This photo taken on January 2, 2016, shows security personnel stand guard next to a barricade outside the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab. Reuters file photo

Jammu, June 21

Some militants are suspected to be hiding in villages near Pathankot and could attack the Indian Air Force base that had been attacked in January, the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Home Affairs said on Tuesday.

The committee, which was in Jammu to review the security along India’s international border, had earlier gone to Pathankot.

“After going back from Pathankot, we made our suggestions to the government and said that there can be further attack on Pathankot… We were told by the villagers that some terrorists were still hiding in the villages there,” committee Chairman P Bhattacharya told reporters.

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After the recommendation of the committee, the government has alerted the CRPF, BSF and the army and handed over the security of the airbase to them, he said.

“Do you know that a few days ago, government asked the CRPF, BSF and the Army to guard the air force station because some terrorists are hiding there? How they are hiding there, it is not my business to find out but as we got the information from the villagers, it was very clear to us that they are hiding somewhere. We have informed the Government of India about it,” Bhattacharya said.

When asked to comment on the permission granted by the Indian Government to Pakistan’s joint investigation team to visit the airbase to investigate January’s attack, he said he was not in favour of allowing Pakistani intelligence officers to visit the strategic facility.

“The committee does not support the idea of the Government of India of bringing this intelligence branch of Pakistan here. What for? But for any foreign policy of the Government of India, we are not the proper forum, we cannot take the decision to do this and not to do this”, he said.

A five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan had visited India between March 27 and 31 to collect evidence with regard to the attack.

Bhattacharya said the policy guidelines have to be framed by the Indian government.

“The committee conducted intensive tours of Indo-Bangla border and India-Pakistan border and now we are heading towards Srinagar. We went to Pathankot which is the most vulnerable area”, he said.

The committee said it was satisfied with the measures being taken by the BSF to check infiltration, but advocated providing fully modern equipment to the force.

“As of now, they have explained to us the way they are trying to prevent infiltration. You cannot say what is happening today or tomorrow but up till now, it is all right,” Bhattacharya said.

Replying to a question regarding Pakistan violating international norms on the IB by constructing concrete bunkers, Bhattacharya said India should take up the matter very seriously with Pakistan.

“As I understand from the government of India’s stand, they have taken a strong stand on this issue,” he said.

He added that the BSF jawans guarding the international border in Jammu and other parts of the country need the most modern amenities and equipment.

Referring to the problems faced by troops at the border, Bhattacharya said the committee will submit its recommendations to the ministry of home affairs and the ministry of foreign affairs, but refused to give details. — PTI

India always tried to maintain ‘hegemony’ in South Asia: Pak

Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz. AFP file photo

Islamabad, June 21

India always tried to maintain its “hegemony” in the South Asia region and Pakistan has rejected this while “effectively” protecting its interests, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has claimed.Answering a question about the Indo-Pak ties in an interview to Samaa TV, Aziz said India has always tried to maintain its hegemony in the South Asia region.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook and Twitter @thetribunechd)“Pakistan rejected this (Indian) hegemony and has effectively protected its interests and its stance over Kashmir, nuclear deterrence and conventional balance,” Aziz was quoted as saying.He maintained that “protecting Pakistan’s sovereignty and vital interests is a great achievement as a nation”.Talking about the Afghan refugees problem, Aziz said it became a security issue for Pakistan as refugee camps have become “safe havens for terrorists” due to unregulated movement.“We have re-established our writ over FATA (tribal areas) but if the Afghan border remains unregulated, our tribal areas can’t stay safe,” he said.Calling for repatriation of Afghan refugees, Aziz said the repatriation would be a gradual movement and Pakistan would need a plan of action for the process.He said Pakistan is paying for the policies it adopted during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan which resulted in five million refugees coming to Pakistan with “drugs, guns bringing instability”.Aziz claimed that when the current government came to power, it decided to pursue the policy of non-interference which meant Pakistan would not fight someone else’s wars. PTI

