Monthly Archives: August 2018

Shyam Sood &

Amir Karim Tantray

Poonch, April 10

After a six-month calm, Pakistani troops today opened fire in the Shahpur sector along the LOC (Line of Control) in Poonch district, drawing retaliation from the Indian troops. “The Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in the Poonch sector at 4.30 am,” Defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said.“Our troops responded appropriately. There was no casualty or damage to our troops,” he said. Villagers said the exchange of mortar fire started at 10.45 pm last night and continued till 4.30 this morning. At least six houses were partially damaged. An Alto car parked on the road was damaged too.Mohammad Akbar, a resident of Shahpur, said: “ Mortars were fired at our houses and we ran for cover. We remained there till the firing stopped this morning. Live mortar shells are still lying in the fields.”  Sources said the Poonch police had informed the Army about these shells.Fearing that the Pakistani troops may have pushed militants inside Jammu and Kashmir, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the police has started search operations in the area. There has been firing on the LOC in Rajouri’s Keri sector and in Doda area of Poonch for the past two days.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

United Nations, April 9

With Pakistan announcing that the bilateral peace process with India has been “suspended”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that the offer of his “good offices” to help resolve the conflict stands but it is up to both nations to seek it.

“Whenever there is a conflict, an issue, between Member States, the Secretary-General’s offer for good offices stands as a matter of principle. But, that has to be agreed on and asked for by both parties,” Ban’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

Dujarric was responding to a question at his daily briefing yesterday about whether the Secretary-General would like to offer his good offices given that the peace talks between India and Pakistan were “interrupted” again.

Introducing a fresh chill in Indo-Pak ties, Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit on April 7 said the bilateral peace process stands “suspended”.

He also poured cold water on India’s expectations that a team of NIA investigators would be allowed to visit Pakistan in connection with the Pathankot terror strike probe on the basis of reciprocity, a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) having just concluded a visit to India.

India, however, countered the Pakistan High Commissioner’s assertion that the visit by the Pakistani JIT was not on reciprocity and said that before the team’s visit, both sides had agreed that it would be on the basis of reciprocity.

Reacting to Basit’s remarks that the Indo-Pak peace process stands “suspended”, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup referred to the press conference of Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nafees Zakaria in which he had said, “I have stated this many times that both countries are in contact with each other and it has been reiterated from both sides that modalities are being worked out.” — PTI

The tunnel was detected in RS Pura on March 3.

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 7

While the much-hyped Indo-Pak Joint Investigation Team probing the Pathankot airbase attack has hit a “dead end”, over a month on, Pakistan remains non-committal over India’s demand for a joint investigation into a tunnel detected in the RS Pura sector of Jammu district on March 3.A Pakistan media report, quoting an unnamed Pakistani JIT official, said the Pathankot terror attack was stage-managed by India.On March 4, the BSF had asked the Pakistan Rangers to join the investigations so as to trace and book the culprits responsible for digging the trans-border tunnel.The secret tunnel, which originated from the Afzal Saeed post of Pakistan, had been detected near the Allah-Mai-de-Kothe post of India.“There has been no response by the Pakistan Rangers to our demand of a joint investigation. Though a protest note along with other evidences had been sent to them, they have not responded to our demand so far,” said a senior BSF officer. He said the Pakistan Rangers had neither denied nor accepted the BSF’s demand.Meanwhile, to ensure that no more tunnels are being dug by Pakistan on the 198-km-long international border, the BSF has been regularly undertaking anti-tunneling activities. The BSF undertakes an anti-tunneling drive every three months with the help of sensors, ground-penetrating radars, foot patrols, loaded tractor-trolleys and excavators.

