COUNTRY REVIEW

South Asia

Afghanistan

• Pak Foreign Minister: Peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan interlinked; UK to send in 700 more troops; PM Brown: Pak-Afghan border “crucible of terrorism”

Pakistan

• Obama: Pakistan’s civilian government “very fragile”; Pak Army takes on the Taliban in Buner and Dir; Sectarian violence flares up in Karachi as MQM activists killed by Pashtuns”

Bhutan

• Melting glaciers could pose flood problems for the country; NTPC holds talks for setting up 600 MW power plant at Phochhu”

Nepal

• Nepal government sacks CoAS, precipitating crisis; PM Dahal resigns; Maoists blame India as being responsible for the crisis; EAM Mukherjee: Developments “internal to Nepal””

Sri Lanka

• Colombo rejects US call to hand over LTTE cadres to third party countries; Rajapakse brushes aside calls for ceasefire; Sri Lanka denies request of Swedish Foreign Minister to visit the country”

East and SouthEast Asia

China

• China, Japan, South Korea reach an agreement on distribution ratio of $120 billion regional foreign exchange reserve pool; Defence Minister Laing meets President Medvedev; PLAN establishes virtual workstation for training navy personnel”

Taiwan

• Visa-free travel for Taiwanese citizens visiting European countries within 12 months”

Japan

• PM Aso pays a two-day visit to Beijing; Japan says it has no problems with Seoul’s launch of a satellite; Tokyo unveils a 11-point nuclear disarmament proposal; Loans to Iraq for infrastructure-related projects approved”

SouthEast Asia

• Indian security forces under attack by Manipuri militants camping in Myanmar; EU extends its sanctions on Burma for another year; In Thailand, UDD threatens to adopt new strategies, including violence, to topple the present government”

MISSILES, SPACE, DEFENCE AND NUCLEAR REVIEW

Missiles and Space

• Pentagon not to order ‘one-size-fits-all’ satellites any more”

Defence Issue
National

• Defence Secretary visits Russia to resolve Gorshkov’s pricing issue”

• BEL and Thales to produce radar systems”

International

• Vietnam orders six Kilo-class Russian submarines”

• UK report urges government to revamp reserve forces”

Nuclear Issue

• Pakistan nuclear assets raise US fears; Obama: US can make sure Pakistan nukes are safe”

INTERNAL SECURITY REVIEW

Jammu and Kashmir

• Army Chief: Substantial rise in infiltration; Terrorists using Pakistani mobile networks to communicate with their bosses across the LoC

NorthEast Development

• 10 persons killed in Assam