1. #Treacherous CPM backstabs India again! CPM mouthpieces echoes Chinese rag ‘Global Times,’ squarely blames India for border standoff, says ‘Hindutva provoked China’! - / - / - / *After refusing to condemn the brutal Chinese attack on Indian soldiers in Ladakh, the treacherous CPM has openly come in support of China, harping on the Chinese version of the border standoff. - / - / - /// 2. ##Combat China with a new prism - Facts and Robustness - / - / - // ##Indian armed forces face several challenges in terms of defence preparedness and most of these problems are a ‘gift’ of the previous leadership and regimes. The political will of PM Modi's regime has ‘re-crafted’ the defence forces to face new challenges. - / - / - / 3. ### Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received donations from a foundation that was partners with Huawei and received donations from Qatar Foundation - / - / - / 4. #### SC lawyer files petition demanding NIA probe against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi over the 2008 MoU between Congress and the Communist Party of China - / - / - ///

# OPINION : Saturday, June 27, 2020. 6:23. PM. : 2208.

1. #Treacherous CPM backstabs India again! CPM mouthpieces echoes Chinese rag ‘Global Times,’ squarely blames India for border standoff, says ‘Hindutva provoked China’!
: 27-Jun-2020 : Organiser ; Media Report,

  

 *After refusing to condemn the brutal Chinese attack on Indian soldiers in Ladakh, the treacherous CPM has openly come in support of China, harping on the Chinese version of the border standoff.

 Parroting the Chinese the anti-India allegations of the Global Times and other Chinese rags, the CPM mouthpiece People’s Democracy ascribed the Chinese aggression in Ladakh to ‘the ultra-nationalist Hindutva world view of the BJP-RSS’.

 

When the pro-Chinese editorial kept mum about the Chinese aggression and its deceitful approach towards India, it launched a scathing attack on the Government of India over its measures and policies, including developing border infrastructure and formation of UT Ladakh, that are aimed at safeguarding the country’s external and internal security.

 

In the editorial, the CPM leader and its former general secretary Prakash Karat blamed India for stepping up infrastructure facilities along the border as it ‘is seen in a different light now by the Chinese side.’ Prakash Karat is the editor of People’s Democracy, the official mouthpiece of CPM. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury is its printer and publisher.

 

The editorial ruled out China’s `salami-slice’ tactics, and put the blame for border disputes squarely on India. According to the CPM, the formation of Union Territory Ladakh, reiterating PoJK & Aksai Chin as integral parts of India, developing border infrastructure and attempting to ‘corner ‘China at the World Health Assembly are the four ‘deeper reasons for this fracas on the border’.

 

The CPM alleged that India overlooked Chinese protests against the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir state, 'which has an impact on an area to which China has claims'! “The steps to dismantle the state of Jammu & Kashmir and break it up into two centrally-administered territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have had external repercussions. China saw it from their own standpoint. The Chinese government protested twice to India that for them, this amounted to changing of an administrative arrangement, which has an impact on an area to which China has claims. But the Indian government overlooked this response even when China got the matter raised in an informal session of the United Nations Security Council,” stated the editorial.

 

“The political grandstanding indulged in by senior government leaders on this issue had also its impact. On August 6, when the restructuring of Jammu & Kashmir was discussed in parliament, Home Minister Amit Shah had asserted that, “I want to put this on record that whenever I say state of Jammu & Kashmir in the House, then both PoK and Aksai Chin are part of it”. The Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar, at a press conference in September last year talked about having “physical jurisdiction of PoK one day”,” alleged the CPM.

 

“The first year of the second term of the Modi government also saw speedy steps to integrate India with the Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States – a plan which is meant to counter China. In September last year, the quadrilateral alliance taking shape between the United States, India, Japan and Australia got upgraded to the ministerial level when the foreign ministers of the four countries met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session,” the editorial continues.

 

“During the current pandemic, India was seen going along with the United States in its diplomatic efforts to corner China at the World Health Assembly. A union minister echoed the charge of the United States that the coronavirus was produced in a laboratory in China,” it said.

