The Evening Wrap: India says no normalcy in ties with China until LAC disengagement

There can be no normality in India-China ties unless the troops amassed at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are withdrawn, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Delhi on Friday during talks that ended without any joint statement or agreement on the way forward. Mr. Wang, who arrived in Delhi on Thursday and met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval for an hour on Friday morning, held three-hour talks with Mr. Jaishankar before leaving for Kathmandu. According to Mr. Jaishankar, who briefed the media, their meeting had a “broad and substantive agenda” and the talks were “open and candid”. He said he had “conveyed our national sentiment” on the border issue and that “frictions and tensions that arise from China’s deployments since April 2020 cannot be reconciled with a normal relationship between two neighbours.” “If you ask me, is our relationship normal today, my answer to you is no it is not, and it cannot be normal if the situation in the border areas is abnormal,” Mr. Jaishankar replied to a question from The Hindu, referring to the LAC in eastern Ladakh, where around 1,00,000 Indian and Chinese soldiers remain deployed in forward areas after the People’s Liberation Army’s transgressions. “Surely, the presence of a large number of troops there, in contravention of agreements, is abnormal,” he said. While 15 rounds of commander-level talks and eight rounds of a special Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) for border affairs yielded “considerable progress”, several friction areas remained, Mr. Jaishankar noted, but didn’t mention specifics, or if India had spoken of the need to return to the “status quo ante” as of April 2020. Yogi Adityanath sworn in as CM again with 52-member team Yogi Adityanath took oath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first chief minister to do so for a second successive term after having completed a full five-year term in the State. Mr. Adityanath was sworn in along with 52 ministers including Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brijesh Pathak as deputy chief ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of BJP-ruled States as well as Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar were present at the function at the Atal Behari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Of the 52, 16 were Cabinet Ministers, and 34 Misters of State. Almost 20 Ministers from the previous government (of whom 11 lost polls) were dropped in this exercise. The new Council of Ministers is significant not just in terms of the inclusions but the exclusions as well. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, former party president of U.P. BJP was included despite losing his Assembly seat of Sirathu, a nod to the fact that he is an important OBC face of the party in a State where non-Yadav OBC votes have become the fulcrum of the contest. Brijesh Pathak has been elevated as Deputy Chief Minister in place of Dinesh Sharma, both of whom are from the Brahmin community. According to the list of inductees, the BJP’s political focus in terms of community strength has been well reflected. Of the 52 Ministers, 21 belong to the OBC communities, and this list is dominated specifically by Kurmi MLAs, a reflection of the fact that the BJP did not do very well in the so-called Kurmi belt of the State in districts like Ambedkar Nagar and Kaushambi. Upper castes have cornered 21 berths, with seven each for Brahmin and Rajput communities. Nine ministers belong to the Scheduled Caste communities. One Muslim minister, Danish Azad Ansari, and one Sikh, Baldev Singh Aulakh, represent the minorities in the list. Upper castes have cornered 21 berths, with seven each for Brahmin and Rajput communities. Nine ministers belong to the Scheduled Caste communities. One Muslim minister, Danish Azad Ansari, and one Sikh, Baldev Singh Aulakh, represent the minorities in the list. Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into Birbhum massacre The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the CBI to probe the massacre at Bogtui village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district in the “interest of justice”, “fair investigation” and to “instill confidence in society”. “We are of the opinion that facts and circumstances of the case demand that in the interest of justice and to instill confidence in society and to have fair investigation to dig out the truth it is necessary to hand over the investigation to the CBI,” a Division Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj observed in the order. Eight people, including women and children and a man, were burnt to death in the village after the murder of Trinamool Congress deputy pradhan Bhadu Pradhan on March 21, triggering massive outrage across the country. The State government has set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the violence. “In view of this order, the State police authorities or SIT formed by the State will not carry out any further investigation in the matter from the time the same is handed over to the CBI,” the order stated. “The CBI will not only be handed over the case papers but also the accused and suspects who were arrested in the matter and in custody. Hence, we direct the CBI to forthwith take over the investigation in the case and submit the progress report before us on the next date of hearing,” it said. The Division Bench observed that the SIT was constituted on March 22, “but till now there is no effective contribution of the SIT in the investigation. It has been submitted that in spite of the fact that the police station is very near to the spot of