.style1 { font-size: small; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } .style2 { color: #555382; } .style3 { text-decoration: none; } PAK DRAWS DOWN TROOPS FROM KASHMIR
Pakistan has for years publicly rebuked calls to redeploy military forces from Kashmir, where they are positioned for battle with arch-rival India, to its Western border to Afghanistan to fight jihadist groups based there. However, a report to Congress by the Department of Defense suggests Pakistan has been queitly doing just that. The report suggests Pakistan has drawn as many as 100,000 troops from its eastern border, leading to “the repositioning of substantial Pakistani forces from the eastern border and stronger efforts to combat militants,” according to Michele Flourney, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. However, Flourney warned that “any significant escalation of tensions between Pakistan and India could cause Pakistan to shift its large military… back toward its eastern border with India.” It is unclear whether Pakistan’s change of heart is designed exclusively to battle domestic Islamist terrorists or as a response to a significant Indian troop drawdown announced in 2009. India’s Ministry of Defense acknowledged last year that it had drawn redeployed a division of 30,000 troops from the Kashmir region. Ashok Mehta, a retired Indian general estimates that along the Kashmir borders India now has 200,000 and 250,000 troops positioned while Pakistan has between 150,00 and 200,000 regular and paramilitary personnel. (Wall Street Journal April 30, 2010)
MAOIST PROTESTS PARALYZE NEPAL
Sustained political gridlock in Nepal is inching the country towards instability and potentially a return to violence. The Maoist movement, a former insurgent group and now the largest party in the country’s constituent assembly with 35% of the seats, rallied supporters for an indefinite strike beginning May 2 over an apparent failure to amend the Nepali constitution by an approaching May 28 deadline. The Maoists want the current prime minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal to step down but lack the support in parliament to bring him down. Maoist leaders have threatened that the protests could turn violent and formed a 27 km human chain around the capital for two hours on May 4. In the week since the strike was called Nepal has been paralyzed and small clashes have broke out in the capital and along its outskirts between Maoist supporters and opponents. On May 6 the strike generated counter-protests known as “peace strikes.” Tens of thousands filled the streets of the capital, Kathmandu demanding an end to the Maoist strike. On May 7th the three major political parties, the CPN-Maoist, the Nepali Congress, and the party of the Prime Minister, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) met without agreement but by nighttime the Maoists, under growing international and domestic pressure, called off the strike. However, Maoist leader Pushpha Kamal Dahal, known simply as Prachandra, said that “our protest will now take a different nature and we reserve the right to resume the indefinite strike at a later date.” He also announced that the Maoists would again demonstrate on May 8 and would encircle the Singha Darbar or seat of government on May 9 “until the current puppet government steps down.” (Nepali Times May 7, 2010)
[Editor’s Note: On a side note, the U.S. called for “Nepal’s two immediate neighbors, India nad China to play a constructive role to end the current political impasse.” It was the first time the U.S. had called on China to play a greater role in Nepal, traditionally seen as part of India’s immediate sphere of influence. The announcement follows a joint U.S.-China statement issued in November 2009 during President Barack Obama’s visit to Beijing pledging to “strengthen communication, dialogue and cooperation on issues related to South Asia.” That vision was realized on May 3 with inaugural meeting of the U.S.-China “sub-dialogue on South Asia” at the Assistant Secretary and Vice-Foreign Minister level. It is expected that the U.S. will not attempt to impede China from signing a watered –down “nuclear cooperation deal” with Pakistan as a quid pro quo for the U.S.-India nuclear deal and Chinese assistance on the Iranian nuclear program.]
INDIA AND PAK EYE NAVY UPGRADES
Over the next ten years India will construct 10 stealth frigates, including the one that was commissioned in April and two more to be brought online in the next year. India will also procure 3 stealth frigates from Russian and has an order out for an additional 3, bringing the total number over the next decade to 16. The indigenous Shivalik-class vessels under construction will be the mainstay of India’s frigate fleet for the first half of the 21st century. They are equipped with “a judicious mix of Russian, Western and indigenous weapons and sensors” including the Klub surface-to-surface missiles and the Shtil and Barak air defense missiles. (The Economic Times April 21, 2010)
Meanwhile Pakistan will in August take control of the refurbished USS McInerney from the U.S. in August 2010. The 30-year-old guided missile frigate was result of a $65 million deal signed in 2008 and part of a Pakistani plan to build a fleet of eight Perry-class frigates. However, Pakistani officials insist they will be getting the frigate for free under a “hot transfer” as part of the Foreign Military Financing program. (Indian Express April 27, 2010)
INDIA AND CHINA BRING WATER ISSUES INTO THE OPEN
South and Southeast Asian nations downstream of the Himalayan river system have long been suspicious of Chinese water projects in Tibet, not least New Delhi which has for years accused China of constructing power plants on parts of the Brahmaputra river. China flatly denied those charges – even amidst the emergence of satellite evidence in 2009 -- until now. During a late-April visit to China by Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna, Chinese officials for the first time admitted a 510MW hydropower project – the first of five – was underway on the Brahmaputra at Zangmu, in the Lhokha prefecture of Tibet. China has insisted, and Indian officials appear to accept, that the projects will not in fact store or divert any water from the rivers. On April 27 a 12-member Chinese delegation met in New Delhi with a team of top level officials for 3 days to “discuss mechanisms for sharing hydrological data on the Sutlej and Brahmaputra rivers.” India and China have no water-sharing agreement akin to the Indus Water Treaty signed by India and Pakistan. (Business Standard April 27, 2010)
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe