The meeting in Jaisalmer. Photo courtesy HMO India

Jaisalmer, October 7

India will completely seal its border with Pakistan by December 2018 by using effective means, including technological solutions, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said here today.  Proposing a border security grid, he said suggestions had been invited from all stakeholders, including states that shared borders with Pakistan.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Speaking to the media after reviewing the security situation on the border with ministers and officials of four states, he said the government planned to seal the entire border with Pakistan by December 2018 and a proper monitoring mechanism would be in place for it.“This project will be periodically monitored by the Home Secretary at the Central level, the BSF from the security forces’ perspective and Chief Secretaries at the state level,” the Home Minister said. “In riverines and Sir Creek area in Gujarat, we will make use of technology to seal the border.”Rajnath chaired a meeting which was attended by Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, Deputy CM of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal, Gujarat and Rajasthan’s Home Ministers and the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary. — PTI

By making khoon ki dalali remarks, Rahul Gandhi has crossed all limits. He insulted the bravery of our soldiers, 125 crore people… question is why you (Cong) are not happy and proud of this (surgical strikes) —Amit Shah, BJP chief

It (sealing border) is sheer rhetoric since the India-Pakistan border is already adequately sealed with two-tier fencing and a flood-lit concrete area between the two fences.

 —Capt Amarinder Singh, PPCC Chief

Lieutenant General MM Naravane pays tributes to martyrs in Ambala Cantonment on Thursday. Tribune Photo

Ambala October 6

Kharga Corps of the Army today celebrated its 45th Raising Day here. To commemorate the occasion, a wreath was laid at the Kharga War Memorial by Corps Commander Lt Gen MM Naravane to pay homage to the martyrs.The Kharga Sainik Institute set up for junior commissioned officers, other ranks and their families was also inaugurated on the occasion.Talking to mediapersons, Naravane said the Corps was raised in Krishna Nagar, West Bengal, in 1971 by Lt Gen TN Raina, who later became the Army Chief, to carry out operations in the Eastern Theatre during the Indo-Pak War. It proved its mettle by capturing important towns of Khulna, Jessore, Jhenida, Magura and large swathes of territory between Ganges and Padma rivers. Subsequently, the Corps shifted to the western theatre where it was initially headquartered in Chandimandir and then moved to Ambala in 1985, he said. He said the sign of the Corps was the ‘Kharga’ or Scythe – the mythological weapon of Goddess Kali, which was adopted from a 200-year-old Kharga that was presented by the Raja of Krishna Nagar to the Corps on its raising.

PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh interacts with border residents in the Khemkaran sector on Tuesday. Photo: Vishal Kumar

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

khemkaran, October 4

Supporting the surgical strikes by the Army across the LoC, Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh today alleged that war hysteria was being created by the Modi-led Union Government and the SAD-BJP in the state to reap political dividends.During his tour to a number of villages along the Indo-Pak border in Khemkaran and Tarn Taran, Amarinder told the residents not to abide by the government’s evacuation orders.He said he would be camping at Raja Tal village from October 10. “There has been no movement of the Indian Army, while the suspicious activity across the border could be monitored through satellites and other hi-tech equipment. What was the logic of displacing thousands of families,” he asked.He alleged that the move aimed at getting political mileage ahead of the elections in UP and Punjab. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was blindly following the BJP’s diktat without bothering about the state people, he said.Amarinder pointed out that on one hand, the PM was emphasising the need for de-escalation of tension, and on the other, poor villagers were being forcibly evicted. He claimed that surgical strikes were carried out even during the Congress regime, but nobody tried to take political mileage out of it.Villagers reportedly told him that their crops were ready for harvesting and they won’t leave their villages.

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MUST WATCH Capt Amarinder Singh – Why Punjab’s border villages being evacuated

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Captain Amrinder singh will be staying in border village from 10th October

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JAMMU: Amidst spike in terror attacks on camps of security forces in Kashmir and truce violations by Pakistan along the border, the army has moved its artillery guns, including Bofors, close to the LoC.

“We have been anticipating that they (Pakistan troops) will open mortar fire on our posts and forward villages on the ridge. Amid escalating tensions with a rogue country like Pakistan where army is in charge, we have to be cautious and wellprepared. So, we moved artillery guns close to the border,” said defence sources.

On August 15 last year, when India was celebrating Independence Day, the Pakistan army had shelled forward villages with 1,200 mm mortars in Poonch district. The shelling left six villagers dead.

