Welcome to SCO summit, China tells Narendra Modi

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

China on Friday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit to the Tianjin Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held later this month, describing the event as "a gathering of solidarity, friendship and fruitful results." 

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) currently has nine member states: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran. Belarus was also recently admitted as a member in July 2024, bringing the total to ten. 

The SCO was initially formed in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined in 2017, and Iran was added in 2023. 

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan with the aim of promoting cooperation and peace among its member states, as well as fostering “a new democratic, fair and rational international political and economic order.” The organization expanded to include India and Pakistan in 2017 and Iran in 2023, bringing the total to nine member states. The SCO also includes 3 observer states—Mongolia, Belarus, and Afghanistan (currently inactive)—and 14 dialogue partners: Sri Lanka, Turkey, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Nepal, Armenia, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Myanmar, the Maldives, and the United Arab Emirates. The official languages of the SCO are Chinese and Russian.

2022 Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
2022 Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of government pose for a group photo at the 2022 SCO Summit, including notable leaders such as China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir

 Putin, India's Narendra Modi, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Iran's Ebrahim Raisi.

It is the world’s largest regional organization by geography and population, covering about 80 percent of the Eurasian landmass and 40 percent of the world population. As of 2021, the bloc accounted for 20 percent of global GDP. Following the integration of Iran, the SCO now controls 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 44 percent of its natural gas. The SCO is a key institution in the Chinese and Russian strategic push toward a “multipolar world,” positioning itself as an alternative to Western-dominated international forums like the United Nations. At the 2005 SCO summit, Nursultan Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan, has been quoted as saying, “the leaders of the states sitting at this negotiation table are representatives of half of humanity.”

History, objectives, and structure
Formerly the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996, the organization was renamed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2001 after Uzbekistan joined. The SCO Charter, effective from 2003, outlines its goals to promote regional peace, stability, and prosperity through cooperation in politics, economics, culture, and a coordinated effort to combat terrorism, extremism, and separatism.

Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan NazarbayevKazakhstan's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, addresses delegates during the 2007 SCO summit.

The SCO is structured around its supreme decision-making body, the Council of Heads of State (CHS), which meets yearly to discuss organizational objectives. The CHS is supported by the Council of Heads of Government (CHG), which also meets annually to discuss strategic initiatives, economic cooperation, and budgetary matters. Additional councils focus on areas such as security, technological exchange, and environmental protection. The SCO has two permanent bodies: the Secretariat in Beijing, and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The SCO maintains active partnerships with major regional and international bodies, including the UN, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and ASEAN. While decision making within the SCO requires consensus, necessitating unanimous agreement from all member states, its policies and direction are heavily influenced by Russia and China, who are united in their desire to create a non-Western geopolitical forum and set of international norms. The United States applied for observer status in 2005 and was rejected, demonstrating the SCO’s commitment to maintaining autonomy from Western influence.

Key initiatives
Security collaboration has been a central and highly successful initiative, establishing the SCO as the primary security organization in Central Asia. From 2011 to 2015, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) reported thwarting 20 planned terrorist attacks, disrupting 650 terrorist crimes, dismantling 440 terrorist training camps, arresting 2,700 extremist group members, neutralizing 1,700 others, and recovering 3,250 improvised explosive devices, 450,000 rounds of ammunition, and 52 tons of explosives. In addition to aggressive counterterrorism measures, the organization has promoted economic development and cultural dialogue as means to prevent further radicalization of vulnerable populations. The SCO has also made significant strides in anti-drug trafficking operations, accounting for 14 percent of confiscated drugs worldwide between 2012 and 2017. Despite initial skepticism of the SCO by the United Nations, the impressive outcomes of the SCO’s security operations have led the UN to recognize it as a crucial force for regional stability in Eurasia.

