in the exercise, also known as Caucasus-20.   The exercise is to be held in the Astrakhan province of southern Russia between 15 and 27 September, and other participants include Pakistan, among other me...

Did you realise why we claimed 'our' territory in Lipulekh on the border with Nepal a few days back? Read further to understand China’s game.

Indian Army's recent move of claiming  Lipulekh  on the border with Nepal was a national and strategic necessity, failing which, we would have lost it---  it was in the pipeline of being 'gifted' to China by Nepal. Same is the case with Doklam and Bhutan . The Chinese are always playing mischief there. Had it not been for the Indian Army, Nepal would have physically occupied it a long time ago or it would have been 'gifted' to China.  Representative image  China's eye on Himalayan 'tri-junctions' There are a total of 4 important tri-junctions on the 4056 km long Indo-China border. A 'tri-junction' is a small area where the borders of three countries meet. This territory is militarily vulnerable. These 'tri-junctions' are through the Himalayan entrance.   Which are in such a strategic position that the country which will take control of all these four tri-junctions will prevail in this tough Himalayan battlefield.    Because their geograph...

India-China face-off at Ladakh: Will troop buildup lead to Doklam 2.0?

Indian and Chinese armies rushed in additional troops in areas around Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley in Ladakh, signalling hardening of their aggressive posturing two weeks after they were engaged in a fierce face-off, military sources said on Wednesday.  Representative Image  It is learnt that the India's top military brass is constantly monitoring the evolving situation even as the US said the aggressive behaviour by Chinese troops was a reminder of the threat posed by China. "The flare-ups on the border, I think, are a reminder that Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical. And so whether it's in the South China Sea or whether it's along the border with India, we continue to see provocations and disturbing behaviour by China," said Alice Wells, the outgoing head of the South and Central Asia bureau in the US State Department. Her comments at an online media briefing came even as efforts to de-escalate the tense situation in the sensitive areas conti...

Border brawl: China choppers were in air

Indian Air Force's Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft  (File picture) Two helicopters of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army hovered close to the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh on May 5 and Indian Air Force fighter jets had also been airborne at the same time during a face-off between soldiers near the Pangong lake, sources in the army headquarters said on Tuesday. The latest revelations come at a time there has been an escalation in tension in pockets of the disputed frontier. “The Indian Air Force is regularly carrying out sorties of its Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft in the Ladakh sector amid the simmering tension with China in the region. During the face-off last week, two Chinese choppers had come close to the border but there was no air space violation. The IAF’s Sukhoi 30 fighter jets were also airborne at the same time but it was routine flying and not in response to Chinese helicopters,” a source said. Chinese PLA Choppers Spotted Near LAC; IAF Rushes Fighter Jets To Ladakh...