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02 Feb 18. Russia approves warplane deployment on disputed island near Japan. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has approved the deployment of Russian warplanes on a disputed island near Japan, accelerating the area’s militarisation at a time when Moscow’s ties with Tokyo are strained over the roll-out of a U.S. missile system. In a decree published late on Thursday, Medvedev allowed the Russian Defence Ministry to use a civilian airport on the island of Iturup as it is known by Russia, or Etorofu as it is known by Japan, for its warplanes.
The island was one of four seized by Soviet forces at the end of World War Two and is located off the north-east coast of Hokkaido, Japan’s biggest prefecture. The dispute over the islands, known as the Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, is so acrimonious that Moscow and Tokyo have not yet signed a peace treaty to mark the end of the war.
Medvedev’s decree is the latest step in a Russian military build-up that has seen Moscow deploy some of its newest missile defence systems to the islands and plan to build a naval base there even as it continues talks about the territorial dispute.
The decree was published days before deputy foreign ministers from the two countries are due to hold talks about co-operation on the disputed islands and at a time when Russia is concerned that Japan is allowing Washington to use its territory as a base for a U.S. military build-up in north Asia under the pretext of countering North Korea.
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It is unclear whether Russia will permanently deploy warplanes to the disputed island, which hosted a Soviet air base during the Cold War, or use its airport as and when needed.
The Kommersant daily cited an unnamed military source as saying the move would give the Russian military more options.
“This move should show the aerodrome’s readiness for fighter planes that patrol our borders to be temporarily based there,” the source was quoted as saying.
The same source was quoted as saying that Russia was particularly concerned about a Japanese plan to deploy more Aegis U.S. missile systems in its Akita and Yagamata prefectures.
The Japanese embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Kommersant cited it as saying that the new Russian move would boost Moscow’s military power on the disputed islands.
That contradicted Japan’s own stance on the dispute, it was cited as saying, but Tokyo would keep trying to resolve the problem through talks. (Source: Reuters)
01 Feb 18. Why is Indian defence spending not booming? Despite 7.8% rise in allocation, spending as percentage of GDP slumps; this is the lowest since 1962. The defence spending has touched a low at 1.62 per cent of the planned GDP growth in 2018-19 even as the budgetary allocation for the sector was increased by 7.81 per cent at ₹2,95,511.41 crore from ₹2,74,114.12 crore in 2017-18.
“A number of initiatives have been taken to develop and nurture intrinsic defence production capability to make the nation self-reliant for meeting our defence needs. Ensuring adequate budgetary support will be our priority,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the Budget for 2018-19. A close look at the allocation reveals that this is the lowest ever drop in defence expenditure as a percentage of the GDP since 1962 when India was at war with China.
India’s defence spending as a percentage of GDP has been declining steadily since 2013-14. Both China and Pakistan spend over 2 per cent of their GDP on defence.
Experts point out that allocations by the government remain frugal even at a time when the country is facing threats to its security not just from the borders with Pakistan and China, but also from challenges in the Indian Ocean Region.
Just last year the country was engaged in a