Tag: war

Ukraine to get cold shoulder on rapid EU entry

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Top EU leaders are traveling to Ukraine this week, but they won’t be bringing promises that the war-torn country can join the bloc anytime soon.
Brussels is expected to pour cold water on Ukraine’s hopes that it could swiftly join the EU during a two-day summit in Kyiv, according to a draft statement set to be issued at the event and seen by POLITICO.
The statement makes no specific mention of the ambitious timeline Ukraine has set out, with the country’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, even telling POLITICO this week that he hopes to join within two years. Instead, the document offers only vague assurances about moving the process forward once all EU-mandated milestones are met.

“The EU will decide on further steps once all conditions specified in the Commission’s opinion are fully met,” the draft states. “Ukraine underlined its determination to meet the necessary requirements in order to start accession negotiations as soon as possible.”
The wording follows significant pushback from some EU countries about over-promising Ukraine on its EU membership prospects, a subject Kyiv asked to address at the summit, according to several EU diplomats and officials. Though EU national leaders will not be in attendance at Friday’s summit, officials at the European Council — which includes all 27 EU leaders — have been liaising with EU countries about the final communiqué.
EU leaders last June granted Ukraine formal candidate status in record time, but that move was much easier than rapidly moving Ukraine through the grueling negotiations required to align a candidate country with the EU’s byzantine systems, rules and regulations. That process typically takes years and years, and often stalls for long periods of time.
Still, EU countries have split over how quickly the bloc should try to move Ukraine through that accession process.
“There were clear tensions between Poland and the Baltic states on one hand and other EU countries on the language to EU accession,” said one EU official.
The official added that tensions between European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are playing into the debate as well.
“They are in a race of outbidding each other toward the Ukrainians,” the official said.
Still, while no breakthroughs are expected in EU accession talks, there is a strong will in Brussels to show solidarity with Ukraine on other issues.
“The mere fact that we’re holding a summit in a country at war” is itself significant, said a senior EU official ahead of the meeting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Indeed, a large gathering of senior EU leaders and commissioners are expected to make the trek to Kyiv this week for meetings with EU officials.
Progress is expected in certain areas — for example, an agreement on a visa-free regime for industrial goods; the suspension of customs duties on Ukrainian exports for another year; movement on Ukraine joining an EU payment scheme easing bank transfers in euros; and integrating Ukraine into the EU’s free mobile roaming area.
Also on the summit’s agenda will be Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan, the reconstruction challenge facing Ukraine, and food security issues, with the EU set to announce a new €‎25 million humanitarian aid package to address Russian mining in the country.
Another EU official said that the summit sends “a strong signal that we support a country that is a victim of aggression and we underline the right of Ukraine to have a just peace at the end of this war. Ukraine has been attacked, Ukraine has a right to self-defense which they’re exercising … and only this can be a basis for a just peace.”
Reform path
The document also stresses the need for “comprehensive and consistent implementation of judicial reforms” in line with the Venice Commission’s advice, citing, in particular, the need to reform Ukraine’s Constitutional Court.
Though Ukraine recently announced changes to the court, particularly on how judges are appointed, the Venice Commission — a prominent advisory body featuring constitutional law specialists — still has concerns about the powers and composition of the body that selects the court’s candidates.
Shmyhal told POLITICO this week that Ukraine will address these questions. Kyiv has been keen to signal it is clamping down on corruption amid concerns in Washington and Brussels.
“We are holding consultations with the European Commission to see that all issued conclusions may be incorporated into the text,” he said.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

January 31, 2023
J&K government’s war against influential land grabbers

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Srinagar, Jan 31: In its war against influential land grabbers, the Jammu & Kashmir administration on Tuesday retrieved land from two former ministers and heirs of a former chief minister in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Details available with news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) reveal that J&K government retrieved land illegally occupied by Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed (former minister), family of Farooq Andrabi (Peoples Democratic Party) and heirs of Mir Qasim, former CM of Jammu & Kashmir, in Dooru area of Anantnag district.
At Arad Khoshipora, one Kanal of Kahcharie land under the occupation of Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed was retrieved. The outer wall of his premises which had been constructed on Kahcharie land has been demolished.
“Notices for removing the encroachments had been issued to the former minister but he didn’t respond to them,” sources in government disclosed.
Sayeed is associated with Congress.
According to government sources, the family of Syed Farooq Andrabi, former legislator from Dooru, had encroached upon 2 kanals and 7 marlas of Shamilat land by way of orchards at Shistergam. The same land has been retrieved and notice boards indicating the status of land have been installed on the site.
Andrabi is close relative of former CM Mehbooba Mufti.
According to sources, the authorities also retrieved 15 Kanals of Shamilat lands which had been occupied by the heirs of Syed Mir Qasim, former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

