Dear Reader,
The Conflict
After speaking to multiple sources on the ground in Leh, two things have become clear: the Chinese troops used "sharp-edged" weapons in the Galwan clash and Indian soldiers "hit them back hard". A doctor who had seen the bodies of our fallen soldiers said it appeared they had fought a fierce battle, judging by their multiple stab wounds and limb fractures. Col (Retd) Sonam Wangchuk, a hero of the Kargil war, said, "After this incident, we lost 20 boys but in return the casualties that we inflicted were more than double, around 40-43."
Another country that shares its borders with China is fast emerging as a key player amid the tension between New Delhi and Beijing. India has been keeping Russia in the loop over key developments on the situation along the LAC from the understanding that it has leverage over Beijing. And External Affairs minister S Jaishankar's trip to Moscow for a Russia-India-China trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting tomorrow will present him with an opportunity to engage with his counterpart.
The list of sports equipment imported by India from China is a long one. From table tennis balls to gym equipment, the Chinese have "more than 50 per cent share" in the sports market. But its reliance on China goes deeper than importing finished products. Domestic manufacturers “depend a lot” on raw material from China. “We can’t just suddenly start boycotting Chinese products,” says a domestic manufacturer.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid writes in The Indian Express on the border tensions with China. “Where is the charm that PM Modi reserves for global colleagues? Could he not have drawn on his reserves, as he draws on the RBI reserves to keep the domestic economy from stalling in crisis? Or are we to believe that China is immune to the charm and its sense of self-interest is so strong that familiar gestures mean little.”
The Pandemic
Banks have started disbursing funds to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month but for many firms, hit hard by the pandemic lockdown, credit is still a huge challenge.
Weeks before quitting as Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Rathin Roy, ex-member of PM’s Economic Advisory Council, helps us understand the challenges and options in a likely recessionary year. “I think we need to have a settlement on NREGA at the moment when the work is executed. Those sitting in NITI Aayog and others who come up with wonderful solutions using artificial intelligence are not capable of this basic task,” he says.
Amidst social distancing norms, as many as 350 inmates have been kept in six classrooms with only three toilets at a school in Kharghar set up as a temporary jail, Journalist and activist Gautam Navlakha, who was arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case, informed his lawyer and family members.” He is sharing a room with 35 others,” his partner Sahba Husain said.
Beyond Covid-19
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship project of creating ‘model villages’ has not made “any significant impact” and “in the current format… (it) is not achieving the desired purpose”, a study commissioned by the Ministry of Rural Development has observed. “In many villages, the Hon’ble MP did not give any significant money from Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme,” the report said.
US President Donald Trump thought China was “the greatest cheater in the world”, he was “not sympathetic” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the waiver to Iran oil sanctions, and also felt that the post-Balakot crisis was “never really” a crisis — these are some of the claims that former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has made in his book, whose release the US administration earlier tried to stall.
A multiple exposure image of the annual solar eclipse as seen from India Gate on Sunday. (Express photo/Praveen Khanna)
And Finally…
The Galwan Valley in Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese troops clashed on June 15, once echoed with songs by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi. Phunchok Tashi, a veteran of the 1962 Indo-China war, recalls a time when the Chinese Army used loudspeakers to play Hindi songs to befriend the Indian soldiers and get them to leave their posts.
Until tomorrow,
Leela Prasad G and Liu Chuen Chen
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