Ấn Độ và Nhật Bản loại bỏ trở ngại trong đàm phán về các thỏa thuận hạt nhân dân sự

India, Japan move to end deadlock on N-deal 

 

Indrani Bagchi

TNN
Dec 29, 2011

NEW DELHI: India and Japan have moved to break the deadlock in negotiations for a civil nuclear agreement. In November, New Delhi made a set of proposals to accommodate Japan's concerns on an agreement that is seen as being crucial for the development of India's civilian nuclear sector.

On Wednesday, Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda, on his maiden visit to India, put a positive spin on the N-deal. Welcoming the progress in an address in the Indian Council for World Affairs, he said, "At the working level, discussions on the civil nuclear deal have proceeded in right direction. I welcome this progress."

Indian negotiators have proposed what is euphemistically called "creative language" to address Japan's core concern - of New Delhi committing itself to no further nuclear tests. India has offered a statement, which was made by former foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee to the Nuclear Suppliers Group when they voted for its waiver in 2008.

That has been the clearest enunciation of India's commitment to continue with its moratorium on nuclear testing. Japan had asked for this commitment to be "strengthened" in the agreement, which has been difficult for India. With the new proposals, however, sources said, it may be possible to overcome Japan's concerns. Noda on Wednesday praised India's moratorium on tests, and hoped it would continue. It was seen as a positive signal.

Noda stressed on Japan's unique N-history. "Japan is the only country attacked by a nuclear weapon," he reminded the gathering.

Nguồn: The Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-Japan-move-to-end-deadlock-on-N-deal/articleshow/11285800.cms

Sức mạnh của Hải quân Ấn Độ

Presidential Fleet Review: India showcases maritime might

 

Rajat Pandit,
TNN

Dec 21, 2011

MUMBAI: India on Tuesday showcased its growing maritime might, in all its three-dimensional power with potent warships, lethal submarines and maritime strike supersonic fighters, underlining its intent to safeguard its geo-political interests stretching from Hormuz Strait till Malacca Strait in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and beyond.

Though the Presidential Fleet Review (PFR) held with much fanfare off here was largely a ceremonial occasion, the strategic underpinning was all too clear. India does not want to be reduced to playing catch-up with China in IOR, in a repeat of New Delhi's ongoing belated attempts to counter Beijing's massive build-up of military infrastructure all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control.

"The Navy, today, is poised to achieve new milestones with the imminent induction of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (refitted Admiral Gorshkov slated for inducted by early-2013), the Kolkata-class stealth destroyers, the follow-on Talwar-class frigates, the indigenous anti-submarine warfare corvettes and an impressive number of submarines and aircraft,'' said President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

"Indian Navy is one of the most capable in the region, and with its well-thought out modernization plans, is destined to grow even further,'' said Patil, after taking the salute at the impressive PFR with 81 warships and 44 aircraft displaying their war-waging capabilities.

The Navy will indeed grow. But it will not come cheap, especially if India has to defend its economic interests far way from its shores. The recent exploration stand-off with China in South China Sea, with an Indian warship even being threatened by Beijing in the region, is a case in point.

Consequently, India plans to spend well upwards of Rs 3 lakh crore over the next 15 years to transform the force into, as Admiral Nirmal Verma himself puts it, "a brand new multi-dimensional Navy'' with "reach and sustainability''. India has 49 new warships and submarines as well as 45 MiG-29K fighters and 12 P-8I long-range reconnaissance aircraft on order, with several new projects in the pipeline.

All this is crucial to counter China's ever-expanding footprint in IOR. After forging extensive maritime links from east Africa to Cambodia, which includes help in construction of ports like Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Chittagong in Bangladesh and Kyaukphyu in Myanmar, China has recently established a full-fledged embassy in the Maldives, and also announced "a new turn-around'' naval facility in Seychelles.

India has 132 warships, including 50 "major combatants'' and 14 ageing submarines, 80 aircraft, 122 helicopters and 14 spy drones.

In sharp contrast, in terms of surface and sub-surface warfare, China has over 75 "principal combatants'', 55 large and medium amphibious ships, 85 missile-equipped smaller warships and over 60 submarines, a dozen of them nuclear ones.

Indian Navy, however, is much more experienced in "blue-water'' operations. But it still has to keep a hawk-eye on the Chinese Navy, which is spreading its wings now, driven though as of now it may be by its desperate need to secure its energy and other needs being transported through sea routes.

India's economic growth, too, is inextricably linked to the seas, which in turn requires a potent Navy capable of tackling any exigency. Over 90% of India's trade by volume and 77% by value are transported over the seas.

India has to be prepared for the high-intensity shadow boxing unfolding on the high seas with China, in their hunt for the same strategic space in IOR, far away from their disputed land borders. The PFR signaled India's intent not to cede maritime ground easily.

Nguồn: The Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Presidential-Fleet-Review-India-showcases-maritime-might/articleshow/11187148.cms

Ấn Độ: bất bình đẳng thu nhập tăng gấp đôi trong vòng 20 năm

India's income inequality has doubled in 20 years

 

TNN
Dec 7, 2011

NEW DELHI: Inequality in earnings has doubled in India over the last two decades, making it the worst performer on this count of all emerging economies. The top 10% of wage earners now make 12 times more than the bottom 10%, up from a ratio of six in the 1990s.

Moreover, wages are not smoothly spread out even through the middle of the distribution. The top 10% of earners make almost five times more than the median 10%, but this median 10% makes just 0.4 times more than the bottom 10%.

