Skip to main content

India to build Vietnam satellite data centre

Indian will set up a satellite tracking and imaging centre in southern Vietnam by taking forward the strategic relationship between the two countries to the next level.

What is the use of this satellite for Vietnam?

It will give Vietnam an  access to pictures from Indian earth observation satellites that cover the region, including China and the South China Sea.

Impact of this move:

The move could heighten tensions between the two countries(India , vietnam) and China. Both states have long-running territorial disputes with China.

The facility will be equipped to receive images from India’s Earth observation satellites that Vietnam can use in return for granting India the tracking site.

Earth observation satellites have agricultural, scientific and environmental applications, but can also provide military intelligence.

on the other side:

India extended a $100m credit line for Vietnam  to buy patrol boats and is training Vietnamese submariners in India.

Vietnam has granted oil exploration blocks to India in waters off Vietnam that are disputed with China.

enter image description here

ONGC, the Indian company, was invited by Vietnam to do drilling in Vietnam coastal waters, block 128 of Phu Khanh Basin.

 China -Vietnam dispute:

China and Vietnam fought a prolonged border war from 1979 to 1990, but have since worked to improve their diplomatic and economic ties.

The two countries remain in dispute over territorial issues in the South China Sea.

A 2014 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed 84% of Vietnamese were concerned that territorial disputes between China and neighbouring countries could lead to a military conflict.

Paracel island dispute Between China – Vietnam:

The Paracel Islands  is a group of islands, reefs, banks and other maritime features in the South China Sea. It is controlled (and occupied) by the People’s Republic of China, and also claimed by Taiwan (Republic of China) and Vietnam.

The archipelago is approximately equidistant from the coastlines of China (PRC) and Vietnam; and approximately about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines.

Disputed areas:

After Sino-French war(1884-1885), France recognized the Paracel’s and Spratly’s islands as Chinese territories, in exchange for Chinese recognition of Vietnam as a French territory.

Chinese maps since then have consistently shown China’s claims.

China in 1949,  occupied Woody Island, the main island of the Amphitrite group and the only island that was occupied at the time.

Pattle Island in the Crescent group, on the other hand, was later taken by Vietnam and then controlled by South Vietnam following independence in 1956.

Tensions over the islands have continued to rise unceasingly since then.

After the military engagement(1974) and the subsequent victory, the PRC gained the entire archipelago and has taken control of Paracel Islands ever since.

It was a significant turning point for the PRC but the sovereignty dispute on the islands remains unresolved with Vietnam.

But,most of the Paracel Islands are within China’s 200 nautical-mile EEZ as defined by UNCLOS.

ParacelIslands.png



India – China dispute :

Sovereignty over two large and various smaller separated pieces of territory have been contested between China and India.

  • The westernmost, Aksai Chin, is claimed by India as part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and region of Ladakh but is controlled and administered as part of the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang.It is a virtually uninhabited high altitude wasteland crossed by the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway.

  • The easternmost, lies south of the McMahon Line. It was formerly referred to as the North East Frontier Agency, and is now called Arunachal Pradesh. The McMahon Line was part of the 1914 Simla Convention between British India and Tibet, an agreement rejected by China.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

India Tech Vision-2035

India Tech Vision-2035 India's technology thinktank under the ministry of science & technology has come out with `Technology Vision 2035' here at the ongoing Indian Science Congress, identifying the challenges ahead and how they can be dealt with through technological interventions while realising the dream of a developed India by the year 2035. The thinktank -Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) -in the vision document lists a technology roadmap for India, giving details of 12 sectors and technologies that in some cases exist but need to be deployed, some in the pilot stage that must be scaled up and technologies in R&D stage. It, in fact, talks about many future technologies, ranging from flying cars, real time translation software, personalised medicine, wearable devices, e-sensing (e-nose and e-tongue) to 100% recyclable materials among others which may be used in different areas to solve day-to-day problems “The trajectories del...

RCEP draft moots tough curbs on cheap medicines

RCEP draft moots tough curbs on cheap medicines Analysis of leaked chapter of the draft RCEP agreement Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement – being negotiated by 16 countries (10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and 6 other countries that have Free Trade Agreements with the ASEAN) A leaked chapter of the draft RCEP agreement reveals that the  trade pact in its current form could reduce access to affordable medicines in many developing countries . The chapter on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is part of draft of the RCEP agreement. India has opposed some damaging proposals initiated by the RCEP members, particularly Japan and Korea,  involving patent extensions , restrictive rules on copyright exceptions , and  other anti-consumer measures . Some member countries, who are part of both the TPP [the U.S.-led Trans Pacific Partnership] and the RCEP, are trying to push for the TPP standards in...

Civil Service Bytes News Analysis January 2016

Morning News Analysis with Mind Map   Odd-even scheme for cars rolls out in the National Capital to curb vehicular pollution.  Centre invites Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for tripartite talks on the Gorkhaland Territorial        Administration agreement.  In Bangladesh, two students sentenced to death for killing of a blogger in 2013.  The World welcomes New year 2016 with pomp and show.  In Sports; Indian Test Captain Virat Kohli is BCCI's 'Cricketer of the Year' 2015; Mithali Raj picked for women's top award.  And, India to meet Afghanistan in the final of the South Asian Football Federation Cup.