WORLD

Seventeen months into the military confrontation in eastern Ladakh, China continues to build more troops shelters along the frontier as part of its ongoing overall consolidation of military positions and upgrade of air bases facing India.

Latest surveillance and intelligence reports show the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has constructed new modular container-based accommodations for its soldiers in at least eight more forward locations along the line of actual control (LAC) opposite eastern Ladakh, say sources.

The newly-constructed troop shelters range from Wahab Zilga near the Karakoram Pass in the north to Piue, Hot Springs, Chang La, Tashigong, Manza and Churup as one goes down south along the LAC. “Each location has 80 to 84 containers arranged in seven clusters,” said a source.

Leaders from four diverse democratic nations, each country separated by thousands of miles of sea lanes, met at the White House on Friday for the first in-person Quad summit and said they would work together as only democracies can to address some of the most pressing challenges of the times.

A free and open Indo-Pacific region was the common theme in brief remarks by the four leaders — President Joe Biden of US, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia, Yoshihide Suga of Japan — as they emphasized their respective country's vision and priorities, suggesting that while the formation is reading from the same play book, they are not necessarily on the same page yet.

A ministerial meeting of the India-France-Australia trilateral grouping scheduled on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session is now off the table, a fallout of AUKUS — a trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the US that has left Paris fuming.

The trilateral ministerial would have seen external affairs minister S Jaishankar holding deliberations with his counterparts from Australia (Marise Payne) and France (Jean-Yves Le Drian). But France pulled out on the back of the formation of AUKUS.

France has been livid after the announcement of this new security pact which saw Australia cancelling a $66 million contract with France for diesel submarines. Instead, Australia will now get nuclear submarines built by the UK and the US with a rare transfer of critical technology by the US. France even withdrew its envoys from Washington and Canberra in protest, and cancelled a defence dialogue with the UK.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (September 22, 2021) arrived in Washington on an official visit to the US. During this visit, PM Modi is scheduled to hold the first face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris, attend the maiden in-person Quad summit and address the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

PM Modi is visiting the US for the 7th time after assuming office in 2014. The Prime Minister said that this visit would be an occasion to strengthen the Indo-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and consolidate ties with Japan and Australia.

"Landed in Washington DC. Over the next two days, will be meeting @POTUS @JoeBiden and @VP @KamalaHarris, Prime Ministers @ScottMorrisonMP and @sugawitter. Will attend the Quad meeting and would also interact with leading CEOs to highlight economic opportunities in India," Modi tweeted.

French President Emmanuel Macron telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to discuss cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region against the backdrop of France’s anger over the creation of a new security alliance by Australia, the UK and the US.

Modi tweeted after the call that he and Macron had discussed “closer collaboration between India and France in the Indo-Pacific” and the situation in Afghanistan. “We place great value on our Strategic Partnership with France, including in the UNSC,” the prime minister said.

A readout from the French president’s office said the two leaders “reaffirmed their shared commitment to act jointly in an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific”, with this approach aimed at promoting “regional stability and the rule of law, while precluding any form of hegemony”.