WEEK OUT

India fears entry of the Dragon
Amid reports of China's deployment of troops in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired a meeting of the cabinet committee on Security to review China's new-found posturing and India's options of dealing with it. Senior cabinet ministers, including defense minister AK Antony, home minister P Chidambaram and external affairs minister S M Krishna, were among those attending the meeting. The ministers discussed how best to deal with China's aggressive behaviour towards issues critical to India's sovereignty. Krishna said that the Chinese paying close attention to India's security concerns is not normal. China's recent rejection of granting a visa to Lt Gen B S Jaswal, a senior Indian general commanding the northern sector, which includes Jammu and Kashmir, as part of a broader military exchange between the two countries is not the first sign of its worrisome stand on the troubled Indian state. India and China certainly have their differences but this time, Indian officials say Beijing has gone too far. The immediate worry for New Delhi is reports of nearly 7, 000 to 11, 000 Chinese troops being stationed in Gilgit, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). "This is very serious, for the first time they have belatedly questioned the status of Jammu & Kashmir. We need to take strong political steps like stapling the visas of Tibetans and stressing on Tibet as an autonomous part of China, not a militarised one as it is now, " said Kanwal Sibal, former foreign secretary. Is China's growing political might across the Himalayas a threat too big to ignore when it comes to India's territorial sovereignty in J&K ? New Delhi is now set to take a stern glance at the big brotherly attitude adopted by China.

WEEK IN

Andrew Llyod Webber's art collection all set to get a grand display
Webber's collection, that includes works by Pre-Raphaelites like Rossetti, Millais and Waterhouse, will be shown at London's Royal Academy of Arts in the autumn. The multi-million pound display, from September 20, will replace a delayed major exhibition of Egyptian art. The Royal Academy has pulled the show because of the "political instability in the Middle East. " Lord Webber originally collected British 19th century paintings, but later he expanded the historical range of his works to feature other notable artists. President of the Royal Academy, Professor Phillip King, thanked Webber, and said, "We are enormously grateful to Andrew Lloyd Webber for lending his collection to the Royal Academy and for bringing forward an exhibition originally planned for a few years time. "