It is in place to mention that the encroachers had established an orchard at the site which was being used to earn income by utilizing public property.
A senior revenue official said that on the express directions of Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, encroachments by influential encroachers are being identified and anybody found encroaching on State / Shamilat lands will be taken to task. He said that several such influential encroachers have been identified and the drive will continue—(KNO)
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( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

January 31, 2023
NATO’s new secretary-general, same as the old one?

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With war raging in Europe, the race to find NATO’s next chief is on.
Jens Stoltenberg was a steady hand as Western capitals rushed to help Ukraine push back invading Russian troops. But as his term expires in September, speculation is growing over who might succeed him.
Could it be a woman? Someone from Eastern Europe?

Moscow’s war greatly complicates the decision, which requires consensus among the leaders of NATO’s 30 member countries.
The next secretary-general must play a tough balancing act in encouraging capitals to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine and building up NATO’s own defenses — all while formally staying out of the conflict. Few pass muster for this highly sensitive role.
The “overall feeling,” said one senior NATO diplomat, is that it is “time for fresh air.”
But the allies may end up playing it safe after all, and sticking with Stoltenberg.
The Stoltenberg card
A senior European diplomat summed up the buzz around names in three tiers, ranked by intensity of chatter.
An extension of Stoltenberg’s term is the most-mentioned option.
A second tier includes Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
A third group of less frequently mentioned names, the diplomat said, consists of Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, Slovakia’s President Zuzana Čaputová and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of Germany.
Jens Stoltenberg was a steady hand as Western capitals rushed to help Ukraine push back invading Russian troops. But as his term expires in September, speculation is growing over who might succeed him | Valeria Mongell/AFP via Getty Images
Since all of NATO’s secretaries-general have thus far been male, there is pressure within the ranks to appoint a woman.
“Time for a female Sec Gen,” said the senior NATO diplomat. “If men try to hold their positions forever, fair representation of women will never have a chance.”
And some allies have pushed for more regional diversity. Stoltenberg, who has held the job since 2014, is a former Norwegian prime minister. His most recent predecessors were Danish, Dutch and British.
The current secretary-general’s term was quickly extended last March after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Many officials now believe that another extension for Stoltenberg, even if short, is a serious possibility.
The longtime leader is seen as a safe pair of hands. Despite some delegations preferring to see a fresh face soon, Stoltenberg is still perceived as a rare senior official who can keep his cool — and stick to the script — in even the gravest of crises.
“Stoltenberg wants to stay,” said the senior NATO diplomat.
But giving Stoltenberg a short extension could make a future replacement decision collide with the EU’s own top jobs competition in 2024, not to mention the upcoming U.S. presidential election — an outcome some allies would prefer to avoid.
A NATO spokesperson declined to elaborate on Stoltenberg’s future aspirations. Asked in December about the issue, the current secretary-general told the BBC: “My focus now is on my responsibilities.”
“I don’t speculate,” he added, “about what will happen after my tenure.”
The eastern front
Some see candidates from Eastern Europe as particularly suitable.
Already before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there was momentum for the alliance to select a secretary-general from the east. Some officials in the region argue that the war has since strengthened the case for someone from a country like Estonia or Lithuania.
Slovakia’s Zuzana Čaputová ticks both boxes as a female eastern candidate, though her name is mentioned less often in alliance circles | Pool photo by Adrian Dennis/Getty Images
“For years, the countries of the eastern flank have been warning about Russia’s threat,” said an official from the Baltics.
The region’s countries, the Baltic official said, were front-runners in boosting military spending and pushing the alliance to improve its defenses.
“It would be very logical and sobering,” the official continued, “to have someone who is experienced in dealing with Russia and who understands Russia’s logic and mentality, to lead the North Atlantic Alliance.”
Slovakia’s Čaputová ticks both boxes as a female eastern candidate, though her name is mentioned less often in alliance circles.
A spokesperson for Čaputová said she was focused on her current job, but said the possibility of a Slovak being floated for the NATO post was “a strong reflection of our foreign and security decisions.”
Another figure possibly in the running is Klaus Iohannis, Romania’s president. But he could face obstacles from neighboring Hungary, and opposition from those who would prefer a female candidate.
Some western capitals, however, would not support such candidates at the moment, seeing the alliance’s east — and the Baltic states in particular — as too hawkish when war is raging next door.
Estonia’s Kallas herself has played down expectations, telling local media in November that “the likelihood of an offer like this being made” is “extremely low.”
The Western option
Western NATO countries are for some allies a reliable fallback source for possible leadership.
Wallace, Britain’s defense secretary, is well respected and has previously said that NATO would be a “nice job.” However, numerous European capitals — in particular Paris — are expected to object to a London name and insist on an EU candidate.
One possible compromise being floated in Brussels is yet another secretary-general from the Netherlands. Dutch politicians have traditionally been a popular choice for the role, previously holding the post for three terms covering 21 years in the past six decades.
The Dutch are seen as serious on defense but not as hawkish as the Baltics — and the names of current Prime Minister Rutte, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag and Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren are all circulating as possible candidates.
Asked about the speculation, Rutte said he wanted to “leave politics altogether and do something completely different.” The two Dutch ministers did not express interest in the job.
Commission President von der Leyen, a former German defense minister, is a female candidate who could gain support from western capitals nervous about the prospect of a leader from the eastern flank, but it’s unclear whether she is interested in the role. “We never comment on such speculations,” said a Commission spokesperson.
Although her reputation in security circles is mixed, von der Leyen is seen as a strong possible candidate regardless — if the timing aligns and she does not get a second term as European Commission president.
Other female politicians floated include Canada’s widely respected Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly. Nevertheless, officials say, as the alliance focuses on boosting its defenses, Ottawa’s low defense spending and non-European status mean that a Canadian is unlikely to get the job.
Amid all the speculation, some within the alliance dismiss the breathless names game.
“This is more a basket of names that came to anybody’s mind,” said a second senior European diplomat, adding: “My guess: Stoltenberg.”
Jacopo Barigazzi and Cristina Gallardo contributed reporting.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

