The editorial Page: india will de-risk, not decouple, from us and China 8 MoNdAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2026 Journalism of Courage AhMedABAd, lAte CIty, 18 pAgeS ₹5.00 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 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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 Investments as on March 31, 2026; Rs 2,885 cr held in govt securities ₹1,871 crore 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 Prices up three times in one year, affecting availability of major complex fertilisers 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 impactingtheavailabilityofdiammonium phosphate (daP), 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 $1,0501,100 per tonne. The main reason:ukrainianlong-rangedrone and missile attacks on russian oilrefineriesandgascomplexes and Iran, likewise, targeting the energy infrastructure of saudi aramco, Qatarenergy and Business as Usual By EP UNNY l Averageimport priceofsulphur ($ per tonne, cost & freight to India) 1,200 $1,070 1,000 800 600 400 $504 Jun 2022 $322 Sept 2025 $95.2 GujArAt HArdlook 200 0 Page 4 Aug 2019 Sept 2026 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 eyes half shUt 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 ₹3,522 crore Russia, West Asia energy sites hit, India has a new problem: Sulphur 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 concerns flagged in internal documents of the Industrial and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Amrita Nayak Dutta New Delhi, September 20 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 E. George Mathew 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. Ahmedabad Mumbai, September 20 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 11 singhvi, salve weigh in on tatas Battle Tata and Venu srinivasan. On september17,onedirectorvoted »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2