| Sreemoy Talukdar brings you the essential cheat sheet on foreign affairs covering India and the world |  | | Indian army has foiled PLA's latest misadventure in Tawang (representative image attached), China is struggling to cope with spike in cases following easing of Covid restrictions, Pakistan FM has heaped personal insult on PM Modi, Pakistan and Afghan forces are clashing again and Moroccan fans have responded to their national team's defeat at World Cup with rioting in Belgium and France. | | TOP FIVE NEWS UPDATES | | Army foils China's attempt to 'change status quo' at Tawang, several injured in hand-to-hand combat | | On the morning of December 9, Chinese soldiers launched an attack on an Indian outpost at the Yangtse region of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh that belongs to the eastern sector of the LAC. Their motive, as Union defence minister Rajnath Singh would later state in both Houses of the Parliament, was to "unilaterally change the status quo of the region". The PLA were keen on occupying the heights and ridges that Indian soldiers were stationed on. No firearms were involved in the attack but crude weaponry such as iron rods, nail-spiked clubs, and even taser guns. Initially overwhelmed by numbers, the Indians quickly reinforced, fought back and drove away the Chinese. Several were injured from both sides, but the numbers on Chinese side were reportedly higher. Singh told the Parliament that "the Chinese attempt was contested by our troops in a firm and resolute manner. The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts. The scuffle led to injuries to a few personnel on both sides. I wish to share with this House that there are no fatalities or serious casualties on our side. As a follow-up of the incident, local Commander in the area held a Flag Meeting with his counterpart on 11 December 2022 to discuss the issue in accordance with established mechanisms. The Chinese side was asked to refrain from such actions and maintain peace and tranquility along the border. The issue has also been taken up with the Chinese side through diplomatic channels." Though the minister didn't share numbers, media reports say "some 300 Chinese troops came into the Indian side" and "70 to 80 Indian troops mobilised quickly in the dead of night to push back the intruders. There was intense hand-to-hand combat with sticks and canes for a few hours." The report by Indian Express observes that "the incident came days after China expressed objection to Operation Yudhabhyas, an India-US joint military exercise at Auli in the Uttarakhand hills, claiming it was a violation of 1993 and 1996 border agreements." The Tribune adds that "Indian Army has had injuries to 34 of its soldiers, eight of whom have been shifted to Guwahati. About 40 PLA troops have also been injured. The Indian outpost at Yanki continues to be maintained at the same spot, which provides a commanding view to the ingress routes of the valley from the Tibetan side." | | Hospitals under strain, food, drugs in short supply as cases spike in China post easing of restrictions | | China has lifted Covid restrictions faced with unprecedented pushback from citizens. But that has created a new trouble, as was largely anticipated. The pivot away from 'Zero-Covid' has been so sudden that there is now a massive spike in Covid cases. "Hospitals in China's capital Beijing are battling staff shortages and struggling to keep their doors open amid a flood of Covid-19 cases a week after the country's sudden switch from strict pandemic controls to living with the virus. The city reported only 1,027 infections on Tuesday morning but the true scale of cases is believed to be much greater, with residents no longer required to have PCR tests or report their antigen test results," reports South China Morning Post. The BBC adds that "China's hospitals are already under so much pressure that doctors and nurses could be infecting patients. It seems frontline medical workers are being told to come in even if they have the virus themselves because of staff shortages." The report adds that "China's hospitals have hastily increased their fever ward capacity to meet a huge influx of patients, but these have been filling up quickly, in part because the message is still not getting through that it is all right to stay at home if you catch the virus… A rush on pharmacies has led to significant nationwide shortages of medicine used to treat a cold or the flu. Home testing kits for Covid are also hard to come by." In several cities across China, food and medicines are in short supply due to a sudden spike in demand and panic buying. Reuters reports that China's rising alarm was felt even in pharmacies in Hong Kong, Macau, and in some neighbourhoods in Australia, as people hunted for fever medicines and virus test kits to send to family and friends on the mainland. According to a new study by researchers in Hong Kong, "almost 1 million people in China may die from Covid-19 as the government rapidly abandons pandemic curbs," reports Bloomberg. | | Bhutto Zardari heaps personal insult on PM Modi as India, Pakistan spar again at UN on Kashmir | | India and Pakistan's sparring at the United Nations continues. Hindustan Times reports: "India and Pakistan squared off on the issue of Kashmir at the UNSC, with India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar saying a country accused of hosting Osama bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring Parliament should not "sermonise" on such matters. The exchange late on Wednesday occurred during an open debate on reformed multilateralism at the UNSC in New York that was chaired by Jaishankar as part of India's presidency of the UN's top body during December. Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spoke during the debate and urged the Security Council to implement its resolutions on the Kashmir issue." While Bhutto Zardari urged the UNSC to "allow for the implementation of resolutions when it comes to the question of Kashmir," Jaishankar, in an intervention following the Pakistan FM's speech, said the credibility of the UN depends on its effective response to the key challenges of our times, be it pandemics, climate change, conflicts or terrorism, reports The Hindu. The report quoted the external affairs minister, as saying, "The question of justifying what the world regards as unacceptable should not even arise. That certainly applies to state sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Nor can hosting Osama bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring Parliament serve as credentials to sermonize before this Council," he said. Later, at a news conference, referring to then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's comments made in 2011 that Pakistan "can't keep snakes in backyard and expect them only to bite neighbours," Jaishankar said "Pakistan is not great on taking good advice. You see what's happening there... Pakistan should clean up its act and try to be a good neighbour… the world is not stupid and is increasingly calling out countries, organisations and people who indulge in terrorism." This was apparently too much for Pakistan, and Bhutto Zardari hit back on Thursday with a personal insult on prime minister Narendra Modi. | | Several civilians killed in exchange of gunfire, shelling across Pakistan-Afghanistan border | | Pakistan's Afghanistan policy is bearing 'fruit'. It has long used the Taliban to achieve strategic objectives in Afghanistan, and now that the Taliban are in power, the Frankenstein monster that Pakistan's military has created is now turning against Islamabad. Afghan Taliban forces launched a murderous attack on a town in Pakistan's border on Sunday. According to Reuters, cross-border shelling and gunfire between Afghanistan and Pakistan killed eight Pakistani civilians and one Afghan soldier on Sunday, officials on both sides of the frontier said, with each side accusing the other of starting the fighting. The Pakistan army claimed Afghan border forces had opened 'unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons including artillery/mortar on to the civilian population' at the Chaman border crossing. "Afghan security sources said the incident happened after Pakistan demanded Afghan border forces stop building a checkpost on their side of the border", reports BBC, adding, "AFP news agency quoted anonymous Afghan government officials saying tensions flared up after Afghan forces tried to cut part of a fence on the border." Speaking to Associated Press, a Taliban defence ministry spokesman blamed Pakistan for initiating the fire, saying "the Islamic Emirate considers dialogue as a reasonable way to solve any problem." Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif said Monday that "Kabul has apologised for the attack" but four days after that 'apology', "armed clashes erupted between security forces from Pakistan and Afghanistan again at the border in Chaman on Thursday, leaving at least one dead and 15 others injured," reports Dawn newspaper. The report adds, "Kabul blamed Pakistan for the act of aggression. In a post on Twitter, the Taliban ministry of defence claimed that Pakistani forces had opened fire first, and called for a resolution of the issue through negotiations." | | Morocco fans clash with police in France, Belgium after national team goes down to France in WC semis | | Fearing possible riots after Wednesday's France versus Morocco semifinal match at the World Cup in Qatar, France had mobilized 10,000 police officers, including 5,000 of them for Paris and the surrounding area alone but that failed to stop the rioters. Soon after Morocco went down 0-2 to France in the seminal match, media reports said riots erupted in several cities across France and Belgium. According to a report in Firstpost, "police in the Belgian capital, Brussels, arrested some 100 people in the wake of Morocco's defeat against France. Among the detained football fans on