VIF Information Alerts - 18 April 2018

US-India partnership should focus on closer collaboration on security interests like maritime domain awareness, says Admiral Philip S Davidson
Published: The Financial Express
18 Apr 2018

The US and India have a range of common security interests like maritime domain awareness, counterpiracy and counterterrorism, a top American Admiral said, insisting that the continued growth of bilateral ties should focus on expanding India’s Major Defence Partner status. Admiral Philip S Davidson, nominee for US Pacific Command Commander, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday during his confirmation hearing that India and the US, in less than three decades, have moved from “estranged democracies” to budding strategic partners. Click here to read.... [2]

China's $1 Billion White Elephant: the Port Ships Don't Use
Published: Bloomberg
18 Apr 2018

Each year roughly 60,000 ships vital to the global economy sail through the Indian Ocean past a Chinese-operated port on the southern tip of Sri Lanka. Almost none of them stop to unload cargo.

The eight-year-old Hambantota port -- with almost no container traffic and trampled fences that elephants traverse with ease -- has become a prime example of what can go wrong for countries involved in President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” trade and infrastructure initiative. Sri Lanka borrowed heavily to build the port, couldn’t repay the loans, and then gave China a 99-year lease for debt relief. Click here to read.... [3]

China's Silk Road plan serves its security goals: Report
Published: The Economic Times
17 Apr 2018

A massive Chinese infrastructure program that Beijing says is aimed at promoting global trade and economic growth is actually intended to expand the country's political influence and military presence, according to a report issued Tuesday.

The report by the U.S.-based research group C4ADS questions China's portrayal of the trillion-dollar program, called the "Belt and Road Initiative," as strictly meant to promote economic development. Click here to read.... [4]

Link to the Report "Harbored Ambitions: How China's Port Investments Are Strategically Reshaping the Indo-Pacific"Click here to read.... [5]

Hard evidence emerges of Pakistan’s support to Sikh militants
Published: The Tribune
17 Apr 2018

Photographic evidence has emerged that Pakistan based terror-outfits Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) are backing Sikh militants as LeT’s chief Hafiz Saeed is seen with Sikh militant leader Gopal Singh Chawla in Lahore.

Chawla, under instructions from the Pakistani authorities, recently stopped Indian officials from entering Gurdwara Panja Sahib on April 14 (Baisakhi day). Click here to read.... [6]

Malaysia in talks to buy Pakistan combat aircraft
Published: Arab News
17 Apr 2018

The Malaysian government is in “preliminary talks” with Pakistan to buy the multi-role JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft developed jointly by China and Pakistan.

“The Malaysian government has shown interest in buying the JF-17 Thunder aircraft from Pakistan but the deal is yet to be finalized,” a senior Pakistan Ministry of Defense Production official told Arab News. Click here to read.... [7]

The Indo-Iran Syndrome & Pakistan
Published: The Nation
17 Apr 2018

India’s strategic posturing in the IOR continues unabated. Its acquisition of bases/port facilities at Duqm, Oman and Chahbahar, Iran in particular pose real threats to Pakistan and its interests in the region. These positions straddle the Hormuz Straits and place Pakistan’s SLOCs and Mekran Coast within Indian strategic reach. The Indo-Iran Defense Pact of 2003 accentuates these threats manifold. The strategic environment thus continues to unravel ominously. Pakistan must get into serious contingency planning at all appropriate levels! Click here to read.... [8]

A new map of Sri Lanka, with many changes included, will be released at the end of next month
Published: Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
17 Apr 2018

A new map of Sri Lanka, with many changes included, will be released at the end of next month. Surveyor General: P.N.P. Udayakantha says, the collating of data for this purpose has already been completed. Due to the construction of the Port City and several geological changes in other areas island-wide, a decision was taken to re-draw the map. The Survey General added, the newly prepared maps will be sent for printing soon. Click here to read.... [9]

Inside the Marines’ new mission in Afghanistan: Taking back territory previously won
Published: The Washington Post
16 Apr 2018

Afghan government control in many areas outside Kabul evaporated as the United States cut its troop numbers in Afghanistan from more than 100,000 in 2011 to fewer than 10,000 by late 2016. President Trump authorized a more muscular strategy in August, enabling the military to carry out hundreds of airstrikes each month while boosting the number of troops from about 11,000 to more than 15,000.

The air campaign, paired with additional U.S. military advising, has helped stop the disintegration of security, but it has meant sending U.S. troops back to regions where they once engaged in direct combat with the Taliban during a surge in 2009. Click here to read.... [10]

Introduction of Nuclear Power in Bangladesh Underway with IAEA Assistance
Published: IAEA
16 Apr 2018

The beginning of construction at Bangladesh’s first nuclear power reactor on 30 November 2017 marked a significant milestone in the decade-long process to bring the benefits of nuclear energy to the world’s eighth most populous country. The IAEA has been Bangladesh on its way to becoming the third ‘newcomer’ country to nuclear power in 30 years, following the United Arab Emirates in 2012 and Belarus in 2013. Click here to read.... [11]