January 31, 2023
Adani-Hindenburg war intensifies; Adani gets backing as UAE royals invest USD 400 million

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New Delhi: Billionaire Gautam Adani’s embattled group clutched on to a USD 400-million investment by Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co. in its flagship firm’s share sale to restore confidence in the conglomerate that saw nearly USD 70-billion rout in value after a tiny New York short seller came out with a damning report.
Adani, 60, who was third richest man in the world till a day before Hindenburg Research came out with its report on January 24 that flagged concerns about its debt levels and alleged stock manipulation, accounting fraud and the use of tax havens, has slipped to 8th position, narrowing the gap with rival Mukesh Ambani, whom he overtook in April last year, to just USD 4 billion.
His group late on Sunday night issued a 413-page response to the Hindenburg report in an attempt to restore confidence in the business empire but it could not cut much ice and stock prices of most group companies continued to fall and key dollar bonds sank to fresh lows on Monday.
The US short seller dismissed charges that its report on Adani Group’s malfeasance was a “calculated attack” on India, saying a “fraud” cannot be obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response that ignored key allegations.
Hindenburg released the report on January 24 — the day on which Adani Enterprise Ltd’s Rs 20,000-crore follow-on share sale opened for investors. While anchor investors poured in almost Rs 6,000 crore in the FPO on that day, the public subscription remained muted with just 3 per cent of the shares on offer being subscribed till Monday evening, according to information available on BSE.
The offer closes on January 31 and the retail investor portion — which is the biggest chunk of the FPO — is hardly 4 per cent subscribed.
IHC said it will invest about USD 400 million in Adani Enterprises’ follow-on share sale, saying it was confident in the fundamentals of the conglomerate even after the route in share value. “We see a strong potential for growth from a long-term perspective and added value to our shareholders,” its CEO Syed Basar Shueb said in a statement.
IHC is led by Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan — the UAE’s national security adviser and brother to the president.

