11225 A sewadar cleans the sacred pond at the Golden Temple amid fog, on New Year s Day, in Amritsar. PTI file
Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, January 3
While the New Year brought in surplus rain in Punjab, many parts of the state remained dry despite intermittent and widespread showers in the region over the past two days.
The weather department has recorded rain to be surplus by 42 per cent in the state, while the minimum temperature in some parts remained up to 8 degrees Celsius above normal over the past 24 hours.
From January 1 to January 3, Punjab as a whole received 1.1 mm rain against the normal of 0.8 mm for this period, according to data compiled by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). While parts of adjoining Himachal Pradesh received snow, rain in the hill state was 7 per cent below the long period average for this duration.
Chandigarh, December 19
India’s little-known victory over China in 1967, which had a significant impact on the future course of events in South Asia, today emerged onto the centrestage with a discussion on recently published ‘Watershed 1967: India’s Forgotten Victory Over China’ by Probal Dasgupta at the ongoing Military Literature Festival here.
The author spoke about writing the book during the Doklam standoff in 2017 when he realised that much of the ongoing discourse in India’s public domain was fixated around India’s 1962 debacle against China.
He said it struck him as odd that India’s 1967 victory over its archrival had been buried and forgotten. Speaking about the China-Pakistan nexus in 1965, which forms the beginning of the book, he discussed the involvement of the US Central Intelligence Agency and a think tank in Arlington, Virginia, that knew of a Sino-Pakistan plan to capture Kashmir alongside making inroads into Sikkim. It forced India into a defensive
Chandigarh, December 18
Stating that India’s pre-emptive moves in the Kailash Range in Ladakh has partially neutralised Chinese advantage in that sector, Lt Gen HS Panag, former GOC-in-C, Northern and Central Commands, stressed that India must not make any compromises because even a stalemate in this situation would be a defeat for China.
Speaking at a session on Sabre Rattling in Ladakh during the Military Literature Festival here today, he said though the overall advantage was still with China, if India could advance troops in areas like the Indus valley sector and southern sector, the Chinese advantage could be fully neutralised.
Chandigarh, December 19
Pointing out that China believing that its power based on its impressive economic growth gives it a position of pre-eminence in the Asian region and hence it need not adhere to any kind of a multi lateral arrangement, Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary, said that If this is China’s approach, then there is no alternative but to have a strong coalition to push back against such aggressive behavior.
Stating that India should have less hesitation in taking this forward while speaking at a session on ‘The QUAD: Emerging Indo-Pacific Naval Alliance’ at the Military Literature Festival here today, he said: The QUAD is an alliance formed by India, United States Australia and Japan .
Chandigarh, December 19
Pointing out that China believing that its power based on its impressive economic growth gives it a position of pre-eminence in the Asian region and hence it need not adhere to any kind of a multi lateral arrangement, Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary, said that If this is China’s approach, then there is no alternative but to have a strong coalition to push back against such aggressive behavior.
Stating that India should have less hesitation in taking this forward while speaking at a session on ‘The QUAD: Emerging Indo-Pacific Naval Alliance’ at the Military Literature Festival here today, he said: The QUAD is an alliance formed by India, United States Australia and Japan .