India piles up arms with China in mind

 

In recent weeks, India has decided to buy 126 fighter jets from France, taken delivery of a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia and prepared for its first aircraft carrier modernizing its military to face a rising China.

 

India and China have a long history of tension, dating back to a 1962 border war, and New Delhi has watched with dismay in recent years as Beijing has increased its influence in the Indian Ocean.

 

China has financed the development of ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, virtually encircling India. Beijing s recent efforts to get access to facilities in the Seychelles have prodded New Delhi to renew its own outreach to the Indian Ocean island state off its west coast.

 

With its recent purchases, running into tens of billions of dollars, India is finally working to counter what it sees as aggressive incursions by neighboring China into a region India has long dominated.

 

“The Indian military is strengthening its forces in preparation to fight a limited conflict along the disputed border, and is working to balance Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean,” James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told a Senate committee last week.

 

India has created new infantry mountain divisions and plans to raise a strike corps aimed at countering aggression by China. Their border still has not been agreed upon despite 15 rounds of talks, and patrols from the two sides frequently face off on the ground.

 

Analysts say that although the probability of a conflict between the two Asian giants is remote, a short, sharp conflict in the disputed Himalayan heights can t be ruled out.

 

“Over the last couple of years, the Chinese have been acting more and more aggressively in the political, diplomatic and military arena,” said retired Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal, director of the Indian army-funded Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi.

 

Indian leaders and defense strategists have watched with alarm as China modernized its forces and extended its military advantage over India. For some in India, countering China is taking precedence even over checking longtime rival Pakistan. “Of late, there has been a realization (in India) that China is the real danger of the future,” Kanwal said.
To compete, India has embarked on a long-overdue drive to modernize its forces and replace their obsolescent, Soviet-era weapons.

 

Its orders for fighter jets, naval frigates, helicopters and armaments have made India the world s largest importer of arms. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said India accounted for 9 percent of all the world s weapon imports in 2010, the latest year for which figures were available.

 

Last week s order of 126 combat aircraft, won by France s Dassault, followed a bitter battle by global jet manufacturers hoping to entice India.

 

The initial cost for the 126 planes is estimated at about $11 billion, but on-board weaponry, technology transfers, maintenance, warranties and other costs are expected to almost double the price.

 

The Indian navy last week took command of a Russian Nerpa nuclear submarine, renamed INS Chakra-II, at the Russian port of Vladivostok, propelling India into an elite group of countries operating underwater nuclear-powered vessels. Others in the club are the United States, France, Russia, Britain and China.

 

The Chakra-II, on lease from Russia for the next 10 years at a cost of nearly $1 billion, is expected to be inducted into the navy by March. Later this year, India is expected to take delivery of a retrofitted Soviet-built aircraft carrier.

 

In addition, six Scorpene subs being built in India under license from France in a $5 billion deal are expected to start going into service in 2015, three years behind schedule, said Defense Minister A.K. Antony. Labor problems and difficulties procuring needed technology have hampered the project, he told the Indian Parliament recently. Critics also blame India s sluggish bureaucracy for the delays.

 

“India s efforts at modernizing its forces have been very slow,” said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a defense analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.
Some Indian military experts complain that the country is not doing enough to upgrade its forces to the level befitting the regional power it aspires to be.
“It s not only China that is rising. India is on the ascent too, and it s a trend that will continue for some decades,” said retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak at the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi.

 

India may be watching China s overtures to its neighbors with alarm, but New Delhi has also embarked on its own effort to reach out to the Southeast Asian and East Asian countries in Beijing s backyard.

 

India has struck a strategic partnership with Vietnam, including helping Hanoi beef up its defense capabilities. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been actively pursuing a “Look East” policy, engaging the leaders of South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, among others. The policy has resulted in a troupe of high-level visits to India, bolstering trade and economic cooperation.

 

Nowhere is the contest between China and India more evident than in Myanmar, where both of the energy-seeking Asian giants are caught in a race to gain access to the country s natural gas sources.

 

India has regularly conducted defense exercises with countries in the region. It is scheduled to host the navies of 14 Asian countries in maritime exercises later this week; the Chinese and Pakistani navies have not been invited.

 

And, while India is increasing its defense capabilities, China is doing the same, but faster, making it difficult for India to catch up. The Chinese government s military budget is the second largest in the world after the United States.

 

India has raised two mountain divisions of soldiers to add to its existing high-altitude troops. Around 36,000 soldiers and officers of the divisions have been posted in the remote northeast, not far from India s Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims as part of its territory.

