14 NOVEMBER 2015

Ø  Pakistan will not discuss the issue of its nuclear weapons in talks with American officials during army chief General Raheel Sharif’s U.S. visit next week and will instead point to India’s “cold-start doctrine” to justify its nuclear status, a media report on Friday said. Gen. Sharif will discuss several important issues during his trip from November 15—20, which follows Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s U.S. visit last month. The Dawn quoted diplomatic sources as saying that even if the U.S. side brought up this issue, “Pakistan will politely remind them that it was India’s so-called cold—start doctrine that created the current situation”. Pakistan claims that under the cold—start military doctrine, India has built cantonments and airbases close to the border that has shortened the time for launching an offensive. This increased Pakistan’s dependence on tactical nuclear weapons to counter an Indian offensive. It also highlighted U.S. media reports suggesting that American officials will urge the Pakistan army chief to revise his country’s nuclear policy. Right now, their [Indian Army’s] 21st corps is busy conducting an exercise in Rajasthan to test this cold—start or pro—active strategy.

Ø  The ambitious Rs. 15,000 crore North East connectivity project is struggling to take off one year after India and Japan jointly agreed to work on the project to quickly transform the region into a manufacturing hub with the help of better road infrastructure. Official sources told The Hindu that there were differences between JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) on issues such as the various costs involved in the project, and the technology that is to be used in building roads. There are also differences between the two on the manner in which environment and social impact assessments are to be carried out. NHIDCL is a wholly owned company of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH) and is the project implementing agency. Also, it is learnt that local stakeholders such as the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council in Meghalaya are yet to give their ‘no objection certificates’.