The tranquil waters of South China Sea appear to churn with insecurity. At a recent conference in Vietnam, Professor Carl Thayer, a noted Vietnam watcher, observed that “China's naval modernisation represents a challenge and potential threat to all of Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam,” Further, the Chinese naval nuclear capability “would have strategic implications for the balance of power in the region”. The Southeast Asian countries have watched the growing military might of China with concern and are also worried about the regional security environment particularly in the context of recent naval standoffs between the Chinese and US navies.A non-binding multilateral agreement ‘2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea’ with specific focus on the Spratly Islands has been in place, but China does not seem to be very happy about this arrangement and feels that ‘disputes [be] dealt with bilaterally by countries - a move seen as exploiting its growing regional clout’. Although the 2002 declaration was a concrete step to institutionalize regional dialogue among the claimants i.e. Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam and served for the de-escalation of military tensions in South China Sea, it appears that it was only a provisional political agreement to dispel ‘China Threat’ among the claimant states.
Indian-Military.org:china
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The tranquil waters of South China Sea appear to churn with insecurity. At a recent conference in Vietnam, Professor Carl Thayer, a noted Vietnam watcher, observed that “China's naval modernisation represents a challenge and potential threat to all of Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam,” Further, the Chinese naval nuclear capability “would have strategic implications for the balance of power in the region”. The Southeast Asian countries have watched the growing military might of China with concern and are also worried about the regional security environment particularly in the context of recent naval standoffs between the Chinese and US navies.A non-binding multilateral agreement ‘2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea’ with specific focus on the Spratly Islands has been in place, but China does not seem to be very happy about this arrangement and feels that ‘disputes [be] dealt with bilaterally by countries - a move seen as exploiting its growing regional clout’. Although the 2002 declaration was a concrete step to institutionalize regional dialogue among the claimants i.e. Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam and served for the de-escalation of military tensions in South China Sea, it appears that it was only a provisional political agreement to dispel ‘China Threat’ among the claimant states.
SEOUL: South Korea on Wednesday prepared for a major show of military strength involving fighter jets and tanks near the tense North Korean border as Washington ruled out "feel-good" talks with Pyongyang. The live-fire exercise, planned for Thursday with self-propelled guns and 800 soldiers, follows signs of an easing of tensions on the peninsula after the North backed down from a threat to retaliate against an earlier drill. Although similar exercises have been held at the same firing range 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the mainland border many times before, the latest comes with Seoul on high alert for a possible attack from the North. South Korea's navy meanwhile began a four-day firing drill Wednesday off the east coast, a relatively distant 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the border with the North, mobilising six warships plus helicopters. Observers said South Korea's conservative government sees flexing its military muscles as a necessary deterrent against a fresh strike by the North. SYDNEY: Australia's navy scared off pirates who boarded a British tanker in the Arabian sea, the defence department said. HMAS Melbourne rushed to the rescue of the British-flagged chemical carrier after it came under attack on Monday afternoon, a statement said. "While steaming to the aid of the MV CPO China, HMAS Melbourne's helicopter launched and on arrival in the vicinity of MV CPO China was able to deter the pirates from attempting to take control of the ship," it said. "As a result the pirates aborted the attack and left the vessel when HMAS Melbourne arrived on the scene." The crew had barricaded themselves in the vessel's citadel, where they could control the ship and maintain communications and where the pirates were not able to enter. "Our men and women aboard HMAS Melbourne deserve recognition for their role in providing maritime security and countering piracy in the Arabian Sea," said Major General John Cantwell. [Stratpost]
The Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) has reported that Chinese officials and media are now welcome to attend the air show, Aero India 2011, that begins in Bangalore on Wednesday. A week before the show, top officials in the Indian Defense Ministry said in New Delhi that Chinese officials and media had not been invited to the show on the directions of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). A Chinese journalist had complained on Tuesday at the Defense Ministry briefing on the air show that he and his colleagues had been unable to register for accreditation as the online registration form did not provide China as an option. The IANS news report from Bangalore says, “India Sunday changed its mind and has now asked Beijing to send a two-member delegation and a media representative to the biennial event.” “Defense ministry officials said here that in consultation with the external affairs ministry, the invitation was sent to China asking it to send a two-member official delegation and a journalist based in their embassy here to the air show,” said the report, and quoted an unnamed source as saying, “The external affairs ministry has now given its nod to invite the Chinese delegation and their visit is being facilitated. New Delhi — The prestigious $10.2 billion contract to sell India 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) will undoubtedly heat up during