(From left) Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvedi. PTI

Raj Sadosh

Our Correspondent

Abohar, June 16

Flight Cadets Bhawana Kanth of Darbhanga in Bihar, Avani Chaturvedi of Madhya Pradesh and Mohana Singh of Rajasthan, undergoing training for commissioning in the Fighter Stream of the IAF flying branch, will create history as they pass out of the Air Force Academy in Hyderabad on June 18. The fiesty women comprise the first batch of women flight cadets.Mohana Singh, who studied at the Global Institute of Management and Emerging Technologies (GIMET), Amritsar, belongs to Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. Her father is in the Air Force and mother is a teacher. Mohana said as a Flt Gunner in the Aviation Research Centre, her grandfather would go to different places on various missions. She wanted to live the same life. Mohana’s aim is to be a part of future combat missions.“Night flying was exhilarating. I remember the small puffs of crackers bursting 1,000 feet below on my first take-off. During my first sector solo sortie at night, blinding lightning left me frightened. As I descended, I encountered clouds. I faced difficulty in discerning between the stars in the dark sky above and the small clusters of light on the dark ground beneath. “I was unable to keep a connect between the instruments and the visual indications of the aircraft altitude. I recalled what my Instructor had taught me: ‘No unnecessary head movement, switch over to instruments, trust your Instruments.’ I disregarded the visual indications and continued the descent, relying totally on the instruments,” she said. Cadet Bhawana did BE (Medical Electronics) from BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru. It was her dream to “fly like a free bird”. “I want to be a good fighter pilot and make my country and parents proud,” she said. Cadet Avani Chaturvedi, who has done BTech (Computer Science) from Banasthali University, Jaipur, had a few hours of flying experience in the flying club of her college. This motivated her to join the IAF.  “I want to fly the best fighter aircraft and learn more and more each day,” she said.

Lahore, June 16

The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader who telephonically directed the terrorists during the attack on the Pathankot air base has reportedly managed to flee to Afghanistan from Pakistan.“The alleged JeM handler who communicated by telephone more than two dozen times with terrorists in Pathankot before they carried out the attack on January 2 has managed to cross the Afghan border,” said a member of the joint investigation team probing the attack.He said the JeM handler, who is in late 20s, was in the tribal area of Pakistan when he communicated 18 times with the terrorists. “The law enforcement agencies tried to trace him (in the tribal belt), but there are reports that he has managed to escape to Afghanistan,” he said, without disclosing the JeM leader’s identity.He said the investigation agencies have been under “immense pressure” from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to thoroughly probe the matter and come up with “true facts”.Although the counter-terrorism department (CTD) of Punjab Police registered an FIR against the alleged attackers of the Pathankot air base and abettors, not a single person has been charged.The FIR was registered at the Gujranwala CTD police station under Sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, and Sections 7 and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act.The FIR says Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval informed that the attackers had come from Pakistan and “probably crossed the border adjacent to the Pathankot area”.  — PTIhttp://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/jem-pathankot-handler-flees-to-afghanistan/252992.html

CHANDIGARH: In a bid to counter the misuse of social networking sites by militants, the army’s Northern Command on Tuesday joined social media platform Twitter to interact with people of Jammu and Kashmir.

In his first tweet from the handle NorthernComd.IA, Northern Command Generalofficer-commanding-inchief (GOC-in-C) Lt Gen DS Hooda wrote: “Presence of Northern Comd on Twitter is a step towards involving our citizens in activities of Indian Army in J&K.”

“I look forward to positive interaction through this forum,” he tweeted next.

The army has earlier reached out to the masses in Jammu and Kashmir through Twitter and Facebook to generate awareness about public welfare initiatives such as Operation Sadbhavna. However, with the new Twitter handle, people can directly interact with the senior most army officer in the state. ‘FLEDGLING FIRST STEP’

Appreciating the move, Lt Gen HS Panag (retd), who is a former army commander of the Northern Command, said: “This is a positive development and the army must make the most of it.”

An avid user of social media himself, he said, “It is important that the army’s social media outreach be used effectively to share basic information, if not everything.”

Similarly, Lt Gen Ata Hasnain (retd), a former commander of Srinagarbased 15 Corps, sees this as a “fledging first step” but adds that this should have happened “some light years ago”.

“Physical outreach has limitations and time constraints. Social media is the enabler which facilitates interactive outreach to millions at the press of a button,” said Hasnain. “There is much to be learnt about strategic communication where your message reaches the people you want it to reach. Being on social media is insufficient; being there with the right focus, aim and intent is the necessity,” he said.

The officers said that the initiative should not remain limited to the Northern Command headquarters. “It must go down to the corps and divisions,” Hasnain said.

War memorial inaugurated by RM at Hoshiarpur on 15 Jun.
Credit goes to Brig Manjit Singh  Chairman Sanjha Morcha for initiation.approval of design .laying foundation  during his tenure as Director Sanik Welfare Punjab  .
His dream has come true for ESM of Hoshiarpur and the Martyrs.
Well conceived idea of Brig Manjit. Weldone 

Maj Gen SC Mohanty flags off a high-altitude mountain expedition of the Army to the Spiti valley, in Dehradun on Monday.