"The main driver has been an increase in wage inequality between regular wage earners-contractual employees hired over a period of time," says the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in a new report on inequality in the developed world and emerging economies. "By contrast, inequality in the casual wage sector-workers employed on a day-to-day basis-has remained more stable," the report said.

South Africa is the only emerging economy with worse earnings inequality, but it has halved this number since the last decade. "The combination of marked spatial divides, persistently high shares of informal sector jobs and disparities in access to education accounts for much of the widespread variation in earnings from work in the EEs," the report said.

Wage inequality has driven more general income inequality in the country. India has got more unequal over the last two decades-India's Gini coefficient, the official measure of income inequality, has gone from 0.32 to 0.38, with 0 being the ideal score. In the early 1990s, income inequality in India was close to that of developed countries; however, its performance on inequality has diverged greatly since then, bringing it closer to China on inequality than the developed world.

There is evidence of growing concentration of wealth among the elite. The consumption of the top 20% of households grew at almost 3% per year in the 2000s as compared to 2% in the 1990s, while the growth in consumption of the bottom 20% of households remained unchanged at 1% per year.

In comparison, the income of the bottom 20% of households in China grew at double the rate in the 2000s as compared to the 1990s, while the increase for the top 20% of households was much slower. In Brazil, household incomes have been growing faster among the poorest households than among the richest for the last two decades.

Of all the emerging economies, India has by far the highest proportion of informal employment, by any national or international measure. "In India...informal employment includes a disproportionate number of women, home-based workers, street sellers and workers sub-contracted by firms in the formal sector," the OECD report said.

India spends less than 5% of its GDP on social protection schemes as compared to Brazil's more than 15%. Its tax revenue as a proportion of GDP is under 20%-the lowest of all emerging economies, and just half that of developed countries.

Source: The Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indias-income-inequality-has-doubled-in-20-years/articleshow/11012855.cms

 

Tuần tới Thứ trưởng Ngoại giao Mỹ Burns sẽ thăm Ấn Độ

Burns to visit India next week

PTI
Washington, December 6, 2011

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is scheduled to visit New Delhi next week to discuss a “whole gamut” of relationship with top Indian leaders.

On his maiden trip to India as the Deputy Secretary of State — the most powerful position in the U.S. State Department after the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton — Mr. Burns’ visit is reflective of the high-level engagement between the two countries in the aftermath of the Bali meet between the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the U.S. President, Barack Obama.

Mr. Burns, who is expected to leave on December 10, is likely to have his official meetings in New Delhi on December 12 with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, sources said.

The top American diplomat, who personally sees ‘India file’ at the State Department, is expected to discuss with the Indian leaders a “whole gamut” of relationship, which includes the bilateral ties and the situation in the region including Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr. Burns would leave for a quick trip of South East Asia, including Vietnam before returning to India for the second leg of his visit.

Mr. Burns, sources said, is expected to return to India in less than a week to Mumbai and Pune for the second leg of his trip which is likely to focus on economic and education aspects of the bi-lateral ties.

Source: The Hindu,
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2691476.ece

Ấn, Mỹ, Nhật gặp nhau thảo luận về khu vực châu Á Thái Bình Dương

India, US, Japan to meet on Asia Pacific region

Indo-Asian News Service
Washington, December 06, 2011

The United States, India and Japan will hold their first trilateral meeting in Washigton on December 19 to discuss "a range of Asia Pacific regional issues" among three leading "Pacific democracies."

"This meeting is going to be an opportunity to hold comprehensive discussion on a range of Asia-Pacific regional issues," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Monday.

The specific agenda is still being determined, "but obviously, as the three leading Pacific democracies, we look forward to productive exchanges with India and Japan," he said.

Asked why India, an Indian Ocean country, was invited to the meeting as one of the "Pacific democracies," Toner said, "This is a chance for us to discuss regional issues."

In response to a question that why Australia was not invited to the meeting, Toner explained that it "isn't all-inclusive."

"I don't know about Australia. All these talks don't have to be completely inclusive. Again, this is a chance for us to meet with three leading democracies in the region."

The dialogue earlier scheduled for October 8 in Tokyo was postponed at US request.

Driven by Tokyo and finalised during then foreign secretary Nirupama Rao's visit to Japan in April 2010, the dialogue is also part of New Delhi's effort to go beyond the stated Look East policy and engage North Asia as well.

From the US perspective, the dialogue is seen as part of what is described as a policy "pivot" toward Asia as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down.

President Barack Obama recently returned from an Asian tour that stressed US interests in the region.

Source: Hindustan Times,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Americas/India-US-Japan-to-meet-on-Asia-Pacific-region/Article1-778395.aspx

Đối thoại chiến lược ba bên Mỹ-Ấn-Nhật sẽ diễn ra vào 19/12/2011 tại Washington

United States, India and Japan to meet and discuss China

Shishir Gupta,

Hindustan Times
New Delhi, December 05, 2011

In the backdrop of China's increasing assertiveness, Washington will for the first time host a trilateral official-level dialogue with Japanese, Indian and US diplomats on December 19 to build convergence over regional maritime security and non-proliferation in East Asia and Pacific region.

The dialogue earlier scheduled for October 8 in Tokyo was postponed on a US request.

Government sources said top Indian officials from the disarmament and non-proliferation, East Asia and America divisions of the ministry of external affairs will interact with their US counterparts such as assistant secretary (South Asia) Robert Blake and assistant secretary (East Asia and Pacific Affairs) and their equivalents from Japan's foreign ministry.

The dialogue will ramp up to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's visit to India on December 28.