the forthcoming Aero-India Show 2011 in Bangalore. The main contenders for the MMRCA race will be highlighting the salient features of their aircraft in full-flight displays at the show during the second week of February. While the main MMRCA contenders have confirmed their participation at the Aero-India show, only the Russian MiG-35 which is in the MMRCA race will not be showcasing its fighter craft. The Indian defence ministry is currently persuading the Russian contender to make its presence felt at the airshow. While the MiG-35 may not make it to the airshow, a Russian delegation is surely expected in India for Aero-India 2011. The other five contenders for the MMRCA include Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Super Viper, Eurofighter’s Typhoon, Dassault Aviation’s Rafale and Saab’s Gripen. Barring Russia, each contender is bringing in two to three aircraft along with elaborate teams and flight simulators for displays since India will make a choice in July this year. BEIJING: China has "amended" rules for its armed forces controlled by the ruling CPC to increase their capability to win "local wars" and enhance their ability to conduct military operations in non-battle conditions. China's Central Military Commission (CMC), headed by President Hu Jintao, has amended regulations to improve the operation of party organs in armed forces, according to an official statement carried by state-run Xinhua news agency. The amended rules aim to reinforce the guidelines of 'Scientific Outlook on Development' in the development of national defence and armed forces, the statement said. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China unlike other armies has a unique status as it functioned directly under the control of the ruling Communist Part of China (CPC). The CMC, which controls the largest standing military of the world, is headed by President Hu, who is also the General Secretary of CPC. The new regulations also "reflect the new missions of Chinese armed forces to increase the core capability of winning local wars in conditions of informatisation and the capability of conducting military operations other than war," the statement said. NEW DELHI: Reiterating concerns at the rapid modernisation of China's armed forces, defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday said India needs to carry out "a comprehensive review'' of its defence preparedness as well as "remain vigilant'' to meet any security challenges. "Modernisation of armed forces in China and its ever-increasing military spending is a matter of serious concern....But we are not unduly worried,'' said Antony, on the sidelines of the Asian Security Conference here. "We also must strengthen our capabilities and infrastructure in our border areas and we are doing it,'' he said. While this is true, India has begun to upgrade several airstrips and helipads in the North-East and Ladakh, apart from basing Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets at Tezpur and Chabua in Assam, rather belatedly after being jolted out of its slumber by China's strategic moves. India has also raised two new infantry mountain divisions for the North-East, with 1,260 officers and 35,011 soldiers, with the first battalion of Arunachal Scouts also slated to become operational by May. NEW DELHI: As Libya swiftly descended into civil war, India decided to use an Il-76 transport aircraft of the IAF to ferry stranded citizens. From Thursday, the "Gajraj" aircraft will ferry people between Sirde in Libya and Cairo. A wide-bodied aircraft has also been requisitioned by Air India to ferry people out of Sebha, sources said. Sirde and Sebha are two towns with 2,000-strong concentrations of Indians each. Officials acknowledged that India had been slow to start evacuation, but was currently taking out about 1,000 people every day and promised to complete the process by next week. Even as China seemed on the verge of completing evacuation operations in Libya, having already pulled out over 32,000 of its nationals from the country, India only had a little over 6,000 evacuees to show for its efforts till Wednesday evening. The Chinese figure of 32,000 evacuees, mostly being doled out by official news agencies, however, seemed to have stirred a debate with foreign secretary Nirupama Rao herself saying that there was "no clarity'' over the number of Chinese evacuees.  Image via Wikipedia New Delhi — The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed a second squadron of SU-30 MKI combat fighter in the North-East region of India to further enhance its capabilities viz-a-viz China. The frontline combat fighter planes will be used for offensive and defensive purposes, according to the IAF, with the SU-30 MKI stationed in Chabua air Base, Assam. This will be the seventh SU-30 MKI squadron of the IAF to be deployed. In order to commemorate the formal induction of the SU-30MKI for the protection of the north-east region, the combat jet carried out a fly-past. It may be noted that the first squadron SU-30 was deployed in 2009 in the Tezpur area of Assam. According to sources, repeated trespassing from the Chinese side across the Sino-Indian border has led to the deployment of the SU-30 squadron in the region. WASHINGTON: Top men leading India's fighting arm and its defense policy engaged with their American counterparts here this week as New Delhi and Washington drew closer in a strategic clinch while trying not to alarm China and Pakistan, which are seen by the democratic duo as posing complex challenges in the neighborhood and beyond. U.S and Indian officials were circumspect in describing low-key Defense Policy Group (DPG) meetings early in the week, an engagement that was closely followed by talks between the Indian Army Chief V K Singh and his U.S counterpart Gen. George Casey. In a statement that was largely anodyne but contained much between the lines, they spoke of an "extensive discussion on further strengthening bilateral defense ties, under the auspices of the Defence Framework Agreement of 2005," an informal but controversial Bush-era pact that promised unprecedented strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi but had been sidelines in recent times. |
