Archive for ‘Neighbour conflict’

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10/04/2013

* Antony warns Army against threats from China, Pakistan

Times of India: “India’s deep unease over China’s growing military might and assertiveness as well as intransigence about the boundary dispute resonated at a military brass conclave on Monday, with defence minister AK Antony also underlining the threat posed by the expansive nexus forged between Beijing and Islamabad.

Português: Nova Délhi (Índia) - Desfile do Dia...

Português: Nova Délhi (Índia) – Desfile do Dia da República, na Rajpath. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

China’s approach to India on the long-standing boundary dispute and other issues, even after the recent leadership change in Beijing, “is not likely to change” in the foreseeable future. Consequently, the Indian armed forces need to “constantly develop” their capabilities to achieve “minimum credible deterrence” against China, said Antony.

The minister, addressing the closed-door Army commanders’ conference, did point out the government was trying to resolve issues with China in a “peaceful” manner, and also cited the new bilateral boundary management mechanism as “a positive development”.

But Antony also stressed it was crucial to modernize the armed forces to counter China’s “military assertiveness”, including its massive development of military infrastructure along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as in other neighbouring countries, like the Gilgit-Baltistan areas of Pakistan, said MoD sources.

India has belatedly taken some steps to strategically counter China but much more needs to be done at a rapid clip. While IAF is now progressively basing Sukhoi-30MKI fighters in the north-east and the Navy is bolstering force-levels on the eastern seaboard, the Army’s Rs 81,000-crore plan to raise a new mountain strike corps with associated structures is yet to take off.”

via Antony warns Army against threats from China, Pakistan – The Times of India.

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03/04/2013

* China, ASEAN agree to develop code of conduct in South China Sea

Maritime claims in the South China Sea

Maritime claims in the South China Sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is China becoming more pragmatic on the territorial disputes?

Xinhua: “All participants in the 19th China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Senior Officials’ Consultation have agreed to work toward a code of conduct in the South China Sea.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry press release on Tuesday said after the conclusion of the consultation it was agreed that all parties will commit themselves to fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

They will make joint efforts toward “a code of conduct in the South China Sea” and continue to exchange views on the issue.

According to the press release, China and ASEAN also agreed to co-host celebrations on the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership and further expand friendly communication and cooperation in all fields.”

via China, ASEAN agree to develop code of conduct in South China Sea – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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02/04/2013

* China’s Glass Ceiling

Foreign Policy: “It’s over for America,” a Chinese academic told me in late 2008, two days after Goldman Sachs turned itself into a commercial bank in order to fend off possible collapse. “From here on, it’s all downhill.” Sitting in Beijing as American capitalism seemed to be hanging by a thread, it was easy to believe that one era was ending and another beginning.

The past half-decade should have been the glory years for the spread of Chinese influence around the world. After China’s ravishing 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, and its startling recovery from the financial crisis, it had a platform to push for a bigger voice in international affairs. At a time when the United States has been navel-gazing on its own deficiencies and beset by dysfunction and infighting in Congress, China has quickly become the main trading partner for a long list of countries, not just in Asia, which should give it all sorts of sway. And at the very least, many Chinese assume, the country should start to resume its role as the natural leader in Asia.

Yet the years since the crisis have demonstrated something very different. Rather than usher in a new era of Chinese influence, Beijing’s missteps have shown why it is unlikely to become the world’s leading power. Even if it overtakes the United States to have the biggest economy in the world, which many economists believe could happen over the next decade, China will not dislodge Washington from its central position in global affairs for decades to come.

China is certainly not lacking in ambition, even if many of its final goals are not clearly articulated. It is implementing plans which challenge U.S. military, economic, and even political supremacy. But on each front, the last few years have demonstrated China’s limitations, not the inevitability of its rise.

China’s effort to gradually squeeze the U.S. Navy out of the Western Pacific did not start with the financial crisis in 2008. The financial crisis did, however, coincide with a new aggressiveness in the way China has pushed its territorial claims in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has scored at least one victory, securing control of the Scarborough Shoal, a group of small islands in the South China Sea, from the Philippines in 2012.

But among these tactical successes, China has been sowing the seeds of a strategic defeat. China’s assertiveness is generating intense suspicion, if not outright enmity, among its neighbors. Its “peaceful rise” is not taking place in isolation. There may be echoes in today’s Asia of the late-nineteenth century in Europe and North America, but this is the one critical difference. The United States came into its own as a great power without any major challenge from its neighbors, while Germany’s ascent was aided by the collapsing Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires and Russian monarchy on its frontiers. China, on the other hand, is surrounded by vibrant countries with fast-growing economies, from South Korea to India to Vietnam, who all believe that this is their time, as well. Even Japan, after two decades of stagnation, still has one of the most formidable navies in the world, as well as the world’s third largest economy. China’s strategic misfortune is to be bordered by robust and proud nation-states which expect their own stake in the modern world.

