India Narrative

  Amid media reports on China’s encroachment of Nepali territories, Nepal and China have agreed to jointly inspect their 1414-km border, a government spokesperson said here. Sewa Lamshal, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, said that the two sides agreed to deploy a joint team in the bordering areas during a 'consultation meeting on border affairs' between the Nepali and Chinese foreign ministries which took place last week virtually. "The consultation meeting on border affairs was long due. Various matters relating to boundary and border management were discussed. It has been agreed that the joint inspection will begin soon, where the two sides will see many aspects related to boundary matters including the status of border pillars," the spokesperson told a media briefing on Wednesday. She did not share specific dates about when the two sides begin the joint inspection. According to spokesperson Lamshal, the two sides were agreed to initiate

Amid a rising trend of curbs on rights in China, the country is intensifying its censorship of Hollywood movies to make them 'conform' to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideals, a media report said. The practice, which is almost 25-years old, has expanded in recent times even as producers make movies with an eye toward pleasing Beijing yet without isolating the global audience, Voice of America reported citing industry insiders. "Now it's kind of escalated in the sense that they're much more direct in banning films outright rather than just tampering or asking for scenes to be removed," Stanley Rosen, a University of Southern California political science professor who follows China's film industry was quoted as saying. As per the report, industry observers say censors are also asking that versions of movies for audiences outside China follow Beijing's script. It is unlikely that censors will allow the 2022 Marvel Studios movie "Doctor Strange i

While the world is focused on dealing with the crisis in Ukraine, China is trying its best to gain control over the vast minerals of Afghanistan. Beijing has had its eye on the country’s vast mineral resources ever since the Taliban took over last year and Chinese companies are discussing mining rights and research access with the Kabul regime. “Chinese mining companies have been scouting opportunities to access Afghanistan’s  lithium & copper deposits. Chinese mining industry representatives met with Taliban officials to discuss mining rights and research access to such minerals,” says Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in its latest report. According to the report, Afghanistan’s s lithium deposits could be among the largest in the world, rivaling those of Bolivia. Although Afghanistan has vast mineral resources, most projects in extractive activities require a 5 to 10 years lead time, and will require significant improvements in security and a more i

  India has told China once again that assigning "invented names" to some places in Arunachal Pradesh will not change the reality. China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, in an announcement on Wednesday, had made official 15 publicly-used place names in southern Tibet - or Zangnan as the Chinese call Arunachal Pradesh - giving geographical coordinates of the locations in India's state.   "In accordance with the relevant regulations of the State Council on the management of geographical names, our ministry and relevant departments have standardized some geographical names in southern Tibet. The second batch of publicly-used place names in southern Tibet (15 in total) is now officially announced," said the Chinese ministry. Slamming Beijing's move, New Delhi said that it is not for the first time that China has attempted such a renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh, having also assigned such names in April 2017. "Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and wi

  According to Trading Economics, steel production in the country slowed to 71.6 million tonnes in October after touching almost 100 MT in May this year. The steel sector in China has been booming as the real estate industry drove the country’s economic growth. The uncertainty in the real estate sector would have a direct impact on other commodities such as cement and steel and this has happened when there are already major supply side constraints in the country,” DK Srivastava, chief policy adviser, EY India told India Narrative. Earlier Tata Steel’s managing director TV Narendran told the Economic Times that India could stand to benefit as China cuts production. “The forecast is that Chinese consumption will stay flat and consumption outside China will grow…the growth in consumption will be driven more by markets outside China, and I'm more positive about this industry in India,” the news organisation quoted Narendran as saying. The India Brand Equity Foundation noted that in 20