China 'ready' for war if PH pushes arbitration win: retired general

China is ready to wage war if the Philippines insists on its arbitral win that rejected the basis of Beijing's sweeping claims over the South China Sea, a former military intelligence chief warned Tuesday.

One year since Beijing was defeated before the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, Manila has yet to push for the enforcement of the ruling and, under President Rodrigo Duterte, set it aside in exchange for investments and financial aid.

But Duterte had said he would eventually raise the ruling to China later in his administration, a move that could "lead to war," said retired Gen. Victor Corpus, who headed the Philippine military's intelligence service.

"If we pursue this decision of the Hague, China is ready to go to war to defend what it perceives as its territorial integrity and sovereignty," Corpus told a forum.

Corpus echoed observations by military analysts that China was fortifying its positions in the disputed waters to prevent a possible naval blockade by the United States in the event of a military confrontation.

Such a move would compromise China's security and economy, he said.

"Those are the real reasons why China built those islands. It is not for oil or gas or fish. It is for survival," he said.
"In order to ensure its survival, China will fight for those islands."

China has built artificial islands in the South China Sea and equipped them with runways, missile systems, and communication facilities.

It also seized control of Scarborough Shoal following a standoff with the Philippine Navy over Chinese poachers caught in 2012.

Asked what the Philippines should do in the face of China's construction in the disputed islands, Corpus said: "They fortify whatever they have now. We fortify whatever we have. Status quo."

"But we cannot prevent them (and say) 'You don't build this or build' that because they will not agree and if you meddle with those things, you will have war," he said.

Corpus said the Philippines need not bring up the arbitral ruling if it could agree with China to set aside their respective sovereignty claims and focus on other areas of cooperation.

Last May, both sides began a bilateral consultation mechanism that would eventually tackle the maritime dispute.

"Even if we debate for a hundred or even a thousand years, we will never come to an agreement and eventually, we will go to war," Corpus said.

Duterte earlier claimed Chinese President Xi Jinping had threatened war if the Philippines drilled for oil in the disputed waters.

 news.abs-cbn

Indian Army deploys 2,500 more soldiers to site while China hints at Kashmir unrest

Even as the Sikkim border dispute between India and China shows no sign of abating, the Indian Army seems to have settled in for the long haul.

The army has pitched in tents, indicating that they are unlikely to retreat unless there was reciprocity from China's People's Liberation Army personnel in ending the face-off at an altitude of around 10,000 feet in the Sikkim section.

A steady line of supplies is being maintained for the soldiers at the site, official sources said, signalling that Indian Army is not going to wilt under any pressure from China. According to a report in The Times of India, India has moved 2,500 soldiers from their peace-time deployments in Sikkim to further reinforce its proactive stance.

Meanwhile, events are unfurling at breakneck speed on both sides of the border. Here are the most recent developments:


Officials on both sides soothe fears ::

On Monday, Li Rongrong, Second Secretary in the Economic and Commercial Counsellor's Office of the Chinese Embassy in India allayed fears of India-China economic ties being affected.

"Both India and China enjoy long cooperation as our lands are connected," Li said at a promotion conference of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo to be held in the city of Dongguan in the Chinese province of Guangdong from 21 to 24 September.

Mohammad Sadiq, Secretary-General of the India-China Economic and Cultural Council, said that the current border standoff was an issue that would pass off quickly.

He assured that despite an advisory issued by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, all Chinese businesspersons in India were as safe as before.


Rahul Gandhi met Chinese Ambassador, Congress admits ::

On Monday, after reports emerged about Congress denying that its vice-president Rahul Gandhi met with Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui on 8 July in New Delhi, the Grand Old Party did a complete U-turn.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala admitted that Gandhi had met the ambassadors of the neighbouring countries even as the party downplayed the meeting and did not specify its venue or time. Surjewala termed it a "courtesy call" and said envoys of G5, as well as neighbouring countries, keep meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the vice-president from time to time.

News18earlier reported that the Chinese Embassy's website that had said that the two "exchanged views" on the "current bilateral relations" between the two nations. The Embassy website later deleted the post.

Surjewala had denied such media reports on Rahul's meeting with Zhaohui as "fake news". He had also alleged that the report was planted by the external affairs ministry and Intelligence Bureau sources.