The last few years have shown that these countries have no desire to return to a Sinocentric Asia, as existed before the arrival of Western powers in the late-fifteenth century, and one where China is the undisputed leader. All the talk about the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia has obscured the much bigger shift that has taken place in the region since the crisis — almost all of China’s neighbors are now deeply anxious about what a powerful, expansionist leadership in Beijing portends for their future. They still want to trade with China, but they also want protection from Beijing’s bullying.”

via China’s Glass Ceiling – By Geoff Dyer | Foreign Policy.

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06/02/2013

* India concerned by China role in Pakistan port

Reuters: “China’s role in operating a strategically important port in Pakistan is a matter of concern for India, its defense minister said on Wednesday, as New Delhi and Beijing jostle for influence in the region.

India's Defence Minister A.K. Antony waits to speak at a plenary session of the 11th International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in this file photo taken June 2, 2012. REUTERS/Tim Chong

Indian policy-makers have long been wary of a string of strategically located ports being built by Chinese companies in its neighborhood, as India beefs up its military clout to compete with its Asian rival.

Management of Gwadar port, around 600 km (370 miles) from Karachi and close to Pakistan’s border with Iran, was handed over to state-run Chinese Overseas Port Holdings last week after previously being managed by Singapore’s PSA International.

“It is a matter of concern to us,” Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony told reporters when asked about Chinese control of the port.

When complete, the port, which is close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane, is seen opening up an energy and trade corridor from the Gulf, across Pakistan to western China, and could be used by the Chinese Navy, analysts say.

“It will enable (China) to deploy military capability in the region,” said Jay Ranade, of the Centre for Air Power Studies and a former additional secretary at the government of India. “Having control of Gwadar, China is basically getting an entry into the Arabian Sea and the Gulf.”

China has also funded ports in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, and Chittagong in Bangladesh, both India’s neighbors.

“Gwadar is a more serious development than the others,” Ranade said, as the Pakistani port gives China base facilities.”

via India concerned by China role in Pakistan port | Reuters.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/geopolitics-chinese/

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17/01/2013

* U.S., Japan review defense guidelines amid tension with China

We hope that this revision does not fall onto the ‘Law of Unintended Consequences‘ and exacerbates rather than alleviates the current high tensions.

Reuters: “The United States and Japan began on Thursday the revision of defense cooperation guidelines for the first time in 15 years as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces a territorial dispute with China and North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes.

Shinzo Abe

The revision to the guidelines, which set rules on how Japanese and U.S. forces work together in or near Japan, comes after a hawkish Abe led his Liberal Democratic Party to power in an election last month.

“We would like to discuss Japanese Self Defence Forces‘ role and U.S. forces role with eyes on the next five, 10, 15 years and on the security environment during those periods,” a Defence Ministry official told reporters, without elaborating.

The revision is due because of drastic changes in the security environment over the past 15 years including China’s maritime expansion and North Korea’s missile development, the Japanese government has said.

North Korea has also twice tested nuclear devices.

Japan is locked in a territorial dispute with China over a group of tiny East China Sea islets called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, with both countries sending patrol ships and planes to areas near the isles.

The review started with a working-level meeting in Tokyo between U.S. and Japanese officials. It will likely take a year or more to complete and coincides with a U.S. “pivot” in diplomatic and security focus to Asia.

“One issue that’s prevalent is whether the Abe government will reinterpret the constitution to exercise the right of collective self defence,” said Nicholas Szechenyi, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Should that policy decision be taken, it will obviously have an impact on the way the Self Defence Forces and U.S. military coordinate.”

Japan recognizes it has what is known as the right of collective self-defence, meaning a right to defend with force allies under attack even when Japan itself is not being attacked.

But Japanese governments have traditionally interpreted the pacifist constitution as banning the actual exercise of the right, creating a sore spot in Tokyo’s security ties with Washington. Abe wants to change the interpretation to allow Japan to exercise the right.

via U.S., Japan review defense guidelines amid tension with China | Reuters.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/08/12/beijing-reasserts-its-claims-in-south-china-sea-nytimes-com/

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14/01/2013

Interesting view.

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13/01/2013

* China-wary Army for mountain strike corps

Times of India: “The Army has come up with a fresh proposal for the new mountain strike corps, apart from two “independent” infantry brigades and two “independent” armoured brigades, to plug operational gaps along the LAC (line of actual control) as well as to acquire “some offensive capabilities” against China.

The raising of the new formations will cost around Rs 81,000 crore, spread primarily over the 12th Plan period (2012-17), with a little spillover into the 13th Plan if necessary, say sources.

“The approved 12th Army Plan, as part of the LTIPP (long-term integrated perspective plan), already ca-ters Rs 62,000 crore for the corps. The Army is now asking for another Rs 19,000 crore,” said a source.

With additional armoured regiments and infantry units based in Ladakh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand, the new mountain corps (around 40,000 soldiers) will for the first time give India the capability to also launch a counter-offensive into TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region) in the event of a Chinese attack, say sources.

As with the development of the over 5,000-km Agni-V and 3,500-km Agni-IV ballistic missiles — coupled with the ongoing progressive deployment of Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, spy drones, helicopters and missile squadrons in the northeast — the overall aim is to have “strategic deterrence” in place to dissuade China from embarking on any “misadventure”.”

via China-wary Army for mountain strike corps – The Times of India.

