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Defence Current Affairs May 1st Week 2019
Category : Defence Current Affairs
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 1. SCO Defence Ministers` meet in Bishkek

 
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers` Meet in Bishkek Kyrgyzstan.
The two sides discussed regional and bilateral security issues during the meeting.
The Defence Minister is in Kyrgyzstan on a three-day visit to attend the SCO meet, along with holding bilaterals with other member-countries on the summit`s sidelines.
The eight member-states will discuss ways to increase cooperation in combatting terrorism, among other issues, during the meet.
The current SCO meeting is being held in the run-up to the SCO summit, which is expected to take place from June 14 to June 15 this year.
In 2018, India participated in the SCO Defence Ministers meeting for the first time. Speaking at that meeting, Ms Sitharaman had highlighted India`s keen interest in developing an expanded partnership with the broader Eurasian region.
In 2018, India for the first time participated in the SCO defence exercises. The joint exercise was conducted by the Central Military Commission of Russia at Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk. The exercise involved tactical level operations in an international counterinsurgency or counter-terrorism environment under the SCO Charter.
 
2. The 14th edition of Sino-Indian border trade opens at Nathu La in Sikkim
 
The 14th edition of the annual Sino-Indian border trade opens at Nathu La, which is the frontier post at Sino-Indian border in Sikkim. Officials and traders of India and China made their presence at the border to symbolise the beginning of the border trade.
Every year, between 1st May to 30th November, the bilateral border trade between 2 nations is held for 4 days a week for 6 months. After a long interval of 44 years, cross border trade commenced on July 6, 2006 to promote the benefits of trade, increase tourism in Sikkim, thus offering employment for people of the region.
2 sections were there in India’s trade list:
The export list: it contained 36 items, namely, dairy products, flour, oil, biscuits, utensils, copper materials and many more.
The import list: it contained 20 items ranging from carpets, quilts, jackets, shoes, China clay and other things from the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
The goods export from India totalled to Rs 45.03 crore in 2018, whereas goods imported from the TAR totalled to Rs 3.23 crore. In 2019, the export of at least Rs 50 crore is expected by India.
Between India and China there are 3 open trading border posts, namely: Nathu La in Sikkim, Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh and Lipulekh  in Uttarakhand.
The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) or Xizang Autonomous Region, legally founded in 1965 (to replace the Tibet Area) is a province-level autonomous region in southwest China. The TAR is located on the Tibetan Plateau which is the highest region on Earth. The present borders of the TAR were established in the 18th century and includes about half of ethno-cultural Tibet. y area, the TAR is the 2nd-largest province-level division of China and has an area of 1,200,000 km2 (the largest province is Xinjiang). TAR is the least densely populated provincial-level division of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) owing to its harsh and rugged terrain.