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09/07/2019

‘We need to talk’: call for Chinese and Indian navies to communicate

Ambassador to China Vikram Misri says they will be ‘meeting more and more in common waters’, and more exchanges are needed
He also says preparations are under way for President Xi Jinping to visit India

The INS Kolkata arrives in Qingdao for PLA Navy 70th anniversary celebrations in April.

The Indian ambassador called for more communication between the two navies. Photo: Reuters

The Chinese and Indian navies should establish communication because they are increasingly operating within close proximity, according to India’s ambassador to China.

While the two nations’ militaries communicated extensively, it was mainly between their land forces, and that should be extended to the navies and air forces, Vikram Misri said.

“We need to talk about the two air forces and the two navies – especially the two navies – because we are operating in the same waters and increasingly in the coming years, we will be meeting more and more in common waters,” Misri said.

“I think it is important for us to develop those levels of understanding and communication,” he said. “There are some [navy and air force] exchanges now, but not as well developed as in the case of the land force.”

China and India have made efforts to repair their relations since a tense stand-off at the Doklam plateau two years ago, when communications between their forces along the border were seen as inadequate to contain the tension.

China and India have sought to repair relations after a tense stand-off at Doklam. Photo: AFP

Misri said the two nations had made incremental progress, and opened new points where “border personnel can meet and exchange information, or exchange views about any particular situation”.

The ambassador was visiting the Indian consulate in Hong Kong over the weekend, six months after taking up the post and six weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was re-elected.

He said preparations were under way for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit India, which was expected to happen in the fourth quarter, after they pledged earlier to strengthen cooperation.

Tensions between

China and India

have periodically flared along their 4,000km (2,485-mile) border, resulting in a brief war in 1962. Relations have also been strained by China’s ties with Pakistan, and India’s concern over China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean.

India has also not signed on to China’s global trade and infrastructure strategy, the

Belt and Road Initiative

, which has projects that run through the disputed Kashmir region.

“Our concerns with regards to this particular initiative are very clear, and we have continued to share them very, very frankly with our Chinese partners,” Misri said. “I think there is understanding on the part of our Chinese partners with regard to this.”

Indian ambassador to China Vikram Misri said New Delhi’s concerns on the Belt and Road Initiative were clear. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

But he said the two nations should not let their differences evolve into disputes, and they should focus on areas where they can cooperate.

One such area was maritime and investment cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, including infrastructure and disaster response. The US in recent years has focused on the Indo-Pacific region, and has asked its allies to send naval vessels to the area as a counterbalance to Beijing.

“We have made the point that our vision of the Indo-Pacific is not a strategy, which sometimes is a concern on the part of some partners, aimed against any particular country,” Misri said. “It is definitely not a military alliance in any format.

“It is on the other hand a vision that aims at economic and development cooperation with our partners in the Indo-Pacific space,” he said, adding that India was discussing such cooperation with China.

He also said trilateral meetings between China, India and Russia would become more regular after their three leaders met on the sidelines of the

Group of 20

summit in Osaka, Japan last month, when they vowed to uphold multilateralism.

Those meetings would allow the nations to address challenges facing the international trading system and pushback against globalisation, but Misri said they should not be seen as a bid to counter the US, which is also involved in a trade battle with India.

India also had a trilateral meeting with Japan and the United States during the G20 summit.

“The fact that these countries seek us out also shows that they see value in engaging with India, and we have important issues to discuss in each of these settings,” he said. “None of our individual relationships is going to come at the cost of a relationship with any other partner.”

The ambassador said there could be a broader consensus on counterterrorism. Photo: AP

Misri also said there could be a broader consensus between China and India on counterterrorism. The two nations have clashed over Indian efforts to blacklist Masood Azhar, leader of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), at the United Nations, which China objected to for years – a move seen in India as being done at the behest of Islamabad.

Azhar was finally listed as a global terrorist by the UN in May, after JeM claimed responsibility for a deadly terror attack on Indian security forces in Pulwama in February, although the listing did not directly reference the attack.

“It could have happened earlier … but I’m glad that it did happen, and we hope to build on that – that should be taken as progress, and we hope to build on that in the coming years,” Misri said.

“Everybody is aware of the context in which the listing happened, and therefore, I don’t think it’s hidden from anybody as to what this was aimed at or who this was aimed at, or what the motivation for the action might have been.”

As for the tensions between India and Pakistan following the terror strike in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Misri said progress would be “largely dependent on Pakistan” and the actions it needed to take to address the “ecosystem of terror that prevails in different parts of that country”.

