Comment & Briefs

With the inclusion of its Commander in the all powerful Central Military Commission, the PLA Air Force is well placed to play an ever more important role in China’s defence apparatus.

The issue of water allocation and water rights of Bangladesh, India and China could form the basis of a framework on which joint cooperation among the three countries can be formulated.

If India does not modernize in an evenly spread out manner, it will be faced either with the prospect of its armed forces not being prepared, or rushing to make purchases amidst crises, or creating needless hysteria when frenzied modernization occurs.

Even as the new amendments incentivise domestic companies to enter defence production, the government has made it clear that it wants a competitive environment in defence industry.

Notwithstanding the community formation ideas in different shapes coming from Japan and Australia, the EAS came out with as many as 42 deals on issues ranging from outstanding trade and economic matters to the launch of a human rights commission.

From its base in Pakistan’s Baluchistan, Jundallah has had opportunities to forge cooperative ties not only with the ISI but also with the Taliban as well as with the intelligence services of countries interested in stoking anti-Iranian activism.

The draft deal is envisaged as a test of Iran’s intentions, and from the Iranian point of view as a test of Western countries’ assurance to facilitate its peaceful nuclear programme.

The orientation of the existing administrative set up in Service Headquarters and in departments under the Ministry of Defence is to plan for the utilization of defence budget allocation. They are not in a position to pay attention to the aspect of defence receipts.

Post an American exit, China is likely to increase its investments in Afghanistan, provide employment to hundreds of unskilled Afghan workers, and assume the role of regional stabiliser.

The US may have satiated its desire for vengeance but risks losing sight of its objectives due to liberal atavism, inconstancy, pusillanimity and operational ineptitude.