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  • Unclaimed suitcase creates bomb scare in Poonch

    PTI

    Jammu: An unclaimed suitcase on the roadside in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir created a bomb scare on Wednesday, prompting the Army to rush in a special squad to examine the object, police said.

    However, no explosive was detected in the suitcase, which, it was later found, belonged to a soldier and contained his clothes and daily use items, a police official said.

    He said some locals noticed the “abandoned” suitcase on the roadside near Bhimber Gali main chowk and immediately informed the police and the Army.

    Police immediately cordoned off the area and diverted the traffic, the official said, adding the Army’s bomb disposal squad found no explosive material in it on inspection.

    Later, a soldier approached the army team on the spot and claimed the suitcase, the police said, but could not share other details such as how the army man missed his suitcase there and if he was on leave or on duty.

  • Firing at LAC dim hopes of breakthrough in Jaishankar-Wang talks

    Despite 18 meetings over the last few years, and two informal summits between them, the two leaders have not spoken yet during the current crisis.

    External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reached Moscow on Tuesday night to attend a meeting of the 8-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is expected to prepare for the SCO summit later this year, possibly in October.

    All eyes, however, are on an expected meeting between Mr. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the meeting (September 9-10), amidst a sudden escalation in military tensions at the Line of Actual Control after the first gunshots fired there in 45 years. This would be the first face-to-face meeting between the two foreign ministers since the beginning of tensions four months ago.

    “The Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting in Moscow will review the preparations for the forthcoming SCO Summit and also exchange views on international and regional issues,” said a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). “External Affairs Minister’s visit in Moscow will include the participation in the Council of SCO Foreign Ministers and other bilateral meetings,” it added.

    While officials would not confirm the timing for the India-China meeting, Mr. Jaishankar had acknowledged last week that he would meet with Mr. Wang whom he had known “for a very long time”. On Monday, he said the “very serious situation” at the LAC called for “very, very deep conversations between the two sides at a political level”.

    The meeting between the foreign ministers will follow a week after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met with his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe, also in Moscow, to discuss easing LAC tensions, but made no breakthrough.

    The diplomatic challenge ahead of Mr. Jaishankar is heightened by a number of factors, including the fact that the current situation at the LAC is unprecedented, said experts, with undertones of the run-up to the previous India-China war in 1962.

    “The Chinese have taken a rather boiler plate approach so far, talking about “rights and wrongs” just as they did in 1959 as relations began to deteriorate. But political level contacts must continue even as the EAM said yesterday that the crystal ball is pretty clouded at the moment. The situation is not looking good,” said former foreign secretary and former Ambassador to China Nirupama Menon Rao. “I don’t believe there is ground for much optimism on outcomes for such a meeting given the positions taken by each side,” she told The Hindu.

    The gunshots fired on Monday, which India has blamed the Chinese PLA for starting, were the first firearms used since 1975 at the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh, and the first in Ladakh since the 1962 war. In addition, the killing of soldiers at Galwan in June were also the first since 1975, while the death of an SFF soldier, who stepped on a vintage landmine while patrolling near Pangong Tso last week, was the first publicly known killing of a Tibetan soldier at the LAC in Ladakh.

    It remains to be seen whether the Jaishankar-Wang meeting in Moscow will yield a disengagement and de-escalation of the hostilities between both sides. Officials would not comment on whether that could even require an intervention from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had stepped in during the Doklam crisis of 2017, and had met on two occasions, including once in Hamburg while the standoff was underway.

    Despite 18 meetings over the last few years, and two informal summits between them, the two leaders have not spoken yet during the current crisis. They are currently slated to meet next during the G-20 summit in Saudi Arabia in November, unless the SCO FM meeting beginning Wednesday in Moscow decides on a date for the SCO summit prior to that.

    With inputs from The Hindu

    (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

  • China accuses India of ‘firing warning shots’ and ‘serious military provocation’

    Brigadier-level talks have been on-going to discuss the new stand-off in the Chushul sector.

    China’s military in a statement late on Monday accused India of “outrageously firing warning shots” in a new confrontation on September 7 on the south bank of Pangong Lake in the Chushul sector, which has seen escalating tensions for the past week.

    File photo shows an Indian Army truck crosses Chang la pass near Pangong Lake in Ladakh region.File photo shows an Indian Army truck crosses Chang la pass near Pangong Lake in Ladakh region. | Photo Credit: AP

    While the Indian Army was yet to confirm the events as of Monday night, China’s military described Monday’s confrontation as “a serious military provocation”.

    No shots have been fired along the India-China border since 1975.

