The implications of shooting down a spy balloon or a weather research vessel

The ‘spy balloon’ flown by China to test the surveillance capabilities of world countries was shot down by the US Air Force with its missile after it entered American skies. At the same time, while expressing strong opposition to the US attack on a civilian unmanned vehicle, China described the alleged spy balloon as its unmanned weather research vessel and threatened the US with consequences.

The message of this event is clear. On the one hand, while America has presented an example to the world by taking strict action against the spy balloons, considering it a clear violation of its airspace, on the other hand, it has given a clear indication to China that its technology is not the best of the world. It is the top technology, from which it is not possible for anyone to escape.

If seen, this has once again exposed China’s nefarious intentions on the global stage, due to which India also needs to take a lesson and be extremely careful. In fact, the US shooting down China’s weather research vessel mistaking it for a spy balloon has some special strategic significance, which is in the interest of all countries to understand in time.

First of all, we talk about this whole incident, then its meaning, so that by understanding it, a preventive strategy can be prepared accordingly. Let us tell you that on January 28, 2023, Alaska, Canada on January 30 and Montana on January 31, a huge spy balloon of China was seen in the US airspace, there was a stir, because its size was equal to three buses.

Usually this balloon remained present in the airspace of America for 5 days, which was closely monitored. Meanwhile, the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, took immediate steps to secure its sensitive information, while US defense agencies began to investigate and dispose of the spy balloon.

It is reported that when this matter came to the notice of US President Joe Biden, he ordered to kill it without harming anyone on the ground. After which it was shot down on February 4. It is said that the Government of Canada also fully supported him in this.

The US Air Force then shot down the spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean about 9.65 km off the US coast in South Carolina, debris of which fell near Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and spread over an 11 km area.

At the same time, now the US Army is trying to collect this debris, so that the sensitive information collected by the balloon can be obtained and its intelligence importance for China can be lost. On the other hand, according to experts, China had raised this spy balloon to test America’s surveillance capabilities, so that it could be well aware of how long American surveillance systems are capable of detecting foreign equipment.

However, China has denied this. In defense, it says that the US insistence on the use of force on civilian unmanned aerial vehicles is actually an unnecessary process and a violation of international standards, to which it reserves the right to take further steps in response. It will firmly uphold the legitimate rights and interests of the relevant company, as the balloon shot down by the US was a weather research vessel that had entered US airspace due to strong winds. It is natural that China will also take some next step.

In my opinion, India should take a lesson from this incident and keep encouraging it to make its research and research higher than China. Because China can prove to be both a hindrance and a threat to Indian ambitions more than America, this fact is not hidden from anyone.

It is possible that China, which has become accustomed to spying on water and land, has also done such spying in the Indian sky area, which our reconnaissance systems have failed to catch! Therefore, while trying to acquire American technology, India needs to be extra cautious from now on.

Significantly, it is China’s decades-old desire to replace America, which is considered the world’s super power, for which it is eager to acquire immense military capability and economic power. In this episode, he keeps on doing different applications. This could also be a link to it.

It should be remembered that earlier Russia used to have the same thinking, but in the decade of 1990s its ambitions were shattered. That’s why now he is following the diplomacy of destroying America by pushing China forward. On the other hand, America is thinking of causing direct harm to China and indirect harm to Russia by putting India forward.

However, the maturity of Indian diplomacy often overshadows American thinking. This is because India is a friend of Russia and considers China as its enemy No. 1, but by helping both Russia and America, it intends to tame unbridled China, in which it seems to have been successful so far.

Truth be told, the tussle that is going on on the global stage, first between America and Russia and now between America and China, is likely to affect the economic and strategic interests of all the countries, economic and military blocs of the rest of the world in the near future. Have passed No non-aligned country is going to be left untouched by this.

That’s why all the countries should take the initiative to modernize their economic and military strategy while gaining technical efficiency, so that they can be useful to each other when the opportunity arises, or else they should join the friendly group, so that their sovereignty is not limited to Iraq first. And now the heat like Ukraine will never come again.

At the same time, all the weak countries should take lesson from the events of Syria, Afghanistan and Taiwan etc., if any of their neighbors are both stronger and cruel than them…!

– Kamlesh Pandey

senior journalist and columnist