COUNTERING CHINA PAKISTAN HYBRID WAR

 

COUNTERING CHINA PAKISTAN HYBRID WAR

This article is a summary of important events that have taken place in last one week affecting, India's national security.

Internal Security

News in Brief

·        More Areas Covered By AFSPA Will Be Denotified -Lt Gen Kalita

·        The report by India Exim Bank, titled 'Reinvigorating India's Economic Engagements with Southern Africa', was released at the inauguration of the CII-Exim Bank Regional Conclave on India-Southern Africa Growth Partnership, where government officials and captains of business and industry met on Tuesday to discuss a wide range of areas of potential cooperation.

·        Army chief holds talks with Bhutanese Commander.

·        New southern army commander Lt Gen Ajai Kumar Singh appointed.

·        Giridhar Aramane takes charge as new defence secretary.

·        The Indian Army received exclusive Intellectual Property Rights  of the new Camouflage Pattern and Design of Improved Combat Uniform.

Economic Security-India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Jump By $6.56 Billion

India's foreign exchange reserves logged their biggest weekly jump since September 2021 and also rose for the first time in three weeks for the week ending October 28, helped by gains in both foreign currency assets and gold reserves. The foreign exchange reserves of Asia's third largest economy rose by $6.56 billion to $531.08 billion for the week ending Oct 28, according to data released today by the Reserve Bank of India.

Good management of foreign exchange reserves.

Environmental Security-Delhi's Toxic Air-Strictly Combat Annual Horror

The toxic mix of low wind speed, dipping temperature and dust, vehicular emissions, smouldering waste, wood or coal as well as stubble burning in farms around the National Capital Region has been around for many years This has once again engulfed the area into a thick blanket of smog. On Tuesday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed the 400 mark to plunge into the ‘severe’ category. This is critical for those suffering from respiratory ailments, and also harmful for healthy people.

This grave annual feature has earned Delhi the notoriety of being among the most polluted cities in the world. Couple of remedial steps initiated since 2021 to tackle pollution have not helped.

Two steps are required. One, the daily recording of AQI and its forecast. Two, the Graded Response Action Plan designed to deal with any oncoming critical stage of pollution. The strict implementation of the two measures is essential for desirable outcomes .Most important control the uncontrollable farmers.

Blast in Coimbatore

The case of an LPG cylinder blast in a car in Coimbatore on October 23 in which a youth was killed has become political in Tamil Nadu. The huge amount of explosives found in the house of the youth triggers the suspicion that he and his accomplices with suspected links to ISIS were up to something bigger and nastier and the accidental explosion killing only the driver saved the city and its people. 

National security and the lives of innocent people matter. The state government must come clean on the allegations of specific inputs by the central agencies not acted upon. It must tell the people if they are indeed true, and if yes, then what stopped it from taking timely action.

External Security

Army Foils Infiltration Bid, Kills Terrorist Along Loc In Poonch

Three terrorists were killed while attempting to infiltrate in Poonch. Three AK-47 rifles, a pistol and war-like stores have been recovered.

Another brave operation by Indian army.

On UNSC Counter-Terrorism Committee Meeting In India

India’s decision to host the United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) is an important marker of the Government’s ongoing effort to highlight terrorism issues at a time the global body has been more focused on the Ukraine war. Held in Mumbai and Delhi, it brought UN officials, and ministers and diplomats from all members of the Security Council (UNSC), to discuss challenges to the global counter-terrorism architecture. In Mumbai, the spotlight was on the 26/11 attacks. Despite the global nature of the terror targets, India has had an uphill battle since 2008 in international cooperation to pursue the case, and in bringing terrorists holed in Pakistan to full trial.

China continues to block designating LeT leaders on the UNSC 1267 terror list, a problem External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken specifically mentioned at the conference.

In Delhi, the CTC focus was on online radicalisation and terror recruitment, terror financing through crypto-currency and virtual assets, and unmanned aerial system use including drones for terror strikes, transporting drugs and arms. The deliberations led to the “Delhi Declaration on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes”. The Government appears to be making efforts to keep up the momentum from the CTC meet; it will host an international “No Money For Terror” conference (November 18-19), and a UNSC special briefing on challenges to global counter-terrorism efforts (December 15-16).