China on Thursday continued to defy an arbitral tribunal’s ruling against its claims in the South China Sea, landing civilian aircraft on disputed islands in the region while staterun media referred to the US and Japan as “worrying eunuchs”.

REUTERSA Chinese ship and helicopter conduct a rescue exercise near the Paracel Islands in South China Sea on Thursday.

Beijing rejected the ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that it has no exclusive rights over islands and resources in the South China Sea, saying it was “null and void”. It also warned it could create an air defence zone over the contested waters.

In what appeared to be planned retaliation, China successfully tested two new airfields on the Nansha (Spratly) Islands with civil flights, state media reported. This took the number of airfields in the archipelago open to civil aircraft to three. “The two flights, an Airbus A319 chartered by China Southern Airlines and a Boeing 737 by Hainan Airlines, both returned to Haikou after a short stay on the reefs,” official news agency Xinhua reported.

“The round trips came one day after a Cessna CE-680 flew to the two reefs to ensure that both airfields are prepared for civil flights,” Xinhua reported.

“Including the airport on the Yongshu Reef opened in January, China now has three functioning airports on the Nansha Islands, which lie under one of the world’s busiest airspaces,” it said. Statecontrolled media continued to castigate the US for purportedly manipulating the Philippines, which had approached the PCA, and for destabilising the region.

An editorial in the nationalist tabloid Global Times stood out for its use of language that usually doesn’t get into print. It said the US and Japan were more worried than the Philippines, whose attitude was “relatively mild” after the tribunal’s ruling on Tuesday.

The editorial said the Philippines had described the ruling as a “milestone decision” and called for restraint.

“An old Chinese saying goes ‘The emperor doesn’t worry but his eunuch does,’ meaning the outsider is more anxious than the player. In this case, Washington and Tokyo are the worrying eunuchs,” it added.

China may have no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea but the undaunted juggernaut leaves footprints far and wide. Closer home, India too needs to keep a hawk-eye on the other side of the Palk Straits because the Chinese have also strategically re-entered the Sri Lankan waters.

China sphere of influence in the region is rising. A container ship docked at the Colombo South Harbour funded by China. REUTERS.

