Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Gwadar Port ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons/ Credits- Author) Source- The Diplomat Author- Jack Detsch China’s President Xi Jinping came to Pakistan bearing serious cash this week, pledging to invest $46 billion in their neighbor’s fragile infrastructure on Monday. Much of that money will go toward the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It’s a mix of roads, rails, and pipelines that will connect Beijing’s infrastructure at Gwadar Port in Balochistan, just off the southern tip of the Persian Gulf, with Xinjiang province on China’s western frontier, some 3,000 kilometers away. That will do much to enrich a relationship that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif once described as “sweeter than honey.” It also gives China a direct route by land to the Indian Ocean basin, the site of 70 percent of the world’s oil traffic. If enacted, that plan would enable China’s naval vessels and merchants to bypass the Malacca Strait, long a haven for pirates and militants who

The President Nicolas Maduro  ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Cancilleria Del Ecuador) Source- The Diplomat Author- Shannon Tiezzi Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday that China has provided a new loan of $5 billion to Venezuela. Maduro said the loan would be used to “finance development,” but did not provide details. Venezuela, already in a precarious economic situation, has been hit especially hard by the dramatic drop in oil prices that began last year. Data from Venezuela’s oil minister suggests that Venezuelan oil prices have fallen almost 50 percent since last year – from $97 a barrel in April 2014 to $50 a barrel today. Maduro visited China in January 2015, making no secret of the fact that he hoped to secure a fresh infusion of funding to shore up Venezuela’s struggling economy. Since 2007, China has provided over $50 billion in loans to Venezuela in so-called oil-for-loan deals. That means the loan is repaid in the form of oil a

The truth Rahul Gandhi will never tell you about the land bill: 1. Shri Rahul Gandhi blames Gujarat model for land acquisition. Does he know SC and UPA lauded Gujarat for its land model? 2. Rahul Gandhi should do his homework better. SC praised Gujarat Model of Land Acquisition   http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/land-act-a-fraud-learn-from-gujarat-says-sc/827449 3. Was Rahul Gandhi on a holiday when DIPP under UPA said Gujarat’s Land acquisition Model is the best?   http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/gujarat-follows-best-land-policy-dipp-study/ 4. Congress suffering selective memory loss. Why did UPA drop 13 pro Farmer clauses? NDA included them in the land bill.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcdn9onqE28&index=2&list=PLBG6UuYpOcTvKP8NIUDdFNiZFZEDBlqTm  5. Congress is misguiding people on Consent Clause. Hear PM expose this malicious propaganda  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtSj8mU0eRw&index=8&list=PLBG6Uu

IAF SU-30MKI ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Grubb)  Source- Russia & India Report India has signalled its intent to strike enemy targets with devastating force early on in a conflict. In September 2010 India’s newly constituted tri-services Strategic Forces Command (SFC) submitted a proposal to the Defence Ministry for setting up two dedicated squadrons of aircraft comprising 40 Su-30MKI air dominance fighters. The task of this “mini air force” is to deliver nuclear weapons. The picture became clearer in October 2012 when the Cabinet Committee on Security green lighted a programme to carry out structural and software modifications on 42 Su-30MKIs and acquire 216 air-launched BrahMos missiles. Until then, the BrahMos – the product of an India-Russia joint venture – was for exclusive use by the Navy. In March 2015 the SFC received the first of these 42 Sukhois equipped with the air launched version of the supersonic BrahMos. This is the first time t

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- Srisez  Source- The Diplomat Author- Anthony Fensom India has emerged as Asia’s leading light as China’s slowdown continues and other developing economies struggle to pick up speed, according to the latest economic indicators. On Wednesday, China released data showing the world’s second-biggest economy expanded at its weakest pace since 2009 in the March quarter, slowing to an annualized gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 7 percent on lower investment growth and a weak property sector. While in line with Beijing’s official target and the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, industrial production slowed to its lowest level since 2008 and fixed asset investment hit a record low, causing Asian stocks and market interest rates to fall. For the quarter, China’s economy grew by 1.3 percent, down from 1.5 percent growth in the previous quarter, with analysts urging further monetary easing to counter

Image credits- The BBC Source- Eurasia Review Author- Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia might have miscalculated when it went into Yemen, not with boots on the ground but with bombs from the air, to try and deter the advance of the Shiite Houthi rebels. Riyadh and its Gulf allies, somewhat grandiosely called their intervention ‘Operation Decisive Storm’, obviously borrowing the jargon from the West. When it began the airstrikes, which appeared to be in imitation of a number of similar Western actions in the Middle East and North Africa, the Saudis and their co-bombers might have assumed it would be a cake-walk. It wasn’t. Notwithstanding mounting civilian casualties, the Houthis fought back with resilience that took the Gulf monarchies by surprise. In their consternation, the monarchies turned to the militarily most powerful Muslim State, the nuclear-armed Pakistan, asking for military support. The Pakistani response was a greater shock to them tha

Image credits- Flickr/ MEA Official photo gallery, Government of India Source- Eurasia Review Author- Dr . Rajaram Panda North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong made a surprise two-day visit to India on 12-14 April 2015, the first by a foreign minister of that country in 25 years and thus a rare high-level engagement between India and North Korea. India and North Korea established diplomatic relations in December 1973. The timing and significance of the visit cannot be missed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to make a maiden three-nation visit to China, Mongolia and South Korea in May 2015. For India, this gave a good opportunity to reassess its stand on the on-going conflict between the South and North Koreas. As scheduled, Yong met with Sushma Swaraj and Vice-President Hamid Ansari. One cannot also miss the timing of the visit as India’s defence minister Manohar Parikkar left on a four-day visit to South Korea on 14 April even when Yong was still i

INS Visakhapatnam ( Source- Internet Image) Source- The National Interest Author- Zakhary Keck India will launch the lead vessel of its new class of super advanced, stealth destroyers on Saturday, according to numerous local media reports. This week a number of Indian publications reported that the Indian Navy plans to launch the INS Visakhapatnam in Mumbai this weekend. The ship will be the first of four Visakhapatnam-class stealth destroyers that India is building as part of Project 15B. These vessels will serve as the follow-ons to the three Kolkata-class guided missile destroyers. As India’s largest destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam and its sister ships will be a boon to India’s naval power projection capabilities. “At 7,300 tonnes, Visakhapatnam will be the largest destroyer commissioned in the country and will be equipped with the Israeli Multi Function Surveillance Threat Alert Radar (MF-STAR) which will provide targeting information to 32 Barak 8 long-ra

Image Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Department of State Source- The Diplomat Author- Alyssa Ayres This post is the first of a series looking at how India and South Asia will feature in the American presidential election of 2016. Hillary Clinton’s April 12, 2015 presidential campaign launch kicked the U.S. presidential race for 2016 into higher gear. It’s also the first American campaign announcement to garner significant media attention in India. Due to her long history with India—as first lady, a senator, and secretary of state—Clinton is a known quantity in the region and has a clearly articulated policy record on South Asia, unlike other presidential candidates. One Indian paper covered her campaign launch with the headline, “Hillary hearts India.” That background makes it easier to assess how a possible Clinton administration might approach ties with India. First and foremost, she sees India as a crucial part of U.S. strategy in a world inc