Team members who created a record in non-stop rafting for 160 km on the Zanskar in the minimum time in Ladakh. Tribune photo

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, October 1

A joint team of Six Sigma Healthcare High Altitude Medical Services and the Indian Army led by Dr Pradeep Bhardwaj, a resident of Kharar village here, has created a record by non-stop rafting for 160 km in the least time on the Zanskar river in Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) located at a height of 14,000 ft.“The team started rafting from Padum (Leh) at 7 am on September 22 and reached the finishing point in Sangam Nimu (Leh) at 5.10 pm. The team engaged a total of 75 rapids and took merely 10 hours and 10 minutes to cover the entire stretch of 160 km on the Zanskar,” says Bhardwaj, CEO-cum-Medical Director, Six Sigma Healthcare.He claims it is for the first time that a team has covered the Zanskar by rafting in a day. Otherwise, people used to take seven days for the purpose. The record was created during the Zanskar White Water Rafting Expedition and the team comprised 30 members, Bhardwaj adds.

Not quite there: The US, in spite of Trump’s tirade, wants to take Pakistan along.

MK Bhadrakumar

THE visit by the US Defence Secretary James Mattis to New Delhi last week provided the opportunity for the first focused high-level interaction between the two countries regarding President Trump’s announcement of the new policy outlining a new South Asia strategy. Unsurprisingly, much speculation preceded Mattis’ arrival in Delhi. Arms dealers and fat cats anticipated defence deals and closer military ties — in particular, the US offer to relocate its factory for production of vintage F-16 fighter jets to India, which is being mothballed in America.Western media reports even linked closer US-Indian military ties with Trump’s Afghanistan strategy. Some Indian reports blithely forecast a deployment of Indian troops to Afghanistan. But, in all fairness, Mattis himself was noticeably circumspect. En route to Delhi, he told the Pentagon press party accompanying him that the Trump administration viewed India as a “natural strategic partner” and that he hoped to “set a refreshed partnership”. He said he was hoping to “basically putting meat on the structure… (and) promote pragmatic progress” in the defence partnership, “delivering defence interoperability”. He saw the visit as an opportunity to speed up decision-making by the bureaucracy at a “time of strategic convergence” between Washington and Delhi. Plainly put — and divested of the usual high-flown rhetoric about “shared values”, et al — Mattis hinted at his intent to give ballast to the arms sales by American vendors, project new arms deals and urge the Indian defence establishment to speed up decision-making on the pending proposals.Interestingly, however, Mattis was circumspect on Afghanistan. He never once voiced any criticism of Pakistan. He insisted that the “relationship we are building with India is not to the exclusion of other countries”. Mattis was confident that “Pakistan will find nothing out of line with India and the US alignment in the same fight”. He commended India’s role in Afghanistan but “would see them (India) continuing along the lines they have already chosen, and looking for other areas that they may believe appropriate to the relationship with Afghanistan”. Curiously, Mattis ducked a pointed question as to whether there is any shift in the locus of US-Indian security partnership away from the Obama administration’s efforts “to get India more involved in the South China Sea”, towards Afghanistan.What sails into view is a complex paradigm of US-Indian defence partnership in the Trump era. Quite obviously, Mattis’ brief was to play on Indian vanities as a regional and global power and establish a source of funding for “America First” via lucrative arms deals. The Afghan problem and China’s rise provide leitmotifs in the US-Indian strategic partnership, but in reality, the relationship complicates the advancement of Sino-Indian and India-Pakistan ties, which of course serves a useful purpose both as a template of the US’ containment strategy against China as well as to bring pressure to bear on Pakistan to cooperate with the US strategy in Afghanistan. India runs the risk of entrapment if it chooses to view its all-important ties with the US through the prism of its problematic relationships with Pakistan and China, instead of attributing a raison d’etre for them in intrinsic terms related to India’s development and its needs and aspirations as a regional power. Indeed, there is no certainty that the US concedes equal partnership to any interlocutor.In the circumstances, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did brilliantly well by underscoring in her joint press conference with Mattis that much as she appreciated his “willingness to share further cutting-edge platforms… we need to expand on the progress already made by encouraging co-production and co-development efforts”. Sitharaman added candidly: “I reiterated India’s deep interest in enhancing defence manufacturing in India under PM Modi’s Make-in-India initiative. I thank Secretary Mattis for his supportive position in this regard and look forward to working closely with him to realise joint projects.” She stressed that the US announcement last year recognising India as a major defence partner should go beyond optics and actually “refocus and reenergise the defence technology and trade initiative as a mechanism to promote technology-sharing as well as co-development and co-production efforts.”Of course, Sitharaman would know that the US doesn’t “co-develop” weapons or transfer military technology developed at enormous cost. It prefers to sell weapons and keep the end-users on a tight leash. Reuters reported recently that the US-India Business Council in a letter to the Indian Defence Ministry in August made it clear that US firms want to retain control over technology even if they are allowed to set up a production line for fighter jets and other equipment on Indian soil and, secondly, that they do not want to be held liable for any defects in equipment jointly produced with Indian counterparts. Clearly, “Make in India” is fast becoming a nuisance.Sitharaman also shrewdly distanced India from Trump’s new Afghan strategy. She made three key points: one, India’s Afghan policies enjoy great continuity (by far predating Trump’s entry into politics and diplomacy); two, India’s focus will be on assisting Afghanistan in its development, economy, capacity-building — nothing more, nothing less; and, most importantly, India will not deploy troops to Afghanistan. All in all, she factored in that in the prevailing international milieu, the challenge for Indian diplomacy lies in differentiating the imperative needs of India’s military modernisation (and the creation of a world-class defence industry) from the geopolitics swirling around the region. After all, Asia-Pacific did not stand still because of Mattis’ visit. US Vice-President Mike Pence met Pakistani PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on September 20 for an important conversation about the President’s South Asia strategy and highlighted ways that “Pakistan could work with the US and others to bolster stability and prosperity for all in South Asia” and reiterated President Trump’s belief that “Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in the region”.Again, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Beijing on yet another visit “to meet with senior Chinese leaders… (to) discuss a range of issues, including the President’s planned travel to the region, the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, and trade and investment.” Washington flagged that Tillerson’s visit “reaffirms the (Trump) administration’s commitment to further broaden and enhance US economic and security interests in the Asia-Pacific region”.Of course, just before emplaning for Beijing, Tillerson also co-chaired with the visiting Chinese vice-premier Liu Landong the first China-US Social and People-to-People Dialogue. And Trump himself received Liu in the White House on September 29 to convey that his visit to China in November is sure to be a “success”.The writer is a former ambassador