While major bilateral initiatives like an agriculture corridor and trans-Asian Buddhist circuit are in the pipeline during Noda's visit, New Delhi and Tokyo will for the first time explore the possibility of joint research in the defence sector.

Driven by Tokyo and finalised during then foreign secretary Nirupama Rao's visit to Japan in April 2010, the dialogue is also part of New Delhi's effort to go beyond the stated Look East policy and engage North Asia as well.

US President Barack Obama and recently secretary of state Hillary Clinton had talked about the need for India to reach out to East Asia.

While Japan is a treaty ally of the US, India is being approached by South-East Asian countries and even Australia for trilateral initiatives in the face of Beijing's claims over the oil-rich South China Sea at the East Asia Summit in Bali last month.

New Delhi on its part plans to calibrate this trilateral initiative in a way that it is not seen as a platform against China.

However, the regional strategic environment and Chinese moves in the area will be part of the discussions.

Nguồn: Hindustan Times,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/United-States-India-and-Japan-to-meet-and-discuss-China/Article1-777932.aspx

Làm gì có liên minh Ấn-Trung hay Tam giác Nga-Ấn-Trung!

Up close and very personal

Hindustan Times
November 30, 2011

It is in the nature of large nations to step on each other’s toes. It is also in the nature of large nations that they quickly shake hands and move on. There is a simple reason for this: if they let the small things get them excited, they will be endlessly and expensively preparing for will-o’-the-wisp geopolitical conflicts. India and China understand this theoretically but are struggling to ingrain this in the timber of their day-to-day relations. The recent cancellation of the bilateral border negotiations because the Dalai Lama was about to speak in New Delhi at the same time is a case in point. The incident is politically of little importance. Why it became a cause celebre is more interesting. The answer, it seems, is that the frayed relationship between India and China has made public opinion in both countries hypersensitive to any incident where there is no unanimity between the two countries.

This is a dangerous development. In the minds of Indians and Chinese, the two have now sparred over India’s negligible presence in the South China Sea, over a Chinese diplomat’s argument with a journalist, various internet maps and now a religious conference. While symbolically significant, none of these impinge on core security concerns and barely count as the stuff of realpolitik. This is not to say there are no major outstanding issues between the two Asian giants. China has provided no clarity as to why it shifted a five-decade old policy on Kashmir and began issuing stapled visas. It has given no explanation as to why it scaled up its rhetoric on Arunachal Pradesh over the past three years. These are the sort of issues India and China need to be focusing on. The two sides have become so thin-skinned that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the two governments to seek conventional diplomatic solutions to their differences.

There is little evidence that India and China will ever be very close. Those in India who have called for a Chindia alliance or seen promise in such absurdities as the Russia-India-China triangle are mentally based on a planet that is not Earth. However, this does not mean India and China are destined to be enemies or rivals in any sense other than the economic. Both governments would prefer not to complicate their local geopolitical situation by making a hostile entity of the other. What would be best would be a major political breakthrough on both sides over one of their many outstanding disputes. The other would be a focus on managing toe-stepping incidents in a more transparent and less excitable manner — both at the State and civil society levels.

Source: Hindustan Times,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorial-views-on/Edits/Up-close-and-very-personal/Article1-776194.aspx

Australia muốn xây dựng Hiệp ước an ninh ba bên với Mỹ và Ấn Độ

Oz wants trilateral security pact with US and India

Reuters
Canberra, December 01, 2011

Australia's foreign minister on Wednesday backed the formation of a security pact with India and the United States, saying it could be set up if Canberra ends a ban on uranium sales that has annoyed New Delhi. It is the latest move by Australia to take a bigger role in the region's security. Earlier this month, it agreed to host a de facto US base in the north of the country which would provide military reach into southeast Asia and the South China Sea, where China has disputes with several other states over sovereignty.

A new trilateral pact bringing in India into a US-Australian security tent was worth exploring because "from little things big things grow", foreign minister Kevin Rudd said in an interview with the Australian Financial Review newspaper.

"The response from the Indian government has really been quite positive." It was unclear why Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking Sinophile, would risk irritating Australia's top trade partner China which is already nervous that Obama's latest diplomatic push into the Asia-Pacific is part of broader US policy to encircle it.

But Rudd earlier this month said Australia's security arrangements with the United States were not "snap-frozen in time", and while China wanted to see the elimination of US alliances in East Asia, Australia disagreed.

"We are not going to have our national security policy dictated by any other external power. That's a sovereign matter for Australia," he said.

Source: Hindustantimes,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/World/Oz-wants-trilateral-security-pact-with-US-and-India/Article1-776304.aspx

Đằng sau đàm phán biên giới bị trì hoãn, Trung Quốc nhận thấy một Ấn Độ cương quyết hơn

Behind postponed talks, China sees a newly assertive India

Ananth Krishnan
BEIJING, November 30, 2011

The postponement of the 15th round of border talks, following India's refusal to accede to Chinese demands to reschedule a Buddhist conference that was organised on the same dates and involved the Dalai Lama, has been seen in China as part of a trend of India taking an increasingly “bold” and assertive position on disputes.

State media and Chinese analysts on Tuesday appeared to dismiss suggestions that the holding of the Buddhist conference in New Delhi in the same week as the visit of Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo, China's Special Representative on the border negotiations, was accidental and not political, as Indian officials had said.

The Communist Party-run Global Times, in an editorial on Tuesday, described India as beginning to adopt “a bold stance when dealing with China” and an approach that was “a bit pushy,” in reference to the boundary talks and recent differences over India's cooperation with Vietnam on exploration projects in the disputed South China Sea.

