Live Blog

29 June, 2020, 12:19 PM IST

India China Live News: Hold-ups at ports will hit India, not China says Nitin Gadkari

With the border situation yet to cool down, India and China are looking to ramp up diplomatic dialogue.

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12:13 PM

'China can't treat South China Sea as its maritime empire'

The United States has welcomed the statement by members of the Asean countries that South China Sea disputes should be resolved in line with the international law, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said on Saturday. "The United States welcomes Asean leaders' insistence that South China Sea disputes be resolved in line with international law, including UNCLOS (United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea). China cannot be allowed to treat the SCS as its maritime empire," Pompeo tweeted.
After the 36th Asean summit on Friday, a joint statement was issued by the members of the bloc expressing concerns over the current situation in the South China Sea.
They laid emphasis on the "importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability, and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation."
Several islands and territories in the South China Sea are claimed by Beijing, but other countries including Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei also have their territorial claim in the hotly contested region. Earlier, Pompeo tweeted on June 2 that the US has sent a letter to the UN secretary-general to protest China's "unlawful South China Sea maritime claims".

12:00 PM

Faced with party revolt, Nepal PM blames India

The recent strife in ties with Kathmandu has foregrounded again India's old fault lines with Nepal PM K P Oli. Faced with dissension in the ruling communist party, Oli Sunday accused Indian authorities, including the Indian embassy, of plotting his ouster.
Oli was Sunday quoted as having said that conspiracies were being hatched to ensure his removal after he released Nepal's new map which shows territories in India's Uttarakhand state as belonging to Nepal.
India was accused of having a role in Oli's downfall in August, 2016, too when his first term as PM, which lasted only for 9 months, ended. Oli's ouster was seen as a serious setback for China as he had worked actively as PM to reduce Nepal's economic dependence on India by signing trade and energy agreements with China.

11:45 AM

Jawaharlal Nehru responsible for Indo-China conflict: MP CM

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday alleged that then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress are responsible for the border conflict between India and China.
He also attacked Congress top brass over donations allegedly received by Sonia Gandhi-headed Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and accused former party chief Rahul Gandhi of "demoralising" the Army with his statements.

11:07 AM

For grid safety, India to check equipment for malware: Govt

Tightening import norms, India will check all power equipment bought from China for malware and Trojan horses that can be potentially used to trigger electricity grid failures to cripple economic activity in the country, power minister R K Singh said.
India has in the recent days taken steps to impose stringent quality control measures and higher tariffs on goods from China as it looks to boost domestic manufacturing to cut reliance on imports. Singh said his renewable energy ministry has proposed imposing customs duties on some solar power equipment starting August 1st as part of the country's goal of becoming self-sufficient.

10:51 AM

Hold-ups at ports will hit India, not China: Nitin Gadkari

Amid concerns over delays in customs clearance for imports from China, transport and MSME minister Nitin Gadkari has written to the finance and commerce ministers, urging them to remove roadblocks to the quick release of goods at ports, arguing that these shipments have reached Indian shores based on payment made by industry players.
He told a web-platform that a delay in the passage of these imported goods will hurt Indian players, and not China. "Our focus is to reduce imports and to do so we can increase import duty. But holding up already imported items will harm our entrepreneurs as they will incur huge losses," Gadkari said.

10:29 AM

High-level special representatives

India and China have the high-level special representatives dialogue which seeks to achieve a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the border issue. It's also seen as important for maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas for overall development of bilateral ties, pending the final settlement of the boundary. The 22nd round of this dialogue was held between NSA Ajit Doval and State Councillor Wang Yi last year.

10:22 AM

No plan to shelve Chinese course: Magadh University VC

Magadh University vice-chancellor Rajendra Prasad on Sunday said the border dispute and escalation of military tension between India and China would not affect the university's plan to introduce postgraduate level courses in Chinese language and literature.

