India's Russian arms explain "shaky" Ukraine stance

New Delhi, March 24 (AFP)

Mar 24, 2022

When 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a recent border clash with China, the military hardware New Delhi sent to bolster its Himalayan frontier was mostly Russian-origin, showing not for the first time its closeness to "longstanding and time-tested friend" Moscow.

Facing an increasingly assertive China closer to home, these ties help explain Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reluctance to criticize Vladimir Putin -- a regular visitor -- over the Ukraine invasion.

India has abstained on UN resolutions censuring Russia and continues to buy Russian oil and other goods, despite pressure from Western countries.

US President Joe Biden this week called India "somewhat shaky" on Russia.

In the Cold War, officially non-aligned India leaned towards the Soviet Union -- in part due to US support for arch-rival Pakistan -- buying its first Russian MiG-21 fighter jets in 1962.

These military ties were cemented by two watershed events: India's humiliating defeat to China in a 1962 border war and the war with Pakistan in 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

During the latter, the USSR sent ships to the Indian Ocean to deter a direct US intervention to help Pakistan. Shortly before the two had signed the landmark Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation.

And following skirmish with China in 2020, Indian reinforcements to shore up its Himalayan border included Russian tanks and aircraft.

Russia "always remained immune to external pressure and supplied us when we needed it, and have not slipped," Nandan Unnikrishnan of the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation told AFP.

"The Ukraine war doesn't change our neighborhood situation, so why should we even consider replacing our long-tested and trusted supplier without any practical replacement?" he said.

- Air, land and sea -

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, 70-85 percent of the Indian military's hardware was Russian, and in recent years India has sourced more from elsewhere -- notably France, the US and Israel -- and made more itself.

But according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, not only does Russia remain India's biggest supplier of major arms but New Delhi is also Moscow's largest customer in this field.

From 2017-21, India was the world's largest importer of major arms, and 46 percent of them were Russian. Some 28 percent of Russia's arms exports went to India, and account for the lion's share of the two countries' overall trade.

Almost all of India's estimated 3,500 battle tanks are Russian-made or designed -- built in India on license -- while the bulk of its combat aircraft are Sukhois and MiGs.

India's sole operational aircraft carrier is the refurbished Soviet-era Admiral Gorshkov, four of its 10 destroyers are Russian-origin, as are eight of its 14 non-nuclear-powered submarines.

India also has large Russian orders pending including a $5-billion deal for S-400 air defense systems -- the first deliveries began last year -- four frigates and one nuclear-powered submarine.

"With that kind of a dependency it is very difficult for India to take any other stand on Russia," Manoj Joshi, an author and former member of a government task force for reforms in national security told AFP.

But he said that the dependency doesn't end with buying equipment. For sometimes decades afterwards, it needs upgrades, maintenance, spares and other support from Russia.

India and Russia are also cooperating in defense, for example in making BrahMos cruise missiles, one of which India accidentally fired at Pakistan this month.

Russian kit is also relatively cheap, and Western countries are much more reluctant than Moscow to transfer technology to allow arms to be made in India, experts say.

"The US sells everything with an end-user condition and still won't sell us a certain class of weapons -- unlike Russia," said Joshi.

Source: Space War.

Link: https://www.spacewar.com/afp/220324064621.uv68wrwu.html.

India's Extensive Railways Often Conduit for Child Trafficking

By Umar Manzoor Shah

Karnataka, India, Dec 2 2022 (IPS) - Deeepti Rani (13) lives with her mother in a dilapidated dwelling near a railway track in India’s southern state of Karnataka. The mother-daughter duo sells paperbacks on trains for a living.

Four months ago, a man in his mid-fifties visited them. Masquerading as a businessman hailing from India’s capital, Delhi, he first expressed dismay over the family’s dismal conditions. Then he offered help.  The man asked Deepti if she wanted to accompany him to Delhi, where he could find her a decent job as a sales clerk or a housemaid. He also told Deepti’s mother that if allowed to go to Delhi, her daughter would be able to earn no less than 15 to 20 000 rupees a month—about 200-300 USD.

The money, Deepti’s mother, reasoned, would be enough to lift the family out of abject poverty and deprivation, enough to plan Deepti’s wedding and bid farewell to the arduous job of selling paperbacks on moving trains.

On the scheduled day, when the man was about to take Deepti, a laborer whose family lives adjacent to her hut informed the police about the possible case of trafficking. The laborer had become suspicious after observing the agent’s frequent visits to the mother-daughter.

When police reached the spot and detained the agent, it was discovered during questioning that he was planning to sell the little girl to a brothel in Delhi.

Ramesh, a 14-year-old boy from the same state, shared a similar predicament. He narrates how a man, probably in his late 40s, offered his parents a handsome sum of money so that he could be adopted and taken good care of.

“My parents, who work as laborers, readily agreed. I was set to go with a man – who we had met a few days before. I was told that I would get a good education, a good life, and loving parents. I wondered how an unknown man could offer us such things at such a fast pace. I told my parents that I smelled something suspicious,” Ramesh recalls.

The next day, as the man arrived to take the boy, the locals, including Ramesh’s parents, questioned him.  “We called the government helpline number, and the team arrived after some 20 minutes. When interrogated, the man spilt the beans. He was about to sell the boy in some Middle East country and get a huge sum for himself. We could have lost our child forever,” says Ramesh’s father.

According to government data, every eight minutes, a child vanishes in India.

As many as 11,000 of the 44,000 youngsters reported missing each year are still missing. In many cases, children and their low-income parents who are promised “greener pastures” in urban houses of the wealthy wind up being grossly underpaid, mistreated, and occasionally sexually molested.

Human trafficking is forbidden in India as a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, but it is nonetheless an organized crime. Human trafficking is a covert crime that is typically not reported to the police, and experts believe that it requires significant policy changes to stop it and help victims recover.

Activists and members associated with the Belgaum Diocesan Social Service Society (BDSSS) run various child protection programs for children from poor backgrounds.

One such program is ‘Childline 1098 Collab’. A dedicated helpline has been established to help out children in need. The helpline number is widely circulated across the city so that if anyone comes across any violation of child rights, they can dial the number.

A rescue team will be dispatched and provide immediate help to the victim.

Fr Peter Asheervadappa, the director of a social service called Belgaum Diocesan Social Service Society, provides emergency relief and rescue services for children at high risk. Children and other citizens can dial toll-free 1098, and the team reaches within 60 minutes to rescue the children.

“The cases handled are of varied nature: Sexual abuse, physical abuse, child labor, marriages, and any other abuse that affects children’s well-being,” Asheervadappa told IPS.

He adds that India’s railway network, one of the largest in the world, is made up of 7,321 stations, 123,542 kilometers of track, and 9,143 daily trains, carrying over 23 million people.

“The vast network, crucial to the country’s survival, is frequently used for trafficking children. For this reason, our organization, and others like it, have argued that key train stops require specialized programs and attention. Such transit hubs serve as important outreach locations for finding and helping children when they are most in need,” he said.

But not only have the trafficking cases emerged at these locations. There are child marriages, too, that concern the activists.