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 13

Major General SC Mohanty, General Officer Commanding, flagged off a trekking expedition at Clement Town here today. It consists of 14 members of the Golden Key Division.The expedition aims to enhance the spirit of adventure among Army personnel and establish rapport with locals in the rich and diverse high-altitude valleys of Himachal Pradesh.The expedition will pass through the Spiti valley via Tabo and culminate at Kiato on July 9. Enroute, the expedition will negotiate the arduous and inhospitable features of Langza (14,850 ft), Kibber (13,730 ft), Ladarcha (14,355 ft) and Dhar Lung Wooh (15,400 ft).The multi-dimensional expedition will meet locals enroute and provide humanitarian aid by distributing essential commodities and medicines.The expedition team will also re-connect with the local veterans and motivate the young and aspiring youth by undertaking motivational talks on becoming a better citizen, joining the Army, women empowerment and conservation of environment.http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/uttarakhand/community/14-member-army-team-begins-trekking-expedition/251181.html

India, US, Japan begin naval exercises in disputed waters
meanwhile, in bay of bengal: A Coast Guard helicopter hovers close to a Korean ship at the fifth edition of the Indo-Korea exercise ‘Sahyog-Hyeoblyeog’, at the Bay of Bengal in Chennai on Friday. PTI
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 10
India today joined the US and Japan to conduct week-long Naval exercises in the disputed East China Sea, around 5,000 km from here. The Navy personnel of three nations will practise submarine hunting and validate procedures at sea.
In other words, collectively countering any adventurism by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China. The move comes at time when Chinese submarines routinely foray in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian ocean.
Japan is hosting the exercise called ‘Malabar’ near the Okinawa islands — located 370 km east of the Senkaku islands — controlled by Japan but claimed by China. It was only last year that Japan was made a permanent member of the ‘Malabar series’ of Indo-US exercises.
Both Japan and China have overlapping claims in these waters and even impose their respective air defence identification zones (AIDZ) over the islands. The US stands firmly with Japan on the matter and in December 2013 even sent its fighter jets to fly over the Senkaku when China unilaterally imposed an ADIZ of its own.
Sources said the exercise was aimed at ‘strengthening’ India, Japan and the US naval cooperation. Specialists from the three forces will sit down to formulate procedures at sea and validate the same during the sea-phase of the exercise that will include scenarios of anti-submarine warfare, air defence and anti-surface warfare.
More than 100 assets — warships, fighter jets, surveillance aircraft with capacity to spot submarines, amphibious plane, specialised helicopters — will be part of the sea-phase of exercise.
The US will lead the way with its 1,00,000 tonne nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis, over 20 major warships, about 50 anti-submarine warfare helicopters, long-range maritime surveillance aircraft, the Boeing P8-A, and over 100 aircraft, including Boeing Super Hornet ship-deck based fighters.
India is fielding its stealth frigates INS Shayadri and INS Satpura, fleet tanker INS Shakti and missile corvette INS Kirch. Apart from this, a detachment of Indian Marine Commandos (MARCOS) will participate in the exercise. Japan will field the JS Hyuga —a flat deck helicopter carrier with onboard copters; amphibious plane the ShinMaywa Industries and the PC 3 Orion planes.

East China Sea tension

• Japan is hosting exercise ‘Malabar’ near the Okinawa islands — 370 km east of the Senkaku islands — controlled by Japan but claimed by China
• Japan was made a permanent member of the ‘Malabar series’ of Indo-US exercises last year
• Both Japan and China have overlapping claims in these waters and impose their respective air defence identification zones over the islands. The US backs Japan

DEHRADUN: In the run-up to the passing out parade at Indian Military Academy (IMA), the Commandant’s Parade was held on Thursday to mark the end of training of 565 Indian and 45 foreign gentleman cadets from six friendly foreign countries.
Lt Gen S K Saini, who took over as the 46th commandant of IMA, reviewed the parade and complimented the gentlemen cadets on their “excellent’ drill movements. Congratulating the cadets on successful completion of their training, Saini said, “Army is one of the most outstanding institutions in the country and all of you have made the wisest and the most honourable choice of joining this organization irrespective of the hardships that you will have to endure in the future.”
Saini urged cadets to uphold the traditions of the Indian Army and keep the trust that people of the nation have on them.
The passing out parade for the cadets will be held on Saturday and is likely to be attended by Lieutenant General Sarath Chand, General Officer Commanding-in Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Jaipur based South Western Command.