The CBI headquarters in New Delhi. Tribune file photo

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 6

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has started investigations into the allegations of corruption and non-payment of dues to contractors at two military farms in Jammu and Nowshera.The CBI took up the matter for investigation after receiving two complaints last year against some officers, including civilians, posted at these military farms and the branch overseeing these farms at the Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur.One of the complainants has alleged misappropriation of government money, fabrication of documents and payments made to unauthorised persons by the said officers in the procurement of bales of hay valued at several crores of rupees. Records were fudged over the quantity of hay received at military farms, and only part payments were made to the contractor, the complainant has alleged.Further, the security deposit for the tender was also not released. There are a number of military farms across the country which provide fresh milk and milk products to the armed forces through the livestock maintained by it. Conceived in 1889 by the British, the military farms are being shut down in a phased manner with only a handful now functional as their relevance has been reduced because of the easy availability of milk from the civilian markets.According to sources, CBI officials visited the office of the Director, Military Farms, in the Northern Command last month and have also been to the two military farms several times. They have taken various documents and records into their custody for scrutiny and have questioned some persons.The counsel for the complainant, Col SK Aggarwal (retd), maintained that he was contacted by the CBI officials twice over the past few weeks for providing some information pertaining to the matter. He said a complaint had been made earlier too over the issue to the Army authorities in the Northern Command, but the case had been closed after a one-man inquiry.

Jammu, Nowshera farms under lens

• The CBI took up the matter for investigation after receiving two complaints last year against some officers, including civilians, posted at military farms in Jammu and Nowshera and the branch overseeing these farms at the Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur
• One of the complainants alleges misappropriation of government money, fabrication of documents and payments made to unauthorised persons by the officers in the procurement of bales of hay valued at several crores of rupees

NEW DELHI — The Indian Army is lobbying to purchase quick reaction surface-to-air missile systems (QRSAM) because the homemade Akash air defense system is slower and ineffective while on the move, an army official said.

“The reaction time of Akash is longer and has a radar coverage less than 360 degrees. QRSAMs are needed to defend formations in the forward tactical battlefield area whereas Akash is being used for guarding its assets located in deeper areas inside the country,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rahul Bhonsle, a retired Indian Army brigadier general, said: “Akash is suited for static air defense where the response time may be longer, thus the same may not be suitable for employment in the tactical battle area given the need for quick reaction and speedy engagements. Moreover, it appears that the Army also wants a mobile AD system whereas the Akash may not be as agile and also has a larger footprint.”

No Ministry of Defense (MoD) official would comment on the Indian Army’s demand that MoD purchase a surface-to-air missile system to supplement the Akash.

DEFENSE NEWS

India’s Bid To Join Missile Control Group Remains Stalled

“This is one of the major indigenous programs that has been shot down by the Army. Better coordination between the design and development agencies and the Army is crucial to prevent such occurrences and salvage Make in India,” said Ankur Gupta, an analyst with Ernst and Young India. The Make in India policy’s goal is to reduce weapon imports from 70 percent of acquisitions to about 50 percent in the next 10 years.

Since the only Indian-made Trishul surface-to-air system, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was dumped 10 years ago because of technical failures, the only option is to import a system, the Indian Army official said.

After the Trishul system failed, the Indian Air Force imported the Spyder from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel and subsequently acquired the Akash system as well.

The Indian Army has acquired only the Akash, worth over $2.5 billion, but floated a $1.5 billion tender to acquire more systems.

It was issued to global and domestic defense companies, including Russia’s Rosoboronexport, Raytheon of the United States, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Tetraedr of Belarus, South Korea’s Doosan Group and LIG Nex1, Thales and Eurosam of France, Diehl Defense of Germany, and pan-European MBDA.

