The editorial Page: india will de-risk, not decouple, from us and China 10 MoNdAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2026 JouRnAlism of CouRAge neW delhi, lAte City, 18 PAGes ₹7.00 (₹8 rAiPUr, ₹15 srinAGAr) l www.indianexpress.com dA i ly f r o M : A h M e dA B A d , C h A n d i GA r h , d e l h i , j A i P U r , Ko l K AtA , l U C K n o W , M U M B A i , n AG P U r , PAt n A , P U n e , vA d o dA r A express investigation in cOllaBOratiOn with internatiOnal cOnSOrtiUM Of inVeStiGatiVe jOUrnaliStS 2017 doklam border fallout in mumbai: china’s top bank froze loans worth $185 mn, told party cadre to alert embassy ‘Internal and external’ challenges of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s lone India branch detailed in 178-page ‘confidential’ work summary ritu Sarin New Delhi, September 20 WheN INdIaN and Chinese troops were locked in a face-off at doklam along the northeastern border in 2017, the fallout was felt over 2,000 km down themap—inmumbai,hometo the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s only branch in India. The ICBC branch “proactively reduced its exposure to loan and investment risks and suspendedthedisbursementof 11 approved but undisbursed loansandbondinvestmentstotalling $185 million”. It also “organized” Chinese Communist Party members across every department to stay in constant touch with China’s embassy and consulate. Thesearethekeyrevelations from internal documents reviewedbyTheIndianExpressin China Capital — a global investigationledbytheInternational Consortium of Investigative Journalists(ICIJ),whichliftsthe veil on how state-owned ICBC, theworld’sbiggestbankbyasset size,isavitalcoginChina’sgeopolitical blueprint. The investigation lays bare the extent of influence the Chinese state holds in all sections 11YeArs, 5-Fold rise ₹6,378 crore Assets as on March 31, 2026 — nearly five-fold rise in 11 years from rs 1,386 crore as on March 31, 2015 Advances as on March 31, 2026 ₹4,194 crore Customer deposits 2025-26 — up from rs 3,439 crore in 2024-25 ₹1,000 crore Borrowings 2025-26 — down from rs 1,296 crore in 2024-25 ₹60.96 crore net profit for 2025-26 soUrCe: reGistrAr of CoMPAnies (roC), iCBC AnnUAl rePort of its economic infrastructure — and offers a rare peek at how China sought to ringfence its assets in India during the »cOntinUed On PaGe 2 harish damodaran New Delhi, September 20 INdIahasstavedoffapotential foodcrisisbyimportingenough ureaandliquefiednaturalgasto enable domestic production of high-nitrogen fertiliser. But there is another critical commodity, sulphur, whose soaring prices — again, linked to the escalating West asia and russia-ukraine conflicts — is impactingthe availabilityofdiammonium phosphate (daP), amrita nayak dutta ₹3,522 crore ₹1,871 crore Prices up three times in one year, affecting availability of major complex fertilisers single super phosphate (ssP) and other major complex fertilisers. since the start of this year, landed (cost plus ocean freight) prices of sulphur imported into India have doubled to $1,0501,100 per tonne. The main reason:ukrainianlong-rangedrone and missile attacks on russian oilrefineriesandgascomplexes and Iran, likewise, targeting the energy infrastructure of saudi aramco, Qatarenergy and happening today la three-dayspecial session ($ per tonne, cost & freight to India) of the Karnataka legislature begins to discuss the drought situation in the state and the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats ecologically sensitive areas. 1,200 lBjP chief nitin nabin will l Averageimport priceofsulphur $1,070 begin a two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh to lead organisational meetings and public programmes ahead of the polls. 1,000 800 $504 Jun 2022 600 400 200 0 $322 Sept 2025 TRaCK TheSe aNd moRe oN www.indiAnexpress.com $95.2 the world Aug 2019 page 12 ukraine launches drone attack amid polls in russia Sept 2026 »cOntinUed On PaGe 2 Six high-tech Army labs Tata Trusts challenges to weed out foreign bugs Chandra’s ‘casting vote’ over his reappointment from drones, cameras ICBC in India investments as on March 31, 2026; of which rs 2,885 crore is held in govt securities Russia, West Asia energy sites hit, India has a new problem: Sulphur New Delhi, September 20 oNe BKC building, where ICBC's only India branch is located, at Bandra Kurla Complex, mumbai. sAnKhAdeeP BAnerjee ICBC watchlisted $500mn Vedanta subsidiary loan, recovered in full year later jay Mazoomdaar & Shyamlal yadav New Delhi, September 20 a COmPlex corporate structure; the parent company’s limited access to much of the group’s reported cash; a weak standalone financial position; and, the borrower’s reluctance toprovideinformationrequired for compliance checks. These were among the con- cerns flagged in internal documents