New Delhi allows Tibetan government access to Pangong Lake, China reacts sharply

On Monday, The Economic Times reported that the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday allowed the Tibetan government in exile — on the eve of the Dalai Lama's 82nd birthday — to perform rituals on the shores of Ladakh's famed Pangong Lake along the disputed boundary with China and pray for the long life of their leader.

China responded by publishing an editorial in the state-run Global Times, warned India to refrain from playing the "Dalai Lama card":

"When the Indian government attaches great importance to its relationship with China, it keeps a tight grip on anti-China political activities on its soil. However, when it is dissatisfied or has conflicts with Beijing, the Tibet card is played up. But India may overestimate the influence of Tibetan exiles. With the rise of China and as Tibet becomes better off, Tibetan independence runs counter to the will of Tibetans. The space for Tibetan separatists has been largely squeezed as more Western countries have snubbed the Dalai Lama. The Tibet card is gradually losing its value. If New Delhi is pulling the strings of the Tibetan exiles' political act of flag-hoisting, it will only have burned itself."


Chinese media says 'third country's army' could enter Kashmir ::

An analyst at a Chinese think tank stated a "third country's" army could enter Kashmir at Pakistan's request, using the "same logic" the Indian Army used to stop the Chinese military from constructing a road in the Doka La area in the Sikkim sector on behalf of Bhutan.


Long Xingchun, director at the Centre for Indian Studies at China West Normal University, wrote in theGlobal Times:

"Even if India were requested to defend Bhutan's territory, this could only be limited to its established territory, not the disputed area. Otherwise, under India's logic, if the Pakistani government requests, a third country's army can enter the area disputed by India and Pakistan, including India-controlled Kashmir."

While the Chinese state media have carried a barrage of critical articles on the Doka La standoff criticising India, this was the first time Pakistan and Kashmir have been brought into the narrative.

"Indian troops invaded China's Doklam area in the name of helping Bhutan, but in fact the invasion was intended to help India by making use of Bhutan," the article said, referring to the 30 June statement issued by India's external affairs ministry.

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Doklam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Of the 3,488-kilometre-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-kilometre section falls in Sikkim.

 firstpost

Indian Army to upgrade 693 BMP-2 ICVs

India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the INR24 billion (USD371 million) upgrade of 693 Indian Army (IA) BMP-2/2K Sarath infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) to BMP-2M standard.
This includes equipping the licence-built ICVs with advanced thermal imaging sights for night-fighting capabilities as well as with modern integrated fire control systems.
India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, awarded the ICV upgrade on 8 July to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), both of which are state-owned companies.
The OFB unit in Medak licence-built around 1,250 BMP-2/2Ks between 1987 and 2007, all of which needed upgrading.
Industry sources said that by awarding the contract to OFB and BEL, the MoD has contravened its own Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)-2016 that dictates competitive bidding in the acquisition process.
Senior IA officials told Jane’s that the ICV upgrade was “arbitrarily” awarded to the two state-owned companies without user trials, and that the approval of the OFB/BEL-designed fire control system was sanctioned merely on a “performance demonstration”.
Mandatory maintainability, quality assurance, and electro-magnetic interference trials were not carried out, a senior industry executive told Jane’s on condition of anonymity.
“Under pressure from the army, which wanted the ICV upgrade to be fast-tracked, the MoD also ignored several indigenous private sector companies who had developed assorted technologies for the BMP-2 upgrade,” the source said.
Many of these potential vendors were involved in the MoD’s long-pending Future ICV programme and wanted to try out their technologies in the BMP-2/2K upgrade project, the source added.
The IA and MoD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

janes

India, Israel Ink Deal for Air Defense System, Radars, UAVs Worth $4.3 Bln

 

Indian companies have signed 12 strategic agreements ranging from air defense systems, radars, anti-ship missiles to medium altitude long endurance UAVs in India under technology transfer worth $4.3 billion during the first formal meeting of India-Israel CEOs forum in Tel Aviv.

 The meeting took place at the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit.