Rashmi, a 13-year-old, was nearly sold to a middle-aged businessman from a nearby city.  In return, the wealthy man would take good care of the poverty-stricken family and attend to their daily needs. All they had to do was to give them their daughter.  They agreed. “Everyone wants a good life, but that doesn’t mean you barter your child’s life for that greed. It is immoral, unethical, and illegal,” says an activist Abhinav Prasad* associated with the Child Protection Program.

He says many people in India are on the lookout for child brides. They often galvanize their efforts in slums and areas where poor people live. It is there that they find people in need, and they take advantage of their desperation for money.

While Rashmi was about to tie the nuptial knot with a man almost four times her age (50), some neighbors called the child rescue group and informed them. The team rushed to the spot and called in the police to stop the ceremony from happening.

“Child marriages are rampant in India, but we must do our bit. It is by virtue of these small efforts that we can stop the menace from spreading its dreadful wings and consuming our children,” said Prasad.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).

Link: https://www.ipsnews.net/2022/12/indias-extensive-railways-often-conduit-child-trafficking/.

First privately built Indian space rocket launches

Chennai, India (AFP)

Nov 18, 2022

The first privately developed Indian rocket lifted off into the upper reaches of the atmosphere on Friday, in another milestone in the country's push to become a major space power.

The half-ton Vikram-S rocket launched before midday local time and travelled in an arc, live footage from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) showed.

It safely splashed down into the sea six minutes later, according to the agency.

The rocket, developed by local startup Skyroot Aerospace, reached a peak altitude of 90 kilometers (55 miles), below the internationally recognized 100-km Karman line that separates Earth from outer space.

"It is indeed a new beginning, a new dawn... in the journey of India's space program," science minister Jitendra Singh said after the launch to a crowd of cheering technicians at the ISRO's launch facility on the southern island of Sriharikota.

The single-stage, solid-fuel rocket was built with "carbon composite structures and 3D-printed components", the government said Thursday ahead of the first Vikram-S mission, named "Prarambh" ("Start").

India has been bolstering its space program in recent years, including a crewed mission with Russian backing slated for 2023 or 2024.

Its capabilities and ambitions have grown, highlighted by the success of its rockets and missions beyond Earth.

In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to reach Mars with its Mangalyaan orbiter. Hailed for its low cost, that mission put India in a small club including the United States, Russia and the European Union.

And in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed India as a "space superpower" after it shot down a low-orbiting satellite, a move prompting criticism for the amount of "space junk" it created.

India is also working to boost its two percent share of the global commercial space market.

In October, ISRO's heaviest rocket yet successfully put 36 broadband satellites in low earth orbit.

Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing space technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts' wages.

Source: Space Daily.

Link: https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/First_privately_built_Indian_space_rocket_launches_999.html.

Eyeing China, India unveils high-altitude helicopters

Jodhpur, India (AFP)

Oct 3, 2022

India unveiled on Monday its first batch of locally-made attack helicopters, designed primarily for use in high-altitude areas like the Himalayas where its troops clashed with China in 2020.

The Light Combat Helicopters are seen as another milestone in Indian efforts to reduce dependence on Russia, its main source of arms, and other suppliers.

The choppers made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) "will be a big boost to the Indian Air Force's combat prowess", Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said at Jodhpur air base in western India.

"It is a momentous occasion, a matter of great pride, and a result of two decades of diligent research and development," Singh said.

Officials said that the aircraft had been tested at altitudes up to 16,000 feet (4,875 meters) above sea level.

India has been seeking to build up its domestic defense industry, unveiling its first locally-made aircraft carrier last month.

This drive has been given added impetus by worries about future supplies of Russian spare parts following the invasion of Ukraine in February.

While remaining a close ally of Russia -- it has refused to condemn the invasion -- India also shares Western concerns about growing Chinese assertiveness.

Relations between the world's two most-populous nations plunged after a hand-to-hand battle on their disputed Himalayan border left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead in 2020.

The two Asian giants, who fought a full-scale war in 1962, mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers in the region, although they announced a partial withdrawal on September 8.

Source: Space Daily.

Link: https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Eyeing_China_India_unveils_high-altitude_helicopters_999.html.

Floods Swamp More of Bangladesh and India, Millions Marooned

Tuesday, 21 June, 2022

Floodwaters inundated more of Bangladesh and northeast India on Tuesday, officials said, as authorities struggled to reach more than 9.5 million people stranded with little food and drinking water after days of intense rain.

Particularly heavy monsoon rain has brought the worst floods in more than a century in some parts of low-lying Bangladesh and have killed at least 69 people over the past two weeks there and in northeast India's Assam state.

"People are without food. They are not even getting drinking water since floodwater submerged all tube-wells," Abu Bakar, 26, a resident of hard-hit Sunamganj district in northeastern Bangladesh, told Reuters by telephone.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina flew over some of the flood-hit areas on Tuesday, looking down on huge tracts covered by brown water, broken up by occasional outcrop of land, television footage showed.

The monsoon brings heavy rains to South Asia between June and October, often triggering floods, especially in low-lying areas like Bangladesh, where rivers swollen with waters pouring out of the Himalayas often burst their banks.

Extreme weather in South Asia has become more frequent in and environmentalists warn that climate change could lead to ever more serious disasters.

Atiqul Haque, director general of Bangladesh's Department of Disaster Management, said three more districts in northern and central parts of the country had been flooded.

"The local administration along with army, navy, police, fire and emergency services personnel and volunteers have been engaged in rescue and relief operations," Haque said.

The floods in the Sylhet region, which includes Sunamganj, are the most severe in more than a century and the UN children's fund said 90% of its health facilities have been inundated, and cases of waterborne diseases are increasing.

UNICEF said it was urgently seeking $2.5 million to respond to the emergency in Bangladesh and it was working with the government to supply water purification tablets, emergency medical supplies and water containers.

"Four million people, including 1.6 million children, stranded by flash floods in northeastern Bangladesh are in urgent need of help," UNICEF said in a statement.

In some areas, the Bangladesh military dropped sacks of relief supplies from helicopters to people waiting on rooftops, television footage showed.

Syed Rafiqul Haque, a former lawmaker and ruling party politician in Sunamganj district, said flood shelters were crammed with people.

"Many people are still without food and water," he said.

"Cries for help are getting louder."

'Such devastation'

In Assam state in neighboring India, flooding has cut off three districts in the Barak valley and the water in parts of the region's main city of Silchar is waist-deep, authorities and residents said.

"The situation is extremely serious," Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told Reuters.

"We will try to airlift fuel to Silchar and the other two districts immediately."

Indian army and paramilitary troops have been called in to help with rescue operations and had evacuated about 1,000 people in the past 72 hours, an official said.

Assam and neighboring Meghalaya state have received 134% more rainfall than the average at this time of the year, according to data from the state-run India Meteorological Department.

About 4.7 million people have been forced from their homes in Assam, with some 330,000 staying in shelters, the government said.

"I am 80 years old and have never witnessed such devastation in my life," said Majaharul Laskar, a retired government official in Silchar.

Source: al-Monitor.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3716061/floods-swamp-more-bangladesh-and-india-millions-marooned.

India, China army talks to defuse border tensions fail

October 11, 2021

NEW DELHI (AP) — Talks between Indian and Chinese army commanders to disengage troops from key friction areas along their border have ended in a stalemate and failed to ease a 17-month standoff that has sometimes led to deadly clashes, the two sides said Monday.

