15 APRIL 2016

Ø  Cambodia is looking to India to bring wild tigers back to its forests where they were declared “functionally extinct” recently. The South-east Asian country is trying to get some tigers from India introduced into its eastern region. A formal proposal from Cambodia is likely later this year. “We are in talks…for six female tigers and two males and we expect more discussions on it this year,” Sokhun TY, Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Cambodia, told The Hindu.

Ø  Faced with a growing number of leaks and indiscipline in the Home Ministry, the Union government is drawing up a list of people who will handle “top secret” work and the personnel would be chosen irrespective of their ranks.

Ø  After a period of strain and drift in the relations with its Eastern neighbour, India is preparing for a new round of engagement with China with several high profile interactions lined up in the coming week. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval are heading to Beijing next week, while External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj will meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral in Moscow on Monday. The visits come in the backdrop of the just concluded visit of U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter during which India and the U.S. agreed “in principle” on a modified Logistics Support Agreement, addressing Indian concerns, in addition to a series of new initiatives on the maritime front. Mr. Doval is expected to present “strong evidence” to the Chinese to convince them to designate Masood Azhar as a terrorist before the U.N committee. His visit scheduled earlier in January was cancelled in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack. Maintaining peace and tranquillity on the 4,000-km-long border is expected to figure prominently in Mr. Parrikar’s meetings in China.

Ø  Cambodia is contemplating a $50 million (Rs. 32.5 crore) programme to improve enforcement and restore tiger populations after the big cat was declared ‘functionally extinct’ there by the WWF. MD Madhusudan, a wildlife expert at the Nature Conservation Foundation said the idea of sending Indian tigers to the South-east Asian country wasn’t outrageous. “Science must decide the right kind of tiger (breeding/non breeding) that could be introduced. As long as the timing is right, it could work.”

Ø  Dialogue is the best option between Pakistan and India and the two sides should not think in terms of “foreclosing any options,” a top Pakistani official said. During Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi’s] visit to Pakistan in December last, it was decided that the two Foreign Secretaries should meet soon. It is hoped that both sides would work out modalities for the Foreign Secretary-level talks. Mr. Zakaria’s comments came days after Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit said the bilateral peace process stood “suspended.” Mr. Zakaria said Pakistan was committed to resolving all outstanding issues with India through a sustainable, uninterrupted and meaningful dialogue without any preconditions.

Ø  over 100 projects have been identified under the Sagarmala programme. With more than 14,000 km of navigable inland waterways in the country, there is tremendous potential for development in this sector. Mr. Modi said the government was committed to integrating infrastructure and building futuristic infrastructure in many sectors. This was being done to benefit the common man, provide employment to the youth and empower coastal communities.

Ø  There is no dilution of India’s position and no military alliance with the proposed Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with the U.S., highly placed officials in the government said, defending the agreement that was announced in “principle” but not concluded during U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter’s visit to India this week.

Ø  The U.S. said on Thursday it has launched joint South China Sea naval patrols with the Philippines, escalating its presence as it accused Beijing of “militarising” a region which is locked in territorial disputes. In a show of strength, U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter also announced that 275 troops and five A-10 ground attack aircraft currently in the country for annual war games will remain there temporarily. China warned deployments must not damage “regional stability”, but Mr. Carter said Washington’s efforts to strengthen its military role in the region were not done “in order to provoke”. He said the U.S. was responding to regional anxiety over China’s muscular actions in the South China Sea, including building artificial islands over disputed reefs. “Countries across the Asia-Pacific are voicing concern with China’s land reclamation, which stands out in size and scope, as well as its militarisation in the South China Sea,” Mr. Carter said. China’s Foreign Ministry reacted coolly to the U.S. deployment. A statement read: “The military activities of the relevant countries should not be targeted at a third country, and moreover should not support the efforts of some countries to provoke China on issues of sovereignty and security, adding to regional contradictions and damaging regional stability.” China claims most of the South China Sea. Mr. Carter announced that 275 American troops, among about 5,000 military personnel taking part in the annual Balikatan war games, are to stay behind after the exercises end on Friday. Five A-10C Thunderbolt ground attack planes and four other aircraft will also remain until the end of the month.