Mr Wang Yi, Foreign Minister of PRC is coming to India in the midst of the current global crisis in Ukraine. He is testing waters to see if India is amenable to being weaned away from QUAD and the West to join Russia and China for a RIC trilateral. This visit is specially significant in the light of President Biden's comment on India being 'Shaky'. China obviously sees an opportunity. Aadi and I discussed various aspects of China and where it stands today in Part I of our dialogue. In this part the discussion is about the nuances of Sino Indian equations and what it will take for us to veer towards China and the general path ahead for India.
As per reports the government is set to finalise the ‘Agnipath’ nee ‘Tour of Duty’ recruitment scheme, under which youth can enlist in the Army for three /five years and be known as ‘Agnivirs’. It is being envisaged that 25% of them would serve for three years and 25% for five years, the remaining 50% would serve for the full term till they reach the retirement age. This major reform is expected to significantly reduce the age profile of the Armed forces. This reform will also result in significant reduction of pensions. It will curb the ballooning salary and pension bills that are adversely impacting military modernization. Under this arrangement, after completing 3 or 5 years of service, the Army will help the soldier/officer to be recruited in other services. The soldiers would be given a pay-out along with priority in recruitment to certain government jobs, including the central armed police forces. An effort is also on to nudge corporate India into hiring such ...
The key to bring China to table as equal will be to address the trade balance. Our make in India initiative has to be given focus and support by Govt. Along with the economic stability, 🇮🇳 has to build capability of our armed forces to be ahead of threats envisaged. Third aspect is our ICT capabilities should be totally indigenous.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for change in tone of GT - Hu XiJin is no more the editor of Global Trash9Times). The new editor is more mellowed down
ReplyDeleteChina cannot ever be trusted to honor even a written agreement. The only thing that matters are the facts on the ground. We should start negotiation from a maximalist point, which should be -at least- independence of Xinjiang & Tibet and settle worst case for independence of Tibet. After they have vacated Tibet, the sanctity of its borders should be the redline for China to prove its peaceful intentions. This may sound idealistic but, China directly on our borders, even if they are "settled", will only be a temporary measure as far as they are concerned.
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