Monthly Archives: June 2020

New Delhi: One of Indias most renowned China experts has said the present border skirmishes and tension between India and China are very worrying.

Although what we know is based on unverified newspaper reports which quote unnamed officials but, importantly, have not been denied by the government turns out to be actually true then we are seeing a massive escalation by China and an attempt to fundamentally change the status quo, says former National Security Advisor, Shivshankar Menon.

Menon, who demitted office as NSA in 2014 and also served as foreign secretary (2006-2009) and Indian ambassador to China (2000-2003), says the present situation is very different to the past and not comparable to the sort of incidents that happened in 2013 or 2017. As he put it, On this occasion China is occupying what it has never occupied before.

In an interview to The Wire, Shivshankar Menon spoke specifically about developments in the Galwan River Valley and Pangong Lake. He said the situation in Galwan has not changed since 1962 but now if reports that suggest there are a few thousand Chinese soldiers occupying Indian territory, backed up with artillery and heavy vehicles and satellite images of tented accommodation, are true, this represents a fundamental change in the status quo. He pointedly added that these newspaper reports have not been officially denied. We may be in a situation where China is trying to change the situation on the ground, he said.

Speaking about Pangong Lake, where reports suggest the Chinese have built defence structures and stopped India patrolling in a 50 square kilometre area where previously it had access are true, Menon said this is extremely serious. It means the Chinese are patrolling where India used to patrol in the past. This is another instance of China changing the status quo. He said reports that China has built permanent defence structures are worrying.

Menon told The Wire that the Indian government must absolutely insist on the restoration of the status quo ante i.e. the position on the ground prior to the present developments which, perhaps, date back to April. However, he pointedly added that this looks like another instance of Chinas two-step-forward-one-step-back strategy which permits China to retreat one step, thus suggesting a concession to the Indian side, while ending up with a net gain of one step.

Menon said this is precisely what happened in Doklam in 2017. After a 72-day face off, both sides withdrew but after that China occupied the rest of the Valley and has since then built 36 structures, three helipads and a number of metal tarred roads. Menon said he was worried that a similar outcome could be the end result of the present stand-off between India and China.

Menon said that he was concerned the government has not made its position clear even though the present situation has continued since April. Its silence suggests that everything is negotiable and that is not a good strategy for the Indian side. He said the government needs more and better strategic communication both internally and to the rest of the world so that China too could read and hear the message.

Menon made clear he had no doubt President Xi Jinping was aware of what was happening and, additionally, that it was happening with his approval. He added that this has serious implications for Indias relationship with China. He also pointed out that how the present problem is solved will affect the future course of the relationship.

Asked about reports in Fridays newspapers that both armies have moved their soldiers closer to the LAC right across its 3,500 kilometres length from Ladakh in the west and Arunachal Pradesh in the east, Menon said that the army can handle the military situation. He said the effective military balance has improved in Indias favour since 1962. However, he emphasized that this would have political and diplomatic repercussions that would significantly affect Indias relationship with China.

Asked by The Wire if he was worried that the situation, if not quickly resolved, could lead to conflict, Menon replied not yet. When it was put to him that this meant that there was a potential for the situation slipping out of control and an unintended accident happening, he replied You said it, not me.

However, Menon underlined that what China has done is fundamentally different to the Depsang problem of 2013. He pointed out Depsang was localised and only lasted for two or three weeks. Now it seems there is military activity possibly right across the 3,500-km LAC. He also added the wider relationship between Beijing and Delhi has altered over the past seven years. He said there are more points of contention today than common points between the two countries.

Asked for his assessment of the way the Modi government has handled the situation, Menon said it was difficult to comment because he did not know what the government has done. He said we are all relying on unverified newspaper reports based on interviews with unnamed officials.

Questioned about reports in several papers that the Indian army might have dropped its guard, either because it delayed annual exercises usually held in March because some soldiers got COVID-19 or because it was taken by surprise by the Chinese army, Menon said that now was not the time to go into this issue. At the moment we have a crisis that must be resolved. However, he added that afterwards we need an analysis of what happened, of what was done right and what was done wrong. He said we needed a proper post-mortem along the lines of what happened after Kargil in 2001.

Speaking to The Wire about why the Chinese had acted in the way they have and at this time when there is a pandemic alongside an economic crisis Menon suggested that this was part of a general shift in Chinas behaviour. He said for a variety of internal and external reasons, China was behaving more assertively and its response relies on ultra-nationalism. In this context, he cited Chinas tariff war with Australia, its various disputes with the US, its behaviour in Hong Kong, its attitude to Taiwan and its action in the South China Sea. What was happening on the India-China border was part of this general pattern.

Menon said he did not believe that this was just signalling by China because its a most inefficient way of doing so We are all guessing what the signal is.

