作者： bharat.cn

Petrol and diesel prices have been rising sharply for the past few days in India in the wake of a sharp rebound in international crude oil prices and weak rupee-dollar exchange rate.

In the past four days, the price of petrol has increased by approximately Rs 2.14 per litre while diesel rate has increased by Rs 2.23.

In coming months, petrol and diesel rates may rise further as oil companies attempt to recover losses Another reason behind the hike is a strong recovery in global crude oil prices over the past few days, albeit a recent fall due to oversupply fears.

Several reports suggest that petrol and diesel prices may rise further if global crude oil prices strengthen further and the rupee continues to remain weak.

It may be noted that international crude oil prices and rupee-dollar exchange rates are crucial factors used by PSU oil firms to determine daily prices. The recent rise in global oil prices coupled with weak currency means India will have to spend more to procure oil.

This is why oil companies in India have passed on the hike to customers and customers may have to shell out more if there is further improvement in the global oil market outlook.

But whether oil price will keep rising remains uncertain as major oil producers are still wary about an oil glut.

Many experts and analysts tracking the oil market say the fundamentals remain weak and prices could fall again due to lower demand. They feel that the market will gradually recover only if the thirst for oil rises.

On Monday, unknown militants shot at a sarpanch in Anantnag area of south Kashmir. Ajay Bharti was associated with the Congress party. Many such assassinations of panchayat members have happened in the Kashmir Valley but after a very long time a Kashmiri Pandit was targeted.

It is proving out to be a rather hot summer in Kashmir. Tensions over militancy and anti-insurgency have been soaring. Close to 100 militants have been killed in Kashmir this year till May. There are clear indications of this being a very active year in Kashmir.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic rages across the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, militants have been targeting security forces, civilians and activists. Sensing the situation, security forces have also upped the ante against the threats.

RISE IN MILTANT ACTIVITY AND ENCOUNTERS

Encounters have been taking place in Kashmir almost every second day and mostly in south Kashmir. More than 14 militants have been killed in last four days including five on Wednesday.

“Over the last couple of months we have been getting intelligence reports of their plans to attack security forces, carry out kidnappings, IED attacks etc. Our operations have managed to thwart those plans,” said Rajesh Kumar, IG CRPF while speaking to the media.

After the big decision on abrogation of Article 370 in August 5, 2019, there were apprehensions about possibilities of increase in militancy in the Kashmir Valley. Sources believe attempts by the terror groups to push their men from across the borders have gone up. Many infiltrations have been successful as well.

Most of the militancy-related activities and the anti-insurgency operations are taking place in this belt. “I would not like to use terms like success but these are definite steps we are taking in the right direction, at the end of it I would go back to the issue that we are here because the population or the government is inconvenienced, so any militant neutralised will bring normalcy,” said Lt Gen BS Raju, Corps Commander 15 while speaking on the recent increase in the number of encounters.

He further added that when it comes to South Kashmir alone there is a figure of close to 125 active militants. Among these there are around 100 locals while others are foreign nationals.

A  telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, at a time when Indian and Chinese soldiers are locked in a boundary face-off in Ladakh and Sikkim for nearly a month, is bound to spark off speculation in diplomatic and political circles. Ostensibly, the US President wanted to invite the Indian Prime Minister for the forthcoming G7 Summit—a desire that Trump had aired a few times recently. On May 29, he had expressed his desire to mediate between India and China on the rising tension at the LAC, claiming that he had spoken to Modi about it. That offer was politely turned down by New Delhi; the claim that the two had spoken quietly refuted.

However, in their actual confab on June 2, Modi expressed concern over the civil unrest in the US; Trump also wanted to know about the situation at the LAC. He was told it was under control and that India and China were aiming to resolve it through dialogue. But many are trying to divine the true import of the US President’s call, inasmuch as he is engaged in a tussle with China over global dominance.

Meanwhile, Indian and Chinese defence officials and diplomats were engaged in hectic parleys to bring the current stand-off between their soldiers at the un-demarcated frontier in Eastern Ladakh to an early end. On June 6, military officers at the Lt. General-level are scheduled to meet to find a solution to the crisis. There have been no fresh skirmishes in the area, even though soldiers of the two sides have consolidated and reinforced their positions along important points in the LAC. With the leadership of both sides keen to resolve the issue, tension may finally be defused in the next few weeks. As long as the situation does not escalate, both sides are willing to wait. Yet, the question remains on how temporary structures built in the points of contention by Chinese soldiers well into Indian territory can be dismantled with tact and through amicable negotiations.

There is a bigger, bothersome question as well—in the absence of a mutually agreed Line of Actual Control (LAC)—a firmly demarcated line behind which soldiers of the two sides are supposed to stand—there remains the possibility that the neighbours could be dealing with a similar military crisis in future.