“The country appears to be highly interested in facing off with China,” the newspaper said, however adding that China needed “to treat [India] seriously.”

The newspaper, known for its nationalistic views, struck a moderate tone in the editorial, calling for both countries to settle their differences and “keep the border issue from worsening by focusing on keeping goodwill talks alive.”

The border talks, as well as the South China Sea issue, have led to the perception among Chinese analysts of India beginning to take a different, more assertive approach.

“If the holding of the 15th round of border talks coincides with the Buddhist conference in New Delhi, which the Dalai Lama will attend, then it is really not a coincidence. It could be regarded as a purposed arrangement,” Hu Shisheng, a leading South Asia scholar at the China Institutes for Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), a Beijing think tank, told The Hindu.

“Because border talks are of so much importance, how could the Dalai Lama's participation [be] pure coincidence? Who is foolish enough to believe that?”

Shen Dingli, director of the Centre for American Studies at Fudan University, told The Hindu that China would view the holding of the conference, at the same time as the talks, as a provocation considering Chinese sensitivities on Tibet.

Mr. Hu said because China sees India as using the Dalai Lama in the long-running border dispute to boost claims, it would find it difficult to accept Indian officials' statements that the holding of the conference, although one of many that the Tibetan religious leader regularly attends, was without a message.

“From China's side, Indian governments, in the past successive years, have utilised the Dalai Lama to legalise India's claim on the disputed territories,” he said. “We can see these developments, such as Indian governments encouraging the Dalai Lama to revisit Tawang [in Arunachal Pradesh, which China has claims on] once and again, [forcing] Dalai to support India's territorial claim publicly, etc.”

Mr. Shen and Mr. Hu said they also did not see India's involvement in the South China projects as “purely commercial” — as India has suggested — echoing recent editorials by influential State-run media that saw India looking to take sides with China's neighbours.

“We try to believe that ONGC's involvement is purely out of commercial purpose, but the involvement itself has in fact enhanced the argument from Vietnam on its claim upon its disputed waters,” Mr. Hu said, drawing a comparison with India's objections to Chinese projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), viewed as China taking sides over the Kashmir dispute.

However, the consensus among Chinese analysts and the media is that these disputes, while creating temporary strains, would not derail the overall development of ties. Mr. Hu said they were likely to have “some spill over effects” and “some negative bearings.”

The Global Times said that behind the mistrust was common anxieties. While India feared Chinese encirclement, China, too, similarly viewed India as part of a U.S.-led containment strategy.

“Both countries should avoid overreacting to their disputes, but that does not mean these issues should be hidden away,” the newspaper said. “What we need to do is not aggravate it.”

Source: The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2672222.ece

Vấn đề Dalai Lama liên quan đến việc trì hoãn đàm phán biên giới Ấn-Trung

 

Dalai Lama's Delhi programme behind border talks postponement

Sandeep Dikshit
NEW DELHI, November 27, 2011

India and China have postponed high-level talks on the border issue after New Delhi expressed its inability to persuade the Dalai Lama to put off his engagements that were to take place here around the same time.

“We wanted to avoid a collision of events. Both sides are working on new dates and the talks are going to happen within this year,” said diplomatic sources, while confirming that the talks were postponed to avoid “embarrassment.”

The Chinese, said government sources, wanted to avoid a repeat of the incident in March 2008 when a group of Tibetans entered the compound of their embassy here around the time the Dalai Lama was visiting the national capital. The Chinese embassy in Vienna was the only other mission that was breached in near-simultaneous attempts to enter in many national capitals.

A large number of Tibetans are among those expected to congregate here for the World Buddhist Conference next week. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the closing ceremony on December 30, said Tibetan sources. He will be staying in Delhi all week and will deliver the Penguin Lecture on December 2.

The coming border talks between the two Special Representatives, Shivshankar Menon and Dai Bingguo, are expected to discuss a framework for resolution of the dispute. This is described by Indian officials as part two of resolving the dispute. The first stage was completed six years ago with an agreement on the Guiding Principles and Political Parameters for resolving the border issue. The final stage would be applying the framework on the ground.

This would be the last meeting between the two Special Representatives under the current leadership in Beijing.

The two sides were also expected to ink an agreement on a “Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on Border Affairs,” an additional confidence-building measure to ensure peace and tranquillity on the border. India and China will also resume the defence dialogue next month which had been put on the backburner after India suspended high-level defence exchanges.

Source: The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2663296.ece

Đàm phán biên giới Ấn-Trung bị hoãn vào phút chót

India, China border talks put off at last minute

Sandeep Dikshit 

Ananth Krishnan

NEW DELHI/BEIJING, November 25, 2011

Problem simply one of scheduling: senior Indian official

India and China raised diplomatic eyebrows on Friday by putting off the high-level meeting on the border issue scheduled to take place in New Delhi on Monday, offering reporters only a cryptic explanation that dates for their next round of border talks “have yet to be decided.”

The unexpected postponement comes exactly a week after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Indonesia.

On Friday, the two sides issued similar sounding statements that they were negotiating the dates for the 15th round of Special Representative (SR) talks. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin said, “currently the two sides are still in touch with the specific arrangements, including the date of the meeting. I don't have information at this stage.” His Indian counterpart, Vishnu Prakash, spoke in a similar vein: “We are looking forward to the 15th round of SR talks in the near future and the two sides remain in touch to find convenient dates for the meeting.”

Neither side elaborated on the issue nor did they come up with clarifications. Asked if there had been a setback of some sort, a senior Indian official said ‘no,' insisting the problem was simply one of scheduling. However, Indian ambassador to China, S. Jaishankar, is coming to Delhi on Saturday for consultations.

