India has upped the ante against Chinese activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
A few months ago, when China sent a diplomatic protest (demarche) to India regarding proposed oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea off Vietnam, India had refused to entertain it. Instead, in its reply, India told China that it should stop its activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK).
In fact, India has followed up its criticism with another strongly worded representation to China, issued a few weeks ago, asking it to stop its activities in PoK. India said Pakistan was in illegal occupation of that part of Kashmir and Chinese activities were in contravention of international norms. In Vietnam, India's ONGC and Petro Vietnam are in a joint venture in oil exploration in the South China Sea. India bought BP's assets in the project after it exited in 2006.
India has particular concerns on two infrastructure projects by China in PoK: the Diamer-Bhasha dam and upgradation of the Karakoram Highway. While China has insisted that these are all civilian in nature, India remains concerned that the Chinese presence here poses a security threat. In 2010, foreign minister SM Krishna told his Chinese counterpart that Kashmir was a "core" issue for India in the way that Tibet and Taiwan were "core" issues for China. This was in response to the stapled visas that China issues to Indian citizens from Jammu and Kashmir.
Answering questions in Rajya Sabha last month, the foreign ministry had said, "Government is aware that China is executing infrastructure projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Government has raised this issue with the Chinese side and has clearly conveyed India's consistent position that Pakistan has been in illegal occupation of parts of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947. Government has conveyed its concerns to China about their activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and asked them to cease such activities."
During a recent visit to China by Pakistan president Asif Zardari, he took along the PM and other notables from PoK even to Xinjiang. This was accepted without question by the Chinese authorities. Given that China issues stapled visas to Indians from J&K on the grounds that it was "disputed", the Chinese silence on the PoK presence in the Zardari delegation was interpreted as meaning that China considered PoK a legitimate part of Pakistan. This would be double standards, said Indian officials.
In April 2011, the Northern Army commander, Lt Gen KT Parnaik, had said at a seminar, "Chinese presence in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Northern Areas is increasing steadily... There are many people who are concerned about the fact that if there was to be hostility between us and Pakistan, what would be the complicity of Chinese. Not only they are in the neighbourhood but the fact is that they are actually present and stationed along the LoC."
It's unlikely that China will back off from its PoK presence, just as it will be difficult for India to do so in the South China Sea as well. China pushed matters there recently by harassing an Indian ship in the waters. This prompted India to clearly articulate its position that it considered South China Sea to be international waters and that India stood for freedom of navigation in these waters.
http ://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes. com/2011-09-16/india/30164512_1_stapled-visas-karakoram-highway-china-issues
Showing posts with label indian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indian. Show all posts
Indian Su-30 MKI to become Super Sukhoi
Russia’s Irkut company, producing the Su-30 MKI fighters for India’s Air Force, said the aircraft were soon to be upgraded to fifth-generation Super Sukhoi fighters. The statement was made by Irkut chief Alexei Fyodorov at Moscow’s MAKS air show.
The upgraded fighters will have a new cockpit, an improved radar and stealth technology, making them more difficult for the enemy’s radars to detect. Currently, India’s Air Force has about 100 such fighters, arranged in five squadrons. Eventually, India will have over 230 aircraft of this type (13 squadrons).
India’s aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is producing the Su-30MKI under licence, at its plant in Bangalore. “Not only will the fighters currently deployed by India’s Air Force be modernised but also those to be produced under licence or directly supplied from Russia”, Fyodorov added. Most important, the plane will become a platform for deployment of heavy weapons, including BraMos supersonic cruise missiles”, he stressed.
Fyodorov also said that the Su-30MKI was to become a powerful aircraft with functions similar to those of fifth generation fighters. Even so, he refused to elaborate on the programme,saying that these issues would be resolved during Russian-Indian negotiations. “Currently, we are discussing the possibility of upgrading separate types of aircraft”, he said. The cost of the modernisation remains uncertain but, judging from the overall tendency for such modernisations, the price tag could be around 1 billion US dollars.
Meanwhile, HAL is optimistic about its participation in the development of technology for the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). The prototype of this aircraft, the T-50 PAK FA, was exhibited at the MAKS 2011 air show. India will be one of three countries in the world, alongside the United States and Russia, to have fifth-generation fighters.
HAL chairman Ashok Nayak, who visited MAKS 2011, confirmed that his company’s participation in the design of the FGFA was “the right thing to do”. In December 2010, Russia and India signed an agreement on preliminary designing of the aircraft, putting the project’s value at 295 million US dollars. The initial design will take approximately 18 months. The Indian model’s main difference will be a 2-man crew. “HAL hopes to complete the initial design and move further,” Nayak said, adding that the specific use of Indian components in the FGFA would be determined at the full-scale design stage. HAL is working on the aircraft together with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation. India’s Air Force will be the first foreign customers to buy the new aircraft.
India has announced plans to buy 250-300 fighters of this type, with the first deliveries expected to begin service in 2016-2017. The cost of the programme is likely to exceed $35 billion. Russia will buy approximately the same number of the aircraft.
http://indrus. in/articles/2011/08/23/indias_su-30mki_to_become_super_sukhoi_12904.html
India’s aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is producing the Su-30MKI under licence, at its plant in Bangalore. “Not only will the fighters currently deployed by India’s Air Force be modernised but also those to be produced under licence or directly supplied from Russia”, Fyodorov added. Most important, the plane will become a platform for deployment of heavy weapons, including BraMos supersonic cruise missiles”, he stressed.
Fyodorov also said that the Su-30MKI was to become a powerful aircraft with functions similar to those of fifth generation fighters. Even so, he refused to elaborate on the programme,saying that these issues would be resolved during Russian-Indian negotiations. “Currently, we are discussing the possibility of upgrading separate types of aircraft”, he said. The cost of the modernisation remains uncertain but, judging from the overall tendency for such modernisations, the price tag could be around 1 billion US dollars.
Meanwhile, HAL is optimistic about its participation in the development of technology for the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). The prototype of this aircraft, the T-50 PAK FA, was exhibited at the MAKS 2011 air show. India will be one of three countries in the world, alongside the United States and Russia, to have fifth-generation fighters.
HAL chairman Ashok Nayak, who visited MAKS 2011, confirmed that his company’s participation in the design of the FGFA was “the right thing to do”. In December 2010, Russia and India signed an agreement on preliminary designing of the aircraft, putting the project’s value at 295 million US dollars. The initial design will take approximately 18 months. The Indian model’s main difference will be a 2-man crew. “HAL hopes to complete the initial design and move further,” Nayak said, adding that the specific use of Indian components in the FGFA would be determined at the full-scale design stage. HAL is working on the aircraft together with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation. India’s Air Force will be the first foreign customers to buy the new aircraft.
India has announced plans to buy 250-300 fighters of this type, with the first deliveries expected to begin service in 2016-2017. The cost of the programme is likely to exceed $35 billion. Russia will buy approximately the same number of the aircraft.
http://indrus. in/articles/2011/08/23/indias_su-30mki_to_become_super_sukhoi_12904.html
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