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Many Indians thought former BBC journalist Humphrey Hawksley was being overly alarmist when he wrote the thriller Dragon Fire two decades ago about a war pitting China and Pakistan against India that ended apocalyptically with nuclear devastation. Hawksley, a veteran Asia hand, said his fiction was meant not just to entertain but also be a warning that China was expansionist and was a one-party state whose government had to prove itself to survive. Since then, though, we’ve seen China offering a different narrative in which global economic diplomacy was its choice weapon. The Chinese have been busy proving they’re responsible...

Is India Testing China Out on Their Disputed Border Again? China ‘firmly’ opposes to Indian president’s latest visit to disputed Arunachal Pradesh By Charlotte Gao November 21, 2017 Two months after China and India diffused tensions on the Doklam standoff, there seems to be a new risk looming over the two countries. On November 19, Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind paid his first visit since assuming office in July to Arunachal Pradesh — a long-disputed territory between Beijing and New Delhi. India categorizes Arunachal Pradesh as the northeastern-most state of the country, but the Chinese government has never recognized...

Month after Doklam withdrawal, more Chinese troops on the plateau than ever before The PLA has fortified its presence there and is settling down for the long haul. A close-up of the game of high-altitude Himalayan chess. Sandeep Unnithan September 28, 2017 | UPDATED 21:27 IST Sometime in early August, the dry, desolate plateau around the Gurudongmar lake in north Sikkim resounded with the roar of tank engines. A squadron of 14 Indian army T-72 tanks kicked up dust as it raced towards the Line of Actual Control with China. The explosive reactive armour panels slapped on their turrets can...

Doklam standoff ends: A satisfactory resolution for India but it must guard against complacency and China's revanchism Sreemoy Talukdar Aug, 29 2017 16:16:25 IST Nearly 24 hours after the dice was rolled to end the Doka La standoff, media in India and China have reacted on predictable lines. The Chinese have focused on the aspect that Indian troops have ultimately pulled out of the disputed area over which it claims sovereignty, Indians have interpreted it as a loss of face for China after being forced to revert to status quo ante. It is irrelevant beyond a point to consider who...

Doklam standoff: Countering China in the backyard, Indian Navy silently tightens grip over Indian Ocean New Delhi has tasked the Indian Navy to silently spread its influence and further strengthen its grip over the Indian Ocean Region. Sudhi Ranjan Sen | Posted by Bijin Jose New Delhi, August 24, 2017 | UPDATED 15:11 IST As countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand keenly watch the outcome of the standoff at the Doklam in Bhutan between the Indian and Chinese armies; New Delhi has tasked the Indian Navy to silently spread its influence and further strengthen its grip over the Indian...

A confrontation occurred between Indian and Chinese soldiers along a disputed border in the western Himalayas, Indian officials said on Tuesday. The PTI news agency said soldiers threw stones, causing minor injuries to both sides, as Chinese troops tried to enter Indian territory near the Pangong lake. Beijing maintains that their soldiers were inside Chinese territory. [snip] The two nations fought a war over the border in 1962 and disputes remain unresolved in several areas, which causes tensions to escalate from time to time.

China on Tuesday jumped to the defence of its all-weather ally Pakistan in the wake of United States President Donald Trump's stern warning to it over providing safe havens to terrorists, saying that Islamabad is at the frontline of combating terrorism. Trump, in his first prime-time televised address to announce his Afghanistan and South Asia policy, hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to 'agents of chaos' that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has 'much to lose' by harbouring terrorists. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, while reacting to Trump's comments on Pakistan, said, "Hope the relevant policy decision by US...

India can take on China under any circumstances, says Baba Ramdev He said, "India is today a self contented country with sufficient arms, ammunitions and army to fight against China.". ANI | August 19, 2017, 09:12 IST Ludhiana : Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Friday criticized ,China over the ongoing military impasse on the Doklam Plateau and described India's a self contented and contained country that could take on China under any circumstances. He said, "India is today a self contented country with sufficient arms, ammunitions and army to fight against China." "Let China accumulate blood, dollars, weapons and whatsoever,...

Doklam India-China standoff: Japan throws weight behind India and Bhutan, says no side should try to change status quo by force Doklam standoff: On China’s claim about India’s role in the dispute, Japan has also conveyed that India is “involved” in this incident “based on bilateral agreements” with Bhutan. Written by Shubhajit Roy | New Delhi | Updated: August 18, 2017 10:35 am Two months into the Doklam border standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers, Japan has conveyed its unequivocal support to India and Bhutan through diplomatic channels — a first by a major country, which is China’s neighbour, top...

Modi says India will fight foreign threats in Independence Day speech that sends warning to China PM’s remarks came as New Delhi’s dispute with Beijing over a strategically key Himalayan plateau enters its second month on Wednesday, with hundreds of soldiers reported to be facing off against each other India can defend itself from anyone who seeks “to act against our country”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an Independence Day speech Tuesday amid a tense stand-off with Beijing over a Himalayan plateau. “Security is our top priority,” Modi said in a speech before thousands at the landmark Red Fort...