India's SR for border issue talks is National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon while his Chinese counterpart is Councillor Dai Bingguo.

Asked why the talks that were supposed to be held from Monday had been postponed, diplomatic sources said the dates were never officially announced. In fact, soon after Dr. Singh's meeting with Mr. Wen on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, highly placed sources had hoped the talks would be held soon but did not suggest a date.

Though Ambassador Jaishankar is arriving in New Delhi on Saturday — a visit that was scheduled because of the SR talks that were originally set for Monday — Indian officials insisted this was part of the routine consultation process between the envoy and South Block. The sources would not comment on whether the mention of November 28 and 29 as the dates for SR talks was wrong.

The last round of talks was held a year ago in the wake of an earlier meeting between Dr. Singh and Mr. Wen in Hanoi on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in November last year. Officials at that time said the two Prime Ministers had asked the SRs to “press ahead with the framework negotiations” in line with the political parameters and guiding principles agreed upon during Mr. Wen's visit to India in 2005.

Officials in India say stage-two of resolving the dispute would be reached once the framework is agreed upon. The first stage ended in 2005 with the agreement on political parameters and the final stage will involve the specifics of delineating the border.

Near similar statements from the two national capitals left analysts nonplussed at a time when diplomats are finalising a mechanism to ensure a “Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on Border Affairs” resolving disputes in certain pockets on the line of actual control (LAC). The two sides were also scheduled to hold a defence dialogue next month.

During a meeting between Dr. Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Sanya in March this year, both sides had agreed to resume senior-level defence exchanges, begin a high-level economic dialogue and step up high-level contacts.

But the two countries have not seen eye-to-eye on Vietnam parcelling oil exploration contracts to India in South China Sea and at the latest November 18 meeting, the two Premiers had discussed the issue.

Nguồn: The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2660348.ece?homepage=true

Bắc Kinh cảnh báo New Delhi tránh xa biển Đông

Beijing warns Delhi on South China Sea

 

TNN
Nov 22, 2011

NEW DELHI: China on Monday said "outside forces" and "foreign companies" should not be involved in the South China Sea dispute.

In a direct warning to India, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, "We don't hope to see outside forces involved in the South China Sea dispute and do not want to see foreign companies engage in activities that will undermine China's sovereignty and interest."

This was in response to a question on the discussions between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the East Asia summit in Bali last week.

Meanwhile, South China Sea will feature prominently in a new dialogue between India and Australia starting on Tuesday. The bilateral dialogue on East Asia will include exchanges on maritime security and North Korea as well.

The Indian side will be led by Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary in MEA, and Peter Rowe, senior diplomat in the Australian foreign ministry. With the uranium issue out of the way, India will also play host to Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith in early December, as bilateral ties move into higher gear.

China's assertion of sovereignty over the South China Sea has sent all other affected countries pushing back by turning the issue into an international maritime problem. This was not on the Chinese agenda, because China wants to negotiate bilaterally with countries like Philippines and Vietnam. With India marking a prominent presence in the South China Sea, Beijing is deeply unhappy.

Describing the Singh-Wen meeting, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the discussion centred on bilateral issues. "The Chinese side expressed willingness to work with the Indian side to pursue the path of friendship and cooperation and push forward bilateral relations on business cooperation. The two sides enjoy cooperation potential and we hope to continue to create favourable conditions for free flow of commodities, technology, finance, services and encourage enterprises from both sides to invest to the benefit of both people."

On India's part, the PM has said India's presence is "purely commercial". But India is concerned about China's growing presence in PoK, a concern openly acknowledged by the Army brass.

Nguồn: The Times of India,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Beijing-warns-Delhi-on-South-China-Sea/articleshow/10823180.cms

Ấn Độ "phiền lòng" đề nghị Mỹ sửa sai sót về bản đồ

Put up correct map, miffed India tells US 

Sachin Parashar,
TNN
Nov 22, 2011

NEW DELHI: The government on Monday lodged a strong protest with the US asking it to take off the India map from its state department's official website as it carried "gross inaccuracies''.

The government action came in response to a TOI report on Monday highlighting that the state department website depicted PoK as part of Pakistan, completely ignoring India's claim. "As far as the PoK issue is concerned, the maps will have to be corrected," foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai said.

The foreign ministry said that New Delhi has consistently rejected incorrect depiction of India's borders by the US government and that it has used every opportunity to convey to the US its concern in this regard. "This position was reiterated by a senior MEA official to the US deputy chief of mission today, who assured us that the US embassy would convey our concerns to the US state department,'' Mathai said.

The ministry reaffirmed that the "entire state of J&K is an integral part of India and has conveyed to the international community that India's maps should depict its boundaries correctly''.

Nguồn: The Times of India,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Put-up-correct-map-miffed-India-tells-US/articleshow/10823199.cms

Australia có thể bán uranium cho Ấn Độ

Australia, at last, may sell uranium to India

 

Sydney, November 15, 2011

Australia has given indications of reversing the ban on selling uranium to India in return for greater strategic proximity between the two countries. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, after pushing for India's case in a newspaper article and at a press conference on Tuesday, will have to persuade the Labour Party to endorse her stand at its conference next month.

India welcomed the move with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna terming it an endorsement of the country's “impeccable non-proliferation credentials.'' But it remains to be seen whether Australia will insist on a regime of inspections similar to its pact with China. Also, the Green Party, which backs the Labour Government, is opposed to Australia supplying uranium to a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Home to 40 per cent of economically extractable uranium and globally the third largest exporter, Australia had agreed to supply uranium but the decision was overturned after the Labour Party defeated the incumbent Conservatives in 2007.

