Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.
Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.
The POSTs (front webpages) are mainly 'cuttings' from reliable sources, updated continuously.
The PAGEs (see Tabs, above) attempt to make the information more meaningful by putting some structure to the information we have researched and assembled since 2006.
has opened a new all-weather access point in a disputed part of its border with China to enable faster movement of troops and artillery, another potential irritant in
The new bridge, which can bear 40 tons of weight, was built in Arunachal Pradesh in India’s remote northeast, a region claimed by China that is near the scene of previous clashes. Border intrusions have risen 50 per cent in 2019 compared to the previous year, people with knowledge of the matter said.
“That part of the border has always had a tendency to friction point between India and China. Lack of reliable and all weather connectivity was vulnerability,” said Nitin Gokhale, a New Delhi-based strategic affairs expert. “The new bridge and improved road overcomes that and ensures uninterrupted supply to troops.”
A Chinese soldier stands guard while Indian soldiers work near their shared border. Photo: AP
The new access along the border with China comes amid heightened tensions between the two nations after Beijing accused India of blocking its companies in the South Asian nation after New Delhi tightened laws for foreign investment. The bridge is located in a region that witnessed a months-long military stand-off in 2017 over the Doklam plateau, claimed by China and Bhutan, India’s ally. It was one of the most serious flare-ups since China won a border war with India in 1962.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a message requesting comment.
India claims the Chinese army violated the 3,488km-long undemarcated border, parts of which are disputed, more than 600 times, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is not public.
“India and China have different perceptions of the border,” Indian Army spokesman Aman Anand said on Thursday. “Perceived transgressions are result of the perceived boundary.”
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is ramping up its infrastructure along the border, which it says isn’t aimed at any particular country, but rather the development of remote border areas. It has completed 74 strategic roads along the eastern border, with plans afoot to finish 20 more by next year, the people said. It will reduce time taken to move and material by half and help 431 villages that lie across the region during the Covid-19 outbreak.
by making it mandatory for companies from countries that share a land border to acquire local firms only after seeking an approval from the government. The move, which cuts the risk of opportunistic takeovers as the coronavirus outbreak drives down valuations of Indian companies, had so far applied only to FDI from Bangladesh and Pakistan. India shares its land border with seven countries, including China.
The new bridge opened by the India also strides one of the main access routes of the Chinese Army into India from Tibet.
An AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force with 13 people onboard has gone missing after taking off from Jorhat in Assam.
The aircraft was headed to Mechuka Advance Landing Ground, the landing strip in the eastern Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district. The landing strip is about 30-odd km from the nearest point on the India-China border.
The transport aircraft took off from Jorhat at 12.25 pm.
It was in contact with ground agencies for the next 35 minutes. An Indian Air Force official said there had been no contact after 1 pm.
“Since the aircraft did not reach the airfield, overdue action was initiated by IAF,” the official said, adding that all available resources had been deployed to locate the aircraft.
A total of eight crew and five passengers are onboard the aircraft.
News agency ANI said Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft and C-130 Special Ops aircraft had also been deployed on a search mission to locate the IAF aircraft.
The AN-32s joined the IAF in 1983 and continue to remain in service. The air force has a fleet of more than 100 AN-32s.
Monday’s missing aircraft revived memories of the AN-32 that went missing while flying from Chennai to Port Blair in July 2016.
A massive search mission had been launched to find the 29 people on the transport plane. The IAF had then carried out 200 search sorties to cover over 2 lakh square nautical miles multiple times by these aircraft. The IAF court of inquiry later concluded that it was unlikely that the missing personnel on board the aircraft survived the accident.
No other injuries reported following accident on southern island of Hainan
Military is currently intensifying training for pilots as it looks to strengthen capabilities
Mobile phone footage believed to be taken from the crash site. Photo: Handout
A Chinese navy plane crashed in Hainan province on Tuesday killing two crew members, the military said.
A short statement said the crash happened during a training exercise over rural Ledong county in the southern island province.
No one else was reported to have been injured after the plane hit the ground and the cause of the incident is being investigated.
Footage that purported to be taken from the crash site started circulating on social media after the accident.
The mobile phone footage, which news portal 163.com said was taken in Hainan, showed smoke rising from piles of wreckage next to a damaged water tower as bystanders gathered at the site.
Footage apparently taken at the crash site. Photo: Handout
The person who uploaded the footage said the plane had hit the water tower before crashing into the ground.
The PLA’s official statement did not specify the type plane that crashed, although unverified witness account online said it was a twin-seat Xian JH-7 “Flying Leopard”.
The JH-7, which entered service with the navy and air force in the 1990s, has been involved in a number of fatal accidents over the years.
The country’s worst military air accident in recent years happened in January 2018. At least 12 crew members died when a PLA Air Force plane, believed to be an electronic reconnaissance aircraft, crashed in Guizhou in the southwest of the country.
Between 2016 and 2017, there were at least four accidents involving the navy’s J-15 “Flying Sharks”, one of them resulting in the death of the pilot.
Military commentators have previously said that China’s drive to improve its combat readiness, which includes the building of new aircraft carriers and warplanes, has resulted in a serious shortage of qualified pilots.
To fill the vacancies the Chinese military has started a major recruitment drive and intensive training programme for pilot pilots.
One unverified report said the plane that crashed was a JH-7 “Flying Leopard”. Photo. Xinhua
Currently China has one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in service, which can carry a maximum of 24 J-15s as well as other aircraft.
Meanwhile, the new home-grown carrier Type 001A will soon be commissioned, which is designed to accommodate to carry eight more fighters.
In addition, construction is believed to have started on another carrier that will be able to carry heavier and more advanced warplanes.
According to figures from the end of 2016, there were only 25 pilots qualified to fly the J-15 while 12 others were in training.
Most of the Chinese navy’s pilots have been redeployed from the air force, which is itself in need of more trained pilots.
This year the navy for the first time began a nation-wide programme to scout out potential pilots.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing legislative meeting in Beijing Feng Wei, a PLA pilot from the Western Theatre, said the military was currently intensifying its pilots’ training as increasing amounts of new equipment entered service.
“Personnel quality is the key to everything,” he added.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 