Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: October 4, 2015 Edition

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is gearing up to release its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy statement on Tuesday. Since his appointment as governor in 2013, Raghuram Rajan has reduced interest rates by 75 basis points in three policy statements, with cuts of 25 basis points each time. Last August’s policy statement saw the repo rate kept unchanged at 7.25 percent in the midst of the global economic slowdown, uncertainty over a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate hik, and Indian monsoon expectations.

Both governments, using very similar language, noted new confidence-building measures on air-to-air encounters between their militaries. The Chinese version, however, included something the United States didn’t: “At the invitation of the United States Pacific Command, the Chinese Navy will participate in the RIMPAC-2016 joint exercise.”

RIMPAC, the “Rim of the Pacific Exercise,” is a massive joint exercise including 22 participant militaries, as of the last time it was held last year. China’s inaugural participation, in 2014, was controversial among those who oppose deeper military ties between the United States and China and caused a stir when the Chinese military sent along a surveillance ship, in addition to the hardware participating in the exercise. This and other factors led some to advocate disinviting China from the 2016 exercise.

Though the U.S. government has not apparently commented on the matter, China has announced its plans to participate.

With little fanfare, China has probably started construction on its first indigenously-built aircraft carrier. Images from Chinese social media and satellite imagery from earlier this year, acquired by IHS Jane‘s 360, suggest that the new carrier has been under construction at the Dalian shipyard. The new carrier is reportedly using the same dry dock that was used to upgrade and refurbish the Varyag, a Soviet-designed and built Admiral Kuznetsov-class multirole carrier, into the Liaoning, the People’s Liberation Army-Navy’s sole aircraft carrier. The Liaoning was commissioned three years ago, in September, 2012. Analysts believe that China is planning to field a four-carrier navy. An image posted by a Weibo user earlier this year (above) purports to show progress on the carrier at the Dalian shipyard.

An airstrike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan has left at least 19 people dead. MSF has issued a strong statement, which includes the following:

The international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific aerial bombing of its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Twelve staff members and at least seven patients, including three children, were killed; 37 people were injured including 19 staff members. This attack constitutes a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law.

All indications currently point to the bombing being carried out by international Coalition forces. MSF demands a full and transparent account from the Coalition regarding its aerial bombing activities over Kunduz on Saturday morning. MSF also calls for an independent investigation of the attack to ensure maximum transparency and accountability.

MSF also mentioned that it “had communicated the exact location of the hospital to all parties to the conflict.”

Kyrgyzstan’s election on October 4 is, to say the least, incredibly important. There is both optimism that a well-executed election could reaffirm the democratic underpinnings of Kyrgyzstan’s government, and also pessimism that expectations are too high and potential flashpoints numerous.

On Wednesday, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar commissioned the stealth guided missile destroyer INS Kochi at a ceremony held at the Mazagon naval dockyards in Mumbai, The Hindureports.

The INS Kochi is the second in a series of three planned Kolkata-class (Project 15A) destroyers of the Indian Navy. The destroyers are designed to be multi-mission ships capable of engaging in anti-submarine/anti-ship warfare, land attacks, and air defense. Given their multi-purpose role, the destroyers  are ideally suited for supporting expeditionary and surface strike groups.

Australia not only has a new prime minister, in what Taiwanese animators have called the “revolving door of Australian politics,” but a new defense minister. That portfolio has, at times, revolved so swiftly the centrifugal force could power a fairground.

Since January 2006 Australia has had ten defense ministers, serving an average of a year to under two years. Stephen Smith, under both Rudd and Gillard lasted four days past three years. David Johnson, a year and a third, lost the job after saying he wouldn’t trust the Australian Submarine Corporation to “build a canoe.” He was replaced by Kevin Andrews who has now been succeeded by Marise Payne, the first woman to hold the portfolio.

After months of speculation, Indonesia has chosen China over Japan for a lucrative high-speed rail contract. The high-speed rail line, estimated to cost from $5-6 billion, will connect Jakarta and Bandung, the capital of West Java province. It will be Indonesia’s first high-speed railway.

Japan and China have been vying for the contract since Indonesia announced that China submitted a bid in April 2015, much to Japan’s dismay. Things took a strange turn in early September, however, when Indonesia scrapped the idea altogether. Minister Rizal Ramli said Jakarta had decided not to request a high-speed train at all, but a “medium-speed” one that allows for more stops along the route.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama took oblique (but obvious) aim at each other over the Syrian civil war in their respective speeches before the United Nations General Assembly. Putin and Obama also held a tense (though “surprisingly very frank,” according to the Russian leader) meeting Monday afternoon. While all eyes were on those tensions, Putin also held a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – a much more friendly encounter.

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The big takeaway came in an announcement from Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who said that Putin had accepted an invitation from Abe to visit Japan. That means Putin will finally head to Tokyo, possibly before the end of 2015, after first agreeing to make such a visit in early 2014. Abe and Putin also agreed to meet at other multilateral gatherings, including the G20 summit to be held in Turkey from November 15-16 and the APEC summit scheduled for November 18-19 in Manila.