COUNTERING CHINA PAKISTAN MULTI DOMAIN WAR

 

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

News In Brief

·        ASEAN-led defense talks reaffirm norms for South China Sea.

·        China’s Local Governments Face Squeeze From $2 Trillion in Debt, Over 40% of outstanding provincial debt due in next five years.Signs are growing in China that local government debt burdens are becoming unsustainable. China’s 31 provincial governments have a stockpile of outstanding bonds that’s close to the Ministry of Finance’s risk threshold of 120% of income.This will hamper their ability to drive up economic growth.

·        Kamla Harris offers Marcos(Phillipines) more muscle to counter China but Manila simultaneously seeks China’s economic largesse. US military is poised to return to Subic Bay, Philippines after 30 year absence, to counter China’s presence. Manila and Washington are negotiating about setting up five more locations for the US military Subic Bay, which faces the South China Sea, was a US Naval Base for 94 years until 30 years ago.

·        Protests have erupted at the world's biggest iPhone factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. Online Videos show hundreds of workers marching, with some confronted by people in hazmat suits and riot police.Workers were beaten by police.

·        In a Challenge to Beijing, Unrest Over Covid Lockdowns Spreads to many towns. Protests are rising as China enacts more lockdowns and quarantines, with no end in sight. The defiance is a test of Xi Jinping’s authoritarian leadership.

·        China holds policing discussion with officials of Pacific island nations

·        China's attempt to strike a security and trade deal with 10 Pacific island nations in May fuelled concern in Washington and Canberra about Beijing's military ambitions in the region, and prompted a boost in Western aid.

·        British government bars Chinese-made security cameras from sensitive sites.Government cites the ‘increasing capability and connectivity’ of the equipment in barring cameras made by the likes of Hikvision. Departments are advised to consider removing cameras entirely, including from non-sensitive sites.

·        Saudi Arabia in talks to deposit $5bn into Turkey’s central bank. Transaction would follow diplomatic push by Erdoğan to attract Saudi cash to crisis-hit economy.

·        European Parliament declares Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.The move is largely symbolic, as the European Union does not have a legal framework in place to back it up. At the same time, the bloc has already imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

·        Eastern Europe's arms industry is churning out guns, artillery shells and other military supplies at a pace not seen since the Cold War as governments in the region lead efforts to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia.Allies have been supplying Kyiv with weapons and military equipment since Russia invasion.

·        Second Project 15B guided missile destroyer delivered to Indian Navy.

·        India successfully test-fires intermediate-range ballistic missile Agni-3.

·        The theme of IPRD-2022,  held from November 23-25, is "Operationalising the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI)", which was articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Bangkok .