10:06 AM

Government okays Rs 1,700 crore more for border roads

The government has approved an additional Rs 1,691 crore for highway works by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand for 2020-21.
Of this, Rs 1,351.10 crore has been sanctioned to BRO for road works in Jammu & Kashmir, the road transport and highways ministry said in a communication to Border Roads Development Board director general Lt Gen Harpal Singh. A total of Rs 340 crore ceiling has been approved for Uttarakhand for national highways, according to the communication dated June 24.
In addition, it has also given nod for additional sanction of Rs 71 crore for highway works by the state's public works department in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu. Besides that, it has also enhanced the total ceiling to Rs 1,955 crore for highways work for Nagaland under Tribal Sub-Plan from the existing Rs 1,081 crore.

09:42 AM

To de-escalate, India and China put faith in talks

With the border situation yet to cool down, India and China are looking to ramp up diplomatic dialogue under the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China border affairs (WMCC) for de-escalation in eastern Ladakh and to address differences which have contributed to the existing situation.
Official sources here said these talks will now happen on a regular basis for implementation of the understandings the two countries have arrived at for de-escalation. Efforts were said to be underway to schedule another round of WMCC meeting as early as next week.
Both sides have agreed this mechanism, at India's joint secretary-level, had to be used a lot more for maintaining peace and tranquility along the border. It has so far met 15 times, the latest meeting held virtually last week.

09:21 AM

Boycott China: Checks on imports to hit drug, devices supply

Delays in clearing import consignments from China at India’s ports and airports may soon hit the pharmaceutical sector, creating shortages and increasing costs.
Medical equipment such as infrared thermometers and pulse oximeters needed in the fight against Covid-19, among others, are stuck at the ports and may result in shortages soon, according to the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil).

09:04 AM

India may step up scrutiny of imports from Chinese cos in Asean countries

India is looking to increase the scrutiny of imports from Chinese companies or entities located in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries, said people with knowledge of the matter. New Delhi has information about China setting up new entities or acquiring defunct companies in countries such as Vietnam and using these shell enterprises to re-label and export goods to India, exploiting India’s free trade agreement (FTA) with Asean.
The government has also sounded out industry and importers to identify such shipments that abuse the FTA as it contemplates actions such as enhanced checks on country of origin certificates by customs authorities. The FTA with Asean allows lower tariffs on most manufactured goods. “There are large quantities of imports that are being routed under the Indian-Asean, India-Singapore Free Trade Agreement,” said a government official. “A number of these entities there are just engaged in re-labelling of goods for re-export to India.”

08:47 AM

Questions raised by Rahul Gandhi on border security is not politics: Balasaheb Thorat

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president and Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said that the Congress party is with the government on the China issue, but that does not mean that questions should not be asked on the issues of national interest.
"The questions raised by Rahul Gandhi on border security is not politics, but a responsibility given by the people. We cannot compare the situation in 1962 with what is happening today. Not a single soldier has lost his life on the India-China border in 45 years. Our 20 soldiers were martyred at Galwan Valley due to China's aggression," Thorat said.
"Even then the Prime Minister says no-one intruded on our territory. Using these statements of his, China is calling our martyrs as intruders. Just like the Congress Party, Sharad Pawar too must have been saddened by this," he added.

08:28 AM

Ladakh standoff: India's allies pitching in with weapons, ammunition

As Indian troops remain dug in at Ladakh in a prolonged standoff with China, allies are pitching in with commitments to deliver urgently needed weapons and ammunition for the armed forces. France has promised to deliver additional Rafale jets next month, an in-service Israeli air defence system is expected soon, precision artillery rounds will be sent by the US, and Russia will make early deliveries of ammunition and weapons worth $1 billion.
The commitments have been made after top-level bilateral talks and a key meeting in the capital at which it was decided that emergency financial powers will be given to the armed forces to prepare for a prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh.

08:08 AM

Indians in China battle a sense of guilt

As a diplomatic cold war raged between India and China over the Galwan Valley skirmish, Indian expats in China watched with trepidation a nationalist backlash that left them exposed to a vicious troll army on social media. Thousands of software professionals, garment exporters and businessmen settled for years in Dalian's software hub, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are being dragged into the border crisis and dubbed traitors and unpatriotic.
These Indians, some of them married to local Chinese woman, are now suffering pangs of guilt, exacerbated by the trolls coming hard at them for refusing to return home. But even as they bear the brunt of vitriolic hashtag campaigns like #Indiansunitedagainstchina and #Indianswillcrushchina, most Indian expats have good reasons to stay on.