Energy cooperation is another key priority of the SCO. The SCO Energy Club, established in 2013, has significantly enhanced cooperation between major energy producers like Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, and consumers like China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The Club has supported projects like the Central Asia–China Gas Pipeline, and plans are underway to develop Turkey into a vital gas hub through which trade can be conducted among member states and with Europe. Beyond traditional energy sectors, China and Russia have also exported nuclear reactors to other member states. These initiatives aim to establish the SCO as a self-sufficient energy system and have played a major role in blunting the impact of international sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Access for the whole family!
The SCO intersects significantly with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) a cornerstone of China’s foreign policy designed to enhance global trade networks and infrastructure development across Asia, Europe, and Africa, functioning as a “new Silk Road.” Most SCO member states, with the notable exception of India, have endorsed or participated in the BRI, implementing projects such as the aforementioned Central Asia–China Gas Pipeline, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in Kazakhstan, and the planned China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway project. While the BRI’s focus on enhancing regional connectivity overlaps with the SCO’s objectives of promoting integration between member states, these projects have sometimes raised concerns about China’s growing influence in the region, which has led to friction with India and Russia.

Challenges and criticisms
Economic cooperation in the SCO has been limited, largely because Beijing’s proposals for a development fund and a free-trade zone have met resistance from Moscow, which harbors concerns about potential Chinese financial dominance. Some analysts suggest that the integration of India and Pakistan to the SCO may balance the financial influences within the organization and facilitate the establishment of an SCO Development Bank. However, despite the lack of organizational-level economic cooperation, economic ties between individual SCO member states remain robust.

Instability in Afghanistan has been a major challenge for SCO member states since the organization’s creation in 2001, due to the fact that Afghanistan shares borders with six SCO member states. At the SCO opening ceremony in 2001, Nursultan Nazarbayev described Afghanistan as a “cradle of terrorism, separatism, and extremism.” In 2005 the SCO-Afghanistan contact group was established for the purpose of maintaining stability in Afghanistan, and in 2012, Afghanistan became an SCO observer state, suggesting that the SCO saw potential for incorporating Afghanistan as a stable and productive member state. However, the situation in Afghanistan became a critical issue again following the Taliban takeover in September 2021. As of June 2024, no SCO member state has officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. This issue has proved divisive within the SCO, with India taking a cautious stance against legitimization of the Taliban government, and Russia, China, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan taking steps toward normalizing relations, arguing that as the Taliban continues to consolidate power in Afghanistan, ignoring the reality of its governance is not an option.
The SCO has often been criticized as a club of authoritarian governments, serving as a forum where Russia and China can normalize their aggressive posturing, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan. However, this characterization is somewhat balanced and made more nuanced by the integration of India, the world’s largest democracy, which has been viewed as a counterweight to Chinese influence in Asia.

Outlook and future prospects
The SCO is currently at a critical point in its development toward being a key force in global affairs. Balancing its relationships with the United States and European Union—characterized by a delicate interplay of cooperation and competition—remains a crucial aspect of its development. Equally important is the SCO’s ability to harmonize the interests of its member states, particularly the major powers: China, Russia, and India. The organization has also been criticized for producing more rhetoric than action, as it has not achieved the level of economic cooperation seen in organizations like ASEAN or the European Union.

Nonetheless, the symbolic power of the SCO is significant, given its massive size, its anti-Western stance, and the historical context of its most influential members—Russia, China, India, and Pakistan—who share an interest in countering Western political and economic dominance. As the balance of global power continues to shift toward a multipolar world order, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its individual member states are poised to continue growing in power and influence, both in Eurasia and globally.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
Location: China, Beijing, Chaoyang District, Ritan road, 7
Postal Code: 100600
Phone: + 86-10-65329807
+ 86-10-65329836 (Administration)
Fax: + 86-10-65329808
E-mail: sco@sectsco.org
https://eng.sectsco.org/

Tufail Matoo: Kashmir’s Youngest Victim of Violence?

Tufail’s Schoolbag: The Weight of a Nation’s Sorrow

Srinagar: June 11, 2010, is now etched into the memory of the Kashmir conflict; a day that marked a generational shift in how Kashmiris opposed Indian rule. The Baton of ‘resistance against Indian rule’ was handed over to a new generation. The day marked a beginning of a famous 2010 summer intifada in which streets of Kashmir-mostly in Srinagar’s downtown- became battlegrounds between pro-freedom youth and government forces. The street stamina was overpowered by state stamina by coming down hard on the protesters, resulting in the death of 120 Kashmiris, mostly youth.

