| 
China's sovereign rating stays
- Standard & Poor's on Tuesday affirmed China's sovereign credit rating after warning 15 eurozone countries they faced possible downgrades, underscoring the strength of the world's second largest economy.
- The ratings agency said China's ‘exceptional growth prospects' and ‘modest government indebtedness' were key factors supporting its creditworthiness and stable outlook.
- The announcement came after S&P placed France, Germany and 13 other eurozone countries on a negative credit watch
Drone downed in Iran reportedly CIA's
- The unmanned aerial vehicle said to have been captured by Iranian forces last week was being operated by the CIA
- The CIA's use of armed drones in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen is not officially acknowledged and in this instance, too, CIA and Pentagon spokespersons declined to comment.
- U.S. officials who have disputed claims by Iran that its defence forces downed the aircraft, or that it had been felled by a sophisticated cyber-attack.
Kremlin masses troops to face protests
- The Kremlin ordered troops into Moscow after thousands of demonstrators protested on Monday what they claimed was a rigged election to Parliament.
- It was the largest opposition rally in Moscow in years.
- People shouted “Russia without Putin,” “Down with thieves and crooks”, “We'll neither forget nor forgive”
Stepping up pressure, China blames Dharamshala for self-immolations
- China has, for the first time, laid direct blame at the doorsteps of Dharamshala for the at least 11 self-immolation protests carried out by Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns in western Sichuan province in recent months, even as it has concerned Indian officials by increasing pressure on New Delhi to limit Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's activities in India.
- “The living Buddha of the Kirti Monastery, who fled in 1959 and has since lived in Dharamshala, India, has long exerted influence over the monastery
- While China has often called on countries to refuse visas and not host the Tibetan religious leader, on occasions even threatening economic repercussions, it has adopted a different approach to India, Dalai Lama's home since 1959, only calling on New Delhi to restrict “political” activities.
- Boundary talks between India and China that were scheduled to take place in New Delhi last week were postponed after China called on India to either cancel a Buddhist conference that was taking place in New Delhi at the same time or, at the very least, prevent the Dalai Lama from participating in it.
- China had accused “the Dalai group” for not criticising the self-immolations by young monks and “playing up” the issue to incite more people to follow suit, labelling it as “terrorism in disguise.”
- The Dalai Lama has, however, stressed that he does not encourage monks to follow such a path, although he blamed China's restrictive policies for driving the monks and nuns to acts of desperation.
Indonesian parliament endorses accession to CTBT
- The list of countries still outside the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) thinned by one with Indonesia's parliament voting to ratify Jakarta's accession to the treaty
- This leaves India and seven other countries including China, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States, out of the CTBT, which has been signed by 182 countries and ratified by 156.
- Annexe 2 of the CTBT essentially asks all 44 designated nuclear technology holder countries to sign and ratify the Treaty in order to bring it into law.
- Among the countries which have not signed the CTBT, the U.S, India, China, North Korea and Pakistan are declared nuclear weapon states.
- Israel neither confirms nor denies it has nuclear weapons and due to this stand by Tel Aviv as well as the collapsing Middle-East peace process, Iran and Egypt have linked their accession to the demand for a Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.
- Of the others who have not signed, China wants the U.S to ratify the treaty first, India wishes China does the same before it will consider following suit, though it has also raised disarmament-related questions, and Pakistan is looking at India to accede to the treaty.
U.S. was caught on the wrong foot in 1974 too
- Washington was caught on the wrong foot when India conducted the peaceful nuclear explosion of May 1974, and again when its intelligence agencies were unaware of India testing the nuclear bomb for a second time in 1998, according to declassified U.S. documents
- India was preparing for a nuclear test from 1972 onwards but Washington's focus on Vietnam and its preoccupation with China and the Soviet Union perhaps led it to give India low priority. As a result, the U.S. was taken completely by surprise when India tested the nuclear bomb in 1974.
- INR first voiced its suspicions in early January 1972 and barely a fortnight later the U.S. Embassy here saw “straws” suggesting an underground test “some time in future.” But after the Canadians said they had warned New Delhi of the implications of using raw material supplied by them for making nuclear bombs, the doubts subsided.