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) also issued a separate statement saying its investments in the group are safe. “Our total holding in the Adani group companies under equity and debt on date is Rs 36,474.78 crore. This was Rs 35,917.31 crore as of December 31, 2022. Total purchase value of these equities of the group companies, bought over the past many years, is Rs 30,127 crore and the market value for the same at close of market hours on January 27, 2023 was Rs 56,142 crore.”
Punjab National Bank (PNB), which has about Rs 7,000 crore exposure in Adani Group entities, however, said it is keeping a close watch on the developing situation.
Earlier in the day, Hindenburg responded to the 413-page detailed statement issued by the Adani Group late on Sunday, saying it failed to specifically answer 62 of its 88 questions, and conflated the company’s “meteoric rise” and the wealth of Asia’s richest man “with the success of India itself”.
In the Sunday evening statement, Adani group had called Hindenburg “Madoffs of Manhattan” and that its report was “not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India.”
Standing by its report that alleged “fraud” at the second largest conglomerate in India run by the world’s then-third richest man, Hindenburg said it disagrees with Adani group’s assertion of its report being an attack on India.
“To be clear, we believe India is a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future,” it said. “We also believe India’s future is being held back by the Adani Group, which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation.”
A “fraud is fraud, even when it’s perpetrated by one of the wealthiest individuals in the world,” it said, adding, “Adani also claimed we have committed a ‘flagrant breach of applicable securities and foreign exchange laws’. Despite Adani’s failure to identify any such laws, this is another serious accusation that we categorically deny.”
Adani’s 413-page response only included about 30 pages focused on issues related to the report and the remainder consisted of 330 pages of court records, along with 53 pages of high-level financials, general information, and details on “irrelevant” corporate initiatives such as how it encourages female entrepreneurship and the production of safe vegetables.
On Sunday evening, Adani group said the Hindenburg report was intended to enable the US-based short seller to book gains by crashing stock prices.
The report had come just as a Rs 20,000-crore share sale at the group’s flagship company, Adani Enterprises, opened to anchor investors.
“All transactions entered into by us with entities who qualify as ‘related parties’ under Indian laws and accounting standards have been duly disclosed by us,” it had said late on Sunday. “This is rife with conflict of interest and intended only to create a false market in securities to enable Hindenburg, an admitted short seller, to book massive financial gain through wrongful means at the cost of countless investors.”
Hindenburg reiterated that it was short on the Adani group through US traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments.
In the January 24 report, it had called out the conglomerate’s “substantial debt”, which includes pledging shares for loans; that Adani’s brother Vinod “manages a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities” that move billions into group companies without required disclosure; and that its auditor “hardly seems capable of complex audit work”.
Hindenburg, which is known for having shorted electric truck maker Nikola Corp and Twitter, said the Adani group has responded to its questions on the source of billions of dollars that have flowed from Vinod Adani-associated offshore shell entities saying it is neither aware nor required to be aware of the source of funds.
Vinod Adani is the brother of Gautam Adani.
Separately on Sunday, Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Singh had expressed confidence in the follow-on public offer of Adani Enterprises sailing through.
He likened the behaviour of Indian investors participating in the sell-off to the colonial-era Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar.
“In Jallianwala Bagh, only one Englishman gave an order, and Indians fired on other Indians,” Singh told the Mint business daily, when asked why the market believed the Hindenburg report. “So am I surprised by the behaviour of some fellow Indians? No.”
At least 379 people were killed when Gen. Reginald Dyer on April 13, 1919, ordered about 50 Indian army soldiers to shoot at unarmed, peaceful civilian protesters.
Since Tuesday’s close last week, shares of Adani Total Gas tanked 39.57 per cent, Adani Transmission tumbled 37.95 per cent, Adani Green Energy declined 37.93 per cent, Ambuja Cements went lower by 22.28 per cent and Adani Ports fell 21.55 per cent on the BSE.
In three days, shares of ACC tanked 18.47 per cent, Adani Enterprises fell 16.38 per cent, Adani Wilmar dipped 14.25 per cent, Adani Power (14.24 per cent) and NDTV (14.22 per cent).
The group firms have collectively lost over Rs 5.56 lakh crore in market valuation between Tuesday last week and Monday.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 30, 2023
Lack of ability to tackle Ukraine war reflects UNSC’s ‘dysfunctional’ system: UNGA prez