incident, the police did not reach on time and persons trapped inside the houses were kept on burning”. While the BJP, the Left and the Congress have welcomed the High Court order, ruling Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that “if at the instance of the BJP, there is an effort to indulge in politics of vendetta... then there will be protest and mass agitation”. Ukraine reports 300 died in Russian airstrike on Mariupol theatre Ukrainian authorities said Friday that about 300 people died when a Russian airstrike blew up a theatre where hundreds of civilians were sheltering — a catastrophic loss of civilian life that, if confirmed, is likely to further crank up pressure on Western nations to step up military aid. In a vain attempt to protect those inside from missile and airstrikes that Russia has rained down on cities, an enormous inscription reading “CHILDREN” in Russian had been posted outside the grand, columned theater to make it visible from the air. For days, the government in the besieged ruins of Mariupol was unable to give a casualty count for the March 16 attack. The post on its Telegram channel Friday cited eyewitnesses, but it was not immediately clear whether emergency workers had finished excavating the theater ruins or how witnesses arrived at the horrific figure of lives lost. Still, the emerging picture of gruesome casualties could refocus attention on the refusal thus far of countries from the NATO alliance to supply warplanes or fly patrols to protect Ukraine’s airspace, despite repeated pleas from the country’s embattled president. Still, the emerging picture of gruesome casualties could refocus attention on the refusal thus far of countries from the NATO alliance to supply warplanes or fly patrols to protect Ukraine’s airspace, despite repeated pleas from the country’s embattled president. In brief Finance Minister Nirmala Sithararaman, responding to the debate on the Finance Bill, 2022, cleared by the Lok Sabha on Friday, blamed the Russia-Ukraine conflict for rising fuel prices and asserted that the government was committed to reducing the burden on the common man. To counter Opposition criticism on high inflation and the lack of any tax relief for the middle class in the Budget for 2022-23, Ms. Sitharaman recalled a speech by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru blaming the Korean war amid soaring food prices in 1951, and late PM Indira Gandhi’s decision to sharply raise income tax rates in 1970. Unlike many developed nations, India had not raised taxes to finance the pandemic spending and the economy’s recovery, she said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 25 MARCH 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( No normalcy in ties until LAC disengagement, says Jaishankar after meeting Wang Yi in Delhi There can be no normality in India-China ties unless the troops amassed at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are withdrawn, [External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Delhi]( on Friday during talks that ended without any joint statement or agreement on the way forward. Mr. Wang, who arrived in Delhi on Thursday and met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval for an hour on Friday morning, held three-hour talks with Mr. Jaishankar before leaving for Kathmandu. [External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on March 25, 2022. Photo: Twitter/@DrSJaishankar via PTI] According to Mr. Jaishankar, who briefed the media, their meeting had a “broad and substantive agenda” and the talks were “open and candid”. He said he had “conveyed our national sentiment” on the border issue and that “frictions and tensions that arise from China’s deployments since April 2020 cannot be reconciled with a normal relationship between two neighbours.” “If you ask me, is our relationship normal today, my answer to you is no it is not, and it cannot be normal if the situation in the border areas is abnormal,” Mr. Jaishankar replied to a question from The Hindu, referring to the LAC in eastern Ladakh, where around 1,00,000 Indian and Chinese soldiers remain deployed in forward areas after the People’s Liberation Army’s transgressions. “Surely, the presence of a large number of troops there, in contravention of agreements, is abnormal,” he said. While 15 rounds of commander-level talks and eight rounds of a special Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) for border affairs yielded “considerable progress”, several friction areas remained, Mr. Jaishankar noted, but didn’t mention specifics, or if India had spoken of the need to return to the “status quo ante” as of April 2020. Yogi Adityanath sworn in as CM again with 52-member team [Yogi Adityanath took oath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh]( the first chief minister to do so for a second successive term after having completed a full five-year term in the State. Mr. Adityanath was sworn in along with 52 ministers including Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brijesh Pathak as deputy chief ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of BJP-ruled States as well as Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar were present at the function at the Atal Behari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. [Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditiyanath greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Atal Bihari Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on March 25, 2022. ] Of the 52, 16 were Cabinet Ministers, and 34 Misters of State. Almost 20 Ministers from the previous government (of whom 11 lost polls) were dropped in this exercise. The new Council of Ministers is significant not just in terms of the inclusions but the exclusions as well. