New Delhi
The 12th round of high-level military talks between India and China will take place on Saturday with a focus on achieving some forward movement in the disengagement in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, sources in the military establishment said.
The fresh round of Corps Commander talks are scheduled to start at 10.30 am at Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they added.
The main focus of the talks will be on addressing outstanding problems in Hot Springs and Gogra, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Chinese customs recently seized a large consignment of locally manufactured world maps, which showed Aksai Chin and Arunachal as part of India.
China claims the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal as part of South Tibet and occupies the India-claimed Aksai Chin region, mostly as part of the southwest Hotan county of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
The consignment, worth some $600, was confiscated during a check by the customs department at the Shanghai Pudong international airport, a report said.
At least 300 packages to be exported as “bed covers” were pulled out of the express channel for closer inspection during the check-up, a report on the website, ThePaper.com said. It was found the maps on the “bed covers” showed Arunachal and Aksai Chin as Indian territories as Indian maps show. The goods were immediately seized as they violated legal provisions regulating how Chinese maps should be drawn, the report said.
New ‘red’ recruitment rules in Tibet
China has stepped up efforts to recruit young Tibetans into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). China wants Tibetan youths to join the army and work as guides at the border to strengthen its military and upgrade its airbase. China is now in a hurry to forcibly recruit Tibetans. Dragon has made it mandatory for every member of the Tibetan family to become a soldier. The troops will be recruited into the PLA, said to be using China against India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). These Tibetan youths have to go through a loyalty test to join the PLA. “India wants to strengthen its position on the LAC at any cost,” India Today reported.
BRICS finalises action plan to combat terror, radicalisation, funding
An action plan aimed at strengthening result-oriented cooperation among the BRICS countries to combat terrorism, radicalisation and terror financing will be adopted at a meeting of the national security advisers of the grouping next month. The Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday the action plan was finalised at a virtual meet of the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group (CTWG) on July 28-29. “The BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan is one of the key deliverables during India’s chairship of BRICS and will be adopted at the meeting of BRICS National Security Advisers scheduled next month,” it said.
Searches after drone ‘sighting’ near IB in Jammu
Jammu: The J&K Police carried out searches in Pargwal area near the International Border (IB) in Jammu after locals allegedly spotted a flying object believed to be a drone, officials said on Friday. The operation was launched in Pargwal villages late on Thursday, after a resident noticed a blinking light in the sky at 8.30 pm and alerted fellow villagers. However, nothing objectionable was recovered. Three suspected Pakistani drones were also sighted simultaneously over Bari-Brahmana, Chiladya and Gagwal areas in Samba. BSF men fired a couple of rounds towards one in Chiladya before it returned to Pak side. The other drones disappeared from the sky after hovering over sensitive security installations at Bari Brahmana and along Jammu-Pathankot highway.
Meanwhile, unidentified drone flown over bridge was handed over to police by Navy in Kochi.