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New Delhi: The “dysfunctional” system of the UN Security Council has been reflected in the “absurd” situation arising out of one of its permanent members attacking Ukraine and the global body’s failure to address it, UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said on Monday.
In an address at a think-tank, Korosi called for urgent reform of the UNSC to reflect the changing balance of global power and economic heft of various countries and criticized the slow process that was started around 17 years back to bring the changes.
India has been strongly demanding permanent membership in the UNSC considering the size of its population and role in international affairs. The current permanent members of the UNSC are China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.
Addressing a group of diplomats, strategic affairs experts, and academicians at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), the UNGA president also wondered why there is still no agreement on a text to take forward the reform process.
“Does it have a time frame? No, I think it does not. Does it have a negotiated text, no it does not…Have you ever seen a negotiated process that has no text to negotiate? Have you ever seen a negotiating process that has no clear-cut timeframe for when to deliver,” he asked.
“Why the member states cannot do it? Because the interests are very much divided, and for some, it is more preferable to see the current dysfunctional stage than to embark on a reform,” he said.
The Hungarian diplomat, who is currently serving as the President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, commended India’s call during its recent membership of the UN Security Council, for peace in Ukraine and its humanitarian aid for people hit by the conflict.
Korosi said the war in Ukraine has caused untold suffering and displacements and “unleashed” an energy and food crisis across the globe.

The president of the UN General Assembly, on a three-day visit to India also lauded New Delhi for sending medical aid and Covid-19 vaccines to a large number of countries to help them deal with the pandemic.
Korosi also complimented India for the safe evacuation of its citizens from Ukraine after Russia started its invasion of that country in February last year.
On the reform of the UN Security Council, the UNGA President urged the member states to make compromises and consider even making partial agreements under a step-by-step approach to reform of the UNSC. “Otherwise it will be very very difficult.”
Korosi identified the Ukraine war and lack of agreement on a text for taking forward the reform process.
“There are two major problems that we are facing. One was brought up by the war in Ukraine. The Security Council was created in 1945 to be the prime responsible organ for catering to international peace and security, to make sure that there would be no more wars,” he said.
The aim of the UNSC was to avert war and large-scale destruction, and, therefore, extraordinary powers have been placed into the hands of the Council, he said.
“What if the Security Council members, one of them, a permanent member that has those extraordinary powers including the Veto power, is the one attacking its neighbor? It created a situation where the Security Council is incapable of addressing this issue,” Korosi said.
“Since the very beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Security Council has not been able to take any decision on the war on Ukraine. So it is an absurd situation which is describing the dysfunction of the Council,” he said.
The UNGA president millions of people who were expecting the UN to deliver were frustrated by the UNSC’s approach towards the Ukraine crisis.
“If millions of people were expecting the Security Council to make sure that wars would not be repeated, they would be frustrated. I can understand that,” he said.
Korosi said the composition and the working method of the UNSC were based on the situation in 1945-46 following the Second World War.
“Since then, much has changed. The world economy has changed, the balance of power in the world has changed.. so it is absolutely understandable that the countries and the leaders of the world are more and more impatiently demanding that the Security Council should be reformed,” he said.
The UNGA president said the reform process can be taken forward if the member states want.
“It is up to the member states to come up with some kind of shared understanding. Some kind of compromise. I very strongly asked the member states to think very hard. Do you want to spend another 17 years on a process or do you want to see results as soon as possible.” he said.
“If they like to go for the second (option), they will have to make compromises, they will have to make agreements. Maybe partial agreements. Maybe a step-by-step approach. Otherwise, it will be very very difficult,” she said.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 30, 2023
Top House Foreign Affairs Republican agrees with possibility of war with China

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A Democrat who chaired the House Armed Services Committee for four years was nowhere near as fatalistic.
“Anything is possible. I’m really worried when anyone starts talking about war with China being inevitable,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said, also on “Fox News Sunday.”
War with China is “highly unlikely,” and “generals need to be very cautious about saying we’re going to war,” he added.
Pushed by host Shannon Bream, McCaul cited China’s interest in possibly invading the island nation of Taiwan — which it considers part of its territory — as a catalyst for war, and he accused President Joe Biden’s administration of “projecting weakness.”
But Smith and McCaul agreed that the United States’ military supplies are insufficient in the face of possible conflict, in China or elsewhere.
“This is a huge problem,” Smith said. “We don’t have the industrial base, and we don’t have the ability to ramp up that industrial base.”
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#Top #House #Foreign #Affairs #Republican #agrees #possibility #war #China
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 29, 2023
Trump unveils new education policy loaded with culture war proposals