Source: SCMP

Posted in 70th anniversary, Ambassador Vikram Misri, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), celebrations, Chinese navy, Chinese President Xi Jinping, communicate, counterterrorism, Doklam plateau, ecosystem of terror, Group of 20 (G20), Hong Kong, Indian ambassador to China, Indian consulate, indian navy, Indian-controlled Kashmir, INS Kolkata, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Japan, Masood Azhar, Osaka, pla navy, President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Qingdao, Russia, Uncategorized, US, We need to talk | Leave a Comment »

11/03/2019

India engaged with China for lunar mission, talks failed to take off

China’s Chang’e-4 lunar exploration mission was the first one to land on the far side of the moon – the side that’s not visible from earth – on January 3.

INDIA Updated: Mar 11, 2019 13:47 IST

Sutirtho Patranobis
Hindustan Times, Beijing

The top space agencies – the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) – confirmed the information but did not share details why the cooperation failed to take off.(Corbis via Getty Images)

A rare opportunity for India and China to cooperate in a high-profile space mission fell through after the two countries disagreed on the nature of the Indian payload to be carried on the Chang’e-4 lunar mission, it has emerged.

China’s Chang’e-4 lunar exploration mission was the first one to land on the far side of the moon – the side that’s not visible from earth – on January 3. Since landing, the mission has sent back stunning first-time images from the moon’s surface. It has been carrying out a series of scientific research tasks involving multiple countries and organisations.

China’s lunar exploration chief Wu Weiren called the mission a “huge stride” for China.

It could have been a breakthrough stride for Sino-India cooperation in space – both countries have successful space programs – as well had Chang’e-4 carried the Indian payload.

“In April 2015, Xu Dazhe, the incumbent administrator of CNSA wrote a letter to the heads of the world’s major space agencies, invited them to participate in the piggy-back cooperation of Chang’ e-4 mission, which received positive responses from more than a dozen national space agencies,” the Chinese agency told HT over email.

“China also received applications from India for the piggy-back cooperation. However, due to the different nature of the missions of the two sides, the Indian payload on Chang’ e-4 could not be carried through (after) the evaluation,” the agency said.

The payload in this context could have been a satellite or space probe equipment.

“No, we will not be able to comment on that … Yes, we will not comment on that,” an ISRO spokesperson said.

Several countries including Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Russia have cooperated in the ongoing mission.

India and China formally established the Sino-Indian Joint Committee on Space Cooperation in 2015. In the same year, the first meeting of the joint committee was held in Beijing, and the outline of Sino-Indian space cooperation was signed.

“The outline includes 19 projects in seven areas: Remote sensing satellites, space-based meteorology, space science and lunar and deep space exploration, education and training, piggy-back launch services, satellite navigation, and space components,” CNSA said.

“The MoUs signed have provided a platform (for the two countries) to work but there is nothing as of now; all at dialogue stage. There are international forums where they are there and we are there but nothing (bilateral),” ISRO’s spokesperson said.

Last year, the then Indian ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale visited CNSA twice in half a year and exchanged views with Zhang Kejian, the CNSA head, on promoting Sino-Indian space cooperation.

“The two sides reviewed the course of Sino-Indian space cooperation in recent years, agreed to further promote the process of Sino-Indian space cooperation with an active and open attitude of cooperation, and agreed to convene the second meeting of the Sino-Indian Space Joint Committee in 2019,” CNSA said.

The Chinese space agency said it is open to cooperating with India.

“CNSA is open to international cooperation in lunar and deep space exploration… and international cooperation for a series of deep space exploration activities, such as Chang’ e 6 sampling return, the Mars exploration, and asteroid exploration, Jupiter galaxy, and planetary crossing exploration,” it said.

“We are willing to work hand in hand with space agencies, space institutions, and foreign space exploration enthusiasts to explore the mysteries of the universe.”

Source: Hindustan Times

Posted in administrator of CNSA, Chang’e-4 lunar exploration mission, China alert, China National Space Administration (CNSA), CNSA head, exploration chief, far side of the moon, Gautam Bambawale, Germany, India alert, Indian ambassador to China, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), lunar mission, Mars exploration, MoUs, mysteries of the universe, Russia, scientific research tasks, Sino-Indian Joint Committee on Space Cooperation, Sweden, the Netherlands, Uncategorized, Wu Weiren, Xu Dazhe, Zhang Kejian | Leave a Comment »

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‘We need to talk’: call for Chinese and Indian navies to communicate

India engaged with China for lunar mission, talks failed to take off

China’s Chang’e-4 lunar exploration mission was the first one to land on the far side of the moon – the side that’s not visible from earth – on January 3.

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