Menon said some people hold the view that China senses this is her moment because the rest of the world has been weakened by COVID-19. However, he added, this is not a view he subscribes to.

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Watch | 'This Could Be Massive Escalation by China to Fundamentally Alter Status Quo': Former NSA - The Wire

File picture: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath  |  Photo Credit: ANI

Lucknow: A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered the invoking of the National Security Act (NSA) against those responsible for setting ablaze 12 hutments of Dalits in the Jaunpur district, the state police on Friday arrested Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Javed Siddiqui and 34 others in connection with the incident.

"Thirty-five people, including local Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Javed Siddiqui, husband of the local village head, Aftab alias Hitler, and Noor Alam have been arrested. Fifty-seven people have been named in the FIR besides 27 others," said SP Ashok Kumar.

Javed Siddiqui is one of the main accused in the incident that took place in Bhadethi village on June 9.

The UP Chief Minister had yesterday directed the police officials to invoke NSA against the accused and take action against the Station House Officer (SHO) for laxity.

He had further instructed the district officials to provide new accommodation to those whose houses had been burnt underthe Awas Yojana. A compensation of Rs one lakh each will be provided to the affected by the UP government's social welfare department.

On Tuesday night, seven persons were left injured when a number of houses in the Sarai Khwaja locality had been set on fire following a dispute amongst children of the area.

As per a resident, "some children had taken their goats and buffaloes to graze in the field. The other group started attacking the animals. When objected, they resorted to arson and violence."

The Uttar Pradesh government has intensified security and stationed additional police force in Bhadethi village.

As per the UP Police, an argument between the two communities over plucking mangoes from an orchard by children had led to harassment of each otherover livestock.

Varanasi Division Commissioner Deepak Agarwal and IG Vijay Singh Meena had on Wednesday visited the village and examined the damage toproperty.

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Dalit houses burnt in Jaunpur: Day after UP CM invoked NSA, SP leader Javed Siddiqui and 34 others held - Times Now

Pine Gap. Photo by Felicity Ruby.

COMMENT by DAVID ROSENBERG

Mr Rosenberg (pictured) is a retired National Security Agency (NSA) signals intelligence manager, and a former employee of Pine Gap, who wrote Pine Gap: The Inside Story Of The NSA In Australia. He spoke with the Alice Springs News for a report on July 17, 2011. He is the technical and creative consultant for the Netflix TV series, Pine Gap.

Perhaps no other signals intelligence relationship in history has been as controversial as the presence of the Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap just outside Alice Springs.

Established by a treaty signed in 1966, it became operational 50 years ago on 19 June 1970 with the launch of its first satellite, codenamed Rhyolite.

It is the NSAs most significant satellite intelligence collection facility, know as The Jewel In The Crown within the intelligence community.

With news of the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and protests over racial inequality dominating headlines, the anniversary might have gone unrecognised within Australia.

Pine Gap has always been shrouded in secrecy, with misleading initial claims that it existed to conduct upper atmospheric research a vague term that avoided disclosing its true mission: to collect signals intelligence related to missile and weapons development programs from the former Soviet Union.

Much has changed since then, particularly the main reason for that first satellite launch.

In addition to continuing to collect weapons related signals from Russia and other weapons producing countries, the Pine Gap satellite mission has evolved, with many more resources focusing on collecting communications intelligence in support of military operations and to identify terrorist networks.

Unsurprisingly, Pine Gap maintains a low profile, although it appears in news stories from time to time, most sensationally when former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed the NSAs domestic surveillance programme a development that launched a worldwide debate about the legality of governments seeking to access individual personal and/or telecommunications information.

It is, therefore, important that Australians know more about Pine Gap: its purpose; what it does; what it does not do.

Many rumours have linked Pine Gaps capabilities to offensive military action involving civilian casualties.

These rumours, in turn, have caused journalists or conspiracy theorists to express concern over American and Australian culpability in this action.

Importantly, any intelligence from Pine Gap in these scenarios is not used in isolation.

It is fused with other intelligence such as imagery or human intelligence on the ground (HUMINT) before a decision to act is initiated, yet Pine Gap has no capability or responsibility in making decisions to initiate offensive strikes.

Its role is to passively collect and report signals intelligence.

Information and intelligence contributed by Pine Gap in any military operation would minimise harm with the goal to eliminate the unnecessary deaths of non-combatants.

Australia has looked to the United States as a military ally since World War II, and Australians may well ask what their country gets from this intelligence alliance at Pine Gap.

How does it benefit and what is the cost?

Incredibly, the financial cost to Australia is low, last disclosed as about $14m in 2011-2012.

For that small amount, Australias security benefit is immense Australia may task Pine Gap to collect information on anything it believes is necessary for its security.

Some information may be unique to Pine Gap, and so this relationship remains a crucial part of Australias defence strategy.