Pune-based Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd has signed a joint venture agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for addressing a range of opportunities across air defense systems, radars, anti-ship missiles and command & control systems for the Indian armed forces. Both the companies will produce weapons worth $1.54 billion over a period of 7-10 years.Bangalore-based Dynamatic Technologies and Elcom signed a ‘Strategic Teaming Agreement’ to produce, assemble and support UAVs in India with IAI. The joint venture is targeting the lucrative medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAV market in India under technology transfer from IAI. The Indian defense ministry invited a response from indigenous manufacturers for procurement of MALE UAVs for use by three defense services.
“This will be under the “Make in India” initiative from Indian companies,” the notification said.
Alpha Design has signed a joint venture agreement with Elbit Security Systems worth $500 million. This deal will provide much needed indigenously manufactured thermal image-based sights and fire control systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, long range reconnaissance and observation systems (LORROS), coolant dewar detector, eye-safe laser range finders under technology transfer.
Little known in the Indian defense industry, Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd (GWRL), and Israel’s Aero-T signed the agreement to manufacturing and supplying advanced aerostat systems for India. The aerostat is served as early warning systems against enemy air attacks as well as for low-level ground surveillance. Mahindra Telephonics and Shachaf Engineering of Israel will jointly design, develop and manufacture strategic electronics systems for aerospace projects.
India’s Texmaco Rail and Engineering Ltd of Adventz Group and LeshmanLesico Group of Israel will execute light rail projects worth $2 billion including Greenfield light rail projects in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

sputnik

Indian Navy outgunned 1 to 4 as China steps up presence in Indian Ocean

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) has 283 major surface combatant warships, four times more than those under the control of the Indian Navy (66), according to an IndiaSpend analysis of publicly available data.
China’s widening naval capabilities compared to India can be seen in the context of the PLA-N’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean region.
“Chinese activity in the Indian Ocean has touched a new high in recent months,” according to an Indian Navy official, The Hindustan Times reported on July 5, 2017.
The Indian Navy has sighted over a dozen PLA-N warships, submarines and intelligence-gathering vessels in the Indian Ocean in the last few months.
These sightings come as the Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a three-week long standoff at the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction near Sikkim, leading to increasingly belligerent rhetoric between New Delhi and Beijing.
Comparing inventories
The PLA-N has 26 destroyers, more than twice as many as India (11). Destroyers are both the PLA-N and IN’s frontline warships that possess powerful radars, can travel long distances and are capable of fulfilling land attack, missile defence, and surface and anti-submarine warfare. This makes them very powerful tools for power projection.
China recently launched its indigenously developed 12,000-tonne Type 55 destroyer, which “is considerably larger and more powerful than India’s latest … destroyers which have still not been commissioned”, according to NDTV Defence Editor Vishnu Som.
China’s Type-55 will eventually have around 120 missiles of various types. India’s most powerful destroyer, the yet-to-be commissioned Project 15-B “Visakhapatnam” class destroyers, will have 50 missiles.
The PLA-N has 52 frigates, nearly four times as many as India (14). Frigates are not as heavily armed as destroyers but can fulfil similar roles and can operate in open oceans.
India has 25 corvettes and missile boats, around one-fourth as many as China (106). Corvettes and missile boats are lightly armed as compared to frigates and provide coastal protection.
India’s aircraft carrier advantage no more?
So far, both India and China each have one aircraft carrier. The carrier is a sign of its growing military prowess.

