By displaying its diplomatic, economic and military might, China has directly challenged the United States. With Chinese President Xi Jinping leading the military parade, and 26 world leaders, including Vladimir Putin and Kin Jong-un, watching, the Chinese army displayed its intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, hypersonic missiles, underwater drones and stealth fighter jets at the Military Day celebrations.
US President Donald Trump wrote on social media: “The big question to be answered is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and “blood” that the United States of America gave to China in order to help it to secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader. Many Americans died in China’s quest for Victory and Glory…. May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”
Addressing the parade, Xi Jinping said, China is a great nation that “is never intimidated by any bullies” in an apparent veiled reference to the US, and warned that China is “unstoppable”.
Speaking to media, Donald Trump said, “ … China needs us much more than we need them….We have the strongest military in the world, by far..They would never use their military on us — believe me, that would be the worst thing they could ever do.”
Trump said, he did not see China as a danger, “not at all… America is a big and powerful nation..We are better off economically, and we are now getting money because of tariff. I ended seven wars through dialogue.”
There is no doubt that the US is the world’s biggest military power and a strong economy, but what was the need for Trump to say all this?
Even US experts are worried over the lofty claims being made by Trump. The US President has left diplomatic niceties far behind. He has openly said that Xi Jinping, Putin and Kim Jong Un are “conspiring” against the US.
Such a remark does not behove the US President. What was the need to say that the world cannot run without America? Trump is not alone in making such claims. The North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un also considers his country as a superpower.
Security, Secrets and Concerns of Putin
North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un was the talk of the town at the Chinese military parade. He arrived in his special armoured train ‘Sunshine’ to Beijing railway station. He brought his daughter Kim Ju Ae to watch the parade. The special train with 20 coaches is equipped with anti-tank guided missile, surface-to-air missile and machine guns. The train is protected with armoured plates which can withstand tank shells. It chugged into the station at a speed of 60 km per hour.
Political pundits speculate that Kim is grooming his daughter as his successor, in line with the Kim dynasty. Russian President Vladimir Putin took Kim in his special Aurus car to the bilateral talks venue. He thanked Kim for providing Korean soldiers to fight for Russia in the Ukraine war. Kim’s staff polished all glasses, tables and chairs after the meeting to remove all traces of their leader as a security measure.
It was the second time in two days that Putin invited a foreign leader to sit with him in his car, to avoid his conversation being bugged. On Monday, he had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sit in his car, and on Tuesday, it was Kim Jong-un’s turn to sit in the car. Both the leaders spoke for more than 50 minutes.
Another interesting point: Kim’s staff removed all biological traces from the washroom and toiler that the leader used in Beijing. Putin’s staff did the same when he met Donald Trump in Alaska.
In today’s technological age, presence of physical traces of any leader can be fully analysed to derive health related information. All such traces and evidences are therefore removed after the leader leaves the place.
Floods : Be ready to tackle foodgrain crisis
Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and now Delhi have been ravaged by flood, cloudbursts and landslides causing death and devastation. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited flooded areas of Punjab and met farmers who showed him samples of damaged crops in Gurdaspur. Most of the rivers are in spate and the Yamuna is still flowing above danger level in Delhi. Delhi’s Wazirabad bridge has been closed to traffic.
The Yamuna, in spate, has inundated large areas in Haryana and Mathura in UP. The Yamuna was flowing hardly 600 metres away from the famous Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan. The entire Parikrama route has been inundated. Flood water has entered most of the ashrams on the bank of Yamuna. Nearly 1,500 people have been shifted to relief camps. Areas near the Taj Mahal in Agra have also been inundated. Flood water has touched the boundary wall of Taj Mahal.
Punjab has been badly ravaged by flood. For the first time since 1988, all the 23 districts of Punjab have been affected by flood in Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers. The situation has worsened in Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Sangrur, Moga, Barnala, Amritsar and Patiala. Standing crops on roughly 3 lakh acres have been damaged. 324 villages in Gurdaspur and 135 villages in Amritsar are now under water. NDRF, SDRF, army, BSF and Sikh organisations are working round-the-clock in rescue and relief work.
This year’s monsoon has broken all records. Never in the past had Delhi witnessed huge rainfall in the months of August and September. Rains have broken nine-year-old records in Punjab, Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have witnessed one day’s rains equivalent to rainfall recorded during the entire season in past years.
The Centre is trying to provide all possible assistance to the affected states. After the monsoon season is over, one major crisis will be staring in the face.
Foodgrains production may witness a steep decline due to huge loss of crops over several lakh hectares. The government should be ready and must make all preparations to face such an eventuality.
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