India, China military agree to ease border tensions

NEW DELHI | JUNE 23, 2020:

Indian and Chinese military commanders have agreed to disengage forces facing off over a disputed stretch of border where a clash last week left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

An Indian delegation led by Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh, the commander of the 14 Corps, on Monday took part in a meeting with Commander of the Tibet Military District Maj. Gen. Liu Lin-headed Chinese delegation. The meeting went on for 11 hours.

A government official, on Tuesday, said that talks between India and China were held in a cordial, positive atmosphere and there was a mutual consensus to disengage.

"They discussed Modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in Eastern Ladakh," the official added.

In previous round of talks, China had asked India to stop all construction work, in what it claims, is Chinese territory. India has been pushing China to withdraw its troops.

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Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar attended the virtual Russia-India-China (RIC) Foreign Ministerial Meeting on Tuesday and said that the world's leading voices should respect international law and recognise the interests of partners.

While interacting with Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar stated that India should be given a greater role in the decision-making of international organisations such as the United Nations (UN).

"Respecting international law, recognising the legitimate interests of partners, supporting multilateralism and promoting common good are the only way of building a durable world order," he said.

It is interesting to note that Russia's decision to play an active role in defusing the ongoing Sino-Indian tensions has been shaped not just by the close ties Moscow enjoys with both Delhi and Beijing but several other factors.

Russia holds the current presidency of Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). India and China are members of all three groupings.

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Will cyber warfare be the next step?

According to a recent report, India must brace itself for a spell of cyberattacks from Chinese hacker groups.

The report also states that Chinese cyber warriors are expected to carry out a massive phishing attack.

This new cyber attack will be a phishing attack which can be carried out via emails, SMS's, and messages on social media.

While the threat might be real, it is to be noted that India is one of the top five most-targeted countries online.

Most of these cyber attacks originate from six countries, namely China, Russia, Pakistan, Ukraine, Vietnam and North Korea.