3 informed pieces on the India-China skirmish on disputed Himalayan border
economist.com/asia/2020/05/2…
economist.com/asia/2020/05/2…
(2) P Stobdan, former Indian ambassador: "India too has gone for military build-up, expansion of logistic capabilities... as the Army moved battle tanks to remote points & created a mountain strike corps, a Chinese response was expected" tribuneindia.com/news/comment/l…
(3) @fravel who has tracked China's defense policy @MIT_SSP: "paradoxically, less vocal public statements allow China to use troop movements & posture to signal its opposition to Indian activities on the LAC while leaving flexibility for a resolution" thehindu.com/news/national/…
(4) PLOT TWIST is... Locusts. Controlling them requires pesticides, workers, jeeps & planes. Delhi, Beijing & Islamabad are racing to create joint pesticide stockpiles & operations before mega-attack in Jul/Aug.
2020, Pax Locusta for Asia's nuclear powers?
chinadialogue.net/article/show/s…
2020, Pax Locusta for Asia's nuclear powers?
chinadialogue.net/article/show/s…
Monsoon in Subcontinent begins in days. It was the floods in E Africa that created habitats for locust swarms. A pivotal next few weeks of pesticide spraying by Delhi, Beijing & Islamabad. Expect this escalation: 1000s of trucks, planes & military vehicles downtoearth.org.in/news/environme…
Pakistan declared state of emergency in Feb as locusts ate orchards, crops & cotton fields. It has received material assistance from UK, US, China, Turkey. "Chinese technicians will also train Pakistani workers in the use of spray machinery" -Amb. Yao Jing
reliefweb.int/sites/reliefwe…
reliefweb.int/sites/reliefwe…
Is the India-China Himalayan faceoff related to India's 2019 constitutional amendment and bifurcation of Kashmir? Ladakh turned into a Union Territory directly controlled by Delhi and China registered opposition stoutly back then.
Mini-thread on that extraordinarily risky decision last August.
Ashley Tellis reckons unilateral 2019 Kashmir-Ladakh bifurcation & infra modernization "reinforced the Chinese determination to wrest control of disputed territories that were long desired but were now judged to be imperiled by India’s domestic decisions" carnegieendowment.org/2020/06/04/hus…
Shocking. Bloodiest day for India-China conflict since '62. Both suffer casualties at 15,000 ft in Galwan valley of Ladakh. Was it sticks, stones, landslides, bullets? Will they go back to negotiations? Does domestic lid blow off for Modi? ht @aadilbrar
Awful. 17 Indian troops who were injured during melee and died after being "exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain". Hypothermia is even grimmer; indicates soldiers kit , preparation (acclimatization) & protection was lacking.