The continuing standoff means the two nations will keep troops in the forward areas of Ladakh for a second consecutive winter in dangerously freezing temperatures. India's defense ministry, in a statement, said it gave “constructive suggestions” but the Chinese side was “not agreeable” and “could not provide any forward-looking proposals.” A statement from a Chinese military spokesperson said “the Indian side sticks to unreasonable and unrealistic demands, adding difficulties to the negotiations.”

The commanders from both armies met for the talks Sunday after a gap of two months at Moldo on the Chinese side in the Ladakh area. Since February, both India and China have withdrawn troops from some faceoff sites on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra and Galwan Valley, but they continue to maintain extra troops as part of a multi-tier deployment.

Troops have been added at Demchok and Depsang Plains, Indian media reports say. Sunday's talks came amid frustration expressed by the Indian army chief at what he called the massive deployment of troops and weaponry by the Chinese side.

“Yes, it is a matter of concern that the large-scale buildup has occurred and continues to be in place, and to sustain that kind of a buildup, there has been an equal amount of infrastructure development on the Chinese side,” Gen. M.M. Naravane said on Saturday.

“So, it means that they (China) are there to stay. We are keeping a close watch on all these developments, but if they are there to stay, we are there to stay, too,” he said. The Chinese statement from Senior Col. Long Shaohua of the Western Theater Command said “China’s determination to safeguard its sovereignty is unwavering, and China hopes India will not misjudge the situation.”

Temperatures in the forward areas in Ladakh drop to 30 below zero Celsius (22 below zero Fahrenheit) around January. The troops from both sides used to retreat to their traditional summer holding positions around this time, but since the faceoff started in May 2020 have continued to remain close to the disputed border.

Both countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets along the de facto border called the Line of Actual Control. Last year, 20 Indian troops were killed in a clash with Chinese soldiers involving clubs, stones and fists along the disputed border. China said it lost four soldiers.

The Line of Actual Control separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. India and China fought a deadly war over the border in 1962.

Since the standoff began last year, the Chinese have been building build dozens of large weather-proof structures along the LAC in eastern Ladakh for their troops to stay in during the winter. New helipads, widening of airstrips, new barracks, new surface-to-air missile sites and radar locations have also been reported by Indian media.

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

Police arrest Indian minister's son in killing of farmers

October 10, 2021

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Indian police on Saturday arrested the son of a junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as a suspect days after nine people were killed in a deadly escalation of yearlong demonstrations by tens of thousands of farmers against contentious agriculture laws in northern India, a police officer said.

Four farmers died Sunday when a car owned by Junior Home Minister Ajay Mishra ran over a group of protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, a town in Uttar Pradesh state, officials and farm leaders said.

Farm leaders alleged that Mishra’s son was in the car when it ran over the protesters, but Mishra denied it. His driver and three members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who were in a car, were all killed by the protesters by beating them with sticks in the violence that broke out after the incident.

Police officer Upendra Agarwal said on Saturday that Ashish Misra was arrested following day-long questioning in the town after "he failed to furnish any supportive evidence to prove that he was not present in any of the three vehicles that plowed through a crowd of farmers killing four of them."

His father Ajay Mishra said that his son was innocent and that he was not present. The arrest came a day after India’s top court criticized the state government for not arresting Ashish Mishra against whom a criminal case of murder is being investigated by the police. On Friday, Mishra made the police wait for hours for questioning before sending a message that he was unwell and couldn’t make it.

Darshan Pal, a farmers’ leader, and Akhilesh Singh, an opposition Congress party leader, demanded the removal of his father from Modi’s government. Police earlier this week said they had so far arrested six people and filed a criminal complaint against 14 more, including the minister’s son, in connection with the deaths of the four farmers. The BJP also lodged a criminal complaint against the farmers over the deaths of its members and the car driver, said Arvind Chaurasia, a senior official in charge of the district.

Police also said they recovered the body of a local journalist where violence ensued Sunday but did not provide further details on how he was killed. The violence marked an escalation in ongoing protests against agriculture laws that farmers say will shatter their livelihoods. The protests have lasted since the government passed the laws last September and have been one of the biggest challenges to Modi.

Last week, thousands of farmers gathered at the edges of the capital New Delhi to mark one year of demonstrations. The government says the changes in the laws were needed to modernize agriculture and boost production through private investment. But the farmers say the laws will devastate their earnings by ending guaranteed pricing and will force them to sell their crops to corporations at cheaper prices.

India counters China in Sri Lanka with $700 million port deal

Colombo (AFP)

Sept 30, 2021

An Indian company entered into a $700 million deal Thursday to build a strategic deep-sea container terminal in Sri Lanka, officials said, in a move seen as countering China's rising influence in the region.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said it signed an agreement with India's Adani Group to build a brand-new terminal next to a $500-million Chinese-run jetty at the sprawling port in the capital Colombo.

"The agreement worth more than $700 million is the largest foreign investment ever in the port sector of Sri Lanka," the SLPA said in a statement.

It said Adani will enter into a partnership with a local conglomerate, John Keells, and the Sri Lankan government-owned SLPA as a minority partner.

John Keells said it will have 34 percent of the company while Adani will have a 51 percent controlling stake in the joint venture known as the Colombo West International Terminal.

The new container jetty will be 1.4 kilometers in length, with a depth of 20 meters and an annual capacity to handle 3.2 million containers.

The first phase of the project with a 600-metre terminal is due to be completed within two years, the company said. The terminal will revert to Sri Lanka ownership after 35 years of operation.

Plans to allow India into the strategic Colombo port goes back several years, but they were scuttled in February when trade unions linked to the ruling coalition opposed giving New Delhi a partially built terminal within the port.

Later, the government asked Indians to build a brand-new terminal adjoining the Chinese-operated Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT).

Colombo is located in the Indian Ocean between the major hubs of Dubai and Singapore, meaning influence at its ports is highly sought after.

Two Chinese submarines berthed at the CICT in 2014, sparking concerns in India which considers neighbor Sri Lanka to be within its sphere of influence.

Since then, Sri Lanka has refused permission for more Chinese submarines to be stationed there.

In December 2017, unable to repay a huge Chinese loan, Sri Lanka allowed China Merchants Port Holdings to take over the southern Hambantota port, which straddles the world's busiest east-west shipping route.

The deal, which gave the Chinese company a 99-year lease, raised fears about Beijing's use of "debt traps" in exerting its influence abroad.

India and the United States have also expressed concerns that a Chinese foothold at Hambantota could give Beijing a military advantage in the Indian Ocean.

Source: Space War.

Link: https://www.spacewar.com/reports/India_counters_China_in_Sri_Lanka_with_700_million_port_deal_999.html.

India announces COVID-19 tests and quarantine for Britons

October 01, 2021

NEW DELHI (AP) — India said Friday that British nationals arriving in the country will be subjected to COVID-19 tests and a 10-day mandatory quarantine, in response to the same measures imposed on Indians visiting the U.K.

India has been demanding that Britain revoke what it called a “discriminatory” advisory that includes Indians even if they are fully vaccinated with the Indian-made AstraZeneca shots. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had discussed the issue with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in a meeting in New York earlier this week.

