LONDON: China is sending “lethal aid” to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine, Britain’s defense minister Grant Shapps said on Wednesday.
“Today I can reveal that we have evidence that Russia and China are collaborating on combat equipment for use in Ukraine,” he said in a speech at a London conference.
Shapps warned that NATO needed to “wake up” and bolster defense spending across the alliance.
“US and British defense intelligence can reveal that lethal aid is now flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine.”
He argued that democratic states should make a “full-throated case” for freedoms that are dependent on the international order, meaning “we need more allies and partners” worldwide.
“It’s time for the world to wake up. And that means translating this moment to concrete plans and capabilities. And that starts with laying the foundations for an alliance-wide increase in spending on our collective deterrent,” he said.
China and Russia’s strategic partnership has only grown closer since the invasion of Ukraine, but Beijing has rebuffed Western claims that it is aiding Moscow’s war effort.
China has also offered a critical lifeline to Russia’s isolated economy, with trade booming since the invasion and hitting $240 billion in 2023, according to Chinese customs figures.
US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, however, appeared to take issue with some of Shapps’s comments.
He said the possibility that China might “provide weapons directly — lethal assistance — to Russia” had been a concern earlier, but that “we have not seen that to date.”
The United States did though have a “concern about what China’s doing to fuel Russia’s war machine, not giving weapons directly, but providing inputs to Russia’s defense industrial base,” he added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin put on a strong show of unity during a meeting in Beijing earlier this month.
Xi said in a statement following talks with Putin during his visit that the two sides agreed on the need for a “political solution” to resolve the war.
UK defense minister says China sending ‘lethal aid’ to Russia for Ukraine war
https://arab.news/gmtjw
UK defense minister says China sending ‘lethal aid’ to Russia for Ukraine war
India displays ancient Buddhist jewels taken during British colonial rule
- Piprahwa gems are believed to have been buried with bodily relics of the Buddha
- Precious stones are ‘living presence’ of the Buddha himself, expert says
NEW DELHI: Sacred ancient gems linked to the Buddha’s remains went on display at an exhibit in New Delhi on Saturday, almost 130 years since they were taken abroad during British colonial rule.
The Piprahwa gems, named after the town in what is now the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, were removed by British colonial engineer William Claxton Peppe during excavations of a nearby religious site in 1898.
The collection of more than 300 carved gems is believed to be more than 2,000 years old and was found with the bodily relics of the Buddha in northern India, near the border with Nepal.
“India is not only the custodian of Lord Buddha’s sacred relics but also the living carrier of his tradition,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during the opening of the exhibit.
“These sacred relics of Lord Buddha are India’s heritage. After a century-long wait, they have returned to the country.”
In May, the precious stones made international headlines after Peppe’s descendants, who kept a portion of the gems, put the items up for sale and consigned them for auction by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, with bidding starting at roughly $1.3 million.
After the auction sparked an international outcry from Buddhist leaders, academics, and devotees, the Indian government intervened, threatening legal action and demanding the return of the jewels.
The gems were repatriated to India in July through a public-private partnership between the Indian government and Godrej Industries Group, a Mumbai-based Indian conglomerate, which reportedly acquired the jewels.
The New Delhi exhibit marked the first time the entire collection was displayed to the Indian public since they were excavated by the British in the late 19th century.
“After the excavation, a portion had been kept by the excavator William Claxton Peppe, and it became his family heirloom. And, of course, it traveled out of India, and a portion remained at the Indian Museum,” Lily Pandey, a joint secretary at the Indian Ministry of Culture, told Arab News on the sidelines of the event.
Pandey said that a series of “very fortunate events” led to the exhibition and the showing of all the gems together.
The Piprahwa relics are considered central in the archaeological study of early Buddhism and are “among the earliest and most historically significant relic deposits directly connected” to the Buddha, the Indian government said in a release.
Savita Kumari, an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Heritage, said the exhibit gave Indians an opportunity to connect with the Buddha.
“Buddha is actually present in these relics,” she told Arab News.
“It’s the living presence of Buddha himself. So, it is very important emotionally and spiritually for the people of the country to have it with us.”
