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Leading Indicators: Off the Radar News Roundup

Judah Grunstein | Bio | 02 Feb 2010

- I've mentioned a few times here that, for all the 2010 QDR's emphasis on COIN, the document seems to upgrade the urgency of preparing for a conflict with China. Judging by the Chinese foreign ministry's reaction, it looks like Beijing agrees with me.

- India's defense minister announced plans to purchase indigenously produced missiles and light combat aircraft, as part of ongoing efforts to boost India's defense industry capacity.

- In another blow to the water wars crowd, Pakistan's prime minister stated that Pakistan would seek to resolve differences over the implementation of the Indus River Basin water treaty with India bilaterally. If that fails, it will resort to international arbitration. "Water Wars" might sell more books, but for the most part they're fiction.

- Qatar's crown prince was in Tehran today, where he was to discuss bilateral relations with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Meanwhile, Iran's ambassador to Qatar said the two countries, along with Bahrain, had resolved a maritime boundary dispute, and will soon set a date to sign the agreement. In the meantime, Iran and Qatar will sign agreements on military and security cooperation, as well as oil and gas industry accords, during upcoming high-level visits. The diplomatic flurry comes in the context of recent reports that the U.S. has deployed Patriot missile defense systems to various Gulf states, including Qatar, to help defend against Iran's growing missile capacity. Taken together, the two developments highlight the very complex relations between Qatar and Iran, with a high degree of political distrust co-existing with a high degree of economic interdependence.

- Afghan President Hamid Karzai will reportedly travel to Saudi Arabia to ask the Saudis to sponsor peace talks with the Taliban. The Saudis remain lukewarm to the idea, maintaining that unless the Taliban disavow their ties to al-Qaida, such talks are meaningless.

- With everything that's going on in Iraq these days, it seems like an interesting time for Gen. Ray Odierno to be heading to Ankara. The visit is ostensibly to talk about addressing PKK hideouts in Iraqi Kurdistan. But as far as I know, the PKK has been relatively quiet these days.

- The Pentagon is considering expanding the Northern Supply Network into Afghanistan by adding a Chinese branch. The timing seems iffy on this one.

Researched by Kari Lipschutz.