The first casualty of 2010 summer was a teenager: Tufail Mattoo. The lone son of his family, Mattoo’s name is a synonym to the bloody summer. The son of a handicraft businessman- Mohammad Ashraf Mattoo, Tufail was killed by government forces’ tear gas shell that hit his head. Mattoo senior handed over a Rs 10 note to his son as bus fare when he was going to a tuition centre. Tufail was preparing for a medical entrance test. Mattoo didn’t know that the Rs 5 coin that was with Tufail would remain as “souvenir” for him and his son wouldn’t return. He was at home when some neighbours rushed to him with the news that shattered his life, forever: his son had been killed.

Tufail was hit by a teargas shell fired at him from a close range by the J&K police on June 11, 2010, near Gani Memorial Stadium –about 8 km from his home in Saidakadal.

His skull was bust open with the tear gas shell and he died on the spot with the five-rupee coin in his right hand. Tufail’s death led to widespread protests triggering months’ long anti-India summer uprising during which men in uniform killed nearly 120 people, mostly youth. Witnesses in the locality said the police started chasing Tufail when they saw him. As he began to run, the police fired a teargas shell at him hitting him in the head. He died, instantly.

The autopsy of Tufail also confirmed that he was killed by a teargas shell which damaged his brain and skull, busted the police claims that it was a case of “mysterious death”.

The then Chief Minister of J&K state, Omar Abdullah, appointed a retired judge Justice ML Koul to probe the civilian killings of 2010. The Koul Commission report was handed over to the present Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in December 2016 in which it was recommended that a CBI enquiry should be ordered in Tufail’s case. The report has not been made public, however.

In December 2012, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the J&K Police, which had first investigated the case, had also closed the investigation by declaring culprits “untraced”.

On the eighth death anniversary of Tufail, who is buried in Martyrs’ graveyard Eidgah, people from all walks of life came and paid tributes to him.

In February 2015, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court ordered a fresh probe into Tufail Mattoo killing. It was after Amnesty International called on Jammu and Kashmir Government in June 2013 to reopen the investigation into 2010 killing of Tufail Mattoo.

On the long-drawn battle of Mattoo, political commentator Gowhar Geelani maintained that the trigger that led to the 2010 summer uprising was the extra-judicial killings in Machil in which three civilians were lured for a job and killed in fake encounter by Indian army along the Line of Control (LoC).

“Later, a young teenage student Tufail Mattoo became a reference point. His killing by government forces in a way was a paradigm shift in seeing a new generation of Kashmir at war with the state and the idea of India in Kashmir. And the government at war with a new generation. A new generation which has a new vocabulary, that way it was pretty significant in Kashmir narrative,” he said.

Geelani said that denying justice in Tufail Mattoo’s case is a telling commentary on “how India operates in Kashmir and how brazenly it shields perpetrators and gives a free license to armed forces to commit rights violations, and also encourages the guilty personnel to believe they can get away with anything”.

An FIR was filed 11 days after Tufail was killed after the family had run from pillar to post and pleaded with the magistrate to order police to do it.

“I don’t see any progress in the case, the reason is police haven’t done a fair and proper investigation and when police are themselves involved in the crime how can one expect a fair investigation,” said noted human rights activist and lawyer Parvez Imroz. “Tufail’s father is a brave man who is fighting for the justice for last eight years but you have to understand that government forces are enjoying impunity in the state of Jammu and Kashmir where they get easily,” he added.

Human rights activist Khurram Parvez said that Tufail Mattoo was brutally killed at a time when the anger was already brewing up among the people against the killing of three innocent Kashmiris in a fake encounter by Indian Army. “In Srinagar city, such kind of killing also took place after a long time where a child who was coming back from tuition centres was killed by government forces so this killing became the news and people in large number came on roads to protest against the forces repression in Kashmir.”

“Everybody thought that there is no one safe in Kashmir and at that point of time it led to a huge public mobilisation,” he added.

Ashraf has attended more than 50 court hearings in past 8 years and he has lost all hopes on Judiciary. “I tried my best to give the opportunities to the state government for delivering justice by arresting the culprits but unfortunately they, in turn, shield them and they not only murdered the justice but their so-called democracy as well, they have been doing it in Kashmir since three decades.”