    The Chinese statement suggested the on-going stand-off south of Pangong Lake marks the most serious escalation in the recent tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley, when 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers were killed. Shots were not fired during the Galwan clash.

    In a late-night statement released at 01.30 am Beijing time (11 pm IST), PLA Senior Colonel Zhang Shuili, spokesperson of the Western Theatre Command, said “on September 7, the Indian army illegally crossed the LAC and entered the south bank of Pangong Lake and the Shenpao mountain area in the the western section of the Sino-Indian border.”

    He accused Indian troops of “outrageously firing shots on Chinese border patrols soldiers who were about to negotiate,” the Communist Party-run Global Times newspaper reported.

    “The Indian side’s move seriously violated related agreements reached by both sides, stirred up tensions in the region, and would easily cause misunderstandings and misjudgments, which is a serious military provocation and is very vile in nature,” the statement said. “We demand the Indian side to immediately stop dangerous moves, withdraw personnel who crossed the LAC at once, strictly control frontline troops, seriously investigate and punish the personnel who fired the provocative shot and ensure similar incidents won’t take place again.”

    It added that the “PLA Western Theatre Command troops will firmly fulfil duties and missions and resolutely safeguard national territorial sovereignty.”

    Tensions have been high in this sector since August 29. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said last week Chinese troops engaged in “provocative action” on August 29 trying to change the status quo in the south bank, which forced India to take pre-emptive moves. India has since occupied key heights in the areas in Chushul sector.

    India has said that the latest tensions on the south bank of the Pangong Lake followed China’s similar moves along the the border since early May, where it has sought to redraw the LAC in the Galwan Valley, Depsang Plains, north bank of Pangong Lake and in the Gogra-Hot Springs area, in addition to mobilising large number of troops.

    The Foreign Ministers of the two countries are expected to meet on Thursday in Moscow, where they are attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ meeting. The two Defence Ministers met in Moscow on Friday at an SCO Defence Ministers’ meet, but the talks failed to make headway.

    Brigadier-level talks have been on-going to discuss the new stand-off in the Chushul sector, but have also not yet appeared to have achieved a breakthrough.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Chinese PLA fired shots in air, says Army

    It says PLA troops attempted to close in on one of India’s forward positions

    Chinese PLA troops armed with spears near Mukhpari area and North of Rezang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso on September 7.Chinese PLA troops armed with spears near Mukhpari area and North of Rezang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso on September 7. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

    Hours after the Chinese Army claimed that Indian troops opened fire along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the Indian Army stated on Tuesday morning that it was actually Chinese troops that fired a few rounds in the air.

    Following fresh tensions on the south bank of Pangong Tso (lake), Army Chief Gen Manoj Naravane briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the ground situation, a defence source said.

    “In the instant case on September 7, it was the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops who attempted to close in with one of our forward positions along the LAC, and when dissuaded by our own troops, the PLA troops fired a few rounds in the air in an attempt to intimidate our troops,” an Army spokesperson said in a statement. “However, despite the grave provocation, own troops exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner”.

    Chinese PLA troops armed with spears near Mukhpari area and North of Rezang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso on September 7.Chinese PLA troops armed with spears near Mukhpari area and North of Rezang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso on September 7. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

    No shots have been fired along the disputed boundary between India and China since 1975.

    India was committed to disengagement and de-escalating the situation on the LAC, the spokesperson asserted. “China continues to undertake provocative activities to escalate. At no stage has the Indian Army transgressed across the LAC or resorted to use of any aggressive means, including firing.”

    In a late night statement on Monday, the PLA accused the Indian Army of illegally crossing the LAC and entering the south bank of Pangong Tso and the Shenpao mountain area and “outrageously fired warning shots”.

    Two official sources said Chinese troops attempted to come close to an Indian-held peak on the south bank near Mukhpari area between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Monday. Their attempt was to dislodge Indian troops from one of the dominating features, one of the sources said.

    PLA’s aggressive manoeuvres

    The PLA had been “blatantly” violating agreements and carrying out aggressive manoeuvres, while engagements at the military, diplomatic and political levels were on, the Army spokesperson said, adding that the statement by the PLA Western Theatre Command was an attempt “to mislead their domestic and international audience.” 

    “The Indian Army is committed to maintaining peace and tranquillity; however, it is also determined to protect national integrity and sovereignty at all costs,” he noted.

    Brigadier-level talks have been going on for de-escalation in the area but have made no progress.