 

“All these seem to have contributed to the standoff which has developed in Ladakh. The building of the road to Daulat Beg Oldi and branch roads northwards – which was part of India legitimately developing its border infrastructure – is seen in a different light now by the Chinese side,” it added.

 

In a bizarre attempt to whitewash China, CPM ruled out the Chinese involvement in the border disputes with other states like Nepal. The editorial echoed the arguments of its Chinese counterpart, The Global Times and held Hindutva and Indian nationalism as responsible for the issue. “To dismiss all this as part of some design by China is self-delusionary. The fact is, the ultra-nationalist Hindutva world view of the BJP-RSS is having its fall-out on our relations with the South Asian countries,” it alleged.

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2. ##Combat China with a new prism - Facts and Robustness : 25-Jun-2020 : Nirendra Dev : Organiser : Media Report.   

##Indian armed forces face several challenges in terms of defence preparedness and most of these problems are a ‘gift’ of the previous leadership and regimes. The political will of PM Modi's regime has ‘re-crafted’ the defence forces to face new challenges.

 

New Delhi: “You cannot make people any smarter but you can give them new lenses” – said strategy guru Gary Hamel. “There is no proprietary data about the future. The goal is to imagine what you can make happen” – is another quote of this management consultant. These statements appear extremely relevant today in the context of what Rahul Gandhi has done unto himself and his party.

 

Rahul's daily Twitter actions have only brought out the discussions and skeletons out of the old cupboard. People are talking about Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary’s observation, vis-a-vis Siachen talks planned in 2006 between the Manmohan Singh regime and Pakistan then under Gen Pervez Musharraf. The Congress party also needs to explain – a line largely being pushed by nationalists – on what really transpired between the Congress leadership and the Communists Party of China in 2008. The snap of Rahul sitting diligently ready to sign a paper and Xi Jinping keep a close eyes from his shoulder will haunt the Congress party some more time.

 

With this kind of background, only a naive politician would try to provoke the rivals. This is exactly what Rahul Gandhi has done and the BJP is happy today to find issues in their basket to debate about Congress' folly.

 

‘Chacha (Nehru) ke Bahaduri ke kucch kissey’ is going viral on social media. This snap talks about Pt Jawaharlal Nehru’s failures in PoK, Aksai Chin and Coco islands! It actually suggests had Nehru been around – perhaps India could have lost Doklam and Ladakh too. I do not subscribe to the entire message. But more and more such questions will be raised.

 

What else is now happening at the China front? Apparently, Rajnath Singh has shown his typical gutsy and ‘Thakur variety’ of stiffness in mind and snubbed his Defence counterpart Wei Fenghe declining him an audience in Moscow. I have spent considerable time with Rajnath ji during his tenure as BJP chief. In 2013, it was he who readily gambled with his ‘Modi as PM-face of BJP’ card, rubbishing strong opponents to the idea. But, Rajnath Singh - as I know – knows when he ought to be firm. This time, in the context of meeting request from Chinese defence minister, of course both he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were on the same page. So would be Amit Shah.

 

Now, keeping politics aside, it is imperative to talk about security issues and defence preparedness. By reducing Pak High Commission strength by 50 percent, the Modi government has opened a front with its traditional rival too. This is reminiscent of 2002 developments when the Vajpayee government almost opened the war front.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor explains the entire canvas of Indo-Pak tension in his eloquent style – 

“The fundamental problem that prevents meaningful friendship (between India and Pakistan) is the nature of the Pakistani state. In India, our state has an army, in Pakistan the army has a state. And the Pakistani army’s desire to continue to control the largest proportion of GDP for military expenditure and military control entities gives it a vested interest to stir a trouble”. (courtesy Al Jazeera TV)

 

Into a different plane, the Indian armed forces face several challenges in terms of defence preparedness. Some problems are ‘gift’ of the civilian and political leadership. For instance, bullet proof jackets approved in 2009 (under UPA regime) arrived for the forces only in 2016. In terms of artillery yet again, sources say India has perhaps only one-tenth or one-ninth of self-propelled artillery. In 2016, the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tried something different and refreshing. About 80 per cent of army’s capital budget was dedicated to artillery. There can be more such examples. 