of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) even as it placed a Cyprus-based subsidiary of anil agarwal’s Vedanta resources on its internal watchlist in 2016 over a $500 million loan. however, records show the bank’s exposure was repaid in full in 2017. Theserecordswerereviewed The INdIaN army will soon be operating six aashVasT labs across the country, where all its drones—and eventually CCTV cameras too—will undergo mandatory inspections to identify and eliminate firmware-level vulnerabilities. This will ensure that these do not fail during operations in contested zones and can perform their tasks effectively. aashVasT stands for assessment and analysis of electronic systems hardware for »cOntinUed On PaGe 2 George Mathew E. Mumbai, September 20 explAined chinese parts cause for concern This mechanism is significant in light of the Army's large-scale drone procurement initiative through the emergency route. The use of Chinese components in military drones has been a cause of concern for India, especially since many of these drones are used in operations along the eastern borders. TaTaTrusTs,chairedbyNoel Tata, has categorically rejected the decision to reappoint N Chandrasekaran as the Tata sons chair and questioned the validity of using his own ‘casting vote’ to claim a majority afterthetwonomineedirectors of the Trusts voted differently over his continuation beyond his current term’s expiry on February 20, 2027. TataTrustsholds66percent in Tata sons, the group holding company,andhastwonominee directors on its board — Noel N Chandrasekaran is the Chairman of Tata Sons inside page 8 singhvi, salve weigh in on tatas battle Tata and Venu srinivasan. On september17,onedirectorvoted »cOntinUed On PaGe 5 »cOntinUed On PaGe 2 business as usual By EP UNNY उ र दश, उ राखड और पजाब चनाव म े ं ं ु Vidarsa Vinod, Sonam maskar and elavenil Valarivan won silver in the 10m air Rifle event, Sunday. Pti Neck pillows, no phones: How India’s shooters tackled 2-hr bus ride to silver express At ‘This generation is overpowered with information. To deal with them, you have to change... In a tsunami, only flexible trees that bend can stay alive’ GajendraSinGhShekhawat Union Minister page 14 AsiAn GAmes Mihir Vasavda Toyota City (Japan), Sept 20 The rOad to the shooting range,locatedatanelevationof 670 metres in Toyota City, runs through the pretty aichi countryside, with tall trees stretching up to the hills and scenic waterfalls. What Indian shooters hadn't anticipated, though,wasabusjourneyfrom Nagoya that could stretch to two hours on winding roads, with its own set of challenges. To stay mentally and physically fresh at the aichi Prefectural General shooting Gallery, the Indian shooters used neck सबसे बड़ा ओ प नयन पोल pillows to prevent stiffness causedbythetossingasthebus changed direction. Phone screens were kept off to avoid motion sickness, and some opted to sleep before reaching the competition venue. despitethedifficultjourney, India opened its asian Games tally here on sunday with two 21 सत र से 25 सत र हर शाम 5 बजे से लगातार »cOntinUed On PaGe 2 full coverage, page 17 l he gaVe IT people, SKIllS, CulTuRe Needed To opeRaTe aT hIgheST leVel of NaTIoNal SeCuRITy R&AW anniversary in spotlight, how its first chief built spy agency from shadows deeptiman tiwary New Delhi, September 20 IN The last week of November 1971, India’s external intelligence agency got an extraordinary piece of information. One ofKsankaranNair’ssourcesinside the Pakistani establishment had learnt that Pakistan was preparing a pre-emptive air strike on Indian air bases in the western sector. Nair passed on the warning. The Indian air Forcewasputonalert.Pakistan eventually launched its air strikes on december 3. India was ready. Thirteen days later, the Pakistani army surrendered in dhaka and Bangladesh was born. The man at the head of the organisation that had produced the intelligence was rameshwar Nath Kao, the first chief of the research and analysis Wing. r&aW had existed for barely three years. established in 1968, r&aW, whichwillcompleteits58thyear of existence on september 21, Rameshwar Nath Kao was built from scratch by Kao, a former Intelligence Bureau officer whom Prime minister IndiraGandhihadtaskedwithcre- ating India's first dedicated external intelligence agency. The achievementwasnotmerelythe establishment of a new agency. ItwasthespeedwithwhichKao gave it the people, skills and institutionalcultureneededtooperate at the highest level of national security. according to former r&aW additional secretary B raman’s book “Kaoboys of RAW”, in the first few months after its formation, Kao gave officers two priority tasks: »cOntinUed On PaGe 2 newsleaderlive.com @newsleaderlive Available On 543 347 315 157 339 820 712 359/357 New Delhi DDC Delhi 310 233 329