A foreign ministry official said that starting on Monday, all British arrivals, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undertake RT-PRC test within 72 hours before travel, another test on arrival in India and the third one eight days later.

They will also have to quarantine at home or at their destination address for 10 days, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters. The U.K. Foreign Commonwealth and Development office said Friday it was in contact with Indian authorities. It said “the Indian authorities are responsible for setting and enforcing the rules of entry into India.''

The trouble started when Britain’s government announced what it billed as a simplification of its travel rules including allowing fully vaccinated travelers arriving in England from much of the world to skip quarantine and take fewer tests.

But the fine print on who was considered fully vaccinated proved complicated. In order to skip self-isolation, travelers must have received a vaccine under the American, British or European programs or have received a U.K.-authorized shot from an approved health body. Bodies in more than a dozen countries in Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle East made it to the list, However, India’s program was not included, nor were any programs in Africa.

Countries that received hundreds of thousands of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the U.K. itself were left wondering why their vaccination programs weren’t good enough in the eyes of the British government. That’s leading to concerns that the rules could exacerbate already worrying vaccine hesitancy in Africa as some question whether the doses available there don’t measure up.

The vast majority of Indians have been vaccinated with Indian-made AstraZeneca shots. The spat demonstrates an exasperation with the U.K. position on a number of issues, said Rob Yates, director of the global health program at the Chatham House think tank in London.

Yates said, for example, the UK is one of the worst performers among the Group of Seven industrialized countries in re-allocating vaccines it doesn’t need using the COVAX facility, which aims for equitable distribution of vaccines. It has also blocked efforts to waive vaccine patents.

“I think this is indicative of the lack of solidarity that has been shown by governments and by politicians, both in locking down and opening up,″ he said. “It’s unfortunate that we’re seeing tit-for-tat. In terms of humanity and for us all this is what we want to be avoiding. We want much more cooperation.″

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been produced by Serum Institute of India. Others have received COVAXIN, a vaccine produced by an Indian company that is not used in Britain. India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, said earlier this week that it will resume exports and donations of surplus coronavirus vaccines in October after a monthslong freeze because of the massive surge in domestic infections.

Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

Lack of critical technology restricts India's anti-satellite capabilities: IAF Vice Chief

by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi (Sputnik)

Sep 08, 2021

In 2019, India successfully carried out an anti-satellite (ASAT) test in which a ballistic missile defense interceptor destroyed a state-owned Microsat-R satellite in a flight that lasted just over half a minute.

Two years after the government dubbed the ASAT test a success, Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), divulged that the country lacks the indigenous technical capability to observe, track and identify non-allied objects in orbit. He acknowledged that there remains a wide gap in capability development for the nation's military satellite applications.

The vice chief said that space has become a playground for the world's best minds to continue evolving and breaking new ground. He has advised the country's defense research unit and space agency to integrate their existing capabilities into the air surveillance feature.

"The Air Force is aiming to expand its footprint in space exploration, in partnership with ISRO. The Kargil war [against Pakistan in 1999] served as a trigger for having additional satellites to enhance our operations. In recent times, increased focus on military space application has been one of the accelerating key factors," he said on Tuesday in New Delhi. The ISRO will launch five more satellites for the armed forces in the coming months, according to reports. Presently, Indian armed forces are said to have eight dedicated military satellites.

Observing that the ability to use aircraft as launch platforms may well be the future, Chaudhari said that space tech capabilities have become a crucial component for the IAF's military operations. "Our strategy is to fully integrate air and space capabilities to have a common operating picture in the aerospace medium," he emphasized.

India had conducted an ASAT test with a relatively small craft in comparison to communication satellites, with a surface area of some two square meters and at a low velocity. With the test, India joined a short list of countries-China, the United States, and Russia-that have demonstrated the space capability.

Source: Space War.

Link: https://www.spacewar.com/reports/Lack_of_critical_technology_restricts_Indias_anti_satellite_capabilities_IAF_Vice_Chief_999.html.

India, US to expand military engagement, defense ties

March 20, 2021

NEW DELHI (AP) — Top defense officials from India and the United States pledged Saturday to expand their military engagement, underscoring the strengthening defense ties between two countries concerned over China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met in New Delhi and agreed to deepen defense cooperation, intelligence sharing and logistics. “India is an increasingly important partner in rapidly shifting international dynamics. I reaffirm our commitment to a comprehensive forward-looking defense partnership with India as a central pillar of our approach to the Indo-Pacific region,” Austin said.

Austin is making the first visit to India by a top member of President Joe Biden's administration. His visit follows a meeting last week between leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, which together make up the four Indo-Pacific nations known as the Quad.

The Quad is seen as a counterweight to China, who critics say is flexing its military muscle in the South China Sea, East China Sea, Taiwan Strait and along its northern border with India. China has called the Quad an attempt to contain its ambitions.

Austin's Indian counterpart, Singh, said the talks were focused on “expanding military-to-military engagement.” “We are determined to realize the full potential of comprehensive global strategic partnership,” Singh said.

Austin arrived in New Delhi on Friday and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Modi “outlined his vision for the strategic partnership between the two countries and emphasized the important role of bilateral defense cooperation in India-U.S. ties.”

Before the talks on Saturday, Austin visited the National War Memorial and was accorded a ceremonial guard of honor. The timing of Austin’s visit, which follows talks between high-ranking U.S. and Chinese officials in Alaska amid a bitter exchange of words, signals the importance Biden places on New Delhi as a security ally.

The U.S. and India have steadily ramped up their military relationship in recent years and signed a string of defense deals and deepened military cooperation. In 2019, the two sides concluded defense deals worth over $3 billion. Bilateral defense trade increased from near zero in 2008 to $15 billion in 2019.

The U.S.-India security partnership enjoys strong bipartisan support in Washington, and it has grown significantly since the early 2000s even though trade agreements have been a sticking point. But in recent years, relations between the countries have been driven by a convergence of interests to counter China.

More recently, India drew closer to the U.S. following its months-long military standoff with China along their disputed border in eastern Ladakh, where deadly clashes erupted last year. Tensions between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have eased after the two countries pulled back troops from one area of contention.

India says China ties at crossroads amid border standoff

January 28, 2021

NEW DELHI (AP) — India on Thursday said its relationship with China is at a crossroads with the months-old military standoff in mountainous border areas profoundly disturbing the ties. “Peace and tranquility in the border areas is the basis for the development of relations in other domains,” External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a speech at a conference discussing India-China ties. "If they are disturbed, so inevitably will the rest of the relationship.”

"Choices that are made will have profound repercussions, not just for the two nations but for the entire world,″ Jaishankar said. Indian and Chinese soldiers brawled again last week in the Naku La area of northeastern Sikkim state. Last year, 20 Indian troops died in a clash with Chinese soldiers using clubs, stones and fists in another portion of the disputed border. China is believed to also have had casualties, but has not given any details.

Jaishankar said that with exchanges growing steadily in the past decades, China became one of India’s largest trading partners, a significant source of investment and technology and a participant in projects and infrastructure building as well as a substantial destination for tourism and education.

