VIF Information Alerts - 16 August 2019

UN Security Council to hold close consultations on Kashmir today
Published: The Tribune

16 Aug 2019

The UN Security Council will meet here on Friday to discuss India revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan wrote a letter on the issue to the world body. China, the closest ally of Pakistan, asked for “closed consultations” in the Council, which will meet at 10 am (7.30 pm IST) to discuss the matter.
Closed meetings are not open to the public and no verbatim record of statements is kept. Consultations are informal meetings of the Security Council members and are not covered in the Repertoire.Click here to read.... [2]

India, Turkey on radar of resurgent Islamic State: Monitor
Published: Hindustan Times

16 Aug 2019

India, Turkey, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are among the new countries where the Islamic State (IS) terror group has found a footing as its influence has diminished drastically across Iraq and Syria, its territory of origin, according to a leading conflict monitor.
Spearheaded by jihadist leader Abubakr al-Baghdadi, IS has this year regrouped and carried out more activity outside of West Asia than inside it for the first time, according to data released by Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), a US-based conflict monitoring and crisis mapping body.Click here to read.... [3]

Modi’s giant leap on defence reform
Published: Hindustan Times

15 Aug 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bitten the bullet, as it were, in relation to the long-festering and unresolved national security imperative of creating a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). In his August 15 address, Modi announced, with characteristic aplomb, “To further sharpen coordination between the forces, I want to announce a major decision from the Red Fort: India will have a Chief of Defence Staff — CDS. This is going to make the forces even more effective.”Click here to read.... [4]

All 24 Indian crew aboard Iranian oil tanker released in Gibraltar
Published: The Hindu

15 Aug 2019

All 24 Indian crew aboard VLCC Grace 1, an Iranian oil tanker, have been released by Gibraltar authorities and are free to return to India, Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan said on Thursday.
In a tweet, Muraleedharan said: "Spoke to our High Commission in London. They confirmed all 24 Indian crew aboard VLCC Grace 1 have been released by Gibraltar authorities and are free to return to India."Click here to read.... [5]

Philippines Pushing Back Against Chinese Militia South China Sea Presence
Published: USNI News

15 Aug 2019

The Philippines have begun to push back against the strong and sustained presence of Beijing’s paramilitary ships in the South China Sea, calling the deployment of Chinese militia ships in huge numbers a threat. Manila filed two diplomatic protests last month against the swarming presence of militia vessels in waters surrounding Pagasa Island (Thitu Island), its biggest occupied island in the South China Sea in the Spratly Island chain.Click here to read.... [6]