VIF Information Alerts - 21th May 2018

How Chinese mining in the Himalayas may create a new military flashpoint with India
Published: South China Morning Post
20 May 2018

China has begun large-scale mining operations on its side of the disputed border with India in the Himalayas, where a huge trove of gold, silver and other precious minerals – valued at nearly US$60 billion by Chinese state geologists – has been found. Although mining has been going on in the world’s highest mountain range for thousands of years, the challenge of accessing the remote terrain and concerns about environmental damage had until now limited the extent of the activities.Click here to read... [2]

China’s first private rocket launch kicks off the country’s commercial space race
Published: The Verge
19 May 2018

China celebrated the country’s first rocket launch by a private spaceflight company this week. OneSpace Technologies, based out of Beijing, launched its OS-X rocket from an undisclosed location on a suborbital trajectory on Wednesday, reaching a reported altitude of 25 miles and traveling about 170 miles before falling back to Earth. It’s the first demonstration of what the company says will become a scalable business built around sending small satellites into space.Click here to read... [3]

China lands nuclear strike-capable bombers on South China Sea islands
Published: The Guardian
19 May 2018

China’s air force has landed bombers on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of a training exercise in the disputed region, it said in a statement. Several bombers of various types – including the long-range, nuclear strike-capable H-6K – carried out landing and take off drills at an unidentified island airfield after carrying out simulated strike training on targets at sea, the Chinese airforce said.Click here to read... [4]

Muslims forced to drink alcohol and eat pork in China’s ‘re-education’ camps, former inmate claims
Published: The Indpenedent
18 May 2018

Muslims were detained for re-education by China‘s government and made to eat pork and drink alcohol, according to a former internment camp inmate. Omir Bekali, one among perhaps a million people reportedly arrested and held in mass re-education camps, said he was detained without trial or access to a lawyer and forced to disavow his beliefs while praising the Communist Party.Click here to read... [5]

Navy well-prepared as net security provider in Indian Ocean: Vice Admiral Pawar
Published: The Economic Times
18 May 2018

The Indian Navy is well prepared to live up to its role as the net security provider in the Indian Ocean, Vice Admiral M S Pawar, Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command, said here yesterday. Many countries in the region look up to the Indian Navy for support and training, Vice Admiral Pawar said on the sidelines of the launch of a fuel barge for the INS Vikramaditya, the Navy's flagship aircraft carrier.Click here to read... [6]

Indonesia Gives India Military Access to Strategic Island of Sabang
Published: Sputnik
18 May 2018

In what could lend a major thrust to India’s ambition in the Indian Ocean Region, Indonesia has agreed to allow India economic and military access to the strategic island of Sabang, located at the northern tip of Sumatra and close to the Malacca Strait.

In an event hosted this week by New Delhi titled "Indonesia's Maritime Policy and Thinking of ways forward for India-Indonesia as Maritime Neighbours," it was informed that India would be investing in the port and economic zone of Sabang and build a hospital.Click here to read... [7]

Modi inaugurates hydro project in Kashmir, Pakistan protests
Published: The Economic Times
19 May 2018

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated on Saturday a hydroelectric power plant in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, amid protests from neighbour Pakistan which says the project on a river flowing into Pakistan will disrupt water supplies. The 330 megawatt Kishanganga hydropower station, work on which started in 2009, is one of the projects that India has fast-tracked in the volatile state amid frosty ties between the nuclear-armed countries.Click here to read... [8]

Pakistan racing to meet FATF demands before June
Published: The Economic Times
19 Jun 2018

Pakistan is giving finishing touches to its action plan that proposes measures for combating money laundering and terror financing to prevent itself from being placed on the grey list of a global watchdog next month, according to a media report.

A compliance report has been submitted by the Pakistani government to the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) -- a sub-group within the Paris-based watchdog Financial Action Task Force -- detailing the steps taken thus far and those that will be taken in the future to bring Pakistan's financial, regulatory and legal landscape into compliance with the watchdog's requirements, Dawn News reported.Click here to read... [9]

Pakistan receives $9.2b in foreign loans, but reserves still plunge
Published: The Express Tribune
19 May 2018

Pakistan received $9.2 billion in new foreign loans during the first 10 months of the ongoing fiscal year, increasing cumulative borrowing by the PML-N government to over $44 billion in tenure of four years and 10 months.

Largely pulled by Chinese commercial loans and issuance of sovereign bonds, the disbursements of foreign loans touched $9.2 billion from July through April of this fiscal year, said officials in the finance ministry. In April alone, Pakistan received $1.6 billion as loans and three-fourths of it was contributed by two Chinese commercial banks, they added.Click here to read... [10]

Displaced Sri Lankans defy military to reclaim homeland
Published: Al Zazeera
18 May 2018

Last month, in an extraordinary act of courage, more than 350 members of Sri Lankan Tamil minority defied military restrictions and successfully reclaimed their homes on the Navy-occupied island of Iranaitheevu after 26 years of forced displacement. It is the first time since the South Asian country's civil war ended on May 18, 2009, that civilians have successfully reclaimed occupied land without government permission.Click here to read... [11]

Climate change an 'existential security risk' to Australia, Senate inquiry says
Published: The Guardian
17 May 2018

Climate change is a “current and existential national security risk” to Australia, a Senate inquiry has told parliament, one that could inflame regional conflicts over food, water and land, and even imperil life on Earth.

The Senate committee inquiry into the implications of climate change for Australia’s national security recommended an increase in foreign aid to be dedicated to climate change mitigation and adaptation in the region, as well as a government white paper on climate security, Department of Defence emissions targets and a dedicated climate security post within the Department of Home Affairs.Click here to read... [12]

Link to the Final Report
Click here to read... [13]