India's defence preparedness has improved a lot in recent years. Our aerial and satellite surveillance capabilities have improved and these were vital ones. India is certainly better equipped than 1962 or even 1999 but still has a long way to go. 

##Defence preparedness has been generally guided by a terminology called ‘catching up’. India is certainly better equipped than 1962 (war with China) or even 1999 (Kargil conflict with Pakistan) but still has a long way to go.

 

During an interaction when Late Jaitley when he also held Defence portfolio for some time, he had told a select group of journalists that there is a need for a political will to ‘re-craft’ the defence forces for new challenges. Things have improved a lot in recent times. India’s aerial and satellite surveillance capabilities have improved and these were vital ones.

 

But all these preparedness has been generally guided by a terminology called ‘catching up’. India is certainly better equipped than 1962 (war with China) or even 1999 (Kargil conflict with Pakistan) but still has a long way to go. In such a situation, we are unable to push a tagline called ‘taking an edge’.

 

Leadership is all about results. Cricketer Krishnamachari Shrikant once in the context of captainship virtues of Sachin Tendulkar had said that “the leadership is all about results. You chose a bowler and get a wicket, you will be called brilliant and there goes a four, you may be dismissed as a ‘pagal’ – a mad fellow”. This yardstick applies to politics and in military warfare too.

 

There is yet another important facet. There is hardly any example of a cricket team or a company succeeding in the future when people around are pessimistic about the potentials. Great leaders not only search for new perspectives, they also opt for effective methods of delivering and communicating their vision. To a large extent, PM Modi has able to do so.

 

Intellectuals may not agree, but that’s the truth. With regard the Congress party, the leadership needs to shun family retainers like Anand Sharma. The former Commerce Minister is seen in the snap with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi in China during the signing ceremony in 2008. Remember he also accompanied Rahul Gandhi during ‘secret’ dinner meeting with Chinese envoy in 2017 during the peak of Doklam crisis.

 

In the meantime, Indian defence forces are also changing. They appreciate the need for Defence Intelligence Agency set up in 2016, the Andaman and Nicobar Theatre Command that commenced in 2001 and also the Strategic Forces Command of 2003. But the challenge to decode the ‘Chinese intent’ vis-a-vis India’s national security interests remains a permanent feature.

 

Here is an example. Few years ago a Doordarshan news reader identified ‘Xi Jinping’ as ‘Eleven’, and the person was booted out. It may not be best of illustrations to push any argument, but it proved one thing - both the countries need to know each other better.

 

(The author is a New Delhi-based journalist and author of many books including 'Modi to Moditva - An Uncensored Truth')

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3. ### Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received donations from a foundation that was partners with Huawei and received donations from Qatar Foundation : 27 June, 2020 : K Bhattacharjee : Opindia : Media Report. 

###The threat posed by Huawei has been clear for quite some time. And yet, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation managed by top Congress functionaries were receiving funds as late as 2018-19 from an NGO that had partnered with Huawei.

*Image Credit: India TV

The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has found itself at the heart of a controversy after it was revealed that it received over Rs. 1 crore as donations from the Government of China during the UPA regime. The foundation counts Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi among its top functionaries. OpIndia can now report that such shady links between the RGF and China continued as late as 2018-2019.

According to the annual report of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for the year 2018-19, Bharti Foundation was one of the organisations that donated to it. During the same year, Bharti Foundation was also partners with Huawei, recognised widely as an extended arm of the Chinese state. The annual report states that income for the RGF for the year 2018-19 from grants and donations was Rs. 95,91,766 rupees.

*Source: RGF Annual Report 2018-19

Earlier in 2020, the Trump administration in the US had blocked Huawei and its suppliers from accessing American technology and software. The US has made it clear that Huawei is a threat to their national security due to their extensive links to the Chinese Communist Party. For similar reasons, the United Kingdom is also considering banning Huawei from its 5G networks.

U.S. intelligence officials have been raising concerns for years about the potential for Huawei to use its network access to spy, or worse, to shut down communications in the event of a cyberwar.

 

The threat posed by Huawei has been clear for quite some time. And yet, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation managed by top Congress functionaries were receiving funds as late as 2018-19 from an NGO that had partnered with Huawei.