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 29

India has asked China to cease its construction activities in parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the Army said on Friday.This was disclosed in a written statement issued here today by Northern Command spokesperson Colonel SD Goswami.He, however, said there had been no instances of incursions by Chinese troops into Indian territory while adding that there was no proper demarcation of the Line of Actual Control between the two countries.“There are areas along the border in Ladakh where India and China have differing perceptions of the Line of Actual Control. With both sides undertaking patrolling as per their perception of the Line of Actual Control, transgressions do occur,” read the statement.“Regarding construction activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the government has seen such reports and has conveyed its concerns to China about its activities and asked it to cease such activities,” added Colonel Goswami.India, it may be stated here, has registered its protest against the $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that runs through a part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.In April 2015, China and Pakistan signed an agreement to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through Gilgit-Baltistan. It will extend up to Gwadar Port in Pakistan and give China access to the Indian Ocean and beyond.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had visited China from April 17 to April 21 to improve ties between the two countries.In 2011, then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern CommandLt Gen KT Parnaik had said the Army had ample proof of the presence of Chinese troops along the Line of Control between India and Pakistan.“In fact, a number of times soldiers have spotted Chinese soldiers in bunkers along the Neelam valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir near the Gurez sector of north Kashmir,” he had said.General Parnaik’s statement was substantiated on March 13 this year when Chinese troops and their senior officers were spotted at forward posts along the Line of Control on the Pakistani side opposite the Nowgam sector in north Kashmir.In December last year, Northern Command chief Lt Gen DS Hooda had visited China to fine-tune Line of Actual Control channels.While Pakistan and China have been working expeditiously to complete the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, at least 70 border roads in Jammu and Kashmir remain incomplete.These roads, a majority of them in the strategic Ladakh region, were sanctioned in the last five years.

Concerns conveyed

• Regarding construction activities in PoK, the government has seen such reports and has conveyed its concerns to China about its activities and asked it to cease such activities, said a written statement issued in Jammu on Friday by the Northern Command
• There are areas along the border in Ladakh where India and China have differing perceptions of the LAC. With both sides undertaking patrolling as per their perception of the LAC, transgressions do occur, the statement added

Chandigarh, April 25

After the recent instructions by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Army Headquarters to government counsels to resume filing appeals in the Supreme Court against pensionary benefits granted to disabled soldiers by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) and the High Courts, an MP and several veterans’ associations have taken up the issue with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.The move to file appeals in matters even where the point of law has already been settled by the High Courts and the Supreme Court is in contravention to Parrikar’s directives to reduce litigation. A few months ago, the Supreme Court had imposed heavy costs on the MoD for filing appeals against orders of the AFT on issues that have already been decided by the apex court.Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Chandrasekhar met Parrikar to discuss the issue, which he claimed cropped up within a few weeks of the Defence Minister expressing concern over the routine filing of appeals in the Supreme Court and urged him to put adequate safeguards in place to ensure that disability benefits are not incorrectly denied to the armed forces personnel, it is learnt.Several ex-servicemen’s associations are also up in arms against the government’s latest salvo against them. — TNS

It is not unusual for the Services to take in-house decisions to name many buildings and institutes located in various cantonments and bases around the country after gallantry award winners. But last week the government took the unprecedented decision of naming a functional air base after Arjan Singh, the nonagenarian Marshal of the Indian Air Force (IAF), who till now is the Air Force’s most distinguished and seniormost officer. Following an announcement made on the eve of his 97th birthday last Thursday, the Panagarh air base located in Durgapur district of West Bengal stands renamed Air Force Station Arjan Singh.The decision is to be welcomed entirely, a fitting recognition of Arjan Singh’s contribution and distinguished career. The Padma Vibhushan recipient’s most stellar contribution is his display of leadership as a 46-year-old Air Chief during the September 1965 Indo-Pak War in which the IAF, equipped with vintage Vampires and Gnats, fought against Pakistan, then equipped with superior US supplied fighter jets. Notwithstanding this limitation and other odds against it, the IAF performed fairly well and assisted in checking the advance of the Pakistani Army. In January 1966, Arjan Singh became India’s first Air Chief Marshal in recognition of the IAF’s contribution to the war under his leadership. Earlier, as a young 23-year-old Squadron Leader, Arjan Singh was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by the British for successfully leading his fighter squadron against the advancing Japanese forces in the Imphal Valley during World War-II.  In January 2002, 33 years after he had retired, Arjan Singh was belatedly conferred the five star rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force, equivalent to Field Marshal in the Army, making him the only IAF officer to be accorded this honour. The government’s decision is a step in the right direction. Every society needs to find ways of honouring its heroes. It is important to build narratives about the legends of our heroes. In this age of growing cynicism, the soldiers need to be particularly reassured that the society and its governing organs do appreciate and honour those who are willing to make sacrifices in defence of the national borders.