Qayoom Najar

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 26

The longest-surviving militant commander, who once led a major revolt against the Pakistan-based militant leadership and founded a radical group Lashkar-e-Islam, was killed on Tuesday while he was infiltrating back into Kashmir valley, police said.Qayoom Najar, 45, was killed close to the Line of Control in Uri sector of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, immediately after infiltrating back into the Valley, two senior police officials said.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The security forces initially suspected that an unidentified foreign militant was killed in a routine infiltration attempt, but subsequent investigations found that the slain militant was Najar.Inspector General of Police Kashmir Muneer Khan told The Tribune that Najar was returning to Kashmir to take over the command of Hizbul Mujahideen, whose top commanders in the region were killed in recent months and which is facing an ideological challenge from its former commander Zakir Musa, who now leads Qaida-linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Islam.Najar, a resident of north Kashmir’s Sopore town, had joined Hizbul Mujahideen in the early part of 1990s and had topped the security forces’ list of most wanted militants in the region for almost a decade.Najar, whose appearance remained anonymous for his entire militant life, carried a bounty of Rs 12.5 lakh and had fluctuating and fractured relations with his parent organisation Hizbul Mujahideen.In October 2014, Najar had compiled a hit-list of alleged informers working for security forces, which included two high-profile members of the separatist group led by Syed Ali Geelani. The list was rejected by Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, which caused friction between the two commanders.Months later, in the summer of 2015, Najar led a major revolt against Hizbul Mujahideen’s Pakistan- based leadership and formed a radical new group called Lashkar-e-Islam. Salahuddin and Geelani initially claimed Lashkar-e-Islam was a creation of Indian intelligence agencies, but later Najar was publicly suspended from the membership of Hizbul Mujahideen.During its revolt, Najar’s Lashkar-e-Islam had carried out attacks on the telecom sector as it blamed the widespread use of mobile phone communication for leaking information about the movement of militants.His splinter group had also killed six individuals on accusations of working as informers for security agencies, which included former militants and members of Geelani’s group. Najar along with his Lashkar-e-Islam deputy commander Tariq Mir had also barged into Geelani’s Srinagar residence and threatened him for interfering in militant operations.Najar had reportedly reconciled with Hizbul, according to police sources, and had ex-filtrated to Pakistan from where he was returning to Kashmir valley