In April 2017, China launched a new aircraft carrier, its second after the Liaoning, but the first to be indigenously manufactured. The Chinese aircraft carrier is scheduled to be operational by 2020. The development comes as India’s own homemade aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, faces several delays. The Vikrant has been in development since 2009 but is unlikely to be completed before 2023, The Hindu reported on July 28, 2016. For decades, India has enjoyed a naval advantage over China by possessing at least one aircraft carrier in its inventory while the PLAN had none. China now possesses the Liaoning, a Soviet-era warship it purchased from Ukraine and commissioned in 2012 following refit. After four years of testing, the Liaoning conducted its first ever live-fire drills on December 16, 2016. It also conducted similar drills in the disputed South China Sea on January 3, 2017, a sign of its increasingly aggressive posture. The Liaoning was getting ready to expand its operations to other regions, including the Indian Ocean, a Chinese naval expert told the Chinese government-owned newspaper Global Times in December 2016. “Ultimately, Beijing will likely build at least a half-dozen carriers to meet its requirements,” wrote defence expert Dave Majumdar in the National Interest, an international affairs publication, on February 22, 2017. The Indian Navy has finalised the specifications for the construction of INS Vishal, an indigenous successor to INS Vikrant. The Vishal will be nuclear-powered, weigh 65,000-tonne and carry more aircraft than Vikrant and Vikramaditya. India is collaborating with the US to fit it with advanced “electro-magnetic aircraft launch system” (EMALS) for the aircraft. Maritime doctrine Indian Navy’s force structure is aimed at providing it with the capability to project power in ‘blue waters’ as envisioned in the Navy’s revised 2015 maritime doctrine. “In theory, a blue-water Navy is a maritime force capable of operating in the deep waters of the open oceans,” noted Abhijit Singh, a Senior Fellow and Head, Maritime Policy Initiative at Observer Research Foundation, in The Diplomat, a current-affairs magazine. The navy’s doctrine defines India’s areas of maritime interest as the wider Indian Ocean, which includes the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, South-West Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz. The PLA-N’s growing area of operations in this region places it in direct competition to India’s defined interests. However, it’s important to note that the PLA-N and its current force structure is aimed at securing the South China Sea and East China Sea, which it claims as its territories and is embattled in a bitter dispute with neighbouring countries as well as the US.

Hindustantimes

Bhutan not the sole sufferer, Beijing is bullying other nations too

The standoff at the India-Bhutan-China trijunction may be in the news at present but Bhutan is not the only smaller neighbour that has been on the receiving end of China’s territorial ambitions over the past few decades.

Several countries in Central Asia (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan), Southeast Asia (Viet​nam, Laos and Cambodia) and East Asia (Taiwan and Japan) have been forced by China to accept either its territorial claims or loans at high interest rates, with failure to repay resulting in China acquiring ownership of projects and land.

“China’s penchant to compare its modern borders with those that existed prior to the perceived ‘historical losses’ of territories is significant to understanding of China’s current boundary issues,” said DS Rajan, a former government official who has served in China.

China’s unresolved land and maritime border disputes with its neighbours continue to hurt its relations with many countries and vitiate regional politics. It shares 22,000 km land borders with 13 neighbouring nations — the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Pakistan also has border with China but through PoK.

Many of China’s claims on neighbours’ territories are based on unsubstantiated and unprecedented “historical precedents” dating back centuries, as in the case of Bhutan, according to a report published in Brisbane-based China Daily Mail a few years ago. The publication follows developments in China closely. While China’s land boundary disputes with India and Bhutan remain unresolved, disputes with most of the other neighbours have been settled in its favour.

The unresolved maritime border issues are most serious for China amid competing claims of several littoral nations and the emerging regional order, as per Rajan. He said conditions in this regard pit China against eight littoral parties – Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Taiwan.

China shares maritime borders with four countries – Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea and with the Philippines and Vietnam in the South China Sea.

In the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways with huge potential oil and gas fields to be exploited, China claims most of the water “based on historical facts and international law” and shows them in its maps within its “nine dotted” imaginary line. All littoral nations have officially challenged China’s claims.


Informal meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping still possible on G-20 sidelines ::

NEW DELHI: An informal meeting or a pull aside between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the course of BRICS leaders meeting on Friday on the sidelines of G-20 summit in Hamburg cannot be ruled out. While China on Thursday said that “the atmosphere is not right” for a formal or bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi when they gather for the G-20 summit in Hamburg, the occasion of the BRICS leaders meet can provide an opportunity for the Sino-Indian leaders to interact amid standoff along Sikkim border.

