World View: Questions Growing over Israel's Drone Attack on Sinai Jihadists

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• India’s Arihant nuclear submarine ready for sea acceptance trials
• India and Vietnam strengthen military and strategic ties
• Questions growing over Israel’s drone attack on Sinai jihadists
• Violence with smugglers increases on Turkey – Syria border

India’s Arihant nuclear submarine ready for sea acceptance trials

India’s INS Arihant submarine, now nuclear powered

India is celebrating switching on the nuclear reactor on Saturday ofit’s new nuclear-powered submarine, the Arihant, which meansChina and Pakistan. The submarine will initially be armed with K-15nuclear missiles, with a range of 750 km, to be upgraded to K-4nuclear missiles, with a 3,500 km range. Once it undergoes 18 monthsof extensive sea trials, with Russia’s help, India will be joining theclub whose only current members are the U.S., Russia, China, theU.K. and France, able to launch nuclear missiles from land, air orsea. Times of India and BBC

India and Vietnam strengthen military and strategic ties

The year 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of fulldiplomatic relations between India and Vietnam. These two historicenemies of China are consolidating their activities in the fields ofdefense and security, trade and investment, science and technology,information technology, capacity building and human resourcedevelopment, agriculture, education and culture. Two agreements areparticularly important in view of the conflicts between China and itsneighbors in the South China Sea. First, for several years, India andVietnam have been jointly involved in oil exploration in the watersoff Vietnam, in a region that has historically belonged to Vietnam.But this region, along with South China Sea regions historicallybelonging to other countries, are now being claimed by China in itsmodern “Lebensraum” policy, with the claims backed by militarythreats. Which leads to the second agreement between India andVietnam: For the first time, India has offered a $100 million creditline to Vietnam to purchase military equipment. This will be used topurchase four patrol boats that Vietnam will use to defend its rightsin the South China Sea. Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS)

Questions growing over Israel’s drone attack on Sinai jihadists

Yesterday’s reports, emerging from Egypt’s Sinai region, of an Israeli drone strike in Sinai have notbeen confirmed by either Israelis or Egyptians, but if true would be adramatic escalation in the violence in the region, marking the firsttime in decades that Israel’s air force struck a target on Egyptiansoil. Furthermore, Egypt denies initial reports that it gave Israelpermission for the strike.

Sinai, like Gaza, has become a hornet’s nest of terrorist activity,but unlike Gaza, the vast desert province is part of sovereignEgyptian territory, placing Israel in an ongoing dilemma on how todeal with emerging threats. On the one hand is the need to respectEgyptian sovereignty and maintain the strategically vital peace treatywith Cairo. On the other is the obligation to defend southern Israelfrom the rising terrorist threat.

Whether caused by an Israeli drone strike or not, the explosionskilled five terrorists and a rocket launcher capable of firingIranian-made M-75 missiles known as Fajr-5. It’s thought that thecurrent versions of these missiles have an integrated radar systemwith a 75 km range, causing Israel to close an airport in Eilat insouthern Israel, near the Sinai border. Jerusalem Post and YNet andDebka

Violence with smugglers increases on Turkey – Syria border

Turkey’s military says that 18 soldiers were wounded on Tuesday whenborder troops intercepted a group of almost 3,000 smugglers bringingdiesel fuel from Syria into Turkey. When the confrontation began, thesmugglers set barrels of diesel fuel on fire to keep the troops back,and the soldiers fired into the air and used tear gas to disperse thesmugglers. Local villagers attacked the troops with stones, Molotovcocktails and firearms. Smuggling from Syria into Turkey is becomingbig business, with the war leaving Syrian refineries and storehousesmostly unguarded. Diesel fuel costs four times as much in Turkey asin Syria. Relief supplies, provided by the international communityfor Syrians, are also being smuggled out and sold in southern Turkey.Zaman (Istanbul) and The National (UAE)

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