He said that to date India has yet to receive a credible explanation for the change in China’s stance or reasons for the massing of troops in border areas. "It is a different matter that our own forces have responded appropriately and held their own in very challenging circumstances,” he said.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese government. The standoff has continued despite nine rounds of meetings involving local military commanders and the political dialogue by foreign and defense ministers.

Both sides have mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers, artillery and fighter aircraft along the fiercely contested border known as the Line of Actual Control that separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety.

India and China fought a war in 1962.

32 acquitted in razing of India mosque that set off violence

September 30, 2020

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — An Indian court on Wednesday acquitted all 32 people accused of crimes in a 1992 attack and demolition of a 16th century mosque that sparked Hindu-Muslim violence leaving some 2,000 people dead.

Four senior leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, were among the defendants in a trial that languished in India’s sluggish legal system for almost 28 years. Seventeen of the 49 accused died of natural causes during the trial.

The four BJP leaders were accused of making inflammatory speeches that incited tens of thousands of their followers who had camped out in the city of Ayodhya ahead of the attack on the mosque. Last year, India’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of building a Hindu temple on the disputed site. Hindus believe their god Ram was born there and say the Muslim Emperor Babur built a mosque on top of a temple at the site.

The Supreme Court also ruled that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was illegal and ordered that the separate trial in the mosque demolition case be completed expeditiously. Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav ruled there was no criminal conspiracy to attack the mosque by hard-line Hindu activists and no conclusive evidence to prove it, said attorney Rishab Tripathi, who represented one of the defendants.

“The incident was not pre-planned," Yadav said in his ruling in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. “The leaders present there actually tried to control and pacify the mob.” Some of those acquitted and their supporters shouted ”Jai Shree Ram," hailing the god Ram, in the court. They later distributed sweets outside the court to celebrate the decision.

The four acquitted BJP leaders — L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh — have said the mosque’s demolition was a spontaneous eruption by angry Hindu activists. I.B. Singh, an attorney who represented Joshi, said investigators couldn't prove the authenticity of audio and video evidence submitted in the case, and the judge held that the case lacked legal evidence that the accused were part of any conspiracy.

Joshi, who was a minister in a former BJP government, said "the truth has triumphed.’’ Advani said in a statement that the judgment "vindicated his and the BJP’s belief and commitment toward the Ram temple movement."

Another acquitted defendant, Jai Bhagwan Goyal, said: “We had done nothing wrong. The whole of India is happy. Lord Ram’s temple is coming up in Ayodhya city.” The Muslim community will challenge the acquittals in an appeals court. “This is an erroneous judgment, as it is against evidence and against law," said Jaffaryab Jilani, representing the All India Muslim Law Board.

The verdict also was sharply criticized by Maulana Khalid Rashid, chairman of the Islamic Center of India, who said Muslims have always respected court decisions, but this was an injustice to the community.

“When the Supreme Court said that the demolition of the mosque was an unlawful act, how can a lower court set free the accused?” he said. Rashid said Muslim organizations should evaluate whether it is prudent to challenge the decision. “Will Muslims get justice there?” he said.

Muslim-majority Pakistan strongly condemned the court judgment and said the defendants who had "boasted of the criminal act publicly could not have been set free." Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement that Hindu nationalists' hatred of minorities, particularly Muslims, indicates that India is fast becoming a Hindu nation where minorities are second-class citizens.

On Dec. 6, 1992, tens of thousands of Hindus gathered for a rally near the disputed site, and groups climbed the mosque and demolished it with axes and hammers. The accused included Lal Krishna Advani, 92, a co-founder of the BJP who served as deputy prime minister from 2002 to 2004 under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Others included another former government minister, Uma Bharti, as well as Kalyan Singh, who was the top elected BJP leader of Uttar Pradesh state when the mosque was demolished.

In its ruling last November, the Supreme Court ordered the entire disputed area of 2.77 acres (1.1 hectares) to be allocated to Hindus for the construction of a temple, while 5 acres (2 hectares) at another location would be allocated to the construction of a mosque.

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Amnesty Int'l halts India operations, citing gov't reprisals

September 29, 2020

NEW DELHI (AP) — Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Tuesday that it is halting its operation in India, citing reprisals by the government and the freezing of its bank accounts by Indian authorities.

Amnesty International India said it has laid off its staff and paused all its ongoing campaign and research work on human rights, and that Indian authorities froze its bank accounts on suspicion of violating rules on foreign funding.

It said in a statement that the authorities' actions were “the latest in the incessant witch hunt of human rights organizations by the government of India,” and that the group's fundraising was being portrayed as money laundering because it has challenged the “government’s grave inactions and excesses.”

The Ministry of Home Affairs called the allegations “exaggerated and far from the truth.” It said Amnesty India's applications to function under a law regulating foreign grants to non-government organizations had been denied by successive governments since 2000 and that the group had circumvented the law by resorting to “mala fide rerouting of money.”

Amnesty International previously suspended its India operations in 2009 when its application to receive funds from overseas was denied by the then-governing Congress party, which now sits in opposition.

“All the glossy statements about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a ploy to divert attention from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws,” the ministry said in a statement.

Amnesty India’s executive director, Avinash Kumar, said the accounts were frozen as a result of the group’s “unequivocal calls for transparency in the government" and for the accountability of New Delhi police and the Indian government regarding “grave human rights violations in Delhi riots” and Indian-administered Kashmir.

“For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent,” Kumar said in a statement. Amnesty International said the only other country where it has ceased operations is Russia, in 2016.

It is not the first time that Amnesty India has said Indian authorities targeted its operations. In 2018, authorities raided its office and froze its bank accounts on similar charges. In 2016, it faced sedition charges after Hindu nationalists objected to an event held in the southern city of Bangalore to discuss human rights violations in the disputed region of Kashmir. The charges were dropped three years later.

The rights group regularly accuses Indian authorities of committing human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir and has released multiple reports on the raging conflict in the region. In 2019, the watchdog testified before the U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on human rights in South Asia and highlighted its findings on the use of force and torture in Kashmir.

In August, it said Indian police violated human rights during deadly religious riots in New Delhi earlier this year and accused police of beating protesters, torturing detainees and in some cases taking part in riots together with Hindu mobs.

Authorities say more than 50 people were killed when clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims over a citizenship law in February, in the worst rioting in the Indian capital in decades. Amnesty International’s acting secretary general, Julie Verhaar, called the freezing of the bank accounts an “egregious and shameful act" by the Indian government.

“It is a dismal day when a country of India’s stature, a rising global power and a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council, with a constitution which commits to human rights and whose national human rights movements have influenced the world, so brazenly seeks to silence those who pursue accountability and justice,” Verhaar said in a statement.

Amnesty India has repeatedly condemned what it says is a crackdown on dissent and freedom of speech in India. Its announcement that it is halting operations comes at a time when critics accuse Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party of increasingly brandishing laws to silence human rights activists, intellectuals, filmmakers, students and journalists.

Under Modi, critics say, India is increasingly intolerant, with a crackdown on dissent unprecedented in scale. Leaders of Modi’s party have routinely labeled critics as “anti-nationals,” and the authorities have dealt with many rights advocates and activists with an iron fist.