In June 2012, India eventually had to move an artillery battalion from Mendhar to Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district in the wake of intense Pakistan shelling.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh reads out an oath for cleanliness on occasion of 147th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at Central Park in New Delhi on Sunday. Lt Governor Najeeb Jung is also seen. PTI

New Delhi, October 2

The valour displayed by Indian soldiers to the entire world by the manner in which they carried out ‘surgical strikes’ against terror launch pads across the Line of Control has made the country proud, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday.

“The country as well as the whole world is aware of this (surgical strikes)… the way our jawans displayed valour have made India proud,” Singh told reporters here after inaugurating a ‘smart toilet’ constructed here under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Responding to a query on doubts raised by Pakistan over the operation alleging that India has not released the footage of the operation, the Home Minister said, “Just wait and watch”.

On Friday, Army had trashed media reports in Pakistan about Indian casualties during the operation in which about seven terror shelters across the Line of Control were targetted.

Army had also said “black propaganda” was being carried out by some Pakistani TV channels showing “morphed” video clips depicting Indian Army casualties. — PTI

China is constructing its most-expensive hydro project on the river

Beijing, October 1

China has blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra river in Tibet as part of the construction of its “most expensive” hydro project which could cause concern in India as it might impact water flows into the lower riparian countries.The Lalho project on Xiabuqu river, a tributary of Yarlung Zangbo (the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra), in Xigaze in Tibet involves an investment of 4.95 billion yuan (USD 740 million), Zhang Yunbao, head of the project’s administration bureau was quoted as saying by Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency on Saturday.Xigaze also known as Shigatse is closely located to Sikkim. From Xigaze, the Brahmaputra flows into Arunachal Pradesh.

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Terming it as the “most expensive project”, the report said the project, whose construction began in June 2014, was scheduled to be completed in 2019.It was not clear yet what impact the blockade of the river would have on the flow of water from the Brahmaputra into the lower riparian countries like India and Bangladesh as a result, it said.Last year, China had operationalised the USD 1.5 billion Zam Hydropower Station, the largest in Tibet, built on the Brahmaputra, which has raised concerns in India.But China has been maintaining that it has taken into consideration India’s concerns and allays apprehensions of restricting the flow of water, saying its dams are run on the river projects not designed to hold water.The outline of China’s 12th Five Year Plan indicates that three more hydropower projects on the mainstream of the Brahmaputra in the Tibet Autonomous Region have been approved for implementation.In March, Union Minister of State for Water Resources Sanwar Lal Jat said in a statement that India had expressed its concerns to China about the likely impact of the dams.While there is no water treaty between the countries, India and China established an Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) on trans-border rivers and in October 2013 the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening cooperation on trans-border rivers under which Beijing provides data to India on the water flows.The blockade of the Brahmaputra river tributary comes at a time of India’s reported decision to suspend talks with Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty as part of its efforts to hit back at Pakistan in the aftermath of the Uri attack.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang gave a guarded reply when asked on September 27 about India’s reported move.“As a friendly neighbour to both India and Pakistan, China hopes that India and Pakistan can properly address disputes and improve relations through dialogue and consultation, maintain and enhance all-round cooperation and join hands to promote regional peace, stability and development,” Shuang told PTI.Some of the rivers under the Indus water treaty originate in China. PTI

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. PTI

Dehradun, October 1

In his first remarks after the cross-LoC anti-terror strike, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday compared Pakistan’s condition to an “anaesthetised patient” after a surgery and said like Hanuman the Indian Army has recognised its prowess.

“Pakistan’s condition after the surgical strikes is like that of an anaesthetised patient after a surgery who doesn’t know that the surgery has already been performed on him. Even two days after the surgical strikes, Pakistan has no idea what has happened,” Parrikar said.

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“India loves peace and does not believe in unprovoked aggression but it won’t take terror lying down,” he said, adding that the strikes were also meant to give a message to Pakistan that Indian troops knew how to retaliate.

Comparing the Army to Hanuman, he made a reference to the Ramayana in which the monkey god crossed an ocean in a single stride after he was reminded about his extraordinary powers by Jamwant.

“Indian troops were like Hanuman who did not quite know their prowess before the surgical strikes,” Parrikar said.

Congratulating the troops for the precision and efficacy of the strikes, the Minister said he greeted all its members for their extraordinary feat.

“The surgical strikes gave our forces an idea of what they were capable of doing. Pakistan is bewildered following the strikes, not quite knowing how to react,” Parrikar said in his first public reaction after the strikes.

