Question For Experts
Q. How will the World be Dealing with China in a Post-Pandemic World?

Replied by Prerna Gandhi
This is one of the most pressing International Relations questions today. But before we can reach a post-pandemic world, there is going to be an interim period that will be equally important. China’s role in the global economy has expanded in the last two decades which have conferred it a larger strategic heft. The underlying rationale of supply side strengths, plentiful forex reserves, increasing technological expertise and continuous military modernization make it a power to reckon with. However, the question of unprovoked Chinese military aggression on multiple fronts during an ongoing pandemic has raised serious doubts on the ability of China to pla..

Q. China is proceeding with a concrete plan to develop their indigenous Operating System which is aimed to be used in all government offices. They have devised a plan called "5 2 3 plan" . What is the opinion of VIF on this and the road map planned by India on this aspect. Also, DRDO based labs like ANURAG, CAIR and C DAC could be used for developing a OS. Kindly provide your views on the roadmap / strategy that India should follow to ensure cyber security through Make in India.

Replied by Brig Rahul Bhonsle
Reports of the Chinese Communist party’s Central Office having issued a directive for replacing all hardware and software in government offices with indigenously developed substitutes emerged in December last year. [Please refer to Financial Times link https://www.ft.com/content/b55fc6ee-1787-11ea-8d73-6303645ac406]. The directive has been nicknamed 3-5-2 [Not 5 – 2 – 3 as you have indicated unless you are referring to some different issue]. The nickname arises from the directive which gives targets for replacement as 30% of foreign hardware and software in 2020, 50% in 2021 and 20% in 2022. This is in conformity with the country’s Cyb..

Q. PLA ( People Liberation Army ),Valley Based Insurgent Group of Manipur is one of the potent insurgent group. How is this PLA insurgent group related directly to PLA ( People Liberation Army ) of China ? In case of India's Conflict / hostility with China, will China use PLA insurgent group to create disturbance in North Eastern states especially Manipur and with Maoist / Naxalite in the mainland India ?

Replied by Col Jaideep Chanda
Relation between PLA China and PLA Manipur
People's Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur, was founded on 25 September 1978, under the leadership of N. Bisheshwar. The PLA (Manipur) was named by the founder as suggested by their initial mentors, the PLA of China. The pioneer group (referred to as the Ojhas) of the PLA (Manipur) had attended indoctrination and training in China for two years before returning to India and starting the insurgency. The group was intrinsically Leftist and had strong links with the Naxal movement. In a conflict like situation, use of all means available to the adversary has to be factored into our planning. H..

Q. What are major threats to China's economy and their potential impact on China's political stability?

Replied by Dr Teshu Singh
In January 2018, Liu He (Vice Premier of China) while speaking at the World Economic Forum had mentioned about the ‘Three Critical Battles’. They are; preventing and resolving the major risks, conducting targeted poverty reduction and controlling pollution. The other threats to the Chinese economy are a middle-income trap, declining demographic dividend, US-China trade dispute and reshaping the Chinese economy post-COVID-19. China is the second-largest economy, the largest exporter and has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. In 2019, the economic growth of China has gone down, it was 6.1 per cent against 6.8 per cent in 2018. The C..

Q. India's shot at becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024 cannot be met without becoming the manufacturing base for the World's consumption. What are the major steps by our Government along with various ministries in this direction?

Replied by Amb DP Srivastava
To expect fast economic growth, while world faces the risk of recession in the wake of Covid situation, is unrealistic. ‘The target of becoming a $ 5 trillion economy was announced before the world got caught up in Covid situation. This crisis is beyond the control of any country. This is likely to result in contraction of world economy. The Government has taken a number of steps to revive the economy while extending the lock-down. This includes fiscal package of 1.3 trillion rupees. This is expected to be enhanced further. RBI is simultaneously trying to give monetary stimulus by bringing down the interest rates. RBI and the Government are also en..

Will DRDO and HAL will be able to deliver a 5th generation fighter jet? i.e AMCA on time or our Indian Air Force will be forced to buy a foreign fighter.

Replied by Naval Jagota
The IAF is down to 30 fighter squadrons, against the assessed requirement of 42 squadrons. Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria’s plan, unveiled in an interaction with the media inOctober 2019, will only raise numbers to 37 squadrons by 2025, before falling again to 33 squadrons by 2032. The IAF has ordered 40 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark I aircraft [20 in Initial Operation Clearance (IOC) and 20 in Final Operation Clearance (FOC) version with 16 fighters & 4 trainers in each]. The production of 16 fighters in IOC has been completed in March, 2019 and the production of 16 fighters in FOC and 8 trainers is underway in HAL. The first aircraft in FOC fl..

Q. I want to know about the Architecture and planning of INDIAN DEFENCE UNIVERSITY, Binola, Gurugram, for Architectural Thesis. This is very important for me to make further progress in research for my thesis.

Replied by Col Jaideep Chanda
Firstly, the nomenclature presently being followed is Indian Defence University and NOT Indian National Defence University. In May 2010, the Union Cabinet accorded ‘In Principle’ approval for setting up of IDU at Binola, Gurgaon. After acquisition of approx. 202 Acre land at Binola, the foundation stone was laid by Hon’ble PM on 23 May 13. IDU would be a fully autonomous institution to be constituted under an Act of Parliament. It will not be a UGC University nor will it follow UGC norms. IDU will come into being post enactment of IDU Act. After which, construction will commence at Binola. Phase I is likely to take 3-4 years, till then pre..

Q. During the ongoing actions to stop this Coronavirus if any terrorist activity takes place in any city then what steps can the government take to deal with any such terrorist activity? Are the intelligence agencies/security establishment of our country ready for this?

Replied by Anurag Sharma
During the period of lockdown or Janta Curfew due to pandemic caused by Wuhan virus aka Coronavirus, no significant terrorist activity has taken place in India. However, counter-terrorism operations in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and counter-insurgency operations to tackle Maoist activities have not been affected due to lockdown. As a precautionary measure, various government agencies, jointly with civic bodies, are spreading the public message to keep safe and follow the instructions during the lockdown period. For example, a civil society— ‘Nagarika Sachetana Manch’ has taken steps to make locals stay away from Maoists. In Rayagada district in ..

Q. Are Central Asian Republics capable to contain looming security challenges and threats in the region in their own way (without the involvement of the big powers)? What are their strategies and mechanisms to contain it?

Replied by Dr Pravesh Kumar Gupta
Central Asian region is geo-strategically located between the East and the West, which had placed it at the centre of struggle between the major powers not only in Soviet era but also in the Post-Soviet period. The regional security apparatus in Central Asia is way more crucial for two of neighbouring big powers; Russia and China than that to Central Asia. However, most of the Central Asian Governments being authoritarian had tackled the regional security issues in the past by taking unilateral extreme measures which adversely impacted the regional cooperative mechanism between these republics. Region’s proximity to Afghanistan made it vulnera..

Q. What benefits will Uzbekistan obtain after joining Eurasian Economic Union?

Replied by Dr Pravesh Kumar Gupta
Since 2017, there have been speculations about Uzbekistan joining Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Recently, Uzbek Government has approved the proposal to join EAEU as observer. This will ensure a number of benefits to Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is looking for markets to export its products and the majority of its trade partners are EAEU members. Uzbekistan registered an increased volume of trade with EAEU countries by sixty percent in the past three years. It is also projected that these figures will grow further. Uzbekistan will benefit from reduced transportation costs through the EAEU countries, through which eighty percent of Uzbekistan’s goods..

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