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“As the saying goes, personnel is policy and at the end of the day if we have pink-haired communists teaching our kids we have a major problem,” Trump said. “We’re at the end of the list on education and yet we spend the most, but we’re going to be tops in education no matter where you go anywhere in the world.”
Though large swaths of education policy are dictated by state and local governments, Trump’s proposals still represent a radical departure from long-standing approaches. Taken in full, they represent an attempt by the former president to put his own imprint on debates around the nation’s school systems that have popped up across state capitals.
Conservatives, for example, have pushed for restrictions on transgender athletes, even though transgender women have been allowed to compete in women’s categories in the Olympics since 2003 and the NCAA since 2010.
Just days ago, meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) — a potential 2024 competitor — blocked high schools in his state from teaching an Advanced Placement African American studies curriculum over what he described as the inclusion of topics like “queer theory” and movements that called for “abolishing prisons.”
The White House and education groups, including the College Board, have pushed back aggressively on DeSantis, arguing that he has no basis or credibility to make such determinations. More broadly, school administrators and progressive activists have noted that most public school officials across the country do not teach critical race theory, even in districts where lawmakers are seeking to ban it.
But Trump’s policy proposal underscores how primed Republicans are for these types of fights. During his time in office, the main thrust of Trump’s education platform was not so much on cultural elements as on a desire to expand school choice, including a federal tax credit to help parents pay for private school tuition.
Now running for office again, Trump is calling for a certification program for teachers who “embrace patriotic values” and “funding preferences and favorable treatment” for states and school districts that follow his calls for abolishing teacher tenure. He also calls for cutting administrative roles, and adopting a “parental bill of rights.” Trump said he would also remove “the radical zealots and Marxists” he claims have “infiltrated” the Department of Education.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 27, 2023
Balakot Surgical Strike: Did Trump Administration Prevent India-Pak Nuclear War?

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SRINAGAR: Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has claimed that India and Pakistan were on the verge of a nuclear war in February 2019, when India resorted to surgical strikes deep inside Balakot. In his latest book he has claimed that his then-Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj woke him up for a phone conversation to tell him that Pakistan was preparing for a nuclear attack and that India too was preparing to retaliate, The Tribune reported.
A 2019 photograph showing Dr Jaishankar with his US counterpart, Mike Pompeo
Writing in Never Give an Inch: Fighting for America, Pompeo claims the phone call came when he was in Hanoi for the US-North Korea summit on February 27-28 and his team then had to work through the night with both New Delhi and Islamabad to avert the crisis.
“I will never forget the night I was in Hanoi, Vietnam, when — as if negotiating with the North Koreans on nuclear weapons wasn’t enough —India and Pakistan started threatening each other in connection with a decades-long dispute over the northern border region of Kashmir,” wrote Pompeo in the book. “I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration in February 2019. The truth is, I don’t know precisely the answer either; I just know it was too close.”
The book reads: “After an Islamist terrorist attack in Kashmir — probably enabled in part by Pakistan’s lax counter-terror policies — killed 40 Indians, India responded with an air strike against terrorists inside Pakistan. The Pakistanis shot down a plane in a subsequent dogfight and kept the Indian pilot prisoner.”
“In Hanoi, I was awakened to speak with my Indian counterpart. He believed the Pakistanis had begun to prepare their nuclear weapons for a strike. India, he informed me, was contemplating its own escalation. I asked him to do nothing and give us a minute to sort things out (sic),’’ wrote Pompeo, mistakenly referring to Swaraj as “he”. The MEA has so far not responded to Pompeo’s recollection.
India’s foreign minister speaking to the UN general assembly on September 29, 2018
He went on to say that while the incumbent External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was “competent”, his earlier counterpart Sushma Swaraj was not “important” in the matters of external affairs and he used to directly deal with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Reacting to this, Jaishankar said, “I have seen a passage in Secretary Pompeo’s book referring to Smt Sushma Swaraj ji. I always held her in great esteem and had an exceptionally close and warm relationship with her. I deplore the disrespectful colloquialism used for her.”
Pompeo in his book also claims that “India, which has charted an independent course on foreign policy, was forced to change its strategic posture and join the four-nation Quad grouping due to China’s aggressive actions.” India and China are locked in a lingering border standoff in eastern Ladakh for over 31 months.