“Indian troops caught Pakistan unawares as our commandos did what they had to without Pakistani authorities getting a wind of it,” he said, addressing a gathering at Peethsain in Pauri district.

The Defence Minister was addressing the gathering after unveiling a statue of noted freedom fighter from Uttarakhand Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali in his ancestral village Peethsain.

India carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, inflicting “significant casualties” on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK.

Accompanied by Pauri MP and former chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri from Delhi, Parrikar was welcomed at Peethsain by senior party leader Satpal Maharaj, former CMs Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank besides Pradesh BJP President Ajay Bhatt.

All party leaders showered praise on the Indian troops for their displaying extraordinary valour by carrying out the surgical strikes 3 kms into the LoC saying it taught a befitting lesson to Pakistan which had a track record of responding to India’s friendly advances with a terrorist or military offensive. — PTI

The Indian response was indeed coming, say US experts. AFP

Washington, September 30

The Indian surgical strike inside Pak Occupied Kashmir (PoK) against terrorist planning to sneak into India for terrorist activities was “carefully measured”, a top American think-tank said on Friday, adding that the onus for escalation lay purely on Pakistan.“This Indian response was indeed coming; both as a signal to Pakistan and as reassurance for Indian domestic audiences. Modi could not let the outrage at Uri go unanswered,” Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top American think-tank, said.

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“The Indian action was carefully measured: striking at terrorist launch pads was meant to signal that India has not lost its freedom to retaliate, but puts the onus of further escalation on Pakistan,” Tellis told PTI.Responding to a question, Tellis said the US would counsel restraint, but unless the administration was willing to turn the screws on Pakistan–which was unlikely–India would be guided by its own interests, not American pleas for forbearance.“I think Pakistan has its hands full right now, it is unlikely to respond to the Indian action militarily, but the larger sub-conventional war against India will continue,” Tellis said.Rick Rossow from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) recalled the hint of such strikes as a possible tool last year, when the Indian Army initiated an attack against militants in Myanmar.“India has also shown other new tools in its confrontation with Pakistan, such as withdrawing from the upcoming SAARC summit, building stronger ties with other South Asian nations, and using closer security ties with the US as a hook to press for reduced military cooperation with Pakistan,” he said.“This will likely keep Islamabad on its toes, though when employing new tools in such a struggle, clear messaging is the key, so both sides know the other’s intentions. This will guard against unanticipated escalation,” Rossow said.According to him, following a number of recent provocations that India has linked to Pakistan-based militant groups, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has employed a different set of tools to respond to these incitements.“These tools may not be altogether new, but the fact that they have been the focus of India’s response to Pakistan’s incitements marks a different approach,” he said.Rossow said while the Indian Ministry of Defence has stated it does not plan additional strikes, it is not clear whether the current tensions between India and Pakistan will escalate further.“There is certainly little expectation that Pakistani militants, under varying degrees of control by Pakistan’s military, will be deterred from initiating further attacks. But the costs to Islamabad of supporting terrorism are increasing, and taking different forms than before,” Rossow said.Jonah Blank, from the RAND Corporation think-tank, said that after the Mumbai 2008 attacks, India’s patience had reached its limit.“Pathankot was the breaking point. It was probably unrealistic to expect that the Uri attack would fail to bring a military response,” he said.“The phone call between Ajit Doval and Susan Rice accomplished two important things: First, it enlisted the US to help prevent a Pakistani counter-strike. Second, it avoided jeopardizing the India-US relationship by having Washington find out about the attack from Islamabad or the media, he noted.“There was never much likelihood that the US would condemn the attack. After an American surgical strike against Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, any criticism of India for a cross-border action would have seemed hypocritical,” Blank said.“The outcome, limited Indian strike, limited Pakistani response, was probably as good as could have been desired. A stronger Indian strike, or a Pakistani escalation into full warfare, would not have served either nation’s interest,” he said. PTI

Solution lies in Shahpur Kandi dam, but project hangs in balance due to objections by J&K govt