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 21

In line with their contract obligations, French major Dassault Aviation has said it was coordinating between French suppliers and Indian companies to manufacture Rafale fighter jets in India.Rafale International comprising Dassault Aviation, Safran and Thales has met over 100 French Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Paris. Indian and French Defence Ministry officials, too, were at these meetings. The French Aerospace Industries Association is the nodal agency producing systems and sub-systems for Rafale.   (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
French SMEs were being encouraged to set up production activities in India alongside Dassault Aviation, Safran and Thales as part of the Rafale programme to help the company meet its obligations, said a Rafale spokesperson in India. The move comes two days after a US business chamber expressed its concerns over sharing hi-end technology with Indian companies. “Encouraging French SMEs to come to India is a key condition to participate in the ‘Make in India’ initiative of PM Narendra Modi and will benefit both French and Indian industries,” the spokesperson said. Rafale is looking towards creating opportunities for establishing a full-fledged aero-defence manufacturing eco-system in India, said Eric Trappier, Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO and GIFAS chairman. The GIFAS is a trade body of 382 members ranging from major prime contractors and system suppliers to small specialist companies. 

A file photo of Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh. PTI

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 16

On August 15, 1947, the first flypast over the Red Fort in New Delhi that roared overhead in perfect formation and with perfect timing was led by Marshal of the Air Force, Arjan Singh. “In those days we had no radar or navigation aids and yet we flew in with pin point accuracy. Everything depended upon the formation leader’s judgement and he pulled off a perfect feat. This was the man,” recalled Air Marshal Randhir Singh (retd), a city resident who retired as Air Officer Commanding in Chief, South Western Air Command, and had flown as the Marshal’s wingman during the flypast.The IAF’s grand old man is no more, but he has left strong and cherished memories behind of life well lived. Many IAF officers who had served with him or under him reside in the city.Air Marshal Randhir Singh recalled that he had first met the Marshal at Kohat in the North West Frontier Province. The Marshal was then serving with No.1 Squadron while Randhir Singh joined No.3 Squadron.“We used to meet informally in the officers’ mess. He was helpful and a good human being,” Randhir Singh said. “He was an excellent swimmer and held the university colours in the sport. Every Sunday, officers would have a swimming competition, but he never used to participate because he knew that he could easily beat all of us,” he recalled.Officers recalled him as a great leader, both in the air as well as on the ground, who had a great understanding of varied operational and administrative aspects and was also quick to convert on different types of aircraft.“The Marshal was the type in whom others would have full faith,” recalled Air Marshal MM Singh, a former AOC-in-C, Western Air Command, who retired in 1988. “He was a perfect soldier who led from the front.” Air Marshal MM Singh commanded the same squadron, No.15 during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the same outfit which the Marshal had commanded earlier. “Even after I retired we used to meet frequently as we were both members of the Dashmesh Academy Trust at Anandpur Sahib.” MM Singh said.Marshal Singh had attended two official IAF events in Chandigarh in recent years after he was elevated at Marshal of the Air Force. In 2007, he attended the President’s Fleet Review at the Chandigarh Air Force Station when AJP Abdul Kalam was the Supreme Commander. In 2013, he was by the then president, Pranab Mukherjee, presented Colours to No.3 Base Repair Depot. On both occasions, was seen dressed in immaculate ceremonials with a soldierly bearing keeping in step with the present generation of men in blue despite his age.

Marshal of IAF Arjan Singh (1919-2017). PTI

New Delhi, September 16

War hero Marshal Arjan Singh, who led the Indian Air Force during the 1965 India-Pakistan conflict, died tonight at the age of 98. Marshal Arjan Singh, the only officer of the IAF to be promoted to a five-star rank, equal to a Field Marshal in the Army, was admitted to Army’s Research and Referral Hospital this morning after he suffered a cardiac arrest. He is survived by a son and a daughter. His wife passed away in 2011.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The government announced his death at 9:03 pm through a press release, saying “a glorious era has come to an end”. Gen VK Singh (retd) tweeted about the demise at 8:28 pm. Before that at 5:26 pm, the former Army Chief condoled the death and then deleted the tweet. Sources close to the family began informing people about the demise at 3:30 pm.Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the three Service Chiefs — Gen Bipin Rawat, Admiral Sunil Lanba and Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa — visited Arjan Singh at the hospital. Punjab CM Captain Amarinder condoled the Marshal’s death and declared a three-day state mourning to pay tribute to him. Arjan Singh, who had flown more than 60 different types of aircraft, led a fledgling IAF in the 1965 war when he was just 46 years old. As Pakistan launched its Operation Grand Slam with an armoured thrust targeted at the vital town of Akhnoor in J&K, he was summoned into the Defence Minister’s office with a request for air support.Asked how quickly the IAF will be ready for operations, he replied with his characteristic nonchalance, “…in an hour”. And true to his word, the Air Force struck the Pakistani offensive in an hour. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his leadership during the 1965 war.Born on April 15, 1919, in Lyallpur, Punjab (undivided India), his father, grandfather and great grandfather had served in the cavalry. Educated at Montgomery, British India (now in Pakistan), he  joined the RAF College, Cranwell, in 1938 and was commissioned as Pilot Officer in December the following year. Arjan Singh led an IAF squadron into combat during the 1944 Arakan Campaign and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was the Air Force Chief from August 1, 1964, till July 15, 1969. After retirement, Arjan Singh was made Ambassador to Switzerland in 1971 and concurrently served as Ambassador to the Vatican. He was made Marshal of the IAF in January 2002. — TNS/PTI