economictimes

Garware-Wall Ropes inks MoU with Israel’s Aero-T

Technical textiles manufacturer Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd (GWRL) on Wednesday said it has signed an agreement with Israel’s Aero-T for manufacturing and supply of advanced aerostats for the Indian Defence.
Aero-T is a subsidiary of Israel based RT LTA Systems, a designer, developer and manufacturer of world class Aerostats, the company said in a release issued here. Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), GWRL will establish an aerostat envelope production facility and Aero-T will providing the technology, know-how, integration, acceptance and continuous support for the aerostats development and production, it said.
Aerostats are tethered balloons and have capabilities of operating at altitudes of up to 15,000 feet. There will be co-operation with Indian research and development establishments, including Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)/Aerial Delivery Research and Development and the end customers to understand their needs and co-develop customised solutions, GWRL said.
“The MoU marks another step on our ‘Make in India’ approach, where we along with Aero-T will be able to cater to the needs of the Indian Defence by providing completely indigenised aerostats backed by our reliable delivery and maintenance support,” GWRL CMD Vayu Garware said.
“We are very impressed with GWRL production quality, the ability to handle large-scale projects. We are committed to provide complete technology know-how to GWRL. The advanced production facility in India also provides us an opportunity to cater to the growing global demand, based on high quality and cost-effective solutions,” Aero-T CEO Rami Shmueli said.

 livemint

India adds 10 more nuclear warheads to its arsenal, develops tech for strike-back: SIPRI

Though not a leader in terms of total number of nuclear warheads, falling behind Pakistan and China, India has continued on its efforts to increase its arsenal of nuclear weapons while continuously upgrading technology for an assured strike-back, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its annual report.

According to the report, India is believed to have added nearly 10 more nuclear warheads to its arsenal, which was estimated at 110-120 in 2016.

The indigenous Agni-V missile, which is India's latest road-mobile, canister-launched ballistic missile with a reported intercontinental range and capability of reaching significant targets in China, also finds mention in the report.

"India is gradually expanding the size of its nuclear weapon stockpile as well as its infrastructure for producing nuclear warheads," the report said while referring to India's decision to build six fast breeder reactors over the next 15 years, which, the it claims, "will significantly increase its capacity to produce plutonium for weapons."

Two of these reactors are expected to be built at Kalpakkam, around 70 kilometres from Chennai while the locations for four others have not been ascertained as yet.

India has so far not released any official figures of its warheads even though it continues to follow the principle of minimum credible deterrent and a no-first use policy, the report added.

The SIPRI report also states that India is currently working on a new unsafeguarded gas centrifuge facility, which, though motivated by its plans to build new naval propulsion reactors, could be used to blend its current plutonium arsenal with uranium secondaries.

The report states that India is highly focussed at developing "the naval component of its triad of nuclear forces in pursuit of an assured second-strike capability" while citing the recent induction of India's first indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant. The submarine, it says, is capable of carrying two-stage 700-kilometre, range SLBM.

"India is also developing a more advanced SLBM that will have a range of up to 3,500 kilometres," the report added.

 firstpost

Russia, India Aim to Sign S-400 Missile Systems Contract in 2017

Russia and India are looking to sign a contract on the delivery of Russia's S-400 Triumf air defense systems this year, state arms exporter Rosoboronexport Director General Alexander Mikheev told Sputnik.

He said consultations are ongoing and focused efforts are being carried out to prepare New Delhi for contract negotiations.

"An entire program within the Indian side's technical requirements is being ironed out. We will try to sign this year," Mikheev said.
The Indian press estimates the value of the deal to deliver five S-400 systems from Russia at $5.5 billion.
The S-400 Triumph is Russia's next-generation mobile surface-to-air missile system and can carry three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at a short-to-extremely-long range.
  (Sputnik) 

Indian Army Looking to Acquire a High-Performance Minelayer

The Indian Army has begun the procurement process of next generation GPS/GIS-based minefield recording system for its troops deployed in Himalayan terrain and north-eastern parts of the country. The Army will use the equipment to record the location of mines laid in the system.

 The Army has invited domestic as well as global companies to supply the system. It has zeroed-in on minefield equipment which has an accuracy of 4 cm or better and can help to destruct mines automatically after a set time.

"It should be possible to feed a desired minefield design in the system and carry out minelaying according to the pre-fed design," the Army document said.