A file photo of the Shahpur Kandi project. Tribune photo

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 28

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has favoured maximising the internal use of three rivers, the Indus, Jhelum and the Chenab, that are part of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, the Punjab Government’s Irrigation Department engineers have showed their concern over the flow of the Ravi waters to Pakistan downstream Madhopur Headworks in Pathankot district.They want that the work on the Shahpur Kandi dam project be resumed to stop the flow of water to Pakistan, besides bringing more area under irrigation in Jammu region and enhancing the irrigation capacity in Punjab.The Ravi water was to be pooled at the proposed balancing reservoir by raising the dam with an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore at Shahpur Kandi, about 11 km downstream the Ranjit Sagar dam.Half of this reservoir was to be made in Punjab territory and the other part in Jammu and Kashmir. The land for the project was acquired years ago and the Centre was to fund 90 per cent of the project. However, following objections by the J&K Government, the work was suspended two years ago.Consequently, whenever excess water is released from the Ranjit Sagar dam in the Ravi, especially during summer months, a good amount of water flows to Pakistan via Madhopur Headworks in the absence of a balancing reservoir at Shahpur Kandi. Dr GS Dhillon, former chief engineer, Irrigation Department, said: “The balancing reservoir should have been completed even before the Ranjit Sagar dam.”In summer, when the demand for power goes up, all hydro-power units installed at the Ranjit Sagar dam are made operational. To operate turbines about 15,000 cusecs of water has to be released. Of this, 12,000 cusecs is released into the Upper Bari Doab Canal and Madhopur-Beas Link Canals at Madhopur Headworks and the remaining flows to Pakistan.During the monsoon, sometimes floodgates of the Ranjit Sagar dam have to be opened due to topping up of the reservoir. Again, the water goes to the neighbouring country.The J&K Government has taken the plea that since the Punjab Government has terminated the River Waters Sharing Agreement in 2004, the previous agreement relating to the Ranjit Sagar dam and Shahpur Kandi dam between Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir too have become defunct.The Punjab Government has taken up this issue with the Centre asking it intervene, but the J&K Government has refused to budge from its stand.Kahan Singh Pannu, Irrigation Secretary, Punjab, said the state government had been trying hard to convince the J&K Government over the matter, but to no avail. He said if the project was completed, it would bring additional 65,000 hectares of land under irrigation in Jammu region, besides stopping the flow of Ravi waters to Pakistan.

About the project

• The Ravi water was to be pooled at the proposed balancing reservoir by raising the dam at Shahpur Kandi
• Half of this reservoir was to be made in Punjab and the other part in J&K
• The land was acquired years ago. However, following objections by the J&K Govt, the work was suspended two years ago

‘Make tunnel to divert Chenab water’

• Pritam Singh Kumedan, a consultant to the Irrigation Department, has written to the Prime Minister, Union Government’s Secretary, Irrigation, and the Indus Waters Commissioner, urging them to divert the Chenab water into the Ravi through Marhu tunnel. The work on the tunnel was taken up immediately after the Partition, but it was stopped after Pakistan raised hue and cry over the project. Kumedan said the Chandra and Bhaga rivers originate in Lahul and Spiti region and meet at Tandi to merge with the Chenab. In 1948, Punjab had prepared a project to divert 20,000 cusecs of water of the Chenab to the Ravi by building a tunnel at Marhu, 5 km downstream Tandi. Kumedan said the Indus and Jhelum could not be diverted as it was technically not feasible, but the Centre could revive the tunnel project at Marhu.

No abrogation, but India to test Indus treaty waters
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 26
India today took the bold decision to fully utilise the potential of the three western rivers as per the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), in an attempt to increase the pressure on Pakistan after the Uri attack.
India’s decision stops short of “abrogation” of the treaty and aims at playing within the legal limits. The decision is set to rattle Pakistan and the world, too.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting today to review the IWT. According to sources, Modi said, “Blood and water can’t flow at the same time.”
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary to PM Nripendra Misra, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, the Water Resources Secretary and other senior officials. The treaty was reviewed and it was decided that India would exploit to the fullest capacity the three Pak-controlled rivers — Indus, Chenab and Jhelum — as per the Indus Waters Treaty. In addition, a decision has also been taken to review the construction on the Tulbul navigation project, which has been suspended since 2007.
Sources said it was felt at the meeting that the IWT wasn’t fair to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but its fuller implementation would benefit them. Sources add the government’s plan was to exploit an option that hadn’t been exercised in the past 30 years — to use the western rivers to benefit farmers of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh last week said the state government would support whatever decision the Centre took on the IWT.
The historic treaty signed in 1960 has stood the test of time so far, despite the wars fought between the two nations.

Apex court’s no to PIL

• New Delhi: An SC Bench on Monday rejected a plea for an urgent hearing on declaring as null and void the Indus Waters Treaty signed by India and Pakistan in 1960. Petitioner ML Sharma said the treaty was invalid as it should have been signed by the President instead of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. There was no hurry in hearing the plea as the treaty was 56 years old, the CJI said. tns