News
India, China working on Ladakh peace formula: Alternate week patrolling after disengagement
BY S VENKAT NARAYAN
Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, September 29:
India and China are working on a formula wherein their troops will patrol forward locations every alternate week so as to avoid violent face-offs between soldiers on the ground.
Top government sources said this has been the established practice on the countries’ border in Northeast India, and has worked well barring the occasional face-off. However, the border infrastructure development along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, as planned by India, will continue since the activities are well within territory it controls.
“In the Northeast, both sides patrol every week to their patrolling points. We know when the Chinese are coming, and they know when we are coming. This ensures that the troops don’t come face-to-face. This is something that can be done in the forward areas of Ladakh too,” ThePrint news portal quoted an Indian source as saying.
Local commanders in the Northeast speak to each other regularly — a practice that has continued even during the Ladakh stand-off, with the Chinese even saying that both sides must ensure that what happened in the northern sector (Ladakh) should not be allowed to develop there.
“However, we are not leaving anything to chance. Our strict vigil continues all along the LAC. There has not been any kind of aggressive deployment by the Chinese in the Northeast,” the source said.
However, the sources underlined that the formula being worked out will come into effect only when disengagement at the LAC is completed.
India insists that China needs to take steps for disengagement first, since it was the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that moved in.
According to previous India-China agreements, each side is supposed to have a patrol strength of 15-20 troopers.
However, since the 2017 Doklam stand-off, when India stepped into Bhutanese territory and blocked China’s illegal road construction activity, the PLA started bringing in bigger patrols along the LAC.
“From 15-20, the number increased to 30 and so on. It has been happening over a period of time. It came to such a point that they started coming en masse and surrounding our troops.
This resulted in scuffles, and that led to stone-throwing. Then, the Chinese started bringing in clubs and sharp weapons like machetes,” a source said.
This is what happened on 15 June in the Galwan Valley. “It was a melee. We could not open fire because the bullets could have hit our own,” the source said.
India has made it clear to China that its soldiers will open fire to defend themselves, and Chinese tactics of “using mass” will not be tolerated.
China has more than doubled its air bases, air defence positions, and heliports near the LAC since the Doklam crisis.
“The 2017 Doklam crisis appears to have shifted China’s strategic objectives, with China more than doubling its total number of air bases, air defence positions, and heliports near the Indian border over the past three years,” a report by leading global geopolitical intelligence platform Stratfor had said.
News
President Anura Kumara Disanayake holds discussions with Secretary of the Communist Party of China for Sichuan Province
President Anura Kumara Disanayake, who was on a four-day state visit to China, met with Wang Xiaohui, Secretary of the Communist Party of China for Sichuan Province, this morning (17).
Chengdu, one of the happiest cities in China, is the capital of Sichuan Province and a leading city where the blend of cultural heritage and development harmoniously flourishes, offering its residents a high quality of life.
During the discussions, both sides explored the potential to elevate economic, trade, cultural, tourism, and intergovernmental relations between Sichuan and Sri Lanka to new heights. Sichuan’s significant achievements in various sectors, including energy, were acknowledged, and the President invited the Secretary of the Sichuan province to share their expertise and success stories with Sri Lanka.
President Disanayake emphasized that Sri Lanka is currently on a path to economic stabilization under a transparent and investor-friendly administration. He noted that the country is at a critical political turning point, with the current government empowered by a two-thirds majority granted by a united population from the north, east, west, and south. The government is fully committed to meeting the expectations placed upon it by its citizens.
Additionally, the President underscored Sri Lanka’s attractiveness as a destination for Chinese tourists and extended a warm invitation to the people of Sichuan to visit the island and experience its exceptional hospitality.
Joining the discussions were Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath and Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Bimal Rathnayake.
[PMD]
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL)’s Director of Communications Jayanath Herath announced that the PUCL has decided to reduce electricity tariffs by an average amount of 20% overall for a six month period with effect from midnight today (17)
Accordingly, tariffs have been reduced by 29% for consumers who consume less than 30 units of electricity in the domestic sector.
The consumers who consume between 31 – 60 units of electricity in the domestic sector will receive a 28% reduction of the tariff.
The consumers who consume between 61 – 90 units of electricity in the domestic sector will receive a 19% reduction of the tariff
The consumers who consume between 91 – 180 units of electricity in the domestic sector will receive a 18% reduction of the tariff
The tariff reduction for Government Institution is 11%, Religious Institutions is 21% , factories is 30% and for hotels is 31%
News
Chief observer of the Election Observation Mission of the European Union (EU) Meets Prime Minister
José Ignacio Sánchez Amor, Chief Observer of the Election Observation Mission of the European Union (EU) and Member of the European Parliament, met with Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday [16th January].
Carmen Moreno, Ambassador of the European Union to Sri Lanka, and the Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Sri Lanka, accompanied Mr. Sánchez Amor. Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office also participated in the meeting.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
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