Recently, the Indian Army came up with a compilation of future core technology including automated minefield recording system. The Army set up the Army Design Bureau last year to boost indigenous capability for these future technologies which are being seen as catalysts for the participation of industry, academia, research and development organizations to fulfill the "dream of self-reliance."
The Army has asked Indian defense industries to work on self-propelled mechanical mine layer, based on high mobility vehicles or tracked vehicle, which are capable of laying anti-tank mines. The mechanical mine layer, according to the Army, should be able to lay 250-300 miles an hour and be integrated with navigation and minefield recording system.

 Sputnik

India to buy Israeli’s Spike missile for $1 b

The government is looking to purchase Spike, an Israeli fourth generation anti-tank guided missile, developed and designed by Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. Talks for the nearly $1-billion deal are expected to culminate this week, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to Israel.

India is Israel's biggest arms market, buying 41 per cent of its export between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global arms research institute.

If the Spike missile deal is finalised, 2017 is set to be a record year in terms of Israeli weapons sales to India. This April, marking the largest ever arms deal in the history of Israel’s defence sector, Israel's state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) inked contracts with India amounting to $2 billion. A few weeks later, IAI closed yet another major deal worth $630 million with India, in a project to be jointly executed with Bharat Electronics Ltd.

At the recently concluded Paris air show, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems unveiled its fifth-generation Spike missile with a significant increase in range and lethality. According to a statement released by the company, the Spike LR II “is an advanced multi-purpose missile, and can be launched from any Spike launcher”.


To compete with Nag ::

Having already secured its first customer, the company is to launch the new version in the fourth quarter of 2018. In India, Rafael’s Spike missile will compete with the Nag missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

DRDO said the Nag is incorporated with many advanced technologies, including the imaging infra-red radar seeker with integrated avionics, a capability that is possessed by few nations in the world.

Though the DRDO test-fired its third generation anti-tank missile, the Prospina, also known as Nag, at the Pokhran range recently, sources indicated that the Indian Army has a total requirement of around 40,000 anti-tank guided missiles over the next 20 years.

“The overall requirement for the Indian Army is very large. Along with the Prospina, which can hit high-speed moving tanks, the requirement for more missiles is urgent. Though Israel's Spike got the government nod in 2014, there were other issues at play, a single vendor situation as well as Spike's high cost, which proved to be a major hurdle,” said official sources privy to the discussions.

 thehindubusinessline

Irked at its stand on Kashmir, Nawaz Sharif to skip UN event, reports Pakistani newspaper

 

Highlights

• Sources in Sharif's office said the UN's position on Kashmir is 'duplicitous'
• Last week, Pakistan accused the US too of 'dual standards' on Kashmir
• This was after the US declared Hizbul Mujahideed chief Syed Salahuddin a 'global terrorist'

Annoyed at its non-interfering stand on Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plans to skip an upcoming United Nations (UN) event to "promote peace", reported The Express Tribune on Tuesday, citing sources in Sharif's office.

"This is necessary. They (the UN) keep talking about peace. But they do nothing to overcome the plight of Kashmiris and stop state-sponsored terrorism in the Valley," the sources told the Pakistani media outlet.

The UN has always said that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, and it has consistently advocated the two nations hold talks to resolve their problems.

"Duplicitous" is what the sources called this position of the UN.

"This behaviour is duplicitous. How is it even possible to strive for peace in the region without acknowledging (Indian) terrorism in Kashmir?" the sources reportedly said.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chairman of Pakistan's parliamentary special committee on Kashmir, told the Tribune that he was the one who recommend Sharif adopt "a tough stance".

"This is an effective way to highlight the Kashmir issue at world forums. It is a shame that the Indian PM, despite unleashing terrorism upon innocent Kashmiris, managed to win Washington's favours on Kashmir ... (The US must remember) Modi himself is a terrorist who has blood of thousands of Muslims on his hands," Rehman said to the Tribune.

Just last week, Pakistan accused the US as well of having "dual standards" on human rights, after the US state department designated Pakistan-backed Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin a "global terrorist"+ .

"It seems as though the blood of Kashmiris in not at all important to the US, and international laws relating to human rights do not apply to Kashmir," Pakistan's interior minister Chaudhry Nisar said last week.

Nisar said the US's actions "mock" justice.

"Ignoring the worst form of state terrorism does not only mock justice and international norms, but also exposes the dual standards of those upholding human and democratic rights," Nisar added.

timesofindia