Wednesday night were people accused of disturbing the public order, damaging two police vehicles and possessing illegal pyrotechnics, Belgian police said in the early hours of Thursday. In France, the police dispersed crowds of Morocco fans who were setting off fireworks near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and had to use tear gas to dispel mobs who set off firecrackers in the city of Nice in southern France." In Montpellier, a 14-year-old boy died after being hit by a car. He was taken to hospital but died soon after, French authorities said. "Moroccan fans, upset by the defeat of their national team, began to destroy everything in their path. The police are forced to use special means. In Montpellier, the fans tried to rip the French flag from the car," reads a social media report. The Mirror, UK, adds that "victory saw France supporters take to the streets to celebrate, but it also saw them clash with Moroccans in some areas. France is a former colonial ruler of Morocco and has a large Moroccan diaspora, estimated to number around one million people, which is concentrated in Paris and the Mediterranean coast. Videos shared on Twitter by newspaper Midi Libre Montpellier showed violent clashes between fans at the city's Place de la Comédie. Screaming was heard as groups of men threw fireworks and flares at each other before tear gas was used by police." Earlier this month, after Morrocco's penalty shootout victory over Spain, "multiple skirmishes broke out between riot police and Morocco supporters amid chaotic scenes before their team's shock penalty shootout victory against Spain. Security forces, who also deployed mounted officers and dogs, dragged away at least three people in the most serious trouble of the World Cup. One policeman fell off his horse in the disturbances," reported Guardian. | | | | | | | | | | TOP ANALYSES OF THE WEEK | | Get ready for more clashes after Tawang | | China is taking the gloves off and indicating it is ready to use force to impose its ever-expanding claims and preferences on neighbours, writes professor Sreeram Chaulia in Hindustan Times. | | Tawang marks shortcomings of India's diplomacy | | Flare-up at Tawang marks shortcomings of India's China diplomacy, argues professor Jabin T Jacob in Indian Express. | | Four observations on Tawang clash and aftermath | | LAC is hotting up, China isn't interested in delineation of border, Indian army's response to China's latest provocation has been adequate, and Tawang has become a political football — four observations by Sreemoy Talukdar in Firstpost post Tawang clash. | | PLA may try to do a Ladakh in Arunachal | | Yangtse could be the precursor to an eastern Ladakh kind of manoeuvre by the PLA in western Arunachal, argues Gautam Bambawale, former Indian ambassador to China, in Times of India. | | Pressure on hospitals may force China to rescind Covid easing | | As Beijing begins easing pandemic restrictions, the rising Covid-19 caseload and pressure on hospitals could force local authorities to back-pedal, economist Aidan Yo writes in South China Morning Post. | | Xi Jinping has made several big mistakes: Kausikan | | Xi Jinping is one of the worst foreign-policy emperors China has ever had. He has made several big mistakes, Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan tells James Crabtree of IISS in an interview for Mekong Review. | | How to cut import dependence on China | | Subir Roy writes in The Tribune on how India may reduce import dependence on China. | | Pakistan needs a new Afghanistan policy | | Pakistan needs a new Afghanistan policy — probably one based on noninterference and refortification of the border to reduce cross-border attacks, writes Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir in Washington Post. | | As economy tumbles, Bangla govt is feeling the heat | | Bangladesh's economy has taken a major tumble, and a government that staked its legitimacy on economic success finds itself on the defensive, writes Michael Kugelman of Washington DC-based Wilson Center in Foreign Policy magazine. | | India, Egypt ties set to grow at an opportune time | | India has invited Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to attend the Republic Day celebrations as the two nations' diplomatic, economic, and military ties grow. Mohammed Soliman of Middle East Institute writes in ORF that the Sisi-Modi Summit comes at an unprecedented moment in the history of the Middle East, where the region is converging with South Asia and cohering together to form a West Asian system. | | PODCAST | | The larger implications of Tawang clash | | We recommend this edition of Stratnews Global's 'The Gist' podcast where Lt Gen SL Narasimhan (Retd), former defence attache in Beijing and ex-DG of the Centre for Contemporary China Studies, looks at whether Tawang is the biggest clash since Galwan, and if so, what could be its larger implications. | | | | Copyright © 2022.Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. | |
