India ups its defence ante at the Chinese border; deploys more aircraft and tanks

The Indian Army and Air Force has been asked to deploy more Fighter Jets and Tanks along the Indo-Chinese border as part of the measures taken by India to crank up its military deterrence against China along its land border as well the strategic defence command located at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indian Army will be deploying more Tank troops near the Ladakh region.

India has resorted to this move in order to address the wide gap between the military strengths of both the nations, as Chinese defence equipment outnumbers that of India, nearly 3-to-1. The difference is huge.

The Indian Air Force will deploy additional Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, spy drones and missiles in the North-Eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh after the ALG(Advanced Landing Ground) at Pasighat, in West Siang region is activated on Friday. An ALG is a strategic asset – an air strip built with temporary buildings around it, capable of operating helicopters and aircraft. An officer was quoted as saying, “The ALG will not only improve our response time to different operational contingencies, but also the efficacy of the overall air operations on the eastern front”

IAF C-130J Super Hercules made history by first landing at the Daulat Beg Oldi(DBO) ALG on 20 Aug 2013

The ALG in Pasighat is the fifth such facility, after the ones at Ziro, Along, Mechuka and Walong, in the North Eastern region. There are two more such ALGs at Daulat Beg Oldi and Nyoma, in the Ladakh region. The facility will be inaugurated by Junior Home Minister, Kiran Rijiju and Eastern Air Command Chief Air Marshal, C Hari Kumar. Two more ALGs which are currently being set up at Tuting and Tawang will be operational by December 31st, 2016 and April 30th, 2017 respectively.

File Photo of IAF’s Sukhoi-30MKI Fighter Jets

The government has also approved defence infrastructure development projects in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, a territory which can prove to be a strategic position if there are chances of a war happening. India has been regularly deploying its Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets, Poseidon-8I long range patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft and C-130J Super Hercules multirole transport aircraft to the Andaman and Nicobar Command, in order to counter China’s strategic moves in the Indian Ocean.

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China asks India to stay out of South China Sea Dispute

The South China Sea dispute was taken to a whole new level on Tuesday, 9^th August, when a state-run Chinese news daily wrote in an article, asking India not to interfere in the South China Sea dispute.

“India may want to avoid unnecessary entanglement with China over the South China Sea debate during Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s New Delhi visit, if the country wishes to create a good atmosphere for economic cooperation, which would include reducing tariffs on made in India products being exported to china, amid the ongoing free trade talk” said an article in the state-run Global Times.

Tensions have been running high in the waters just south of China, with military presence of multiple countries increasing rapidly in the area. The entire South China Sea dispute arose due to multiple countries claiming authority in whole or in part over a particular territory in the South China Sea, comprising two chains of islands, namely the Paracels and the Spratlys. China, Vietnam, Mayasia, Brunei and the Philippines all have competing claims.

In recent times, china has supported its claims by building infrastructure on some of the islands and also by increasing Navy patrolling in the area. The United states on the other hand, has sent its military ships and aircraft near the disputed islands even though they claim not to take sides in territorial disputes. The US has reasoned that their military presence in the area is just to ensure freedom of navigation and access to key shipping routes. The US and china has accused each other of militarising the South China Sea.

India has previously supported the Philippines in many instances and last year, India had extended its support to the Philippines when Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Filipino Counterpart Co-Chaired India-Philippines Third Joint Commission meeting on Bilateral affairs. The statement issued after the meeting referred to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea, which miffed the Chinese government.

The Chinese government has made it clear that it wants India to stay out of the disputed waters just a few days before its Foreign Minister visits India to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries. The Foreign Ministers of the two countries will meet and discuss on ways in which the export tariffs on made in India products could be reduced.

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India Hits back at Pakistan on Kashmir provocation

Indian and Pakistani government officials once again were engaged in an argument on Thursday, 21^st July. This comes in after Pakistan observed ‘Kashmir Accession to Pakistan day’ on the 19^th and ‘Black Day’ on 20^th, to mark the killing of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani in Kashmir.

The Indian Government asked Pakistan to stop supporting violence and terrorism in Indian territory, while on the other hand, Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on foreign affairs had earlier said that India was perpetrating state sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. He further went on to add that they would ask the UN to launch an investigation into the matter.

Ironically, the events held in Pakistan to mark the black day were led by UN designated terrorists in Pakistan, and the Indian government used this exact point in its defense. The Indian and Pakistani governments could go on and on, arguing about this, but what we need to realize is that these arguments would not change the situation in the state of Kashmir and the government has to take strict measures in order t curb the violence happening in the area.

Non-Congress Opposition spells trouble for GST bill; Parliamentary Discussion to happen today.

The GST bill seems to be in trouble even before the monsoon parliamentary session begins today.

The bill which was first put before the parliament when the congress government was in power, was Initially rejected by the BJP which was in the opposition, and ironically, it is now the BJP Government which is pushing for the bill to be passed in the parliament. The GST bill seeks to reform Taxation laws in the country and would also negate the differences in the taxation laws between the state Governments, which had created turmoil between the state governments and the central government, especially the states with more revenue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a statement over the same, saying, “GST bill is of National Importance” and went on to urge all the parties to uphold national interest above all else. The GST bill is one among the 16 bills that are to be discussed in the parliament today, and the BJP Government is quite vocal about hopes of having a peaceful and fruitful discussion between the parties.

Co-operation between the parties however, went for a toss even before the Parliament session began, as the Non-Congress opposition parties expressed dissent with the BJP Government discussing the bill only with the Congress party and ignoring the other minority parties.

The Non-Congress opposition has called for an all-party meeting to deliberate on issues, and they have also further stressed on the fact that such a meeting has not taken place in the last two years.