The bilateral relationship came under severe strain following the deadly clash in Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh in June 2020.
India has maintained that the bilateral relationship cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border area.
Pompeo called India the “wild card” in Quad. “The country (India) has always charted its own course without a true alliance system, and that is still mostly the case. But China’s actions have caused India to change its strategic posture in the last few years.”
Pompeo also explains how the Donald Trump administration succeeded in bringing India on board the Quad grouping.
The US, Japan, India and Australia had in 2017 given shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad or the Quadrilateral coalition.
“In June 2020, Chinese soldiers clubbed twenty Indian soldiers to death in a border skirmish. That bloody incident caused the Indian public to demand a change in their country’s relationship with China,” Pompeo writes.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

January 26, 2023
Biden’s next 2 years: A brutal war and a rough campaign

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Maintaining diplomatic ties with European allies, American officials have realized, will take on paramount importance as Russian president Vladimir Putin shows no signs of relenting despite repeated setbacks. The punishing conflict appears poised to last long into the foreseeable future — shadowing Biden’s likely reelection campaign and testing Europe’s resolve in the face of compounding economic woes.
“Putin expected Europe and the United States to weaken our resolve. He expected our support for Ukraine to crumble with time. He was wrong,” Biden said Wednesday. “We are united. America is united and so is the world.”
Yet, with Biden potentially weeks from announcing his reelection bid, a war with no end in sight threatens to loom over him on the trail.
Biden’s national security team — including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and national security adviser Jake Sullivan – are all remaining in their posts, for now. His incoming chief of staff, Jeff Zients, is preparing to take over his new job shortly after the State of the Union early next month.
Biden aides see the war as a winning 2024 issue for the president, who has framed the conflict as a battle for democracy.
Though Biden aides don’t expect the war to be one of the top issues heading into the next election, polling suggests that the public backs the president. A new Ipsos poll released this week shows that a majority of Americans favor keeping the weapons supply line to Ukraine open — while keeping the U.S. military off the battlefield.
In last year’s congressional lame duck session, the White House secured funding for Ukraine that should last for several months. Although the new GOP House majority has threatened to cut off or curtail future aid, the West Wing is already plotting to lobby mainstream Republicans to vote for future assistance.
“Opposing aid to Ukraine may help you win some votes in a Republican primary. But it’s still a terrible way to win votes in a general election,” said former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.). “To this day, there are a heck of a lot more Ukraine flags flying in my New Jersey district than Trump flags, even in the more conservative areas.”