*Source: RGF Annual Report 2018-19

The documents submitted by Bharti Foundation to the Home Ministry also reveals that it received over Rs. 14 crores in the fiscal year 2018-19 from the Qatar Foundation Endowment. The Qatar Foundation is a private charity established by former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his consort Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

Currently, the Board of Trustees of Qatar Foundation includes Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, all members of the Qatari Royalty.

*Document source: MHA website

It is not clear exactly what amount the Bharti Foundation donated to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. It is also to be remembered that during this period, the RGF was partners with the Aman Biradari Trust, which was founded by Harsh Mander, an ‘activist’ who is a member of an organisation that works with the Italian Secret Service.

 

While it is to be made clear that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation did not receive donations from an organisation established by Qatari Royalty and was not partners with Huawei, they did receive donations from an organisation that did. Given everything else that we know about the links of Congress party with the CCP, which includes the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two, it only adds to the aura of suspicion and doubt regarding the operation of the foundation.

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4. #### SC lawyer files petition demanding NIA probe against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi over the 2008 MoU between Congress and the Communist Party of China : 24 June, 2020 : OpIndia  : Media Report.

#### Days after the image from 2008 showing the Indian National Congress leaders signing an MoU with the Communist Party of China went viral on social media, there were demands from a section seeking a probe into the agreement between the Congress party and the Communist Party of China.

*Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi and some other Congress leaders seeking a National Investigative Agency (NIA) or Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to their alleged links with the Communist Party of China.

According to the reports, the lawyers who have filed the petition in the apex court has asked for an investigation into the details of the MoU signed between the Congress party and the Communist Party of China in 2008 during the UPA era.

ANI
A petition has been filed in SC by a lawyer, against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi&some other Congress leaders on "a MoU between the UPA govt&Chinese Govt in 2008". Petition seeks SC's order directing NIA to investigate the agreement under Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act,1967
4:25 PM · Jun 24, 2020.

Interestingly, the petitioner has asked the Supreme Court to direct the NIA to investigate the agreement between the Congress party and the CPC under the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

According to journalist Utkarsh Anand, the petition was filed in the Supreme Court by activist and journalist Savio Rodrigues and lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha seeking an investigation by NIA or the CBI into 2008 agreement between two political parties. The plea sought a probe questioning the intent of Rahul Gandhi’s to sign this party-to-party agreement.

#Demands for probe into agreement :

 Days after the image from 2008 showing the Indian National Congress leaders signing an MoU with the Communist Party of China went viral on social media, there were demands from a section seeking a probe into the agreement between the Congress party and the Communist Party of China.

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani had also demanded an NIA probe into the agreement under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The senior advocate said that the agreement signed in the presence of Sonia Gandhi and current Chinese premier Xi Jinping has possible sinister implications for the country’s security and called for a probe by NIA into the agreement under the stringent UAPA. He also said that the NIA should secure the agreement.

#A ‘secret-deal’ between the Congress party and the Communist Party of China :

The agreement signed by the Congress party with China’s Communist Party has gained significance after the recent stand-off between India and China at the Galwan valley along the LAC in Ladakh.

The agreement was signed between the two parties on August 7 in 2008 in Beijing for exchanging high-level information and co-operation between them. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) also provided the two parties with the “opportunity to consult each other on important bilateral, regional and international developments”.

At that time, Congress party was leading the UPA-I govt in India and Sonia Gandhi was the chairperson of the National Advisory Council, which acted as the super cabinet over the Manmohan Singh led govt. The agreement was signed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Wang Jia Rui, Minister in the international department of the CPC, in the presence of Sonia Gandhi and the then Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping.

According to reports, Before the signing of the MoU, the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi had held a long meeting with Xi and other senior leaders of the Communist Party of China to discuss issues of mutual interest.

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 INDIAN ARMY :

#IndianArmy remembers #FieldMarshal SHFJ Manekshaw on 12th Anniversary of his passing away. Commandant #DSSC #Wellington laid a wreath at the final resting place of the revered soldier on behalf of the Tri-Services Fraternity.

#Remembrance :

   

 

JAI HIND

JAI BHARATHAM

VANDHE MATHARAM

BHARAT MATHA KI JAI.

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