07:57 AM

Centre should focus on tackling COVID-19, Chinese aggression instead of worrying about Congress: Anand Sharma

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday said that the government should focus on tackling coronavirus pandemic and Chinese aggression instead of worrying about the party.
"Talk about 2020 and what has been done at our borders, what are the situations we are facing right now. It is not a matter of two political parties. It is a matter of national securities. They should focus on Chinese aggression and coronavirus. It is an unprecedented situation and the government should inform the decisions to parliament," Sharma said.

07:20 AM

Amid India-China standoff, Indo-Japan navies conduct joint training exercise

Amid the ongoing Sino-Indian standoff in Ladakh, the Indian Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defence Forces (JMSDF) conducted a joint training exercise in the Indian Ocean.
The exercise that concluded on Saturday was held in the backdrop of Japan defence minister Taro Kono expressing concern over not only China’s defence capabilities but also its intention in the Indo-Pacific region. This was the first such statement from Japan following Beijing’s aggressive posturing in parts of Asia over the past few months.
Coinciding with the Indo-Japan defence exercise, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) put out a statement that the South China Sea dispute should be resolved in line with international law, stressing on “the importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint”.

07:05 AM

Phrase in UN 75th anniversary draft declaration changed after objection by India, five others

UN General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has changed a phrase in the draft declaration to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations after India along with countries including the UK and the US raised objection to the sentence, understood to be similar to wording used by the Chinese Communist Party.

06:57 AM

Foreign Ministry level meet this week?

India and China are exploring the option of holding the next round of foreign ministry level meeting this week to end the stalemate and launch a de-escalation process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
PLA has increased military activity along LAC in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, with a slew of soldiers, military vehicles, earth-moving machinery and structures, according to reports.

06:52 AM

Govt order to companies for stocking up 2 months' LPG supply in Kashmir sparks speculations

J&K government’s orders on stocking up LPG sufficiently in Kashmir and asking district administration in Ganderbal, which connects the Valley with Ladakh, to vacate school buildings for forces have sparked speculation in the Union Territory, especially in the wake of the tension along the Line of Actual Control.

06:38 AM

Chinese companies' imports may stay stuck

Chinese companies in India could continue to face the heat as the government considers granting easier import approvals for non-Chinese companies in India, top officials said. "We are monitoring the situation and this could last a few more days," a senior government said, even as India enters seventh day of imports from China being stranded at the ports owing to a nationwide alert.
However, according to sources, the thinking in the government is that Chinese companies continue to be subjected to 100% manual checks even when the alert subsides. For instance, Taiwanese smartphone maker Foxconn, which runs two plants in India under different units, has not been able to get clearances for consignments to the factory that manufactures for China's Xiaomi.

06:14 AM

PM should tell the nation that what can be the reason behind what happened at the border (LAC): Rajasthan CM

PM should tell the nation that what can be the reason behind what happened at the border (LAC). The way he told the… https://t.co/34Q5tqdDft
— ANI (@ANI) 1593377091000

06:10 AM

Satellite images show buildup on India-China LAC

Images released this week by Maxar, a Colorado-based satellite imagery company, show new construction activity along the Galwan Valley even as military commanders of both countries said they agreed to disengage from the standoff.

06:09 AM

Country wants to know why Rajiv Gandhi Foundation 'took money' from China: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that the people of the country want to know why did the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) "take money" from China.
"The country wants to know why Rajiv Gandhi Foundation took money from China? Sonia Gandhi will have to tell the country the truth. They get donations from China and do an MoU with the Chinese Communist Party. They should apologise to the country. Congress does not even have the right to speak in the matter of protecting the country," Chouhan said in the Chhattisgarh Jan Samvad programme.

06:08 AM

China centralizes leadership of military reserve forces

Starting July 1, the reserve force, which is part of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), will fall under the direct leadership of the central government and the Central Military Commission, Xinhua said.

06:07 AM

Important Developments

India and China are set to hold talks every week to discuss the ongoing dispute.
PM Modi said that India has given befitting reply to those who eyed its territory.
China brings its military reserve forces under direct leadership of the central government.

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