    Tensions have been running high on the south bank since September 29. In a pre-emptive move on the night of August 29 and 30, the Army occupied some unoccupied heights in the Chushul sector from Thakung to Rechin La within the Indian perception of the LAC, to foil the PLA’s attempts to dominate the heights. 

    The Army had said PLA troops carried out aggressive moves on the night of August 29 to change the status quo and they were thwarted.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Chinese troops carried rods, spears and clubs in aggressive approach towards Indian post, say govt. sources

    PTI

    The sources said Indian troops did not use any firearm.

    Chinese PLA troops armed with spears near Mukhpari area and North of Rezang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso on September 7.Chinese PLA troops armed with spears near Mukhpari area and North of Rezang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso on September 7. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

    Chinese troops carried rods, spears, clubs and sharp weapons in trying to close in on an Indian position in Mukhpari area of Rezang-La ridgeline in eastern Ladakh on Monday evening, government sources said on Tuesday.

    As tension escalated at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the sources said around 50-60 soldiers of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) approached the Indian post in the southern bank of Pangon lake area at around 6 p.m. but the Indian Army personnel posted there strongly confronted them, forcing their retreat.

    Chinese PLA troops armed with spears near Mukhpari area and North of Rezang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso on September 7.Chinese PLA troops armed with spears near Mukhpari area and North of Rezang La on the south bank of Pangong Tso on September 7. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

    It may be recalled that the Chinese troops had mounted a savage attack on Indian soldiers with stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods and clubs during the Galwan Valley clashes in eastern Ladakh on June 15 in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed.

    On Monday evening too, the Chinese troops were carrying rods, spears, clubs and sharp weapons, the sources said.

    When the Indian Army forced the Chinese troops to return, they fired 10-15 rounds in the air to intimidate Indian soldiers, in the first use of firearms along the LAC after a gap of 45 years. The previous instance of shots being fired at the de-facto border was in 1975.

    The sources said Indian troops did not use any firearm.

    They said the attempt of the Chinese troops was to remove Indian Army from the strategic heights in Mukhpari peak and Rezang-La areas.

    The PLA has been eyeing to capture the strategic heights in the last three-four days, the sources said, adding the Chinese troops damaged an iron fence on Monday evening which was put up by Indian troops in the area.

    India continues to dominate strategic peaks around the southern bank of Pangong lake area overlooking key Chinese formations in the Moldo area.

    The PLA late on Monday night alleged that Indian troops crossed the LAC and “outrageously fired” warning shots near the Pangong lake. The Indian Army on Tuesday rejected the charges.

  • Two persons held for issuing fake movement passes in Jammu

    PTI

    Jammu: Police on Tuesday arrested two persons for allegedly issuing fake movement passes in lieu of money from people entering Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

    The movement passes are necessary for inter-state and inter-provincial movement in Jammu and Kashmir since the outbreak of coronavirus in March.

    The duo was arrested at Lakhanpur corridor along the Jammu-Pathankot highway, police officials said.

    “They were accepting money for making illegal dispatch passes for persons entering the Union Territory. A number of dispatch slips were recovered from their possession,” they said.

    A case under relevant sections of law was registered against them and further investigation is on, the officials said.

    Meanwhile, the 592-meter cable-stayed Atal Setu bridge over the Ravi river connecting Kathua district with Punjab was opened this morning after nearly six months of closure.

    “The Atal Setu bridge is now open. It shall follow the same protocol of the Lakhanpur corridor. This is the second road entry to open for the UT of J&K after the lockdown,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Kathua, Shailendra Mishra said in a tweet.

    Besides movement passes, all persons entering J&K from Punjab are subjected to COVID-19 testing and administrative quarantine till reports come negative.

  • Three arrested for attempting to break open ATM in Jammu

    PTI

    Jammu: Three persons were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly attempting to break open an ATM of a bank here, officials said.

    A written complaint was lodged at Police Station Bahu Fort by manager Rattan Lal that some unidentified burglars attempted to break open the ICICI ATM near Baggar Mandi in Trikuta Nagar, they said.

    A case was registered in this connection and special police teams were formed to probe the matter, the officials said.

    During investigation, police apprehended three accused persons — Babloo Kumar, Noor-Ul-Islam and Hussain Ahmed, they said.

    The trio confessed to their crime during interrogation, the officials added.

    Further investigation in the case is on, they said.

  • Except twin J&K districts, 4G mobile internet to remain suspended till Sep 30 in UT: Govt

    Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday ordered continuous suspension of high speed mobile data services in the Union Territory except Ganderbal and Udhampur districts till September 30, 2020.