Khurram observed that since 2010 the street protest continues in Kashmir. “Whenever there is the killing of a civilian or even we can see when a militant is being killed in an encounter people start protesting in a large number. The uprising is ongoing.”

“The protest trend is not according to calendar given by Hurriyat (Conference) now; the trend is according to the killings be it a civilian or a militant,” he added.

“There is no will shown by the side of the government to investigate any crime whether it’s killing of Tufail Mattoo, rapes, torture and disappearances. They are reluctant to provide justice to the people, therefore, they are not allowing any investigation which means there is complete unwillingness of Government of India and from the state government to allow process of justice, they don’t allow these processes to function as a normal process where accountability can be created so they have given absolute impunity to armed forces and there is no deterrence and therefore these crimes are getting repeated again and again,” he maintained.

“So, his killing was actually the trigger that became the reason for the summer uprising,” he added.

Noted journalist and editor Najeeb Mubarki said that Kashmir is a cotton balefire, where enforced ‘normality’ never douses the smouldering embers and which only needs a spark to rage once again.

“Tufail’s killing in 2010 was one such spark, there have been others since and, given the fact of neither the political conflict being resolved or even the killers being ever given punishment, unfortunately, there will be other such sparks in the form of killings or other abuses. But Tufail also became a symbol, that of Kashmiri youngsters being killed by a brutal military regime calling itself a democracy and of a younger generation becoming the spearhead of resistance against the state of utter brutality,” said Mubarki.

Ashraf said, “When 120 youth were killed after my son’s killing, the parents of those youth decide not to fight the case because they were aware that they will not get the justice from the government. I decided to fight the case as I was believing and I was a staunch supporter of democracy…Today when they meet me, I told them that your decision of not fighting the case was right as justice seems to be elusive to me as well,” he said.

Referring to notes from his son’s case file, Ashraf said that it takes a lot of time for the common people to even register an FIR.

“Our application was rejected by the Police and they accepted it only after court’s direction and when it comes to probing, they do it in a way that culprits are saved and the court hearings are stretched so long that the victim gets exhausted and he ultimately gives-up the case” he explained.

“Investigation in Kashmir is a cruel joke; they do it to hush-up the case that is why I rejected the recommendations of the Justice Koul Commission of Inquiry, which had recommended a CBI investigation into the killing,” he said.

“I am the father of the victim and the points I had raised in my letter before the (Koul) commission were not even touched and thus the real perpetrators had been let off,” he alleged.

He is buried at two places, his body is buried at martyrs graveyard in the old city and the fragments of his brain that lay scattered on the ground were gathered by locals and buried nearby. “This haunts me all the time,” says Ashraf.

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Chinese weapons pass combat test in India-Pakistan clash – with flying colours

The recent military engagement over Kashmir by South Asia’s arch enemies saw India deploy its French and US weapons against Pakistan’s new range of sophisticated Chinese arms. In its first battlefield test against Western arms, Chinese weapons mostly hit the mark, sparking interest in some military circles and alarm in some capitals.

More info : -https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20250514-chinese-weapons-pass-combat-test-in-india-pakistan-clash-%E2%80%93-with-flying-colours?utm_slink=go.france24.com%2FoNX&utm_term=FRANCE24.English&utm_campaign=facebook&utm_source=nonli&utm_medium=social

Ginkgo leaf Aerodynamics: Lessons from Nature for the Skies

Ginkgo Wings: Where Nature Meets Supersonic Speed

(China's Sixth-Generation Fighter J-36)

Ginkgo leaf Aerodynamics: Lessons from Nature for the Skies

Ginkgo trees, native to China, are highly valued for their longevity, resilience, and cultural significance, and are often called the "tree of youth". They have been cultivated in China for thousands of years, particularly in ancient temples, and are known for their ability to thrive even in harsh conditions, making them symbols of hope, longevity, and peace.

The "ginkgo leaf" fighter jet, tentatively named J-36 by military analysts, is a Chinese sixth-generation stealth fighter that has been spotted in flight testing.