Since the first satellite launch 50 years ago, significant political changes in the United States has some Australians questioning the wisdom of continuing the close alliance with a country that was once looked at as the leader of the free world, but has initiated policies under Donald Trump that are more authoritarian and restrictive, less tolerant of freedom of expression and peaceful protests, and one that cannot be trusted to provide truthful and accurate information.

Pine Gap, however appears to have been shielded from any fallout from the policies and action of the current, as well as previous administrations.

This is good for both countries, as the strategic, economic and defence partnership have been mutually beneficial much longer than the 50 years since the launch of the first satellite.

We also share a historical kinship and have fought and died alongside each other.

It is the leadership of the United States and Australia that will determine the future direction of Pine Gap.

The current agreement permitting Pine Gap to remain operating now requires one country to give the other three-years notice to terminate operations at the joint facility.

Only once in its history has there been serious consideration by the Australian government of terminating the operations at Pine Gap during the prime-ministership of Gough Whitlam in the early 1970s.

Polling has shown that the majority of Americans do not approve of the direction the leadership within the United States has chosen, and this may manifest itself in the upcoming election in November.

Fortunately, Pine Gap has always shown itself to be a presence that is greater than any single leader it is a symbol of the ties that bind the United States and Australia.

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The Base turns 50, will survive Trump Alice Springs News - Alice Springs News Online

By Sajjad HussainIslamabad, Jun 18 (PTI) Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday called his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and expressed Islamabad's desire to forge a long-term and multi-dimensional partnership with Moscow as the two leaders discussed matters like COVID-19 pandemic and the Afghan peace process.During their telephonic conversation, Qureshi offered condolences on the loss of precious lives in Russia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Russia, currently the third worst-hit country from COVID-19, has reported 561,091 confirmed cases. The country's death toll stands at 7,660,Matters of mutual interest, including the COVID-19 pandemic, cooperation at the multilateral fora, prospects of enhanced bilateral cooperation, and regional issues were discussed, according to Foreign Office here.The two Foreign Ministers exchanged views about the socio-economic ramifications about the pandemic. Foreign Minister Lavrov expressed solidarity with Pakistan in its efforts to combat the outbreak.Qureshi underlined that Pakistan considered Russia an important partner and desired to forge a long-term and multi-dimensional partnership with Russia. Pakistan's ties with Russia have moved past the bitter Cold War hostilities and the chill in the US-Pakistan relations has further pushed the country towards Russia and China. The two foreign ministers also discussed the situation in Afghanistan in the context of the recent positive developments.Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistans support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and underlined Pakistans positive contribution to the US-Taliban peace agreement.After more than 18 years of war in Afghanistan, the US and the Taliban reached an agreement on February 29 in what was both sides'' most intensive efforts yet to end the war. Central to the deal is a significant drawdown of US troops and guarantees from the Taliban that the country would not become a safe haven for terrorists.Qureshi stressed the importance of inclusive intra-Afghan negotiations as the only way to build durable peace and security in the country.The two Foreign Ministers agreed on maintaining close consultations as part of regional efforts to support the Afghan peace process.He also discussed Kashmir with Lavrov.During the telephonic talks, Qureshi shared deep concern over the "continuing double lockdown" in Kashmir and the new domicile law, the Foreign Office said.Pakistan has been accusing India of attempting to change the demographic structure of Kashmir.Qureshi underlined the importance of urgent steps to address the situation in Kashmir, the Foreign Office said.The two leaders agreed to remain in close contact to take forward the important bilateral agenda and close cooperation in the regional context, it said.Qureshi apprised his Russian counterpart of Prime Minister Imran Khans call for Global Initiative on Debt Relief for developing countries.Khan in April urged the global community to launch an initiative to give debt relief to developing countries that are fighting the novel coronavirus.Pakistan's total coronavirus tally stands at 160,118 with over 3,000 deaths.Qureshi said that coordinated and comprehensive actions were essential to creating fiscal space needed by the developing world to deal with the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19.The Russian Foreign Minister expressed support for the debt relief initiative and assured to play a positive role. PTI SH NSA AKJNSA

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Pakistan keen to forge long-term partnership with Russia Qureshi to Lavrov - THE WEEK

News

E-mails exposed on Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) indicated that Microsoft was actively trying to sell biometric and facial recognition technology to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over the past two years.

The ACLU's expos, described in this announcement, comes as the result of a discovery process associated with a lawsuit filed in 2019.

The correspondence between Microsoft and the DEA was published six days after Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, declared that Microsoft would make selling facial recognition technology to U.S. police agencies contingent upon there being a national law in place that's "grounded in human rights." Microsoft's position had followed similar positions taken recently by Amazon and IBM on the selling of facial recognition technology.