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Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 7

The plans of the Himachal Government to start helli-taxi services may have failed to take off but the launch of a passenger service by a private airline Air Himalaya Services, connecting Shimla, Chandigrah, Kullu and Dharamsala here on June 9 will go a long way in promoting high-end tourism.The state capital here has been deprived of air connectivity for the last almost four years when the last flight took off from the Jubbarhatti airport near here in September 2012. With little hope of resumption of regular flights from the state capital here as the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, the launch of the nine seater aircraft will come as a major relief for not just tourists but also locals.Town and Country Planning and Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma will formally flag off the first flight from Shimla on June 9. The passenger service will be provided by Air Himalaya Services in collaboration with IIC Technologies Limited, Hyderabad. The flights will link Chandigarh, Shimla, Kullu and Dharamsala through Cessna Grand Master Cervan 9 seater aircraft.“In order to attract high-end tourists and to promote tourism in the state we are making efforts through these non-schedule airline operators to connect the entire region with air connectivity,” said Vijai Singh Mankotia, vice chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board.Mankotia further said in order to woo high-end tourist, reliable air connectivity is a must. “We are proposing to take up with Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India the necessity to link Dehradun-Shimla and Dharamsala-Jammu- Leh, as this will help give a fillip to tourism,” he said.Past efforts of the state government to urge the Centre to provide subsidized air fare in Himachal on the lines of Jammu and Kashmir and North East have failed to yield results. Efforts to seek viability gap funding from the Planning Commission to bring down the fares also failed as exorbitant air fares was also a major hitch.“The fare for the flight from Kullu to Chandigarh and Shimla to Dharamsala has been fixed at Rs 6,999 and inclusive of all taxes it will cost the customer about Rs 8,000,” said Budhi Prakash Thakur, Chief managing Director of Air Himalaya Service.He said his endeavour was to provide affordable and reliable air services to the locals as well as tourists as the absence of good air connectivity was a big deterrent to tourism promotion.The fare for the Shimla-Chandigarh has been fixed at Rs 2,500. The flight from Chandigarh to Kullu will take off at 8.50 a.m, from Kullu to Chandigarh at 9.50 a.m, Chandigarh to Shimla at 10.50 a.m, Shimla to Gaggal at 11.30 am, Gaggal to Shimla at 1 p.m and Shimla to Chandigarh at 2.20 pm daily.The tourist arrivals to Himachal have been on the rise over the past years and the statistics reveal that a total of 1.71 crore tourists visited Himachal. The state presently has a total of about 2,600 registered hotels.

First flight on June 9

• The state capital has been deprived of air connectivity for the last almost four years
• Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma will flag off the first flight from Shimla on June 9
• The service will be provided by AirHimalayas in collaboration withIIC TechnologiesLimited, Hyderabad
• The flights will link Chandigarh, Shimla, Kullu and Dharamsala through Cessna Grand Master Cervan 9 seater aircraft

Airfare

• The fare for the Shimla-Chandigarh flight is Rs 2,500
• The flight from Chandigarh to Kullu will take off at 8.50 am and from Kullu to Chandigarh at 9.50 am, Chandigarh to Shimla at 10.50 am, Shimla to Gaggal at 11.30 am, Gaggal to Shimla at 1 pm and Shimlato Chandigarh at 2.20 pm every day

Sartaj Aziz. PTI file photo

Islamabad, June 6

Pakistan is not desperate to resume peace talks with India, a top official has said.There was no restlessness on the Pakistani side for a dialogue, Sartaj Aziz, the Adviser on Foreign Affairs to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was quoted as saying in a news report on Monday.But he quickly added on Sunday that if South Asia had to see peace, there had to be “coordination first”.Aziz also said that India never opened a window of opportunity for dialogue and goodwill with Pakistan.The Dawn newspaper quoted him as saying that all developments in this regard were sabotaged when the talks between the countries were postponed after the terror attack on the IAF base in Pathankot in January.“It is a very strange thing to say as it was decided here on December 9 that the dialogue would resume but then the Pathankot incident occurred and everything vanished into thin air,” Aziz said.Aziz was speaking during Geo News show ‘Naya Pakistan’.He referred to Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement on the “slowly closing” window of goodwill and dialogue with Pakistan.Parrikar had said that Pakistan separated terrorists between “good ones and bad ones”.“They (India) say they will talk if we (Pakistan) make some progress on terrorism but we say that they (India) should talk on all issues, including Kashmir,” said Aziz.“The whole world agrees that India and Pakistan should have composite dialogue.” IANS

Kochi, June 4

The Army’s decision to dismiss a sepoy who refused to remove his beard on religious grounds has been upheld by the Kochi Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal.An application had been filed before the Tribunal by Maktumhusen challenging the order of his discharge from military service for refusing to remove his beard.Maktumhusen had joined as sepoy in Army Medical Corps in April 2001 and was transferred to 371 Field Hospital in 2010.On his request, the Commanding Officer had granted him permission to grow beard on religious grounds.He was given directions to apply for fresh ID card imposing conditions that he had to give an undertaking in writing to keep the beard for remainder period of his service. However, the permission was withdrawn later. — PTI