VIF Information Alerts - 19 July 2018

US offers India armed version of Guardian drone: Sources

Published: Hindustan Times
18 Jul 2018

The United States has offered India the armed version of Guardian drones that were originally authorized for sale as unarmed for surveillance purposes, a senior US official and an industry source told Reuters. If the deal comes to fruition, it would be the first time Washington has sold a large armed drone to a country outside the NATO alliance. It would also be the first high-tech unmanned aircraft in the region, where tensions between India and Pakistan run high.Click here to read... [2]

India has initiated 214 anti-dumping probe against China: Commerce Minister

Published: The Economic Times
19 Jul 2018

The government has initiated as many as 214 anti-dumping investigations up to December last year against China, with which India has a huge trade deficit, Parliament was informed today. The trade deficit (difference between imports and exports) with China has increased to USD 63.12 billion in 2017-18 from USD 51 billion in the previous fiscal.Click here to read... [3]

IHC tells army, ISI chiefs not to intrude in other depts

Published: The Express Tribune
18 Jul 2018

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) explicitly asked on Wednesday the army chief and the top spymaster to stop meddling in affairs of other departments. Expressing seriousconcerns over the perception that a state within state existed in the country, IHC’s Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui said that as such, these elements conspired to manipulate the government and the judiciary.Click here to read... [4]

Taliban Leaders Declare a Halt to Bombings in Civilian Areas

Published: The New York Time
18 Jul 2018

Taliban insurgents are refraining from attacking Afghan civilians for the first time in many years, according to Afghan officials and the insurgents themselves. The change in tactics started after a Taliban cease-fire expired on June 17, and came after a six-month period that the United Nations said had been the deadliest yet for Afghan civilians.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location that the insurgents had been ordered to stop suicide attacks in cities that might cause civilian casualties.Click here to read... [5]

Can China-Myanmar Economic Corridor overcome hurdles to progress?

Published: Global Times
18 Jul 2018

Recently, U Aung Naing Oo, director general of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration of Myanmar, said that Myanmar and China will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), one of the key projects of the Belt and Road initiative (BRI).

The two sides reached a 15-point MoU at the working group level in February this year and agreed to collaborate on many sectors including basic infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, transport, finance, human resource development, telecommunications, and research and technology in order to develop the CMEC. Fresh progress on the CMEC since its announcement during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's Myanmar tour in November last year indicates Sino-Myanmar ties are heading in the right direction.Click here to read... [6]

Sri Lanka to go ahead with Mattala airport deal with India

Published: Financial Express
18 Jul 2018

Sri Lanka will go ahead with a deal with India to handover the island nation’s loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota, the Joint Opposition said today. “We met the Minister of Civil Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva this morning to try and stop the sale of the airport to India. He told us that the government has taken the final decision to sell it,” said Mahindananda Aluthgamage, a Joint Opposition legislator. A delegation of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa-led Joint Opposition had toured the Mattala airport yesterday.Click here to read... [7]