AMRITPAL ESCAPE A CAUSE OF WORRY

are also however, aware of the importance of the border residents in the larger exercise of border management. The Chinese have taken to naming and re-naming places since 2017, an exercise reminiscent of European imperialism and their obsession with place names. These actions were formalized through a law which came into effect on 1 January 2022. The law lists various responsibilities for civilian and military authorities in China to “safeguard national sovereignty”. The law covers delineation and border defence to immigration, border management and trade. India has repeatedly refuted such attempts and maintained that such efforts do not alter facts on the ground.

India’s approach, on the other hand, focuses on welfare of the border residents and seeks to integrate them into the larger ideas of development, which is a major goal and slogan of the Modi government. For several years, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India undertook the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) to provide better civic amenities and facilities in the border zones. Its purpose was to cater to the basic needs of residents of the peripheral zones and perhaps to involve them into the bordering practices carried out by the state.

The BADP, since February 2023 has been replaced with the Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) on the north-

Punjab government will have no answer to the simple question posed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the escape of Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh despite the presence of 80,000 policemen on the alert after the fugitive gave his chasers a slip on the first day of crackdown. Punjab Police were upbeat about the arrest of some of Amritpal’s supporters and kin but the big fish clearly caught them napping and made his escape. “How did he manage to flee despite you having all the information about him and such a heavy deployment of forces,” the court asked. This was in response to a petition filed by Imaan Singh

Even as the Russia-Ukraine conflict garners majority of global attention, the standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh does not show any signs of abatement or resolution. Seventeen rounds of Senior Commanders Meetings have taken place between the Indian and Chinese forces at the border er border. VVP emphasizes on “comprehensive development of villages of blocks on the northern border thus improving the quality of people living in identified border villages. This will help in encouraging people to stay in their native locations in border areas and reversing the outmigration from these villages adding to improved security of the border” (MHA 2023). The idea is to provide for sources of livelihood and employment in the villages itself and involving the borderlanders in border work. Furthermore, India’s quest to achieve better transport and communications infrastructure at the northern border is complimented with the induction of more battalions in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP). Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) recently announced 7 more battalions for the ITBP thereby enhancing the force by 9400 personnel. It adds to the recently raised Mountain Corps of the Indian Army special-

Punjab government will have no answer to the simple question posed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the escape of Khalistan sympathiser. Amritpal Singh despite the presence of 80,000 policemen on the alert, gave his chasers a slip on the first day of crackdown

Khara, the legal adviser of Amritpal’s Waris Punjab De. Khara’s petition suggested that Amritpal is in illegal detention at an undisclosed destination. Newspaper reports, however, indicate exactly how meticulously Amritpal planned his escape using a gurdwara. A TV news clip showed

With Xi Jinping, securing an unprecedented third term and unrelenting aggression in Chinese foreign policy, it is difficult to imagine an early resolution of the standoff. Chinese tactics in the South China Sea are maritime precursors to its actions at the LAC. India has done well to thwart the pressure while simultaneously engaging in diplomatic and military negotiations. In terms of its impact on India’s relations with China, the Galwan valley incident will remain a landmark. With an array of diplomatic and policy responses, New Delhi has sent clear and strong message that its territorial sovereignty is paramount. India’s actions to a certain extent enhance its regional stature and perhaps assure its neighbours, many of which share borders with China.

Lately, the standoff at the border has repeatedly figured in global geopolitical discussion as the United States of America has endorsed Indian stance that China has caused problems at the LAC. A recent Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Report lists the issue as one of the flashpoints with possibility of escalation into a large scale war between India and China. Chinese, naturally, have strongly objected to such analysis and has argued that it is a matter of bilateral concern between New Delhi and Beijing and third parties should not meddle.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Amritpal switching to a motorcycle after changing his clothes in a village gurdwara.

Punjab Police’s defence was that Amritpal is an absconder and a hunt was on to nab him. An order to apprehend him under the National Security Act has already been issued. Amritpal is a proponent of radical ideology for the secession of Punjab from India using all means, including violence, to create Khalistan, said the Punjab Police in its affidavit. By escaping from the police dragnet, Amritpal has left the cops on tenterhooks. Until he is arrested there will be apprehension of trouble in the state. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has, however, assured that he won’t spare anyone fomenting trouble.

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s attempt to forge opposition unity before the Lok Sabha elections suffered a massive setback when the seven chief ministers of non-Congress and nonBJP ruled states did not turn up for dinner for which they were invited to Delhi recently. Kejriwal’s dinner was not found tempting enough by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu’s MK Stalin, Telangana’s K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar and Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren. Named ‘Progressive Chief Ministers’ Group of India as ‘G 8’, the alliance was being formed as a third front which would take on the BJP. Kejriwal’s attempt to be a leader of the proposed third front met a sad end after the rebuff. Mamata also harbours ambition to be a national leader. So do Nitish Kumar and KCR. Stalin also would rather go with Congress than with AAP. Kejriwal may have to assure fellow CMs that he won’t insist on leadership.

Spiritual Speak

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Bible

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