Fleeing coup, Myanmar police refugees in India seek asylum

March 21, 2021

MIZORAM, India (AP) — Myanmar police officers who fled to India after they said they defied orders to shoot people protesting their country's military coup are urging India's government not to send them back and to grant them asylum on humanitarian grounds.

One of the officers who has sought refuge in a village in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram along the border with Myanmar said they didn't want to return to their country until the problems there are solved.

That officer and others who spoke to The Associated Press did so on condition of anonymity out of concern for the safety of family members still in Myanmar. Another officer who fled told AP that soldiers ordered them to “arrest, beat, torture the protesters” and said police were always sent to the front whenever there was protest. She said the officers had “no choice” but to leave Myanmar.

The security crackdown following Myanmar's Feb. 1 coup has forced scores of refugees over the border into India. India’s state and federal authorities haven’t given any figures, but some state ministers have said the number could be in the hundreds. One Indian village has given shelter to 34 police personnel and one firefighter who crossed into India over the last two weeks.

The AP has not been able to independently verify their claims that they were ordered to shoot protesters, though images and accounts of the security forces’ crackdown inside Myanmar have shown intensifying violence against civilians. More than 200 people have been killed by security forces since the coup.

India's federal government and the state of Mizoram are at odds over the influx of refugees. Earlier, the Mizoram government had allowed refugees to enter and provided them with food and shelter. But last week, India’s Home Ministry told four Indian states bordering Myanmar, including Mizoram, to take measures to prevent refugees from entering India except on humanitarian grounds.

The ministry said the states were not authorized to accord refugee status to anyone entering from Myanmar, as India is not a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention of 1951 or its 1967 Protocol. On Thursday, Mizoram’s top elected official Zoramthanga wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said “India cannot turn a blind eye” to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in his state.

Zoramthanga, who uses one name, wrote in the letter that the people of his state, who share ethnic ties with the refugees from Chin communities in Myanmar, “can’t remain indifferent to their plight." He urged the federal government to review its order and allow refugees into India.

Earlier this month, Myanmar asked India to return the police officers who crossed the border. India shares a 1,643-kilometer (1,020-mile) border with Myanmar, and is home to thousands of refugees from Myanmar in different states.

Indian, Chinese defense ministers meet amid border tensions

September 05, 2020

NEW DELHI (AP) — The defense ministers from India and China have met in the Russian capital as the two sides try to lower tensions along their disputed border in the eastern Ladakh region, where a June clash killed 20 Indian soldiers.

At the meeting Friday with China's Gen. Wei Fenghe, India's Rajnath Singh said that "the current situation should be handled responsibly and neither side should take any further action that could either complicate the situation or escalate matters in the border areas," the Indian defense ministry said in a statement.

Singh also said that amassing of large number of Chinese troops, their aggressive behavior and attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo were in violation of existing bilateral agreements, according to the statement.

It was the first high-level direct contact between the two sides since the standoff erupted months ago in the Karakorum mountains. The foreign ministers and other officials of the two countries have been speaking over the phone since the standoff started in May.

The ministers met on the sidelines of a gathering of the defense chiefs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The body comprises China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Krgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India's External Affairs Ministry said the meeting took place at the Chinese defense minister's request. “Peace and security in the region demands a climate of trust, non-aggression, peaceful resolution of differences and respect for international rules,” Singh said at the meeting.

Wei told Singh the sides should “cool down” the situation and “maintain peace and tranquility,” the Chinese Ministry of Defense said on its website. However, it said responsibility for the tensions “lies completely with India.”

“Not one inch of Chinese territory can be lost,” the Ministry of Defense said. India's Defense Ministry said in a tweet that Singh conveyed to his Chinese counterpart that "the two sides should continue their discussions, including through diplomatic and military channels, to ensure complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquility along the LAC (Line of Actual Control) at the earliest.”

The tweet came as local Indian and Chinese military commanders met for a sixth straight day Saturday at a border post to iron out differences in the Chushul area in Ladakh, where new flash points emerged last week, said a top military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. He did not provide any details.

The disputed 3,500-kilometer (2,175-mile) border between the world's two most populous countries stretches from the Ladakh region in the north to the Indian state of Sikkim. The latest standoff is over portions of a pristine landscape that boasts the world’s highest landing strip and a glacier that feeds one of the largest irrigation systems in the world.

Both sides accuse the other of provocative behavior including crossing into each other's territory this week, and both have vowed to protect their territorial integrity. India’s army chief, Gen. M.M. Naravane, visited the region Thursday and Friday and met with soldiers deployed in difficult terrain above 4,300 meters (14,000 feet), the Indian Ministry of Defense said.

India said its soldiers thwarted movements by China’s military last weekend. China accused Indian troops of crossing established lines of control. The two nations fought a border war in 1962 that spilled into Ladakh and ended in an uneasy truce. Since then, troops have guarded the undefined border area, occasionally brawling. They have agreed not to attack each other with firearms.

Rival soldiers brawled in May and June with clubs, stones and their fists, leaving 20 Indian soldiers dead. China reported no casualties. Both sides have pledged to safeguard their territory but also try to end the standoff, which has dramatically changed the India-China relationship. Several rounds of military and diplomatic talks on the crisis have been unsuccessful.

This story has been corrected to remove the reference to Chinese casualties.

Associated Press writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report.

India’s residency law in Kashmir amplifies demographic fears

August 04, 2020

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — For almost a century, no outsider was allowed to buy land and property in Indian-controlled Kashmir. That changed Aug. 5 last year when India's Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped the Himalayan state’s semi-autonomous powers and downgraded it to a federally governed territory. It also annulled the long-held hereditary special rights its natives had over the disputed region’s land ownership and jobs.

Since then, India has brought in a slew of changes through new laws. They are often drafted by bureaucrats without any democratic bearings and much to the resentment and anger of the region’s people, many of whom want independence from India or unification with Pakistan.

A year later, things are swiftly changing on the ground. Under a new law, authorities have begun issuing “domicile certificates” to Indians and non-residents, entitling them to residency rights and government jobs. Many Kashmiris view the move as the beginning of settler colonialism aimed at engineering a demographic change in India's only Muslim-majority region.

Amid growing fears, experts are likening the new arrangement to the West Bank or Tibet, with settlers — armed or civilian — living in guarded compounds among disenfranchised locals. They say the changes will reduce the region to a colony.

“Given the history of Indian state intervention in Kashmir, there are efforts to destroy the local, distinctive cultural identity of Kashmiris and forcibly assimilate Kashmiri Muslims into a Hindu, Indian polity,” said Saiba Varma, an assistant professor of cultural and medical anthropology at the University of California, San Diego.

Residency rights were introduced in 1927 by Kashmir’s Hindu king, Hari Singh, to stop the influx of outsiders in the former princely state. Historians say the maharaja brought land ownership rights on the insistence of powerful Kashmiri Hindus. They continued under Indian rule after 1947, as part of Kashmir’s special status.

The new law, introduced in May amid the coronavirus lockdown, makes it possible for any Indian national who has lived in the region for at least 15 years or has studied for seven years and taken certain exams to become a permanent resident in Jammu-Kashmir. The Indian government is ensuring the process is fast-tracked and has introduced a fine of 50,000 rupees ($670) to be deducted from the salary of any official in the territory who delays the process.