This took a toll on the bilateral relations and India was prepared to send an envoy to the Labour Party's conference to explain its energy needs and stand on proliferation.

Ms. Gillard set the ball rolling the first thing in the morning with her op-ed article in the Sydney Morning Herald. “We must, of course, expect of India the same standards we do of all countries for uranium export — strict adherence to International Atomic Energy Agency arrangements and strong bilateral and transparency measures which will provide assurances our uranium will be used only for peaceful purposes,” she wrote.

The Prime Minster followed this up at a news conference in Canberra later in the day. The first issue she mentioned was the question of uranium and India. “The Labour Party's current platform prevents us selling uranium to India, because it is not part of the NPT. I believe the time has come for the Labour Party to change this position.”

‘Significant issue'

Besides contributing to the Australian economy, Ms. Gillard said, the sale was justified because of a “change in diplomatic circumstances around the world,” meaning the Nuclear Supplier's Group allowing India to join the global civil nuclear commerce mainstream. “For us to refuse to budge is all pain with no gain and I believe that our national platform should recognise that reality. So this is a significant issue for Australia that will be the subject of discussion and debate at our National Conference, but I am making my position on this issue very clear,” she explained.

What Ms. Gillard left unsaid has been detailed in an Australian government's approach paper on the defence architecture, which suggested the beginning of a U.S.-Australia-India trilateral dialogue. This theme has been picked up by think tanks, who feel after some time the trio could get into joint naval operations and theatre missile defence.

With U.S. quarterbacking the effort, India had agreed for a trilateral dialogue with Japan as the third partner. Both Japan and Australia are among the half-a-dozen Asia-Pacific states that have long-standing military and intelligence sharing pacts with the U.S.

These countries had tested the waters earlier by holding a meeting of the “quadrilateral” – the U.S., India, Australia and Japan, with Singapore as a junior partner – in Manila and following it up with the biggest-ever naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal in 2007. But there was no second edition after the initiative earned demarches from China and opprobrium from the opposition parties.

India had reasons to be upset when then Special Envoy to Prime Minister Shyam Saran was told that the Labour Government had decided to upturn the decision to sell uranium to India. “It is true that the previous government had said it would supply uranium to India. This government had a policy before the elections. It was restated [to Mr. Saran] very clearly. But it doesn't mean we like India any less than the previous government... India is very important but uranium is a problem for us,” then Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy had told The Hindu.

India has refused to sign the NPT because it believes the treaty is discriminatory by allowing a handful of countries to retain nuclear weapons.

Nguồn; The Hindu,
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2629171.ece?homepage=true

Lo ngại Trung Quốc, Ấn Độ thử tên lửa Agni có hiệu quả sát thương cao

With China in mind, India tests new-generation Agni missile with high 'kill efficiency'

 

Rajat Pandit,
TNN
Nov 16, 2011

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday successfully tested a new-generation Agni missile with a strike range of 3,500 km and souped-up "kill efficiency", prompting excited defence scientists to proclaim it would add "fantastic deterrence" to the country's nuclear weapons programme.

The test of the "most advanced" surface-to-surface missile called Agni-IV also launched the countdown for India to test its most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V, which will have near ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capabilities with an over 5,000-km range, in December-January.

"This test has paved the way for the success of Agni-V mission, which will be launched shortly," said DRDO's chief controller (missiles and strategic systems) Avinash Chander.

Incidentally, the project director for Agni-IV is none other than Tessy Thomas, the 48-year-old DRDO scientist who has made a mark for herself in the avowedly male bastion of strategic missiles, as reported by TOI earlier.

The Agni-IV, which failed in its earlier avtaar as "Agni-II-Prime" in December 2010, incorporates many new technologies in navigation, propulsion, avionics and other areas to represent "a quantum leap" in missile technology for India.

Having inducted the Pakistan-specific Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II (over 2,000-km) missiles, the armed forces are now in the process of operationalising the 3,500-km Agni-III after completion of its developmental and pre-induction trials last year.

Pakistan, of course, remains slightly ahead of India in its missile arsenal, given the covert help it has got from North Korea and China for its Ghauri and Shaheen family of missiles.

The two-stage Agni-IV and three-stage Agni-V, in turn, are meant to add some much-needed credible deterrence muscle against China, which has a massive nuclear arsenal with missiles like the 11,200-km Dong Feng-31A capable of hitting any Indian city. The canister-launch Agni-V, with its high road mobility and fast-reaction ability, in particular, is being talked about as a small but sharp riposte to China.

The Agni-IV represents a significant step towards this objective. Though it was tested for a 3,000-km range from a road-mobile launcher at Wheeler's Island off the Odisha coast at 9 am on Tuesday, it can easily go up to 3,500 km.

"The missile, with a payload reduced to 800 kg from 1,000 kg, followed its trajectory, attained a height of about 900 km and reached the pre-designated target in Bay of Bengal with very high level of accuracy after a 20-minute flight," said a DRDO scientist.

"Much lighter in weight than Agni-II and Agni-III, Agni-IV is an entirely new missile with two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield. All mission objectives were fully met. All systems functioned perfectly till the end encountering re-entry temperatures of over 3,000 degree Celsius," he added.

The missile, however, will have to be tested several times before it can be ready for serial production and then induction. The Agni family of missiles, which constitute the land leg of India's quest for a fully-operational nuclear-weapon triad, have been dogged by glitches over the years.

