Tag: war

India’s top general says face-off with China could spark bigger conflict

Devjyot Ghoshal – November 6, 2020

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s top military commander said on Friday a tense border standoff with Chinese forces in the western Himalayas could spark a larger conflict, even as senior commanders from both sides met near the frontline for their eighth round of talks.

Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat said the situation was tense at the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in eastern Ladakh, where thousands of Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a months-long confrontation.

“We will not accept any shifting of the Line of Actual Control,” Rawat said in an online address.

“In the overall security calculus, border confrontations, transgressions and unprovoked tactical military actions spiraling into a larger conflict cannot therefore be discounted,” he said.

Brutal hand-to-hand combat in June left 20 Indian and an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers dead, escalating tensions and triggering large deployments on the remote, desolate border area.

Both sides have since attempted to ease the situation through diplomatic and military channels, but have made little headway, leaving soldiers facing-off in sub-zero temperatures in Ladakh’s snow deserts.

Senior Indian and Chinese commanders were meeting on Friday in Ladakh, the eight round of talks between the military leaderships since the crisis began, officials in New Delhi said.

https://www.reuters.com

A powerful & game-changing Russia/China military alliance is ‘quite possible’ in future but not on the cards yet, says Putin

Jonny Tickle – October 23, 2020

An alliance between two of the planet’s three most powerful militaries would profoundly alter the world order. Vladimir Putin believes that it is possible in the future that Russia and China could unite, but not yet necessary.

Speaking on Thursday at a virtual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin stressed that Russia “does not need” an alliance with China, “but, theoretically, it’s quite possible to imagine.” The superpowers are increasingly close, and conduct joint exercises together.

Valdai is a Russian think tank and forum established in 2004. It hosts an annual meeting attended by Putin. The event is usually held in Sochi, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic was condensed this year.

“Russian-Chinese relations have reached an unprecedented high level,” the president said. “We treat each other with great confidence, have strong, stable, and, most importantly, effective working relations in all areas.”

Moscow and Beijing currently cooperate closely in many fields, including militarily. In September, China took part in Russia’s large-scale joint exercise, Kavkaz-2020, along with other Kremlin allies. According to Putin, the two countries “exchange best practices in the field of military construction,” and have high-level cooperation in the technological sphere. As well as benefiting the Russian Armed Forces, the partnership also increases China’s defense capability, he explained.

“It’s not only about the exchange of products, sales of military goods and the exchange of technologies,” the president explained. “There are some very sensitive things here.”

https://www.rt.com

China Media Says Risk of War With Taiwan Rising, Despite President’s Conciliatory Speech

– October 12, 2020

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said Saturday that the island democracy is strengthening its defenses against a potential Chinese invasion, but also called for “meaningful dialogue” with Beijing, which claims the country as its own territory.

Tsai—leader of the pro-independence, liberal Democratic Progressive Party and re-elected for a second term in January—took a soft, conciliatory tone in her speech to mark Taiwan’s National Day. The address came after a month of Chinese military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the two countries.

But Chinese state-backed media was dismissive of Tsai’s appeal to diplomacy, with the nationalistic Global Times newspaper leading the criticism. The newspaper said Tsai had tried to “fool” the world with her speech, and declared that the risk of war has risen “sharply” in recent months.

The Chinese Communist Party claims ownership of Taiwan under its “One China” policy, and has vowed to take control of the island by force if diplomatic means fail. Taiwan—officially called the Republic of China—has been independent since the end of the Chinese Civil War as the last bastion of the defeated nationalist forces.

But Global Times—owned by the People’s Daily newspaper, which is the official publication of the CCP—said the regional situation “has been seriously deteriorating” in an editorial published Sunday.

Global Times accused Tsai of “utilizing the idea of facilitating dialogue as an ‘olive branch’ as a delaying tactic, attempting to deceive the international community for sympathy,” and dismissed her administration as “a gaggle of opportunistic politicians.”

https://www.newsweek.com

China Threatens War If Taiwan Resumes Diplomatic Ties With US

Theodore Bunker – October 07, 2020

China should “fully prepare itself for war” with Taiwan if the country resumes diplomatic ties with the United States, according to the editor-in-chief of China’s state-owned news tabloid the Global Times.

Hu Xijin wrote in an opinion piece on Tuesday that legislators in the Taiwanese Kuomintang Party, or KMT, “have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. They have gone downhill and become vulgar. They would do anything to just get rid of their political passivity on the island of Taiwan. They are losers.”