Those receiving domicile certificates include Hindu refugees from Pakistan following the 1947 bloody partition of the subcontinent, Gurkha soldiers from Nepal who had served in the Indian army, outside bureaucrats working in the region and some marginalized Hindu communities. Even the natives must apply for residency, otherwise they risk losing government jobs and welfare benefits.

About 400,000 people have been given domicile certificates in over a month, Pawan Kotwal, a top Indian official was quoted on Saturday by The Tribune, a north Indian English-daily. Officials have not not said how many of them are locals and have generally been tight-lipped about the process.

Navin Kumar Choudhary, a senior bureaucrat from eastern Bihar state, was the first high-profile outsider to get residency on June 26. While Kashmiris were aghast as Choudhary's picture displaying the certificate went viral on social media, many in Hindu-majority southern Jammu rejoiced.

Gharu Bhatti, an activist working for the welfare of lower caste Hindus in Jammu, said the law ended their “slavery.” Bhatti’s parents were among some 270 sanitation workers brought by the government to Jammu from neighboring Punjab state in 1957. Since then, their numbers have grown to nearly 7,000, said Bhatti, who is among the first few dozen from his community to get the region’s residency.

“Now our kids have a future. They can be whatever they want to be. We will have choices to make now,” he said. But even some Hindu groups in Jammu have resented the law, expressing fears of job and business losses to outsiders.

Authorities have called the new residency rights an overdue measure to foster greater economic development by opening up the region for outside investments. Girish Chander Murmu, the region’s top administrative official, in late June told reporters that the law was aimed at bringing economic prosperity and dismissed any fears of demographic change as “propaganda.”

Many natives in Kashmir are skeptical of such clarifications and liken them to assurances Indian authorities made prior to the Aug. 5 decision when they said no constitutional changes were planned. Human rights activists, pro-freedom leaders and Kashmiri residents have long feared that giving outsiders the right to buy land and property could further plunge the region into chaos and set in motion a plan to crush the identity of its people.

“We have always been fed lies and deceived by gimmicks of development and democracy by the Indian state,” said Shafat Ahmed Mir, a university student. “As a people, it is the most critical time in our history and we have never faced such an existential threat before.”

Kashmir’s fury at Indian rule has been long seething. The stunning mountain region has known little but conflict since 1947, when British rule of the subcontinent divided the territory between the newly created India and Pakistan.

After a series of political blunders, broken promises and a crackdown on dissent, Kashmiri separatists launched a full-blown armed revolt in 1989, seeking unification with Pakistan or complete independence. India dubbed the armed rebellion terrorism abetted by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies.

Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict in the last three decades. Since the early 1950s, Hindu nationalists, including Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, have been advocating a solution in India’s favor by neutralizing Kashmir's Muslim majority inhabitants through settlement of Hindus from other parts of the country.

“The Indian Hindu right-wing wants a demographic solution to Kashmir, but their policies are sowing seeds for a new conflict, possibly one that will lead to unending bloodshed and lead to destabilization of the entire region,” said Mohamad Junaid, a Kashmiri political anthropologist.

The militarization of the region has increased under Modi, and in July the government eased rules for Indian soldiers to acquire land in Kashmir and construct “strategic areas” seen as settlements by the natives.

Kashmir’s oldest and main pro-India political party, the National Conference, slammed the move as a mission for a "major land grab” that could “turn the entire region into a military establishment.” With India allowing outsiders to become residents, many worry such a move could alter the results of a plebiscite if it were to ever take place, even though it was promised under the 1948 United Nations resolutions that gave Kashmir the choice of joining either Pakistan or India.

Kashmiri lawyer Mirza Saaib Beg said the newly drafted residents will acquire rights over the years that can complicate the resolution. “Historical precedent shows that Kashmiri fears are well founded,” said Varma, the anthropologist. The legal changes, she said, are “about a project to annihilate people.”

Virus surges in India, Philippines; Australia imposes curfew

August 02, 2020

NEW DELHI (AP) — Surges of new coronavirus cases continued Sunday in India and the Philippines, which recorded another daily high to surpass 100,000 total infections, as officials across the globe considered stricter measures to stymie the spread of the pandemic.

A curfew was imposed on Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, following a spike in infections. Countries including the United States, India and South Africa are struggling to rein in their first wave of infections while South Korea and others where the disease abated try to avert a second wave as curbs on travel and trade ease.

Governments worldwide have reported 684,075 deaths and 17.8 million cases, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. India's 54,735 new cases were down from the previous day's record 57,118 but raised the total to 1.75 million. The month of July accounted for more than 1.1 million of those cases.

The major cities of New Delhi and Mumbai might have passed their peaks, said a government expert, Randeep Guleria. Subways, cinemas and other public facilities are closed until Aug. 31. The Philippines reported 5,032 new cases, raising its total to 103,185, with 2,059 deaths.

On Saturday, leaders of Philippine medical organizations appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to reimpose a lockdown on the capital, Manila. They said the health system was in danger as personnel fall ill or quit due to fear or fatigue.

In Japan, the government reported 1,540 new cases, close to Friday's record of 1,579. The spike in infections, most of them in their 20s and 30s, prompted warnings young people were letting their guard down. Gov. Yuriko Koike of Tokyo, which has about one-third of the new infections, says she might declare an emergency to contain the outbreak.

In Florida, authorities were trying to prepare storm shelters while enforcing social distancing as Tropical Storm Isaias churned toward the heavily populated state. It was due to be near the coast early Sunday.

Florida reported 179 deaths on Saturday, raising its total to more than 7,000. The governor warned residents to expect power outages and said they should have a week’s supply of water and food. The United States has the world’s biggest number of confirmed cases at 4.6 million, or one-quarter of the total, and 154,361 deaths. White House coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx said Sunday that the virus had entered a “new phase” in the U.S. as it has rapidly spread in rural and urban America.

“What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread," Birx told CNN’s “State of the Union” as she urged Americans to wear face masks and observe social distancing measures.

In Australia, Premier Daniel Andrews of the southern state of Victoria announced a 8 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew on Melbourne, a city of 5 million people. Schools statewide are to return to home-based teaching and day care centers were closed.

Andrews said there were seven deaths and 671 new cases since Saturday. “If we don’t make these changes, we’re not going to get through this,” Andrews said. Also Sunday, China and South Korea reported more infections but spikes in both countries appeared to be tailing off.

China had 49 new confirmed cases, up from the previous day’s 45. Thirty were in Xinjiang in the northwest, where authorities are trying to contain an outbreak focused on the regional capital, Urumqi.

Three cases were found in students who returned from Russia to Wuhan, the southern Chinese city where the pandemic began in December. Most anti-disease controls were lifted there after the ruling Communist Party declared victory over the disease in March.

Hong Kong reported 125 new infections as authorities tried to find the source of its latest outbreak. The Chinese government said a team of seven virus testing experts was sent to the city to help. South Korea reported 30 new cases, raising its total to 14,366 with 301 deaths, but said only eight were acquired in the country.

The government warned earlier case numbers would rise as South Koreans came home from the Middle East and other places with outbreaks. Authorities say cases from abroad are less threatening because arrivals are quarantined for two weeks.

