After Australian High Commissioner to India said ‘deeply concerned’ by Chinese action in South China Sea, Beijing’s envoy to New Delhi says Canberra provoking escalation.
Beijing's ties to the other countries have increasingly frayed as tensions flare over the coronavirus outbreak, security law in Hong Kong and the South China Sea dispute.
China stakes claim to 90% of the South China Sea, and this claim is based on the U-shaped nine-dash line etched on map in the 1940s by a Chinese geographer.
Development comes amid India-China border standoff. The Indian Navy exercise is on similar lines of another that it had carried out with the Japanese Navy last month.
China has disputes with Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Singapore, Brunei, Nepal, Bhutan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar and Tibet.
While the two nations are sparring on everything from Covid-19 to Hong Kong, the sea remains the most likely spot to have their warships and fighter jets actually collide.
Not just military salami-slicing, China is also carrying out surrogate conflicts against India through countries such as Nepal. Delhi must change rules of the game.
India can't deter China from using Himalayan skirmishes unless it goes on the offensive elsewhere. New Delhi's message must be: 'Do not poke us here and we won't poke you there'.
The last time this matter flared up was when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a very similar directive in April, called for the relocation of stray dogs in the capital.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
How could the Chin-Panzie ambassador lie so blatantly talking about conforming to international laws while openly violating it?