The J-36's distinctive wing shape resembles the leaves of a ginkgo tree, which is why it's also referred to as the "ginkgo leaf jet". The aircraft is being developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAIC).

Ginkgo biloba trees available at:

Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre

POB 40 GPO Srinagar Kashmir, JK 190001

WhatsApp/Telegram : 9858986794

e-mail: jkmpic@gmail.com

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European countries support Pakistan’s proposal for independent probe into Pahalgam attack

Phalgham

Switzerland and Greece have welcomed Pakistan’s proposal for an independent probe into the shooting incident at a tourist spot in disputed state of  Kashmir last month.

The Foreign Office said on Saturday that the Swiss government has also offered to assist in a transparent investigation.

The attack on a popular tourist spot in Pahalgam on April 22 killed 26 people. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, which Islamabad has repeatedly denied.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries increased after the attack, with India imposing trade and shipping restrictions and suspending the Indus Waters Treaty.

Pakistan has demanded an impartial and transparent international probe into the incident and warned that any military action would be met with a befitting response, although Islamabad does not want to escalate tensions.

Elderberry trees in Kashmir

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar spoke to the foreign ministers of Switzerland and Greece over the phone and presented his country’s position on the situation.

The Foreign Office quoted Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in a social media post, saying that the Foreign Minister “appreciated Pakistan’s commitment to peace and supported its proposal for an investigation.”

According to the statement, after a telephone conversation between the two leaders, Cassis said that “Switzerland is ready to offer its services to assist in an impartial investigation and to find appropriate mechanisms.”

According to another social media post, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapretis also welcomed Pakistan’s proposal for an impartial investigation and stressed the importance of restraint to avoid escalation and maintain regional stability.

A day earlier, Ishaq Dar spoke to European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaya Kalas, who stressed the need for dialogue between the two nuclear-armed South Asian countries for regional peace and stability.

The Pakistani deputy prime minister told the three European officials that Islamabad rejects India’s allegations and unilateral actions, such as the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.

He called India’s decision to “keep the treaty in suspension” a violation of international law.

Pakistan and India have fought several wars over the issue of Kashmir, which both countries claim in full but control in part. The renewed diplomatic engagement comes amid fears of further tensions after the Pahalgam attack.

Article 370 in Indian Supreme Court

Flags of Kashmir

CJI asks if petitioners want Supreme Court to assess government’s ‘wisdom’ in repealing Article 370

Dushyant Dave says abrogation exercise was “bereft of any reasons”, prompting the CJI to ask if petitioners wanted the SC to review the basis of the Centre’s decision to repeal the provision

The Supreme Court, hearing a series of petitions against the abrogation of Article 370, said that its ambit lay in investigating whether the repeal of the provision in August 2019 amounted to a “constitutional violation”. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared unenthusiastic to accept an “invitation” to judicially review the “wisdom” behind the Union government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which had given a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Instead, the Constitution Bench said that its ambit lay in investigating whether the repeal of the provision in August 2019 amounted to a “constitutional violation”.

Supreme Court hearing on Article 370 abrogation | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6| Day 7

“Are you inviting the court to review the wisdom of the decision of the Government of India on the abrogation of Article 370? Are you saying that judicial review should reassess the basis of the government decision that it was not in national interest to continue with Article 370?” Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked. More info : https://www.thehindu.com/

"The exercise of abrogation is a complete fraud on the Constitution. In the BJP manifesto, they had promised abrogation, and this Court had ruled that these manifestos cannot be against the constitutional scheme and spirit. Now because you have majority in Parliament, you have done this and it is all because you told people to vote for you and you will abrogate it. This shows power exercised for colourable considerations. President is not a rubber stamp; majority does not speak, it is not a constituent power."

After Dave concluded, Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade began his submissions for the petitioners.

He said that the Presidential proclamation leading to the abrogation was "clearly without jurisdiction," since the Governor had already dissolved the assembly and assumed all powers of the State.

"This assuming of power will not mean breakdown of law and order machinery. This is a jurisdictional issue and Article 356 has been invoked for a collateral purpose and the collateral purpose is apparent on the face of the record. The J&K Reorganization Act is born in unconstitutionality."

