01/07/2014
Chief of the Army Staff General Bikram Singh received by Director for General Staff Duties Sanjeev Chopra (Photo credit: UN Women Asia & the Pacific)
Operationalisation of a new border defence agreement to deal with recurring troop incursions along the LAC besides improving defence ties, is expected to top the agenda of General Bikram Singh as he starts a rare visit by an Indian Army chief to China from tomorrow.
“Currently India and China maintain exchanges and cooperation at various levels. This is very significant for the two countries,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said here today.
“The visit you mentioned will be an important event in military to military exchanges between China and India,” he said commenting on Singh’s visit at a media briefing.
“We wish full success of this visit so that the mutual trust between the two armies can be enhanced,” he said.
To deal with tensions arising out of the incursions by both sides, India and China signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) last year.
Singh’s visit was aimed at implementing a number of steps incorporated by BDCA on the ground, officials said.
The Indian Army chief’s four-day visit is taking place after a gap of nine years.
via Army chief Bikram Singh to begin rare China visit tomorrow – The Times of India.
Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Defence, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, Good news, India alert, Military, Neighbour conflict, peace keeping, Politics, security, Territorial dispute, war |
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19/06/2014
China is willing to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote a code of conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday.
Map of the South China Sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hua’s comment came ahead of the 11th joint working group meeting between China and ASEAN on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct (DoC) of Parties in the South China Sea. The meeting will be held from next Tuesday to Wednesday in Bali, Indonesia. “China is ready to work with the ASEAN for comprehensive and effective implementation of the declaration and steadily push forward consultations on a CoC,” Hua said. Maritime cooperation on navigation security and joint search and rescue will be discussed during the meeting, Hua said. She called for favorable conditions for the implementation of the DoC and formulation of a CoC to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. China and ASEAN officials met in March in Singapore for the 10th joint working group meeting on the implementation of the DoC. via China, ASEAN to have South China Sea talks – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, Good news, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute |
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17/06/2014
China’s top diplomat will visit Vietnam on Wednesday in a sign the two countries want to ease tensions over China’s deployment of an oil rig in the disputed South China Sea, but experts said there were many obstacles to healing the ruptured relationship.
Map of the South China Sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The visit by State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minister, will be the highest level direct contact between Beijing and Hanoi since a Chinese state oil company parked the rig in waters claimed by both countries on May 2. Yang would attend an annual meeting on bilateral cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing. Vietnamese officials said Yang would meet Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as well as the head of the country’s ruling communist party. “We hope that Vietnam keeps its eye on the broader picture, meets China halfway and appropriately resolves the present situation,” Hua said, without directly mentioning the rig. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said the rig would be discussed. Ties between the two neighbours have been largely frozen since early May, with both sides constantly accusing the other of inflaming the situation. Dozens of Vietnamese and Chinese coastguard and fishing vessels have repeatedly squared off around the rig, resulting in a number of collisions. via Top China diplomat to visit Vietnam in possible thaw over oil rig | Reuters.
Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign invasion, foreign policy, GeoPolitics, Good news, History, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute |
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11/06/2014
In a letter written to Indian premier Narendra Modi on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he looked forward to working him in harmony to resolve all unsettled matters in the interest of the two nations.
The premier also expressed satisfaction over his visit to India.
“I have returned satisfied with meaningful exchange of thoughts over regional issues and matters of mutual interest,” Sharif said.
“Million of people living in poverty in both countries deserve our foremost attention and their future is integrated with our common economic destiny,” Sharif said.
The premier further said that prosperity could be brought to both nations with concerted efforts.
He also said that he hoped that mutual endeavours by both countries would brighten their futures.
Sharif was invited to Prime Minister Modi’s swearing-in ceremony after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in the general elections held in the world’s largest democracy during the course of two months. The invitation was accepted after a series of consultations that the premier held with his close aides.
Sharif had also phoned Modi to congratulate him on his party’s win in the elections.
via Nawaz hopes to resolve unsettled matters with Modi – Pakistan – DAWN.COM.
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11/06/2014
China is courting Narendra Modi. The Indian leader became prime minister last month after his Hindu nationalist party won a landslide victory, and in his campaign he promised to take a tougher stand toward China. India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (about 15,000 square miles) of its territory in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. China says no, India is the guilty party because 90,000 sq. km. of land in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh are actually Chinese.
China made progress toward settling the dispute under Modi’s predecessor, the Congress Party’s Manmohan Singh. Following Congress’s humiliating defeat in the elections, the Chinese need to work harder to prevent relations from deteriorating anew. Hence the glowing words from Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday in New Delhi. “China-India cooperation is like a massive buried treasure waiting to be discovered,” he said, telling reporters the two sides are close to a deal on the border. “We are prepared to reach a final settlement,” said Wang.
Any deal would provide a much-needed diplomatic victory for China. With Chinese and Vietnamese ships ramming one another in the South China Sea and Chinese and Japanese planes confronting each other in the skies over the East China Sea, the Chinese government has enough territorial disputes threatening to escalate into full-blown crises. Yesterday, China appealed to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regarding what the Chinese called “Vietnam’s provocation” against a Chinese company’s offshore oil rig. China wants “to tell the international community the truth and set straight their understanding on the issue,” deputy permanent representative Wang Min said.
via China Tries to Woo India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi – Businessweek.
Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, Good news, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute |
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10/06/2014
China took its dispute with Vietnam over its deployment of an oil rig in contested waters to the United Nations on Monday, accusing Hanoi of infringing on its sovereignty and illegally disrupting a Chinese company’s drilling operation.
China’s deputy ambassador Wang Min sent a “position paper” on the rig’s operation in the South China Sea to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday and asked the U.N. chief to circulate it to the 193 members of the General Assembly.
China sent the rig into disputed waters on May 1, provoking a confrontation with Vietnamese ships, complaints from Hanoi, and street protests that turned into bloody anti-Chinese riots. Hundreds of factories were damaged and China said in the paper that four Chinese citizens were “brutally killed” and over 300 injured.
The oil platform is located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) from the China-controlled Paracel Islands, which Vietnam also claims, and 278 kilometers (173 miles) from the coast of Vietnam.
According to the paper, the state-run China National Offshore Oil Corporation has been conducting seismic operations and well site surveys in the area for the past 10 years and the drilling operation “is a continuation of the routine process of explorations and falls well within China’s sovereignty and jurisdiction.”
China accused Vietnam of “illegally and forcefully” disrupting the rig’s operation by sending armed ships and ramming Chinese vessels.
“Vietnam also sent frogmen and other underwater agents to the area, and dropped large numbers of obstacles, including fishing nets and floating objects, in the waters,” it said.
The paper said Vietnam’s actions violated China’s sovereignty, posed “grave threats” to Chinese personnel on the rig and violated international laws including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
It cited numerous references to back its claims that the islands “are an inherent part of China’s territory, over which there is no dispute.”
via China Takes Dispute With Vietnam to UN – ABC News.
Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, History, Neighbour conflict, oil & gas, Politics, Territorial dispute |
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08/06/2014
In the first high-level interaction with the new dispensation here, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Sunday held talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in key areas including trade and investment.
Wang, who is special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, arrived in the wee hours to establish political contacts with the new Indian government amid hopes of an upswing in bilateral ties due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s familiarity with China.
Both Wang and Swaraj were assisted by their delegations which comprised of senior officials from the foreign ministry.
via Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi holds talks with Sushma Swaraj – The Times of India.
Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute |
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25/05/2014
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is to attend the inauguration of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India on Monday. 
It is the first time since the two countries won independence in 1947 that a prime minister from one state will attend such a ceremony in the other. The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars in the past 60 years. Mr Modi is seen as a hardliner on national security issues. His BJP party advocates a tough stance on Pakistan. But correspondents say his huge election victory gives him a mandate to reach out to Pakistan in a way the previous administration could not.
Bilateral ties suffered badly in the wake of the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai, when 166 people were killed by Pakistani gunmen. Relations improved slightly under outgoing PM Manmohan Singh, but there are still regular skirmishes on the disputed border in Kashmir.
Mr Singh was invited to Mr Sharif’s inauguration last year but did not attend.
via BBC News – Pakistan PM Sharif to go to Modi inauguration in India.
Posted in GeoPolitics, Good news, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute |
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23/05/2014
Indonesia is beefing up its air presence along the South China Sea, a military officer announced late last month.
According to IHS Jane’s, Lieutenant Colonel Andri Gandy, the commander of Ranai airbase on the Riau Islands, which borders the South China Sea, said Indonesia was upgrading the airbase so that it could accommodate Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 fighter aircraft. Separately, Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) Chief of Staff General Budiman said that four Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters would be deployed to Ranai airbase.
Lt. Col Gandy said that the TNI had already installed runway lights, taxiway lights and integrated radar at the airbase. He added that there were plans to extend the length of the runway in order to accommodate the Su-27 and Su-30s.
The announcement comes at a time when Indonesia has been raising concerns about China’s territorial designs on the Natuna Sea off the coast of the Riau Islands. As The Diplomat previously reported, last month Commodore Fahru Zaini, a senior Indonesian defense official, told reporters: “China has claimed Natuna waters as their territorial waters. This arbitrary claim is related to the dispute over Spratly and Paracel Islands between China and the Philippines. This dispute will have a large impact on the security of Natuna waters.”
Although there have long been suspicions that China’s nine-dashed line overlapped with Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Riau Islands, Indonesia has refused to officially acknowledge the dispute exists. Zaini’s comments seemed to depart from this position.
However, as Evan A. Laksmana has pointed out, the Indonesian government quickly disavowed Zaini’s statement. For example, just days after Zaini spoke, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa stated: “Firstly, there is no territorial dispute between Indonesia and China, especially about the Natunas. In fact, we are cooperating with China in possibly bringing about foreign direct investment plans in the Natunas. Second, we are not a claimant state in the South China Sea.”
Laksmana also points out that Indonesia has long planned to beef up its military forces in the Natuna region as one of its “flashpoint defense” areas. The Jane’s report said that Zaini described the Su-27 and Su-30s deployment as part of Indonesia’s Minimum Essential Force (MEF) concept, which Jane’s explained: “aims to establish the nature and minimum scale of military capabilities that Indonesia should seek to deploy in response to a strategic threat.”
via Indonesia Beefs Up Air Force in South China Sea | The Diplomat.
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