Three launches of Agni-II variants, for instance, failed in 2009 and 2010. DRDO, however, blamed manufacturing and other problems rather than any integral design and development flaws.

Nguồn: The Times of India,

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/With-China-in-mind-India-tests-new-generation-Agni-missile-with-high-kill-efficiency/articleshow/10747959.cms

Ấn-Mỹ đã trở thành đối tác chiến lược

Indo-US ties matured into strategic partnership: Nirupama Rao

PTI
Nov 11, 2011

WASHINGTON: With the bilateral engagement experiencing remarkable transformation, Indo-US relationship has now matured into a strategic partnership of global dimensions, Indian ambassador Nirupama Rao has said.

"Our bilateral engagement with the United States has witnessed remarkable transformation and has matured into a strategic partnership of global dimensions," Rao said in her speech at the American University on 'India's role in a changing world'.

"Our multi-faceted strategic partnership is based on our converging strategic and economic interests, the vibrant ties between our peoples and businesses, and our shared values as two of world's largest democracies," Rao said on Wednesday.

The visits of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to US in 2009 and that of US President Barack Obama to India last year were landmark milestones in the development of the relations of two countries.

"Today we are not only discussing issues such as strategic cooperation, counter terrorism, defence, high technology, civil nuclear and space sectors cooperation but also a broad range of development issues that directly and positively impact on the lives of our citizens including cooperation in education, health, agriculture, weather forecasting, innovation. We are engaging with each other and cooperating on most major global issues as also on capacity building in third countries," she said.

Rao said India today represents a unique model of development in the world.

"Nowhere else can you find a country of India's diversity, of India's complexity. Sixty five years into India's journey as a vibrant democracy, I would say that it is the Indian model of democratic governance together with its economic strength, resilience and dynamism of its people that propels the promise and the potential of India's role on the global stage," she said.

India's engagement with the world has increased considerably in recent years and this is only bound to grow as India actively pursues its interests in the world and remains ready to contribute within her capacity, she said.

Nguồn: The Times of India,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indo-US-ties-matured-into-strategic-partnership-Nirupama-Rao/articleshow/10688661.cms

Nhật báo Quân GPND: Ấn Độ hiện đại hóa quân sự nhằm kiềm chế Trung Quốc

India's military modernisation 'to contain China': PLA Daily

Ananth Krishnan
BEIJING, November 10, 2011

India's decision to boost its military capabilities near the border with China was a political move aimed at “containing” China's rise, the official newspaper of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has said.

The PLA Daily said that India's reported plan to carry out a $13-billion military modernisation, including deployment of 1,00,00 soldiers along the disputed border with China — the biggest expansion since the 1962 war — reflected “adjustments” to India's national security strategy that suggested New Delhi had begun to regard Beijing as a “de facto competitor”.

“India has begun to consider China as an opponent,” the PLA Daily said.

In recent months, tensions with countries across the South China Sea have prompted a flurry of commentaries in China's state-run media examining relations with neighbours.

India's plans to boost its border security have been viewed by some Chinese analysts as a part of a larger United States-led move to contain China, and by others as a reflection of China's less than successful policies towards many of its neighbours.

“The East China Sea and South China Sea issues have further continued to expose some countries' ‘envious, jealous and hateful' attitude toward China,” the commentary said. “The changes in the international and regional security landscape will negatively affect China and other countries involved, but they will benefit one country — India,” it added, noting that India had also “stepped into the South China Sea issue,” referring to recent cooperation with Vietnam.

Chinese analysts have particularly blamed the West for recent tensions with neighbours. Fu Xiaoqiang, a scholar at the state-run China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), told the official China Daily newspaper that India's move to boost its military strength was sourced in a larger plan by the West to contain China.

“The West's vigilance and confinement of China's rise are increasing,” he said. “One of its means is to take advantage of China's conflicts and issues with its neighbouring countries, and instigate and radicalise issues to exhaust China's energy, resources and strategic projection.”

Jin Yinan, head of the Strategic Research Institute at National Defense University, told the same newspaper that China should “not only remain alert of actions taken by parties to contain its rise, but also actively adjust its strategy and focus on improving its relations with neighbouring countries instead of the big powers.”

The PLA Daily said while relations between India and China had developed well with “harmonious” high-level exchanges, the border dispute and the “complex China-India-Pakistan triangle”, which was the “biggest problem” in the relationship, had created mistrust.

The commentary said it saw India's military upgrade as the reflection of an anxious domestic elite who viewed China's faster development as a threat.

“Deploying 100,000 more soldiers along the border areas with China is more of a political move than a military one,” the newspaper said.

“After taking necessary precautions, China just needs to continue to develop friendly relations with neighbouring countries and adhere to its established security strategy, and then India's troop increase will be in vain.”

Nguồn: The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2615757.ece

Người đứng đầu bang Gujarat nói với Trung Quốc: Pakistan đang lợi dụng các bạn đấy!

Narendra Modi in Beijing, tells China 'Pakistan is making use of you'

 

Saibal Dasgupta

TNN 

Nov 9, 2011


BEIJING: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday belied speculation that he would give up the BJP's nationalistic stance for the sake of Chinese investments. He raised a few controversial issues including the one about the presence of Chinese troops in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir during his talks with Communist Party leaders in Beijing.

"I told them - whatever your intentions, Pakistan is making use of you," Modi said after his meeting with three Chinese leaders including Wang Gang, a politburo member of the Communist Party of China and vice-chairman of the China People's Consultative Conference. There is a lot of concern over Chinese troop presence in PoK in India, and particularly in Gujarat as it was a border state, he told them.