At this point, CJI Chandrachud asked what happens when one unites two States.

J&K did not completely integrate with India

Shah reiterated submissions he had made towards the end of yesterday that although J&K “unconditionally acceded” to India through the Instrument of Accession, it did not “integrate” with India since no “merger agreement” was executed.

He further added that the powers subsumed in Article 370 can either be termed as “sovereign or residuary” powers. Zafar Shah (Advocate)

Why did J&K need Article 370?

Shah submitted that since no merger agreement was signed, J&K maintained its “constitutional autonomy”. He added that it was through the residuary powers to make laws that the State exercised its autonomy.

People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration-PAGD

The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration is a political alliance between the several political parties in Jammu and Kashmir campaigning for autonomy for the region by restoring special status along with Article 35A of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah is the president of the alliance.

Kahwa—also known as Saffron tea , and referred to as the "drink of the soul"—is a Kashmiri saffron tea lightly flavored with Ginkgo biloba, German Chamomil and saffron.

More info..click here https://jkmpic.blogspot.com/2023/07/kashmiri-kehwa.html

Kashmiri Kehwa

If common citizens of JK are against abrogation of article 370, then how there is a reduction in militant  attacks , azadi marches and stone pelting incidents in the Valley post abrogation? Have Jammu and Kashmir residents started boycotting  seperatists?

 

Retired Air Marshal Explaining Kashmir Issue And Article 370

Retired Air Marshal Explaining Kashmir Issue And Article 370

Like this page also

Disclaimer: Not my personal opinion.

Video Credit : The Quint

More info: https://www.facebook.com/ArjumandAazad/videos/485583588668956/

China defends contentious CPEC, says it is economic initiative and has not affected its stand on Kashmir issue

India has protested to China over the CPEC, the flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it traverses through Pakistan-administrated Jammu and Kashmir .

Beijing, May 24 (PTI) China on Monday again defended its controversial USD 60 billion CPEC project with Pakistan, disregarding India''s protests as it is being laid through Pakistan administrated Kashmir, saying it is an economic initiative and has not affected its principled stand on the Kashmir issue.

Leaders of China and Pakistan have praised the progress of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in recent days as the two close allies celebrated the establishment of 70 years of their diplomatic relations. 

India has protested to China over the CPEC, the flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it traverses through Pakistan administrated Jammu and  Kashmir. 

The massive infrastructure project connects China’s Xinjiang province with Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. 

China has been defending the CPEC, saying it is an economic project not aimed at any third country. 

Answering questions on the CPEC at a media briefing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that the CPEC as one of the pioneering projects under the BRI has made important and major progress in infrastructure, energy, ports and industrial parks. 

He said the Belt and Road Initiative is an open international economic cooperation initiative with objectives of enhancing regional connectivity and achieving common development. 

"We are also extending the CPEC to regional countries, including Afghanistan. This will not only boost faster economic development in Pakistan, but also regional connectivity," he said. 

Asked how China sees regional prosperity being furthered by the CPEC in view of India’s position that it passes through Indian territory illegally occupied by Pakistan, Zhao said the project has not affected China’s principled position on Kashmir. 

"China has stated its principled position on Kashmir many times. The CPEC is an economic initiative that targets no third country. It is not about territorial disputes and does not affect our principled position on the issue of Kashmir,” he said. 

On the CPEC''s extension to Afghanistan, he said, "on third party participation in the CPEC, China is having discussions with third parties, including Afghanistan". 

"The two sides are having consultations through diplomatic channels. We notice that Afghanistan imports and exports goods through Gwadar and Karachi ports. High-speed highways are also being extended to Afghanistan,” he added. 

In a message to his Pakistani counterpart Arif Alvi on Friday on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Pakistan diplomatic relations, President Xi Jinping said the CPEC has achieved remarkable results. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said at a high-level meeting in Islamabad that the CPEC will bring economic progress not only to Pakistan but the entire region.

Abrogation of Article 370

Abrogation of Article 370 damaged India-China relationship

When China protested strongly over the August decision on J&K -- not once but twice -- we ignored it.

