Lessons that China learnt from the Ladakh standoff
Beijing’s perceptions of New Delhi’s potential threats to its interests may force it to look for alternate ways of conflict initiation while retaining international credibility
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China would have observed the growing strength of information operations and influence warfare in current-day standoffs. (Express Illustrations)
Everyone’s favourite subject these days is the Ladakh standoff and the current status of the agreement to disengage and de-escalate. The reading public is getting a surfeit of fairly good strategic literature to remain well informed. Most issues revolve around the trust deficit with China, the possibility that Beijing will pause and recommence a standoff at some other point of the long border with India, and the need for our nation to develop its infrastructure and its armed forces to match that of its northern neighbour in the eventuality of serious exchanges across the b
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Many people are trying to make sense of the recently concluded elections to district development councils (DDCs) in Jammu & Kashmir, a practice that does not exist anywhere else in the country. At best of times it’s not easy to comprehend the complexities that go with events in J&K; there is invariably a political, diplomatic or security-related fallout. These elections can be viewed through the structural reform and administrative advantage they bring, the political fallout of the electoral exercise, and the security spin-off.
It’s clear that by adding another layer between the panchayats and the legislative Assembly, it’s essentially an experiment to empower the grassroots, as authorised by the J&K Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, and under J&K Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996, of the Constitution of India. In a region where separatist trends have been prevalent, one of the better ways of defeating them is by more political and executive empowerment at the lower levels