Still, some senior congressional Democrats fear that conditions on the ground in Ukraine could eventually hurt Biden’s narrative.
They worry that if Russia makes gains, or if Ukraine simply fails to advance further by the fall, voters will wonder why the administration expended so much money, weapons and time propping Ukraine up at all. All the talk of standing up for democracy, they fear, will mean little if Kyiv is on the back foot while Moscow gains strength.
The tanks, therefore, represent the war’s short and long-term realities colliding.
Deploying the Abrams pried Leopard tanks from Germany, beginning their journey to Ukraine. The decision to send tanks comes as Russia is mobilizing more troops, safeguarding supply lines and refining their tactics. A new victory in Soledar on Wednesday put Moscow one step closer to seizing the strategic eastern city of Bakhmut.
Biden will have to, at once, manage a long-haul war and a two-year campaign. Senior administration officials aren’t too worried about the politics part. “Opponents are saying we’re doing too much or not enough. That suggests our approach is just right. We’re confident in our approach, and this is a debate we’re ready to have,” one of them said.
But the military components will be far more tricky to manage. American officials estimate that it could be many months, and potentially a year, to fully get Ukrainian troops to use the Abrams, signifying the expanding belief that the war will still be raging at that time. The German-made Leopards, however, could be in Ukraine within three months.
The more powerful vehicles may also, U.S. officials believe, help Ukraine to tilt the fighting in the east and mount its own counteroffensive.
But Russia still controls about 20 percent of Ukraine, and the officials believe the Ukrainian goal of retaking Crimea, which Russia took by force in 2014, remains unlikely and may deter Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from sitting across the table from Russian negotiators.
A prolonged war and a lack of clear progress could threaten to tear European unity apart and cause public support for Ukraine to fall on both sides of the Atlantic, administration aides fear.
For now, Biden’s decision to tie the Abrams transfer to Germany’s Leopards decision has kept the allies in lockstep.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz had been reluctant to unilaterally send the tanks, which can be deployed much more quickly than the Abrams.
For weeks, Washington and Berlin held secret talks, trying to push Scholz to send the tanks, which would also allow other European nations to deploy Leopards from their own arsenals. Poland, along with the Baltic States, stands closer to the fighting. They had said they would send their own tanks if Scholz approved, throwing a normally technical dispute into an open, bitter diplomatic melee.
Biden, meanwhile, moved on two tracks, according to two U.S. officials. He knew Ukraine needed Leopards on the battlefield immediately, but no one would see them on Ukraine’s muddy terrain unless he gave Scholz the political cover he needed. So after a final recommendation from Austin — whose Defense Department had previously called sending Abrams to Ukraine a bad idea — Biden moved to approve the tanks and linked the announcement with Scholz’s own declaration.
Scholz agreed to send his tanks Wednesday morning in Berlin. Hours later at the White House, Biden did the same.
“The Abrams tanks are not going to be in Ukraine in time for a spring offensive. So it seems we’re ready to commit to Ukraine for the long haul,” said Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. “But you can see the importance, too, of the U.S. role in managing the relationship with Germany and also Germany’s relationships with its European allies.”
Biden, who entered office determined to rebuild trust with transatlantic allies and was scarred by four years of Donald Trump’s treatment of Europe, has long backed Scholz.
When the new chancellor visited Washington last February, just ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden defended Scholz from sharp questioning during a White House press conference over the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project that was nearly complete. And since the war began, he has made it a point of incrementally escalating the West’s involvement in the war, hand-in-hand with NATO allies.
“Scholz is afraid of escalation by Russia, and if it’s clear these German tanks are being sent with the U.S., then the U.S shares that risk,” said Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute, a think tank in Berlin, who warned that the next American election may change the support from across the Atlantic.
“Europeans should remember that the Biden administration will probably be seen as the last truly transatlantic minded administration. We’ll never have it as good as we have it with Grandfather Biden taking care of our needs, and that has to sink in in Europe.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 26, 2023
Ukraine-Russia War: Germany Confirms To Send Its Leopard 2 Battle Tanks To Ukraine – Kashmir News

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BERLIN — Finally Germany has agreed to allow its state-of-the-art Leopard 2 tanks to be donated to Ukraine, in a marked shift from its leaders’ reluctance to significantly increase military support to help the country fight Russia.
The announcement by Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday, coupled with an anticipated decision by the US to send about 30 M-1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. After Pressure has been building for weeks on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government to send the tanks and allow NATO allies to do the same before expected spring offensives by both sides.
Im Kabinett hat der @Bundeskanzler heute weitere Unterstützung an die #Ukraine mit der Lieferung von #Leopard 2 Panzern angekündigt. Auch Partnerländern wird eine entsprechende Genehmigung erteilt. Das ist eng mit den internationalen Partnern abgestimmt. https://t.co/e31Kf3V1oi
— Steffen Hebestreit (@RegSprecher) January 25, 2023
Scholz told his Cabinet of his decision that Germany will further strengthen its military support for Ukraine, German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said. “The Federal Government has decided to make Leopard 2 battle tanks available to the Ukrainian armed forces,” he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stands next to a Leopard 2 main battle tank of the German armed forces while visiting an army training center in Ostenholz, Germany, on Oct. 17, 2022. David Hecker/Getty Image
Germany’s decision paves the way for other countries such as Poland, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway to supply some of their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, going some way towards delivering the hundreds of tanks that Ukraine says it needs.
The Kremlin warned on Wednesday that if Western countries supply Ukraine with heavy tanks they will be destroyed on the battlefield.
“These tanks burn like all the rest. They are just very expensive,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The Kremlin’s warning came as a Moscow-backed official said Russian forces had advanced in Bakhmut, a town in eastern Ukraine that Russia has been trying to capture for months.
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( With inputs from : kashmirnews.in )

January 25, 2023