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09/01/2013

* Pak’s action highly objectionable: Defence minister

Following from the death of a Pakistani soldier, this retaliation – if proven to be accurate – is not acceptable of any national army in the 21st century.

Times of India: “Defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday blasted Pakistan for the gruesome way in which an Indian soldier was beheaded by its troops who intruded into Indian territory in the Mendhar sector of J&K on Tuesday.

Indian soldiers carry coffin reported to contain body of colleague killed by Pakistani soldiers (9 January)

“The Pakistan Army’s action is highly objectionable and also the way they treated the body of the Indian soldier is inhuman,” said Antony.

“We will take it up with the Pakistan government and our ​Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) will talk to his counterpart in Pakistan. We are closely monitoring the situation,” he added.

As reported by TOI, an Indian soldier was beheaded and another’s body mutilated by Pakistani troops after they crossed over into Indian territory in Mendhar at about 11 am on Tuesday, in a grim reminder of the barbarism exhibited in the Captain Saurabh Kalia case during the bloody Kargil conflict in 1999.”

via Pak’s action highly objectionable: Defence minister – The Times of India.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/indian-tensions/

 

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18/11/2012

* Southeast Asia calls for talks with China on sea dispute

S E Asia may be joining hands to call China to the discussion table; but China really dislikes being pressured and much prefers one-to-one dialogue and bi-lateral agreements.

Reuters: “Southeast Asian nations displayed a rare show of unity on Sunday against China’s sweeping maritime claims, calling for the first formal talks with Beijing over a sea dispute that has raised tensions and exposed deep divisions in the region.

(L - R)Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah hold hands during the opening ceremony of the 21st ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and East Asia summits in Phnom Penh November 18, 2012. REUTERS-Samrang Pring

As Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Cambodia for meetings with Southeast Asian leaders, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) appeared determined to avoid a repeat of an embarrassing breakdown of talks in July over competing claims in the mineral-rich South China Sea, its biggest security challenge.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen will tell Wen that ASEAN wants to begin talks on a binding Code of Conduct, aimed at reducing the chance of naval flashpoints, as soon as possible, ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan told reporters.

“Prime Minister Hun Sen himself will be discussing with the PM of China tonight and delivering this consensus on the ASEAN side,” Surin said.

“They would like to see the commencement of the discussion as soon as possible because this is an issue of interest, concern and worry of the international community.”

China’s assertive claims in the South China Sea have sown deep divisions within the bloc at a time when military spending in the region is surging and the United States refocuses attention on Asia – a “pivot” that President Barack Obama will reinforce on his visit to the summit on Monday in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.

Chinese ally Cambodia has used its powers as ASEAN chair this year to restrict discussion of the issue, in line with Beijing’s view that the disputes should be discussed on a bilateral basis. China has said it is willing to discuss the Code of Conduct when the “time is right.”

Diplomats said the Philippines, a close U.S. ally, had invited fellow Southeast Asian claimant states Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia to separate talks in Manila to be held later this year or early next year.

“We are trying to make that happen, hopefully in Manila,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters.

The other members of ASEAN include Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, none of which have claims on the South China Sea.

One Philippine diplomat said the meeting was aimed at resolving issues among the claimant states, such as overlapping economic zones. He voiced frustration with China for delaying the start of talks with ASEAN over the Code of Conduct.

“ASEAN has done its part,” the diplomat said. “Now it is up to China to also come up with its own because when we formally sit down we will present our position to them. In fact we have already written it.””

via Southeast Asia calls for talks with China on sea dispute | Reuters.

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20/10/2012

* India pays homage to 1962 martyrs for first time

The Hindu: “Paying homage to soldiers who fought in the 1962 Indo-China war, Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Saturday ruled out any possibility of the repeat of the war and said armed forces were confident of protecting the country against any such threat.

(From Left) Defence Minister A.K.Antony, Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Bikram Singh, Naval Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal N.A.K.Browne pay homage at Amar Jawan Jyoti to mark the 50th anniversary of India-China war, in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

This is the first time that the Indian defence establishment has honoured the dead and participants of the 1962 war officially.

“I would like to assure the nation that India of today is not the India of 1962. Over the years, successive governments learning lessons from the past strengthened our capabilities and modernised our armed forces… we are confident armed forces will be able to protect the border in event of any threat,” he said on the sidelines of an event to honour the soldiers of the 1962 war on its 50th anniversary.

The Defence Minister was asked to assess the threat from China and India’s preparation to tackle it.

In the war, India suffered defeat at the hands of the Chinese Army which went to capture large portion of Indian territory.

The Defence Minister, who along with Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh and the three services chiefs paid homage to the 1962 war heroes and laid wreaths at Amar Jawan Jyoti, said successive governments have learnt lessons from the war and strengthened military capabilities and developed infrastructure.

“We will vigorously continue to strengthen our capabilities,” the Defence Minister said.

Mr. Antony also noted that India was holding dialogue with China to find a solution to the long-pending border dispute and has established a mechanism to “immediately settle” any tensions on the border.”

via The Hindu : News / National : Nation pays homage to 1962 martyrs for first time.

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