Modi also questioned the wisdom of a Chinese transformer maker, TBEA, displaying a wrong map of India at a function in New Delhi, which resulted in a sharp exchange of words between a journalist and Chinese ambassador in India, Zhang Yan. Gujarat government is worried about the controversy because it has signed a Rs 2500-crore contract with the Chinese company.

Chinese leaders carefully listened to his concerns about the long detention of 22 Gujaratis, mostly diamond merchants, who have been languishing in jails in China without trail for close to two years, Modi said. "I was not expecting a promise. You cannot get results in one meeting. But I am sure they have understood our feelings on the subject," he said.

The Gujarat chief minister said Chinese leaders were eager to hear about Gujarat's development, and heard him with a lot of attention. This is significant because he did not represent the ruling party in New Delhi, Modi said.

Modi said he expects China to become the third country after Japan and Canada to establish a special relationship with Gujarat, which is besides their interactions with the rest of India. He is also working on collaboration with China for establishing a sports university in Gujarat, he said.

Nguồn: The Times of India,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/-Narendra-Modi-in-Beijing-tells-China-Pakistan-is-making-use-of-you/articleshow/10670235.cms

Trung Quốc xây dựng thị trấn mới gần biên giới Pakistan

China to develop town on Pak border to tackle terror 

 

Saibal Dasgupta

TNN

Nov 8, 2011

EIJING:China is all set to develop the historic town of Kashgar along its border with Pakistan into a "key financial and manufacturing hub" to counter terrorism in its restive province of Xinjiang and help Islamabad's efforts for economic recovery in the Taliban-scarred areas in border areas.

The move suggests Beijing's belief that additional employment and business opportunities will wean away the youth in Kashgar, the scene of repeated riots, from terror activities.

It also signals China's long-term plans of cementing relationship for Pakistan as a means to contain what the Chinese media calls "Indian ambitions" .

"The China-Pakistan free trade agreement isn't really working. There are lots of complaints in Pakistan of the Chinese dumping goods. China now wants to provide more trade and business opportunities to Pakistanis to build goodwill," said Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of Chinese studies at JNU.

"The move will also help Beijing deal with authorities in Kashgar, who recently accused Pakistan of training terrorists responsible for riots in the town," Kondapalli said.

The move also gives credence to Pakistan's claims that it will soon be linked to China by railways, and a second road link between the two countries is on the planning board. Kashgar, an important link on the ancient Silk Route, is also a key strategic point for both the Taliban and the Chinese military.

China desperately needs to develop the Muslim-dominated Xinjiang, which covers one-sixth of the country's landmass and holds rich oil and gas reserves. Chinese authorities believe poverty is the root cause of unrest in Xinjiang, and stability alone will help.

Beijing also wants to develop Horgos, the border town connecting China to Kazakhstan. The government has extended 10 favorable policies for developing them into major economic zones. The incentives include tax exemptions, subsidized electricity and transportation , low-interest loans for infrastructure and improved rail and air links with neighboring countries.

China is competing with Russia in wooing Central Asian countries which recently signed free trade deals with Moscow.

Nguồn: The Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/China-to-develop-town-on-Pak-border-to-tackle-terror/articleshow/10650034.cms

Xung quanh bản đồ gây tranh cãi: Đại sứ Trung Quốc bảo nhà báo Ấn Độ câm mồm

Distorted map: Chinese ambassador tells Indian journalist to shut up

 

Sameer Arshad

TNN | Nov 3, 2011

NEW DELHI: A distorted Indian map showing parts of India in China and Pakistan led to an argument between Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan and a journalist on the sidelines of a business session with Xinjiang governor at a New Delhi hotel on Thursday.

Zhang asked the journalist to "shut up" as he repeatedly questioned him about the map on the cover of a Chinese firm's brochure that showed Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh as part of China and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as that of Pakistan . The heavy equipment manufacturing firm signed a $ 400 million business deal with the Gujarat government earlier in the day.

"This is not China...it is India. We have full freedom here. How can you ask a journalist to shut up, if he is asking you something,'' the journalist told Zhang.

The ambassador said the journalist "pushed, pushed, pushed" and that he repeatedly told him that it was a technical issue that would be sorted out. "We will handle this. We are working for friendlier ties with India...this will not help,'' said Zhang. "...we are handling this in a friendly way." Zhang said he raised the issue with the company. "So what can I do for you?"

The journalist said he just asked the ambassador for his comments and that he had no business to be agitated. The two were later seen shaking hands, as Chinese officials tried damage control with one of them asking the journalist "to sort this out in a friendly way".

Ministry of external affairs joint secretary Gautam Bambawale, who was present at the meet, said he drew Zhang's attention towards the map and that he accepted that it was wrong. "It is a private sector company (that has goofed up) and not the Chinese government."

Officials down played the issue; saying even Indian companies have made similar mistakes in the past and that it did not reflect Beijing's official position.

China, India's largest trading partner, claims sovereignty over parts of Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh and calls it southern Tibet. It refuses to recognize the "imperialist" 1913 Shimla Convention under which Tibet ceded Tawang to India and regards its border with India -- the McMahon line -- as disputed.

The two countries have sparred over high-profile visits to Arunachal Pradesh asserting India's sovereignty over the region while New Delhi recently expressed its displeasure over Beijing's infrastructural projects and overall presence in PoK. Beijing has been issuing stapled visas to Kashmiris as part of its refusal to accept India sovereignty over Jammu & Kashmir.

Nguồn: The Times of India,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Distorted-map-Chinese-ambassador-tells-Indian-journalist-to-shut-up/articleshow/10595147.cms