And to compound matters, we simply turned our back and walked over to the 'Quad' alliance with the US, upgrading it to ministerial level, and thereafter began following the American footfalls on Taiwan and COVID-19 to taunt and humiliate Beijing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

Indian analysts have been comparing the military build-up on the India-China border in eastern Ladakh to the Doklam standoff in 2017.

This was only to be expected since the leitmotif was once again road construction in disputed border regions.

In Doklam, India feared that the Chinese road would give it military access to heights from where it could threaten the Siliguri Corridor, India's tenuous link with its north-eastern regions.

In Ladakh, Indian analysts estimate Chinese military has positioned itself to challenge road construction by India that could threaten Aksai Chin and NH 219, the tenuous Xinjiang-Tibet highway.

More info: https://www.rediff.com/news/column/abrogation-of-article-370-damaged-india-china-ties/20200704.htm

Kashmir Conflict,Afghanistan, India Army in Kashmir,Latest situation in Kishtwar

Kashmir conflict ebbs as new wave of militant emerges

Younger, better-educated militants are being drawn to the separatist cause but violence and support is waning after a decades-long insurgency in the disputed territory

• 
• • Jason Burke in Tral, Kashmir
  • The Guardian, Sunday 11 August 2013 17.57 BST

Kashmir militant Burhan Muzaffar Wani. Violence is dwindly in Kashmir but a new wave of better-educated, young fighter is being drawn to the separatist cause. Photograph: Jason Burke for the Guardian

The picture – showing a fresh-faced young man leaning nonchalantly against a tree – has been circulating on social media and mobile phones for months. But the smiling 17-year-old, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a keen cricketer and successful student, is carrying an assault rifle, not a bat, and the bag at his feet does not contain notebooks.

One of a new wave of young, educated separatist militants active in the Indian-administered parts of Kashmir, Wani has much support in his village of Tral, a cluster of traditional homes and mosques amid green fields and woods in a fold of the dry hills in the south of "the valley", as the most famous, richest and strategically important part of the disputed Himalayan former princedom is known.
"Everyone in the village supports Burhan," said a friend, requesting anonymity for fear of detention by security forces as a militant sympathiser.

Kashmir, which was split between Pakistan and India after the countries gained their independence from the UK in 1947, still makes headline news. Seven towns in the Indian portion are under an indefinite curfew following sporadic clashes between local Hindus and Muslims that have killed three people, officials said.

Last week, India accused Pakistan of sending commandos to kill five of its soldiers stationed on the line of control, the de facto border dividing the two parts of Kashmir.

But overall levels of violence are lower now in Kashmir than at any time since an insurgency that pitted groups of young Muslim Kashmiris enrolled in Islamist groups, and later extremists from Pakistan too, against Indian security forces first flared more than two decades ago. In total, more than 50,000 militants, soldiers, police and civilians are thought to have died in the fighting in India's only Muslim-majority state. Human rights abuses have been perpetrated by all sides.

At its height in 2001, 4,500 deaths were recorded, according to the Institute for Conflict Management, a Delhi-based thinktank. Last year, only 117 people were killed. And though there have been spectacular attacks against military targets and scores were injured in rioting in July after four protesters were shot dead by security forces, officials in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, say there are now no more than 200 militants operating in the valley, whereas at the peak of the insurgency there were up to 20 times as many.

The unrest that has often paralysed cities and the economy in recent years has almost died away. Tourists now throng the houseboats on Dal lake or make pilgrimages to Hindu holy sites.
"I have never been worried while here. The image of Kashmir elsewhere in India is totally wrong," said Meha Sao, from the southern state of Maharashtra, on holiday in Srinagar.

Nor, despite the sentiments expressed by the friend of Wani the militant, is support for violence as widespread as it once was. "You do find some local support in pockets but these pockets have shrunk dramatically, which is why it is so difficult for the militants," said Omar Abdullah, the chief minister.
A militant hardcore still exists, particularly in southern areas such as Tral. And even if less numerous, the new militants appear highly motivated. Wani is believed to have been involved in at least one of the recent attacks on security forces.