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, former party president of U.P. BJP was included despite losing his Assembly seat of Sirathu, a nod to the fact that he is an important OBC face of the party in a State where non-Yadav OBC votes have become the fulcrum of the contest. Brijesh Pathak has been elevated as Deputy Chief Minister in place of Dinesh Sharma, both of whom are from the Brahmin community. According to the list of inductees, the BJP’s political focus in terms of community strength has been well reflected. Of the 52 Ministers, 21 belong to the OBC communities, and this list is dominated specifically by Kurmi MLAs, a reflection of the fact that the BJP did not do very well in the so-called Kurmi belt of the State in districts like Ambedkar Nagar and Kaushambi. Upper castes have cornered 21 berths, with seven each for Brahmin and Rajput communities. Nine ministers belong to the Scheduled Caste communities. One Muslim minister, Danish Azad Ansari, and one Sikh, Baldev Singh Aulakh, represent the minorities in the list. Upper castes have cornered 21 berths, with seven each for Brahmin and Rajput communities. Nine ministers belong to the Scheduled Caste communities. One Muslim minister, Danish Azad Ansari, and one Sikh, Baldev Singh Aulakh, represent the minorities in the list. Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into Birbhum massacre The Calcutta High Court on Friday [directed the CBI to probe the massacre at Bogtui village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district]( in the “interest of justice”, “fair investigation” and to “instill confidence in society”. “We are of the opinion that facts and circumstances of the case demand that in the interest of justice and to instill confidence in society and to have fair investigation to dig out the truth it is necessary to hand over the investigation to the CBI,” a Division Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj observed in the order. Eight people, including women and children and a man, were burnt to death in the village after the murder of Trinamool Congress deputy pradhan Bhadu Pradhan on March 21, triggering massive outrage across the country. The State government has set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the violence. “In view of this order, the State police authorities or SIT formed by the State will not carry out any further investigation in the matter from the time the same is handed over to the CBI,” the order stated. “The CBI will not only be handed over the case papers but also the accused and suspects who were arrested in the matter and in custody. Hence, we direct the CBI to forthwith take over the investigation in the case and submit the progress report before us on the next date of hearing,” it said. The Division Bench observed that the SIT was constituted on March 22, “but till now there is no effective contribution of the SIT in the investigation. It has been submitted that in spite of the fact that the police station is very near to the spot of incident, the police did not reach on time and persons trapped inside the houses were kept on burning”. While the BJP, the Left and the Congress have welcomed the High Court order, ruling Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that “if at the instance of the BJP, there is an effort to indulge in politics of vendetta... then there will be protest and mass agitation”. Ukraine reports 300 died in Russian airstrike on Mariupol theatre Ukrainian authorities said Friday that [about 300 people died when a Russian airstrike blew up a theatre]( where hundreds of civilians were sheltering — a catastrophic loss of civilian life that, if confirmed, is likely to further crank up pressure on Western nations to step up military aid. In a vain attempt to protect those inside from missile and airstrikes that Russia has rained down on cities, an enormous inscription reading “CHILDREN” in Russian had been posted outside the grand, columned theater to make it visible from the air. For days, the government in the besieged ruins of Mariupol was unable to give a casualty count for the March 16 attack. The post on its Telegram channel Friday cited eyewitnesses, but it was not immediately clear whether emergency workers had finished excavating the theater ruins or how witnesses arrived at the horrific figure of lives lost. Still, the emerging picture of gruesome casualties could refocus attention on the refusal thus far of countries from the NATO alliance to supply warplanes or fly patrols to protect Ukraine’s airspace, despite repeated pleas from the country’s embattled president. Still, the emerging picture of gruesome casualties could refocus attention on the refusal thus far of countries from the NATO alliance to supply warplanes or fly patrols to protect Ukraine’s airspace, despite repeated pleas from the country’s embattled president. In brief Finance Minister Nirmala Sithararaman, responding to the debate on the Finance Bill, 2022, cleared by the Lok Sabha on Friday, [blamed the Russia-Ukraine conflict for rising fuel prices]( and asserted that the government was committed to reducing the burden on the common man. To counter Opposition criticism on high inflation and the lack of any tax relief for the middle class in the Budget for 2022-23, Ms. Sitharaman recalled a speech by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru blaming the Korean war amid soaring food prices in 1951, and late PM Indira Gandhi’s decision to sharply raise income tax rates in 1970. Unlike many developed nations, India had not raised taxes to finance the pandemic spending and the economy’s recovery, she said. 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