Fed Sales Not ExcludedMicrosoft hasn't ruled out selling the technology to other federal agencies, though, noted Nathan Freed Wessler, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, per the ACLU announcement:

Even after belatedly promising not to sell face surveillance tech to police last week, Microsoft has refused to say whether it would sell the technology to federal agencies like the DEA. It is troubling enough to learn that Microsoft tried to sell a dangerous technology to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrationgiven that agency's record spearheading the racist drug war, and even more disturbing now that Attorney General Bill Barr has reportedly expanded this very agency's surveillance authorities, which could be abused to spy on people protesting police brutality.

Other companies were trying to get DEA surveillance contracts, as well. For instance, Agintio's speaker identification solution was under consideration, as well as Batvox's voice biometrics tool, according to the DEA correspondence.

The e-mails between DEA officials and Microsoft representatives (PDF download) appear with most of the names redacted, and span the period between September 2017 and December 2018. One letter described DEA, military, law enforcement and "Five-Eye" officials attending a demonstration of the artificial intelligence capabilities of Azure Cognitive Services for biometric recognition, including identifying people by their voice prints.

"Five Eyes" is a term that refers to an alliance of countries that share secret global signals intelligence, namely Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

At a certain point, the DEA letters mentioned a critique of the FBI's implementation of facial recognition software by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Possibly, the critique slowed a deal. The GAO's document includes a chart showing that the FBI initiated facial recognition procedures starting in 2010.

One letter, outlining what Azure Cognitive Services could do for the DEA, included this description:

Opaque TransparencyIn the last year or so, Microsoft has generally issued positive public statements about artificial intelligence, with phrases like "ethical AI" and "AI for good," but it's acting as any other U.S. chartered corporation -- that is, solely for profits.

"Microsoft Workers 4 Good," a purported group of Microsoft employees, suggested in a June 17 Twitter post that Microsoft should "admit this mistake and learn from it." But, of course, U.S. corporate charters only specify that companies should make a profit.

Microsoft has taken stands at odds with government surveillance in drug enforcement cases in the recent past. For instance, the company has been resisting U.S. pressure to disclose the e-mails of an Azure customer that used Microsoft's Ireland datacenter region.

The ACLU disclosure, though, exposes Smith's declaration last week as a bit hollow or misleadingly narrow. The ACLU considers facial recognition technology to be inherently racist and dangerous, as described in this announcement.

Smith, arguably Microsoft's top lawyer, as well as Microsoft's president, has had bad PR timing in the recent past. For instance in 2013, he initially denied that Microsoft was involved with the U.S. National Security Agency's (NSA's) PRISM program, which harvests Internet, e-mail and phone traffic domestically and around the globe, as exposed by Edward Snowden. Later, he admitted Microsoft was likely involved, even though a leaked NSA contractor chart had clearly shown that Microsoft was the first ISP company that participated in the PRISM program.

The PRISM program evolved from the Defense Advance Research Project Agency's (DARPA's) Total Information Awareness program. After the Total Information Awareness program came under congressional scrutiny, it was scattered to various U.S. security agencies and was continued, according to the book, "The Pentagon's Brain," by Annie Jacobsen (p. 349).

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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ACLU Finds Microsoft Tried To Sell Facial Recognition Software to the DEA - Redmondmag.com

Moscow, Jun 17 (PTI) Russia on Wednesday said it is concerned over a fierce clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh, but believes that both of its close allies can resolve the conflict themselves. Twenty Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel, were killed in the clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff between the two countries. "Certainly, we are watching with great attention what is happening on the Chinese-Indian border. We believe that this is a very alarming report," Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "But we consider that the two countries are capable of taking necessary steps to prevent such situations in the future and to ensure that there is predictability and stability in the region and that this is a safe region for nations, first of all, China and India," Russian news agency Tass quoted Peskov as saying. The Kremlin spokesman emphasised that China and India are Russias close partners and allies, and "have very close and mutually beneficial relations (with Russia) built on mutual respect." Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia welcomed contacts between the two nations to de-escalate the situation. The Indian Army initially said on Tuesday that an officer and two soldiers were killed. But in a late evening statement, it revised the figure to 20 saying 17 others who "were critically injured in the line of duty and exposed to sub-zero temperatures at the standoff location succumbed to their injuries." In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry officials were silent on the casualties suffered by the People''s Liberation Army (PLA) troops, but Hu Xijin, the editor of the ruling Communist Party-run Global Times tabloid, tweeted to say that there are casualties on Chinese side too. According to a report in the US News, at least 35 Chinese troops including one senior official died in the violent clash with Indian soldiers.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the two leaders agreed to "cool down" tensions on the ground "as soon as possible" and maintain peace and tranquility in the border area in accordance with the agreement reached between the two countries, an official statement from China said. Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart Wang that the unprecedented incident in the Galwan Valley will have a serious impact on the bilateral relationship and asked China to take corrective steps, the Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi. PTI NSA AKJ NSA

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI

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Russia hopes China, India will resolve border conflict themselves - Outlook India