On Saturday, the leader of a secretive Korean church was arrested in an investigation into whether the group hampered the anti-virus response after thousands of worshipers were infected in February and March.

On Saturday, South Africa reported 10,107 new cases, raising its total to 503,290. That put the country fifth behind the United States, Brazil, Russia and India in total cases, though its population of 58 million is much smaller than theirs.

In Europe, the number of new cases reported in Italy dipped below 300 for the first time. An employee in the Austrian chancellery tested positive for the virus but didn’t work directly with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian Press Agency reported.

McDonald reported from Beijing. AP journalists worldwide contributed to this report.

India's PM to attend temple groundbreaking at disputed site

July 27, 2020

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a groundbreaking ceremony next week for a Hindu temple on a disputed site in northern India where a 16th century mosque was torn down by Hindu hard-liners in 1992, according to the trust overseeing the temple construction.

The ceremony is set for Aug. 5, a date organizers said was astrologically auspicious for Hindus but that also marks a year since the Indian Parliament revoked the semi-autonomous status of its only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir.

The symbolism was impossible to miss for both supporters and opponents of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, whose manifesto had for decades included pledges to strip restive Kashmir’s autonomy and to build a temple to the Hindu god Ram where the Mughal-era mosque once stood, a site in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state that devotees believe to be Ram's birthplace.

Because the coronavirus is still rampaging across India, which has reported the world's third-highest caseload, the ceremony will be broadcast live on state television and the number of participants and spectators will be limited, according to Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or the World Hindu Organization, a Hindu nationalist group allied with the BJP.

The temple will serve as “an enduring and immortal beaming center of social harmony, national unity and integration and awakening of the feeling of Hindutva,” or Hindu way of life, the organization's spokesperson Vinod Bansal said in a news release Saturday.

A century-long dispute over the site was resolved last year following the BJP's landslide election victory. In November, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the temple trust, saying that Muslim petitions would be given five acres at an alternative site.

Hindus hard-liners have long contended Mughal Muslim invaders built a mosque on top of an existing temple in the ancient city of Ayodya. A December 1992 riot following the destruction of the mosque sparked communal violence in which about 2,000 people were killed, mostly Muslims.

Meanwhile, the trial in the demolition court case continues to be heard in a special court. An architect from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Modi's home state, has proposed a towering sandstone structure 161 feet (49 meters) high with five domes.

Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister and a Hindu monk, requested that Ayodhya hold a special cleaning and purification ceremony and for all of the city's temples to light oil lamps ahead of Modi's visit, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Adityanath said the occasion marked the end of a “500-year struggle,” PTI reported.

Virus deaths top 600,000 as cases rise in India, SAfrica

July 19, 2020

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Countries from the U.S. to South Africa to India were struggling to hold down rising rates of the coronavirus, as global deaths from COVID-19 surged past 600,000 in a sign of how far off the world remains from a return to normalcy.

While the U.S. leads global infections, South Africa now ranks as the fifth worst-hit country in the pandemic with 350,879 cases — roughly half of all those confirmed on the African continent. Its struggles are a sign of trouble to come for nations with even fewer health care resources.

India on Sunday reported a 24-hour record surge of 38,902 new cases, taking the country's total to 1,077,618. Elsewhere in Asia, China confirmed 13 new cases in the northwestern city of Urumqi while South Korea reported less than 40 additional cases for a second straight day.

The Urumqi outbreak is the latest to pop up since China largely contained the domestic spread of the virus in March. At least 30 people have been infected and authorities are conducting universal testing in communities where cases were discovered, later to be expanded to other parts of the city and major businesses.

South Korean authorities are also struggling to suppress an uptick in local infections, with 34 additional cases, 21 of them domestic and 13 from overseas, raising the country’s total to 13,745 with 295 deaths.

Both countries are mandating testing and enforcing two-week quarantines on all overseas arrivals. After a one-day respite, COVID-19 cases in the Australian state of Victoria rose again, prompting a move to make masks mandatory in metropolitan Melbourne and the nearby shire of Mitchell. Health officials on Sunday recorded 363 new cases in the past 24 hours. Two men and a woman in their 90s died, taking the national death toll from COVID-19 to 122.

The World Health Organization on Saturday again reported a single-day record of new infections with 259,848. South Africa now trails the U.S., Brazil, India — all far more populous countries — in the number of infections, surpassing Peru, after health authorities announced 13,285 new cases.

South Africa’s new coronavirus epicenter, Gauteng province, hosts the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria and one-quarter of the country’s population of 57 million, with many poor people living in crowded conditions in the middle of a frosty Southern Hemisphere winter.

“The simple fact is that many South Africans are sitting ducks because they cannot comply with World Health Organization protocols on improved hygiene and social distancing,” the foundation of former South African archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu and his wife, Leah, warned in a statement.

Global COVID-19 deaths have hit 601,549, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The United States tops the list with 140,119 deaths, followed by 78,772 in Brazil and 45,358 in the United Kingdom and 38,888 in Mexico, where a surge in cases have frustrated plans to reopen the economy.

The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.2 million, out of which 3.7 million are in the United States. There are over 2 million in Brazil and more than 1 million in India. Experts believe the true numbers around the world are higher because of testing shortages and data collection issues in some nations.

Infections are soaring in U.S. states like Florida, Texas, Arizona, fueled by the haphazard lifting of lockdowns and the resistance of some Americans to wearing masks. Teams of military medics have been deployed in Texas and California to help hospitals deal with a deluge of patients who are flooding emergency rooms in parts of the U.S. Some patients are being moved into hallways to make room for most seriously ill and nurses are working extra shifts to keep up with the surge.

Patients struggling to breathe are being placed on ventilators in emergency wards since intensive care units are full, officials say. Patients are waiting “hours and hours” to get admitted, said Dr. Alison Haddock of the Baylor College of Medicine in the state of Texas, which reported a new daily record for virus deaths Friday and more than 10,000 confirmed cases for the fourth consecutive day. More than 80 infants have tested positive for the virus in the state.

“I’ve never seen anything like this COVID surge,” said Haddock, who has worked in emergency rooms since 2007. “We’re doing our best, but we’re not an ICU.” The surge of infections means that millions of American children are unlikely to return to classrooms full time in the fall.

Police in Barcelona are limiting access to some of the city’s beaches because sunbathers are ignoring regulations amid a resurgence of the coronavirus. Authorities in Amsterdam are urging people not to visit the city’s famous red light district and have closed off some of the historic district’s narrow streets because they are too busy.

Local governments in India continued to reimpose focused lockdowns in several parts of the country following a surge in cases. And in Iran, the president made the startling announcement that as many as 25 million Iranians could have been infected, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Hassan Rouhani cited a new Health Ministry study that has not been made public. Iran has the Middle East’s worst outbreak with more than 270,000 confirmed cases.

In Bangladesh, confirmed cases surpassed 200,000 but experts say the number is much higher as the country lacks adequate labs for testing. Most people in rural areas have stopped wearing masks and are thronging shopping centers ahead of the Islamic festival Eid al-Adha this month.

Scientists, meanwhile, poured cold water on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s hope that the country may return to normal by Christmas, saying that, without a vaccine, normal life was a long way off.

Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.