He adds, “We must no longer hold any more illusions. The only way forward is for the mainland to fully prepare itself for war and to give Taiwan secessionist forces a decisive punishment at any time. As the secessionist forces’ arrogance continues to swell, the historical turning point is getting closer.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is currently touring Asia and recently told the Nikkei Asian Review in Japan that “the United States will be a good partner for security in every dimension” when asked if the U.S. would intervene if China attacked Taiwan.

“We’ve only come to recognize that appeasement’s not the answer,” he said. “If one bends the knee each time the Chinese Communist Party takes action around the world, one will find themselves having to bend the knee with great frequency.”

https://www.newsmax.com

Violence Erupts Between Armenia And Azerbaijan Over Long-Disputed Region

– September 27, 2020

Fighting broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday, causing casualties on both sides and prompting the Armenian government to declare martial law and mobilize its military.

The conflict is the latest eruption of violence in a decades-long dispute over the region, which lies within the borders of Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenian forces. Both countries have reported military and civilian deaths as of Sunday afternoon.

Armenian officials said Azerbaijani forces launched a “missile and aerial attack” in the region on Sunday morning, targeting peaceful settlements and shelling civilian infrastructures, while Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its armed forces were responding to Armenian shelling.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a tweet that the aggression seemed to be pre-planned, and “constitutes large-scale provocation against regional peace & security.”

Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, countered that “the first fire, including artillery fire, was opened by Armenia, and the first victims were Azerbaijani servicemen.”

Officials in both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh declared martial law and dispatched armed forces as tensions rose on Sunday morning.

The human rights ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh said that a woman and child were killed and two civilians were wounded in the Martuni region as a result of Azerbaijani shelling. The region’s deputy defense minister later said that 16 Armenian forces were killed and more than 100 were wounded.

Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president, said enemy fire had killed and wounded both servicemen and civilians, and that “shedding of their blood will not go unpunished.”

“Armenia is an occupying state, and an end to this occupation must and will be put,” Aliyev added.

https://www.npr.org

Decrying normalization, Palestinians warn of Third Intifada

KHALED ABU TOAMEH – September 15, 2020

Palestinian protests against the normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain could lead to an intifada, Palestinian activists warned on Tuesday.

The warning came as Palestinians held protests against the “treacherous” agreements in some parts of the West Bank. The protests, organized by several Palestinian factions that are part of a new group called the Unified Leadership of the Popular Resistance, were held under the banner: “Normalization is a crime.”

“We are on the brink of a third intifada,” a Fatah activist told The Jerusalem Post. “The Palestinian people feels betrayed by the Arabs and will show the world that the Palestinian issue remains the central issue of all Arabs and Muslims.”

Other activists belonging to various Palestinian factions expressed hope that the Palestinian “day of rage” on the day of the signing ceremony of the normalization agreements at the White House would spark an intifada against Israel.

As part of the “day of rage,” Palestinians took to the streets in Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Hebron and other cities to voice their rejection of the peace accords between Israel and the two Gulf states.

The protesters held placards that read: “No to normalization with the occupation,” “We won’t allow the blood of our martyrs to be turned into a merchandise for trade,” and “Palestine will remain Arab.”

https://www.jpost.com

Tense India-China border raises fears of inadvertent escalation

DW – September 9, 2020

Tensions between China and India are running dangerously high, as troops from both sides face off in a remote Himalayan region and accuse each other of firing warning shots along their disputed border.

Over the past few months, Chinese and Indian troops have been engaged in aggressive posturing at multiple locations along the two nations’ de facto border, known as Line of Actual Control, raising tensions between the world’s two most populous countries.

The two nuclear-armed neighbors have accused each other of firing in the air during a fresh flare-up in the Ladakh region on Monday, violating long-standing protocols to avoid using firearms along their undemarcated borders.

“The Sino-Indian border conflict has intensified further over the past few weeks, and I still believe that neither side wants a war, but neither side is willing to back down from it either because of the symbolic and psychological consequences,” Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, told DW.

“The situation is tense,” an official in New Delhi told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday, adding that Indian and Chinese troops were squaring off in close proximity in at least four locations south of Lake Pangong Tso that both sides lay claim to.

Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of Chinese studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, shares a similar view. “The situation on the ground is tense. Yesterday, the Chinese air force was on the second level of alert and surface-to-air missile batteries were activated to counter any adversary air force movement,” he told DW.

“Although the firing was in the air and not against each other, it’s definitely an escalation,” he added.

https://www.dw.com

Sea of troubles: Tensions flare across Mediterranean as world powers jockey for power

Guy Taylor -September 2, 2020

The Mediterranean — an on-again, off-again geopolitical hot spot since before the pyramids were built — is emerging anew as a sea of division and instability, with powers including Russia, China, Turkey and Israel jostling aggressively for influence, natural resources and military advantage.

Moscow is eyeing a possible military base along the oil-rich shores of Libya. China is seeking investment deals across the region. Turkey is clashing with NATO partner Greece over drilling rights and militarized islands. Newly discovered offshore natural gas deposits have nations scrambling to stake their claims.

Even the Trump administration on Wednesday partially lifted an arms embargo with Cyprus in what was widely interpreted as a shot across Turkey’s bow.

Analysts generally agree that NATO is failing to ease regional tensions. The U.S., despite multiple interests, lacks leverage in many of the disputes, with President Trump accelerating a U.S. pullback begun under President Obama that opened a power vacuum that others are now scrambling to fill.

While a range of unsavory players are making moves — Iran, Hezbollah and the Islamic State are among those seeking to exploit the situation — many in Europe and Washington are pointing the finger at Turkey for escalating the crisis by threatening to use force to take possession of natural gas finds beneath a string of Mediterranean islands that most in Europe say belongs to Greece.

The two NATO member states are now locked in a dangerous maritime standoff that is shaking the alliance to its core, with mediation attempts by Germany and others in the European Union so far going nowhere while the Trump administration warily monitors the situation.

https://www.washingtontimes.com

ARMAGEDDON Pakistani minister threatens India with nuclear attack in ‘the bloody last war’ and says only Muslims will survive

– August 21, 2020

A PAKISTANI minister has threatened India with a nuclear attack in “the bloody last war” and says only Muslims will survive.

Sheikh Rashid made the threat of nuclear war, claiming that Pakistan has very precise weapons which are “small and perfect” and are able to target specific regions.

The federal minister warned that Pakistan will have no option in a conventional war and “if something will happen, it will be the end”, indicating a nuclear war of mass destruction.

“If Pakistan gets attacked by India, there is no scope for conventional war. This will be a bloody and nuclear war,” he said during an interview with Pakistani media channel Samaa TV on Wednesday.

“It will be a nuclear war for sure. We have very calculated weapons which are small and perfect.

“Our weapons will save Muslim lives and will only target certain regions.

“Pakistan’s range now even includes Assam. Pakistan has no option in conventional war; therefore India knows if something happens, it will be the end”.

https://www.thesun.co.uk

Israel prepares for Gaza showdown after 7 rockets notch up Palestinian aggression

Debkafile – August 21, 2020

Palestinian terrorists launched three salvos of 7 rockets overnight Thursday, Aug. 20 – one a direct hit to a Sderot home, six intercepted. The IDF hit back in three waves against Hamas military sites, including a rocket factory near Khan Younes. During a night broken by repeated Palestinian rocket fire, three women were treated for shock and a third was hurt when stumbling while running for shelter.

This was the IDF’s 12th day in a row of strikes against Hamas military sites and it continued up until 6 am Friday morning, when the Southern Command urgently reviewed the deteriorating situation for its next decisions. . Local farmers told not to work in the fields adjoining the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian rocket fire came on top of the hundreds of arson and incendiary balloons launched against Israel in the past two weeks. During the day, 42 fires were ignited by balloons from the Gaza Strip; three more early Friday. The IDF reported that 15 incoming clusters were intercepted by the new “Light Flame” device devised to counter terrorist balloons for the Border police force

From a safe place in friendly Turkey, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh threatened to raise the stakes with a renewed cycle of violence, unless Israel complied with the long list of demands submitted by the terrorists via Egyptian intelligence officers who  shuttled between Tel Aviv and Gaza this week. Hard cash may be the only answer acceptable to the Palestinian Hamas for buying calm. Tensely awaited is a decision by Qatar about whether or not to continue its $25m aid program to Gaza when it runs out next month. Meanwhile, the Erdogan government is being solicited for terrorist funding.

https://www.debka.com