The Times of India has reported that a member of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence service, has been recalled from his post in Beijing.  The Times writes:

Fresh controversy enveloped the mission with RAW station chief Uma Mishra being recalled this week, apparently for a poorly handled investigation into a “honeytrap” case.

Mishra is expected to return to India soon and this will be the second time a RAW official has returned from Beijing under a cloud.

Earlier, another RAW staffer, Manmohan Sharma, was recalled for his alleged affair with a Chinese interpreter. In connection with the Sharma case, an assistant to deputy chief of mission Saurabh Kumar has already been sent back.

The assistant, Gangadharan, was called back to Delhi on “special duty” and then given a recall letter and now it is believed that Kumar himself may be posted out as well after barely a year as deputy chief of mission. Kumar’s replacement is believed to be another [Ministry of External Affairs] official from Vietnam.

It seems that personal indiscretions and a dose of interservice rivavlry (between RAW and the MEA) have served to undermine the efficacy of India’s intelligence mission in the Chinese capital.  China is no doubt pleased to see that its long-time Asian rival is having trouble collecting information in its Beijing.  And, as the article seems to suggest with its reference to a “honeytrap” case, the Chinese may not be entirely uninvolved in the disruption.

Today the Times of India reports that the Indian military will conduct the third flight test of their Agni-III intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Wednesday. The first test was evidently botched when high temperature gases damaged some of the missile’s wiring, but this was corrected for the second trial and India hopes for another success today. The new missile is spec’d with a range of about 3500 kilometers.

What’s interesting about the piece is that it states directly in the title that the new IRBM is “China-specific.” Of course, realistically, China is the only country of strategic significance that falls within the Agni-III’s range (aside from Pakistan, but 3500 km would be overkill for that target). There really isn’t another reason to build such a weapon, but the way it’s discussed is just so…blunt.

But then, India has used the Chinese threat as the rationale for its nuclear arsenal from its inception and that threat has only grown since India’s first, “peaceful” atomic detonation in 1974. India feels outmatched by Chinese DF-21 and DF-31 missiles and believes it must field a modern IRBM of its own to feel secure in its second strike capability. If all goes as planned today, New Dehli should be one step closer to that sense of security that only comes with capability to incinerate any of your rival’s major population centers…

UPDATE: Today’s test of the Angi-III IRBM was conducted successfully and the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization is reporting the missile ready to enter service with the Indian military.  The Agni-III will bolster India’s nuclear deterrent against its Chinese neighbor by being able to carry a 200 kiloton thermonuclear warhead as far as Beijing and Shanghai.  Reports also indicate it will benefit from the improved accuracy once the joint Indian-Russian version of the GLONASS satellite navigation system goes online in 2010, allowing an upgrade from its present inertial guidance system.

According to the Times of India, Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops have made more than a dozen incursions into Indian claimed territory since January. The piece goes on to note that Chinese patrols regularly cross into disputed territory that is claimed by New Delhi. The Sino-Indian border dispute is one of the last outstanding territorial grievances that China has with its neighbors and stems from a nasty border war fought between Asia’s giants back in 1962; a war that the PLA won handily. This just goes to show that for all the bilateral exchanges and improved relations between India and China in recent years, there are still problems to be overcome. Let us not forget that the official security rationale for India’s acquisition of nuclear weapons in the 1970s was not a hostile Pakistan, but deterrence against China’s strategic arms.

The disputed area in question is a key piece of territory for both states. India has had a significant interest in maintaining control over the region to protect itself from both China and Pakistan, a sentiment that was only reinforced by the Kargil Crisis in 1999. For China, the interest is in stabilizing its restive western frontier and controlling who and what can come across the border. The Chinese province adjacent to India is Tibet and as recent events have made painfully clear, there are some Tibetans who are, shall we say, nonplussed at the idea of being a part of China. All this is not to say we should be on the look out for another clash of the titans in the Himalayas, but this issue will likely remain a stumbling block between the two countries. When neighbors with a history of conflict cram lots of military hardware into a small, sensitive piece of territory that both lay claim to, parceling out the land can be a long, painful endeavor. Just ask these guys.