India, China soldiers involved in border altercation: Indian sources NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Indian and Chinese soldiers were involved in an altercation in the western Himalayas on Tuesday, Indian sources said, further raising tensions between the two countries which are already locked in a two-month standoff in another part of the disputed border. A source in New Delhi, who had been briefed on the military situation on the border, said soldiers foiled a bid by a group of Chinese troops to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, near the Pangong lake. Some of the Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and...

In a Confrontation Over Doklam, China Will Likely Be the Eventual Loser BY ONKAR MARWAH ON 14/08/2017 Any hostilities will be short and non-conclusive, and will puncture the image of itself that China has built. On June 16, it became public information that Indian troops had entered the Doklam region near the Chumbi Valley tri-junction area wedged between Bhutan, India and Tibet/China, and stopped a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) construction crew... /snip Hereafter, the assumptions encompass both countries: Any outbreak of hostilities would be a localised and sharp, short war. Neither side would wish to prolong or enlarge...

Amid the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Doklam area in the Sikkim sector, national security adviser Ajit Doval’s visit to China has come and gone. Nothing much has changed on the ground. Beijing continues to harangue and wage its psychological warfare, sometimes by reminding India of 1962 and sometimes by suggesting that countermeasures from Beijing would be unavoidable if the Narendra Modi government continues to ignore the Chinese warnings. Chinese officials even went to the extent of informing a visiting Indian media delegation that Bhutan has conveyed to Beijing through diplomatic channels that the area of the standoff...

Sukna-Based 33 Corps “Very Close” to India-China Border Chandan Nandy Updated: 12 August, 2017 4:33 PM IST The Darjeeling brigade of the army’s Sukna-based 33 Corps, which was mobilised nearly a month ago, has moved “very close” to the India-China border in Sikkim as part of the massive positioning of troops in the wake of the continuing standoff over the Doklam issue. Army sources revealed to The Quint that contrary to reports that no artillery units of the 33 Corps had been mobilised, the long-range guns in the Tukla valley in East Sikkim, close to the Old Baba Harbhajan Mandir,...

The relationship between India and China seemed to worsen Wednesday when the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that 53 people and an Indian bulldozer was in China's territory and advised India to pull them back. This followed a warning Tuesday when an editorial in the state-run China Daily said that the "countdown to a clash between the two forces has begun." "India should withdraw its troops and equipment. Regardless of how many Indian troops have trespassed into and stayed in Chinese territory, they have gravely infringed on China's sovereignty," the ministry said, the Global Times reported. The China Daily editorial said the clock was ticking and that it...

Exclusive: Army Mobilises Sappers, Engineers Along China Border Chandan Nandy Updated: 11 August, 2017 2:33 AM IST Besides infantry troops and artillery units of the Sukna-based 33 Corps, the Indian army has mobilised sappers and engineers from Panagarh in lower Bengal to bolster its presence along the India-China borders in Sikkim. Army sources revealed to The Quint that the sappers and engineers' units have been made part of this massive mobilisation, comprising between 30,000-40,000 troops, for building bridges across mountainous streams in the higher reaches where the network of roads "may not be in the best of conditions in the...

Indian Army Orders People Near Doklam to Vacate Their Village Nathang village is 35 km from the Doklam India-Bhutan-China tri-junction, the site of the two-month old standoff between Indian and Chinese troops. Karma Paljor | News18.comKarma_Paljor Updated:August 10, 2017, 3:25 PM IST New Delhi: The Indian Army has ordered the evacuation of a village close to the Doklam India-Bhutan-China tri-junction. According to sources, a few hundred villagers living in Nathang village have been asked to vacate their houses immediately. Nathang is 35 km from the site of the two-month old standoff between Indian and Chinese troops. It was not immediately...

Army Moves Troops of Sukna-Based 33 Corps to India-China Border Chandan Nandy Updated: 9 August, 2017 3:39 AM IST A bulk of the troops of the Sukna-based 33 Corps have been or are in the process of being moved to the Indo-China frontier in Sikkim even as the controversy over the Doklam plateau at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction continues to surface from time to time. Eastern Command army sources revealed that all three divisions under the 33 Corps, which is stationed in Sukna, near Siliguri in West Bengal, have been deployed on the Sino-Indian border. The troop movement from Sukna began...

China is using Doklam as yet another laboratory to test its salami slicing policy of territorial expansion. India is resisting this attempt while the world leaders have generally maintained silence over Doklam. Commenting on the Doklam standoff between the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Chinese foreign affairs spokesperson yesterday said, "Right now, I can tell you that there are 48 Indian military guards in our territory of Donglang (Doklam)." "It has already been more than a month since the incident and India is still not only illegally remaining on Chinese territory, it is also repairing roads in...

China mulling 'small scale military ops' against India: Expert Press Trust of India | Beijing August 5, 2017 Last Updated at 10:22 IST China is planning a "small scale military operation" to "expel" Indian troops from the Doklam area "within two weeks", an article in a state-run daily here said today. India and China have been locked in a prolonged standoff in the area in the Sikkim sector since June 16 after Chinese troops began constructing a road near the Bhutan trijunction. Bhutan has protested to China, saying the area belonged to it and accused Beijing of violating agreements that...