Tral village is tense. After three militants and a policeman were killed in a recent clash nearby, leaders of Mujahideen group, the group Wani is believed to have joined, warned locals to stay away from security personnel, whom they planned to target.

Observers say the new recruits to militancy are different from volunteers over the past 20 years. They are younger and better educated. Wani is one of the youngest. His father, Muzaffar Ahmed Wani, 50, said his son had left home overnight two years ago to join the militants, aged just 15. "He said nothing to anyone. He just said he was going out and didn't come back," he said.

Though pious and brought up in a family that is supportive of the extremists, Wani had shown no sign of wanting to take up arms until he was detained and beaten by security forces, his father, the head of a local college, said.
  "He was thinking of revenge only for 15 days after being released. So he got in contact with the militants. Or maybe they heard about him and got in touch. Then he went. It was only 10 days before his exams. But I am proud of him," his father said.

It is almost certain that Wani will be killed. Few active militants surrender. Most prefer to die when cornered by security forces. "We are ready for him to die," his father said. "We are facing oppression every day. I look around and I see only ashes. There is only less violence because there is a lack of faith. Anyone with true faith joins the militants."

'We are not scared of death, we are just scared of detention'

Three hours' drive to the north, in the tough town of Sopore, the family of Muzamil Amin Dar have already faced what Wani has accepted is inevitable.

Dar, 26, was killed last October. Accounts of how and why he had joined the extremists differ. His family says Dar, a college graduate who had landed a highly paid job as a hospital medical technician with a monthly salary of £200 seven months before going underground, was not interested in radicalism.

This changed, they say, after his detention by security forces when guns were found in a well in the Dars' garden. Police say he was a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, one of the most violent organisations operating in the valley, for five years, was the mastermind of a Delhi bomb plot and was wanted for several local militant attacks including the killing of a policeman.
Over recent years Dar had become increasingly devout. He had stopped his father, an electrical repair man, from watching television and convinced another brother to leave a bank job which, Dar said, involved usury.

"Once I was watching a cricket match and he unplugged the television and shouted at me not to waste my time on trivial things," Dar's father, Mohammed Amin, said.

After his son disappeared, there was no news. Then last October, the family heard firing only a mile from their home. A huge military operation was under way. Two militants armed with assault rifles and grenades were holed up in a house, they heard. Then they learned one was Dar.

Security forces asked Dar Sr to negotiate with his son but he refused, fearing they would kill him as he came out to surrender. After nearly 12 hours of shooting, his son, badly wounded, called him and told his father to "live life according to Islam".

He died the next morning when explosions brought down the house he and the other militant had hidden in. "We miss him a lot," his father said. A policeman and a paramilitary were wounded in the firefight.

Such encounters were once regular occurrences. Now they are rare. A senior Indian official in northern Kashmir said the extremist groups had been forced to change tactics in recent years because they lacked weapons.

"They have moved from insurgency to terrorism. But if they had thousands of guns they would have thousands of fighters," he said.

This, most analysts believe, is underestimating the degree to which decades of conflict have undermined support for militancy locally.

Some suggest that security officials in the disputed province exaggerate the threat from extremism to justify wide-ranging powers of arrest and detention – and a broad measure of immunity from prosecution for human rights abuses – granted early on in the conflict.

One factor is declining official support for the extremists in Indian Kashmir from Pakistan over the past decade. Another is the growing disparity between the economies of the two neighbours, which have fought three wars over the state. Indian growth has undermined the argument for accession to Pakistan in Kashmir – though much rhetorical support for independence remains – and sapped enthusiasm for any return to a hugely disruptive violent struggle.

However, Mr Omer Abdullah, the chief minister, said economic development was only a partial solution. "You will always be plagued by the reality that there is a political issue that formed the basis for this trouble and it will have to be resolved, today, tomorrow, the day after, at some point," he said.
During a short bout of rioting in Sopore, a hotbed of insurgent violence in northern Kashmir, last month, young men spoke of their anger.

"We are not scared of death, we are just scared of detention, for our families," said Shakeel Ahmed, a 24-year-old pharmaceutical representative, before returning to throw stones at the police. "The level of militancy is low now, it is true, but it will rise, God willing."