 

A proposal for a mountain strike corps is awaiting clearance by India s Cabinet, and an independent armored brigade for the mountain region also is in the works. India hopes to show it can strike deep beyond its neighbor s borders to serve as a deterrent for any Chinese aggression, Kanwal said.

 

“India is building up its capability for offensive operations in the mountains with a view to taking the fight into Chinese territory,” Kanwal said.
 

Dubai: ICC Executive Board meeting starts from Tuesday

The session will review to enhance the award amount to make the test cricket more attractive.

Nomination of president and electoral procedure would also be discussed in the meeting to be held at the ICC Headquarters. The issue of deputy president would also come under discussion.

Implementation on anti corruption rules and regulations would also be evaluated.

Arms seizure in Peshawar foils terror plot

TrendPK.com

PESHAWAR: Peshawar police claimed to have seized heavy cache of arms and ammunitions which, according to them, is a proven bid to foil a major terror plot in Punjab, reports TrendPK on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a suspect has also been arrested.

According to details, Chamkani police stopped a suspected vehicle during routine checking on Alqab Road, ending up recovering heavy amount of arms and ammunition hidden under the secret chambers of that vehicle.

Describing the amount of recovered arms, police sources said arms include six thousand bullets, several pistols and other ammunitions, being smuggled to Punjab to trigger terrorism at massive scale.

The vehicle has been taken under police custody while the suspect identified as Taj Gul has been taken under arrest, sources maintained. TrendPK

Badin road mishap: 4 police die; 12 hurt

TrendPK.com

BADIN: At least four policemen died while another 12 sustained injuries in a road accident near Badin district, reports SMAA on Sunday night.

According to police sources, the accident took place in Merwah Mori area, located in the suburb of Badin, when a Karachi-bound police van containing 16 under-training personnel including the driver, met a head-on collision with a truck.

Consequent to terrible collision, up to 04 police officials died on the spot while 12 others incurred injuries.

Injured have been rushed to a local hospital for immediate medical attention, sources maintained, fearing the death toll may further escalate as few among under-treatment police have been said to be critical in condition. TrendPK

Upmire kills Bangladesh cricket fan with bat: police

 

Nazrul Islam, 15, ran onto the pitch during an amateur game in the remote northern district of Kishoreganj and started an argument with the umpire, who took one of the players  bats and hit the teenager.

 

Islam showed no serious injury from the blow during the game on Friday but suffered an internal haemorrhage overnight and died in hospital the following day, local police chief Mosharraf Hossain told AFP.

 

“The two argued over a not-out decision by the umpire. He accused the umpire of bias. At one stage, the umpire became angry, took a bat and hit the young boy on the head,” Hossain said.

 

The umpire was being sought for questioning but had gone into hiding, he added.

 

Cricket is hugely popular sport in Bangladesh, which last year co-hosted the World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.
 

Police open fire at Bangladesh protesters, 3 dead

 

The clashes killed at least three people and injuring more than 100, a news report and doctors at two hospitals said.

 

The opposition party said 1,200 of its activists were arrested, but the figure could not immediately be confirmed.

 

The main Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its key Islamist ally Jamaat-e-Islami are demanding an independent caretaker government oversee elections. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina scrapped the 15-year-old system last year, saying it contradicted the constitution.

 

The opposition, led by Hasina s archrival former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, says elections will be rigged if held under the current government and without a caretaker system in place.

 

Clashes during Sunday s nationwide protests were reported in about a dozen towns, Desh television station said.

 

Two men died from bullet wounds at a government hospital in the eastern town of Chandpur, physician Mahmudunnabi told The Associated Press by phone.

 

They were shot by police who fired at a procession of protesters trying to march forward by breaking a police barricade, the United News of Bangladesh agency said.

 

Separately, a youth died and four people with bullet wounds were being treated at a government hospital in Laxmipur, another eastern town, said doctor Mohammad Nizam Uddin.

 

The identities of the dead were not immediately clear. Zia s party claimed one was a party activist while media reports said two others were rickshawpullers.

 

Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, the country s police chief, said authorities would investigate the violence to determine what actually happened.

 

Police arrested about 1,200 activists, opposition spokesman Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said. The figure could not be confirmed immediately.

 

The South Asian nation s politics became tense recently as the opposition has geared up its anti-government protests targeting the next general election due in 2014.

