India, China to hold round 9 of military talks today

Military commanders of India and China will meet today for a ninth time for talks to defuse tension along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and find a solution to end the standoff. The talks will be held at Moldo, opposite Chushul sector in India.

In the last round of talks, the Indian Army strongly insisted on an early disengagement of troops by China from all points of friction in eastern Ladakh.

The nearly nine-month-long military standoff has seen tension rise along the LAC. Some 50,000 Indian Army troops are currently deployed in a high state of combat readiness in mountainous locations in eastern Ladakh in sub-zero conditions, as multiple rounds of talks between the two sides have failed to resolve the standoff.

China has deployed an equal number of troops, officials said.

India will not reduce its troop strength unless China initiates the process, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday in an interview to Times Now. Expressing confidence that a solution to the row could be found through talks, he said India is developing its border infrastructure, some of which China has objected to, at a "very fast rate".

According to a transcript of the interview issued by the channel, when asked about the dialogue process with China on the row, Mr Singh said, "There is no deadline when it comes to matter like the ongoing standoff. You can't fix a date."- NDTV.DailyBangladesh/SA Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com/

Read More........ → January 24, 2021

Army to test indigenous artillery system with 48-km strike range

The Army will soon begin testing an indigenously-developed artillery system, which the DRDO contends is the best in its class in the world with a record-breaking strike range of 48-km. If the big gun passes muster, it can fulfill the Army’s requirement for 1,580 such guns worth over Rs 25,000 crore. The 155mm/52 caliber advanced towed artillery gun system (ATAGS) is set to undergo “winter user trials” by the Army in Sikkim in January-February, which will be followed by the “mobility trials” and then the “summer trials” in May-June. With the development of ATAGS, which has Bharat Forge (Kalyani Group) and Tata Advanced Systems as the production partners, DRDO officials contend the Army has no need to import such guns from Israel or other countries. But the Army says the indigenous guns will have to first prove their worth in the forthcoming user trials. The force has a parallel project stuck in the final stages to procure 400 Athos towed gun systems for Rs 5,147 crore from Israeli firm Elbit Systems, which was originally supposed to be followed by the domestic production of another 1,180 guns in collaboration with the Ordnance Factory Board. The Israeli gun had emerged as L-1 (lowest bidder) a year ago to beat the French one from Nexter Systems after trials. “Our procurement case for towed artillery guns has been hanging fire since 2010,” said an Army officer. Amidst this wrangling, the user-trials of the indigenous ATAGS also got somewhat delayed after the barrel of one of the guns burst during test-firing at the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan, which injured four personnel, in September. “It was most probably due to defective ammunition. There was no issue with the barrel. Over 2,000 rounds have already been successfully test-fired from the ATAGS during high-altitude trials in Sikkim and then in Pokhran,” a senior DRDO official said. “Further tests are currently underway at the Proof and Experimental Establishment range at Balasore. Why should the Army import such guns if a much better indigenous option with a longer 48-km range is available? Other contemporary guns have a 40 to 45-km range,” he added. The ATAGS has “excellent accuracy, consistency, mobility, reliability and automation”, and can fire five-round bursts as compared to three-round bursts by other foreign contemporary guns. “ATAGS is also configured with an `all-electric drive technology’ for the first time in the world, which will ensure maintenance free and reliable operation over longer periods of time,” said another official. But the Army contends DRDO often “over-promises and under-delivers”. The force has also had to contend with recurring scandals in artillery procurement projects, from the Swedish Bofors in the mid-1980s to the South African Denel in 2005 and Singapore Technology Kinetics in 2009. It was only in 2018 that the Army finally managed to exorcise the Bofors ghost by beginning to induct 145 US-origin M-777 ultra-light howitzers (155m/39-calibre) and 100 South Korean-origin K-9 Vajra tracked self-propelled guns (155mm/52-calibre). ///(Timesofindia) Source: Defenseblog-njs.blogspot.com

Read More........ → December 24, 2020

Common efforts needed to maintain good ties, China on Jaishankar's remarks on Ladakh situation

DEC 10, 2020 BEIJING: Underlining that common efforts were needed to maintain good relations between China and India, a senior Chinese official on Thursday said that Beijing is committed to resolving the border standoff through dialogue but was also determined to safeguard its territorial sovereignty. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said this while reacting to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's remarks that China has given India "five differing explanations" for deploying large forces at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the violation of bilateral pacts has "very significantly damaged" their relationship. The comments by Jaishankar on Wednesday during an online interactive session organised by Australian think tank Lowy Institute came against the backdrop of the over seven-month-long military standoff between India and China at the LAC in eastern Ladakh. "China and India are neighbours and the world's two biggest emerging markets and keeping good relations serves the fundamental interests of both countries and its people but it requires common efforts from both sides", Hua underlined at a regular Chinese foreign ministry briefing here. "The merits of the situation at the border area is very clear and the responsibility totally lies with the Indian side. China has been strictly observing the agreements signed between the two sides and committed to resolving the border issue through dialogue and we are committed to safeguarding regional peace and tranquillity at border areas," she said. "In the meantime, we are determined in safeguarding our territorial sovereignty," she said in response to a question at the briefing. Asked to elaborate on the common efforts needed to defuse the current standoff at the border, the spokesperson said, "like all sovereign states we are determined in safeguarding our territorial integrity. So on the Indian side, I think this is a serious question on what it should reflect upon." "There are challenges in bilateral relations but China''s position and the policy on India hasn't changed," she said. As two major countries and emerging markets, "keeping good relations serves the fundamental interests of both and we will stay committed to safeguarding the peace and tranquillity in the border area," she said. "On the historical issues, China believes that we should find fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solutions based on equal-footed consultation and put it on the proper position in our bilateral relations", Hua said. "We hope we can reach consensus, properly manage differences, enhance practical cooperation and bring our bilateral relations back on the right track," she said. The two countries have held eight rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the military standoff in eastern Ladakh. However the talks have not yielded any concrete outcome yet to ease the border tensions. Copyright © Jammu Links News Source: Jammu Links News

Read More........ → December 16, 2020