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Lt Gen Devraj Anbu pins a gallantry medal on a soldier during the investiture ceremony on Thursday. Tribune Photo

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Udhampur, September 7

After the Doklam standoff between India and China recently ended, the Army is playing down the Chinese incursion by terming it a difference of perception of the Line of Actual Control.General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Command, Lt Gen Devraj Anbu, who looks after the security of the 646-km-long LAC in eastern Ladakh, believes that both the sides have different perception of the LAC as it is not demarcated, which leads to face-offs.“We try to dominate those areas by patrolling and in the process we have such face-offs. But we have a very good mechanism in place on the ground right from the lower to the higher level and depending upon what sort of issue it is, we deal with it accordingly,” Lt. General Anbu said while addressing a press conference after the investiture ceremony of the Northern Command here today.Commenting on the Pangong Tso scuffle on August 15 between People’s Liberation Army men and Indian soldiers, he said the issue was resolved amicably through the already available mechanism on the ground. “There are Finger 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 positions. Finger 8 is the farthest position which is with the PLA and we have control of up to Finger 4. As there is difference of perception of the LAC, such patrol face-offs take place. But we enjoy a good rapport with the PLA and we resolve issues through meetings or by talking on the hotline and through available mechanisms,” the Army commander said.Replying to a query on India lagging behind in infrastructure development on the LAC, Lt General Anbu said, “We started much later and we were 10 to 15 years behind. But I must say we have progressed very fast in eastern Ladakh. I am sure in a couple of years we will be very well off in all sort of infrastructure, whether it is related to surface communication or having helipads and other military-related infrastructure.”Meanwhile, the Army sent a strong message to Pakistan to stop terror camps and launching pads across the Line of Control and reminded Pakistan that the surgical strikes conducted last year was a clear message sent across that whenever needed, the LoC could be breached.“Despite the surgical strikes, terror camps and launching pads are still active. Infiltration attempts have increased this year as compared to last year but these have been foiled by the Indian Army on the LoC where a strong counter-infiltration grid is in place,” Lt General Anbu said.The Army commander said around 475 militants were waiting to infiltrate from across the LoC. Out of them, around 250 are waiting north of the Pir Panjal (Kashmir region) whereas around 225 militants are south of the Pir Panjal (Jammu region).The Lt General, however, said the Army was in control of the situation. “We have a strong counter-infiltration grid in place on the LoC, especially in the Jammu region, where despite many infiltration attempts not a single militant has infiltrated.”

Wang’s remarks come two days after Indian and Chinese troops retreated from the face-off point in the disputed Doklam plateau. AP/PTI file photo

Beijing, August 30

China on Wednesday told India to prevent a repeat of the Doklam standoff in future, with its Foreign Minister Wang Yi advising New Delhi to draw lessons from the border incident.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

However, Wang also said it was natural for two big nations to have differences, but they needed to set them aside and work out a solution in the long run.

Wang’s remarks come two days after Indian and Chinese troops retreated from the face-off point in the disputed Doklam plateau, ending an over two-month long standoff.

“We hope the Indian side will learn lessons from this incident and prevent similar incidents from happening again,” Wang said at a press conference on the preparations for the BRICS summit next week, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We hope through the efforts from both sides we will maintain healthy and stable momentum of growth. This is in the interest of not only Indian and Chinese people, but also meets the aspirations of the international community,” Wang said.

The standoff was triggered when the Indian Army stopped Chinese troops from building a road at Doka La in Doklam on June 16. Doklam is claimed by Bhutan and close to India’s arterial corridor, which connects its northeast region with the rest of the country.

The dispute was resolved ahead of the BRICS summit where Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to meet on the sidelines.

“Both India and China are big countries. It’s only natural that there are some problems in our interactions. What is important is that we put these differences at an appropriate place,” Wang said.

“And under the principles of mutual respect and following the consensus of the leaders, we need to handle and manage them properly.

“In the meantime, with our engagement through a different mechanism, we need to work out a solution in the long run.

“There is huge potential and space for greater cooperation between China and India. And such cooperation serves the interests of the two countries and people’s “We hope China and India will join hands and work together for the rejuvenation of, for development of our region and contribute our share to the greater development.” — IANS