 

Hasina s government is also at loggerheads with Zia and the largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami over its effort to try suspected war criminals involving the 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

 

Five top officials and a former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami facing charges of war crimes are currently behind bars for their alleged role in the nine-month war in which the government said at least 3 million people were killed by the Pakistani army in collaboration with the suspects. Two others of Zia s party also face similar charges of crimes against humanity that include killing, rape and arson.

 

Zia and Jamaat-e-Islami party have rejected the trial and said it is politically motivated to eliminate the opposition.

 

The opposition parties also held several general strikes in recent months.

 

Violent protests are common opposition tactics to embarrass the government in Bangladesh, a fragile parliamentary democracy that has a history of two successful and 19 failed military coups since 1971 when the country broke from Pakistan.

 

On Jan. 19, the Bangladesh military said it foiled a plot by a group of hardline officers, their retired colleagues and Bangladeshi conspirators living abroad to overthrow Hasina.–AP
 

Afridi contacts intl players to bring cricket back to Pak

KARACHI: Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi Saturday said he was trying to bring international cricket back to Pakistan and a number of foreign stars have shown an interest.

“All of us have to make efforts to bring international cricket back to Pakistan,” Afridi, who said he has talked to a number of foreign players about an exhibition competition, told AFP.

“I have spoken to a number of top players from different countries and have got good feedback on travelling to Pakistan for a double-wicket competition,” said Afridi, 31.

Afridi said New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram, West Indian Chris Gayle and some Australian players including paceman Shaun Tait were among those with whom he had discussed the proposal.

“Most of them have expressed great interest in the event and in playing in Pakistan so I am seriously planning to organise the event, which can allay players’ fears on Pakistan,” he said.

Afridi added he will also try to convince some Indian players.

Pakistan have been forced to play their home series at neutral venues in United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and England. They are currently playing the second of three Tests against England in Abu Dhabi.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf has vowed to bring international cricket back to his country and is hoping to have a one-day series with Bangladesh in April. AGENCIES

Afridi determined to attract international cricket

 

Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi Saturday said he was trying to bring international cricket back to Pakistan and a number of foreign stars have shown an interest.

 

Pakistan has been a virtual no-go for international sides since the Sri Lanka team bus was attacked in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight people and leaving seven visiting players and their assistant coach wounded.

 

“All of us have to make efforts to bring international cricket back to Pakistan,” Afridi, who said he has talked to a number of foreign players about an exhibition competition, told AFP.

 

“I have spoken to a number of top players from different countries and have got good feedback on travelling to Pakistan for a double-wicket competition,” said Afridi, 31.

 

Afridi said New Zealand s Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram, West Indian Chris Gayle and some Australian players including paceman Shaun Tait were among those with whom he had discussed the proposal.

 

“Most of them have expressed great interest in the event and in playing in Pakistan so I am seriously planning to organise the event, which can allay players  fears on Pakistan,” he said.

 

Afridi added he will also try to convince some Indian players.

 

Pakistan have been forced to play their home series at neutral venues in United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and England. They are currently playing the second of three Tests against England in Abu Dhabi.

 

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf has vowed to bring international cricket back to his country and is hoping to have a one-day series with Bangladesh in April.

4th Aussie test, 3rd day: India on 225-6 at tea

ADELAIDE: India were 225 for six wickets in their first innings at tea on the third day of the fourth and final test against Australia on Thursday.

Tendulkar again missed out on his 100th international century when he was dismissed for 25 inside the opening hour.

Siddle struck with the second ball of his fifth over enticing an edge off Tendulkar’s bat for a diving Ricky Ponting to scoop it up low down at second slip.

Gambhir was out in Siddle’s next over when he was unable to keep down a lifting delivery and was caught off the shoulder of his bat by a diving Mike Hussey at gully for 34.

The wholehearted Siddle had captured two huge wickets in 10 balls to seize the initiative for Australia. It was the third time in the series Siddle claimed Tendulkar’s wicket and he had figures of 3-29 off seven overs at lunch.

Laxman’s miserable series continued when he edged a bouncier Lyon delivery into the gloves of Brad Haddin. In seven innings in the series Laxman has scored just 120 runs at 17.14.

The Indians are facing a 4-0 series wipeout in the final Test after heavy losses in the opening three Tests. AGENCIES

4th India test: Australia declare innings at 604-7

ADELAIDE: Australia declared their first innings at 604 for seven wickets after tea on the second day of the fourth and final test against India on Wednesday. AGENCIES

More to come…

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