    According to an order, issued by the Principal Secretary to the government, Shaleen Kabra under number Home- 99 (TSTS) of 2020, dated 08-09-2020, a copy of which lies with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), “In pursuance of the recommendations made by the Special Committee in its meeting dated 10.08.2020 for considering calibrated casing of restrictions in limited and comparatively less sensitive geographical areas, read with the reports of the law enforcement agencies, vide Government Order No: Home- 91(TSTS) of 2020 dated 16.08.2020, the directions relating to high speed internet services in various districts were issued, which include the high speed mobile data services in the districts of Ganderbal and Udhampur shall be restored forthwith, on trial basis, while in rest of the districts, the internet speed shall continue to be restricted to 2G only: and While the post paid sim card holders shall continue to be provided access to the internet, these services shall not be made available on pre-paid cards unless verified as per the norms applicable for post-paid connections.”

    In the order, the government further stated that fixed line internet connectivity, without any speed related restrictions, shall continue to be made available with Mac-binding.

    The order added that the aforesaid directions were reviewed by the Review Committee on 21.08.2020 and 01.09.2020. The Committee, while taking note of the assessment made by the law enforcement agencies that no reports of misuse of high speed internet services in the Districts of Ganderbal and Udhampur had been reported, observed that the situation needed to be monitored closely and the law enforcement agencies have furnished credible inputs that the militant modules operating in various parts of the UT of J&K, with active support from across the border as well as separatists/anti-national elements from within, are making sustained efforts to provoke sentiments of the gullible youth and lure them into militant organizations to fill the vacuum created by the killing of many militants.

    It added also, the agencies have reported infiltration attempts by militants, along the LoC and the IB, and apprehension of facilitation of these attempts if high speed mobile data services are restored. “They have also indicated potential of misuse of high speed data services in disturbing public order,” the order added.

    “Now, therefore, considering the reports of the law enforcement agencies, inter-alia, bringing out the necessity of speed related restrictions on mobile data services, and upon assessment of the available alternatives, I. Principal Secretary to the Government Home Department, being satisfied that, it is absolutely necessary so to do in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State and for maintaining public order. in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of sections of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and sub-rule (1) of rule 2 of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017, hereby order that the directions indicated at para 1 above shall continue to remain in force till 30 September, 2020, unless modified earlier,” Kabra said.

    “The ISGP, Kashmir Jammu, who are the authorized officers in their respective areas of jurisdiction shall ensure communication of these directions to the service providers forthwith and their implementation in letter and spirit,” the order added—(KNO)

  • Students of Government Collage of Engineering and Technology, Safapora, Bandipora protest against Exam Notification

    Given mass promotion and now asked to be ready for the exam, confused students stage protest

    Srinagar: Scores of students Tuesday staged a protest here in Press Enclave Srinagar to attract the attention of Higher Education authorities towards their grievance.

    “First we were promoted from 4th semester to 5th semester and when we started preparation for the 5th semester, College issued a notification asking students to prepare for the 4th semester exam again,” the students told news agency KNT.

    The protesting students were from Government Collage of Engineering and Technology Safapora Bandipora.

    They said that University Grants Commission (UGC) had promoted them from 4th semester to 5th semester before 4 months. “But now College has issued a notification, asking us to be prepared for exams of 4th semester. After mass promotion of 4th semester we had already submitted our assignments. We are not prepared for the said exam because we were preparing for 5th semester. This is injustice towards us,” the protesting students said.

    They accused College authorities of ruining their career and taking decisions without keeping the students interests in mind.

    Students were carrying placards which read,: ‘attention higher education department, listen to our cries for Justice,’ ‘stop playing with our future’, ‘wake up from slumber @GCET Safapora.’ (KNT)

  • ‘Schools to re-open in Anantnag in open fields’

    Anantnag: Authorities have decided to re-open schools in Southern district of Anantnag in open fields.

    Schools across Kashmir are closed since March this year due to Covid-19 pandemic.

    Sources told news agency Kashmir News Trust that District Development Commissioner Anantnag K.K. Sidha held a review meeting with Chief Education Officer Anantnag, Officers of Department of Education, Social Welfare, ICDS Sectors, and Assistant Labour Commissioner Anantnag.

    During the review meeting, the District Development Commissioner Anantnag ordered CEO Anantnag to re-open the schools in open field and follow the SOP’s and guidelines issued by Administration and Health Department.

    Sources told KNT that Chief Education Officer is being asked to issue a circular to heads of the schools asking them choose a convenient isolated place adjacent to their schools so that schools could be open in open fields. (KNT)