The recent ruling of the international tribunal in Hague called off the Chinese bluff of claiming historical legality over the bulk of the South China Sea waters. The aggressive “nine-dash-line” approach of the Chinese swallows over 90 per cent of the disputed waters, much to the consternation of the wary neighbourhood. Behind the obvious issues of sovereignty, lies the geostrategic future and protection of the $5-trillion trade and the very survival of the Chinese juggernaut. This survival insecurity has led to the Chinese instincts of belligerence and strategic sweep like the “String of Pearls” that encompasses active “pitching” to various countries in the vicinity. Geographically, Sri Lanka is a priceless nugget in the Chinese chessboard of strategic footprints.             In 1952, the Dudley Senanayake government in Ceylon (now, Sri Lanka)  faced a dual challenge of acute shortages of the staple rice and the limited availability of foreign exchange to source the same, from the international markets — to compound the economic miseries, international commodity prices of rubber had sunk to a record low, impacting Ceylon’s rubber exports and forex realisations. A masterstroke in the form of a barter-based trade agreement with China, to import the much-needed rice in exchange of rubber for the Chinese, ushered in a critical understanding and relationship of the Chinese with the Island.This act of dire necessity set the backdrop of modern Sri Lankan practicality when it came to dealing with the Chinese, thereafter. The subsequent hue and cry over the annexation of Tibet and the plight of fellow-Buddhist Tibetans was met with a stoic silence by Colombo —contrary to the language of Chapter II of the Sri Lankan constitution which mandates, “The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the state to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana…”. The Chinese paid back the Sri Lankan for their silence and acquiescence, with weaponry during the difficult days of the Tamil wars when neither India nor the US was forthcoming to help the Sri Lankans — the Chinese had readily stepped in unconditionally to bail out the Sri Lankans, this time militarily.However, it was the reign of the megalomaniac former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa that the pronounced pro-China tilt took shape and swerved dangerously to the utter discomfort of both India and the US. This tilt manifested in murmurs of the Hambantota port emerging as another “Pearl” port (like Gwadar in Pakistan, Marao Atoll in Maldives, Sittwe in Myanmar etc.) of the grand Chinese strategy to dominate the waters from the restive South China Seas, the vulnerable “chicken-neck” of Malacca Straits and all the way up to the African hinterlands. The alarm bells went ringing when Rajapaksa allowed Chinese submarines to dock twice in Sri Lanka, without informing New Delhi as per a long-standing agreement between the two nations.This Chinese transgression in India’s backyard was against of the spirit of the 1987 India-Sri Lanka accord, that binds both India and Sri Lanka to not to allow forces inimical to each other, to use the other nation’s ports. However, it was the “cheque-book diplomacy” of generous doles and infrastructural investment by way of the mega $1.4 billion land-reclamation project of the Colombo Port City (part of Beijing’s One Belt, One Road and New Silk Route initiatives) that could potentially entrap Sri Lanka into a veritable vassal status due to its financial indebtedness to the Chinese. Clearly, Rajapaksa’s fondness for the Chinese was not just economic but also strategic, political and military. The end of the bloody Tamil conflict and the victory of the Sri Lankan forces had a lot to do with the critical supplies of Chinese ammunition and ordnance, besides the timely supply of six F-7 jet fighters, scores of anti-aircraft guns and a JY-11 radar system. The providential electoral results spoilt the Chinese stratagem of the “String-of- Pearls” approach with decidedly pro-India governments emerging in Myanmar (Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD replaced the junta rule), Bangladesh (with Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League in power) and in Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa was ousted by his own former minister Maithripala Sirisena who promised more neutrality to correct the Chinese tilt — “would not offer preferential economic or security access to any one country”, besides placing several Chinese contracts on hold for audit and review of the terms. Sirisena’s election manifesto alluded to the impending Chinese noose by noting, “The land that the White Man took over by means of military strength is now being obtained by foreigners by paying ransom to a handful of persons. This robbery is taking place before everybody in broad daylight… If this trend continues for another six years our country would become a colony and we would become slaves”.However, a year and half down the tenure of President Sirisena, the Chinese freeze is slowly thawing as financial considerations are forcing a climb-down from the earlier bravado, skepticism and intransigence against the Chinese. A precarious balance-of-payment situation, falling foreign reserves and a crippling $8-billion debt to China has brought Sri Lanka scurrying back to the Chinese to renegotiate the repayment terms and accept the reciprocal collateral conditions. Talk of equity swap instead of hard currency projects to mitigate repayment term has already been bandied. The famed Chinese economic-statecraft via the “cheque-book” diplomacy has ensured the return of the Colombo Port City project, besides other initiatives like the expansion of the Hambantota port and Mattala airport. Certain new projects like the development of the Special Economic Zone is also on the burgeoning agenda. The Sri Lankan experience with the ostensible Chinese generosity and largesse has always been smooth and readily available (unlike the Tamil  issues and conditions of India and the tight purse strings of Western powers). Also, the Chinese are “non-judgmental” and do not allow issues like alleged human right violations during the Tamil wars to derail stitching-up of strategic relationships.  Even though the Sri Lankans are making meek assurances that the Chinese return to favour does not entail any ownership of land as part of the Colombo Port Project, the Sri Lankan backtracking has geopolitical ramifications. India realises the reality of the Sri Lankan financial conditions and the resultant practicality of snuggling back to Beijing to avoid defaulting on debts. The Indians will do well to continuously forewarn and reiterate the typical strings that come attached with Chinese doles, partake all possible opportunities to ensure a toehold in all development projects (as it is supposedly not exclusive to any one nation) and indulge in smarter diplomacy to “sell” the benefits of the larger picture of an alternative, “anti-Sino” bloc which could be composed of countries like India, Japan, US and the other ASEAN powers. For now the Chinese have gleefully re-entered the Sri Lankan waters by waving thick wads of hard currency.The writer is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands & Puducherry.

Jammu, July 12

Western Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Lt Gen KJ Singh today visited the border areas in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts to review the security situation.The Army Commander had a detailed interaction with the rank and file wherein he lauded their role in maintaining a high state of vigil against enemy designs, braving the odds of terrain and weather.General KJ Singh was accompanied by military commanders from the Rising Star Corps. The Army is maintaining the second line of defence on the international border and plays an important role in action against infiltrators. — TNS

The military was justifiably unhappy when the initial recommendations of the pay commission panel was released in November 2015. However being a disciplined force the bickering remained in-house and on social media. It was the veterans’ community and well-wishers who raised their voice in defence of the serving, who are bound by silence. The grievances and anomalies were such that it compelled the service chiefs to jointly meet the defence minister. Subsequently, a committee of secretaries under the cabinet secretary was nominated to study the report and forward recommendations. As before there was no military representative on the committee. The military was given an opportunity to present its views to the committee. However, most anomalies remain even to this day. The fight is not about a higher pay packet for the military, but about equality in status and allowances, being a central government organization. T

he statement in the initial pay commission about higher allowances for Guwahati than Siachen was absurd. The logic that if allowances are low no bureaucrat would be willing to serve is laughable. Till date no bureaucrat has faced a bullet in the region. He is secure while the military battles on. They also form a part of the government and therefore should be willing to serve where ordered. If the military is bound by law to serve anywhere on land, sea or air, why not other services. If they cannot serve, they should resign. I wonder if the pay commission was aiming to prove that Guwahati or the North East is not a part of India?

The government has logically maintained status quo on allowances for the present, while having them reassessed by a committee under the finance secretary. One major anomaly has been the pay matrix, where the military has twenty-four pay bands as compared to the rest, which have forty. Therefore the military loses out in both pay and pensions. Further, the status of a government employee would now be determined by his pay matrix. This lowers the standing of the military versus others.

The military serves alongside members of other central services in many locations, most being trouble spots or in aid to civil authority. When the military’s pay matrix is lowered, the working environment fails and egos rise to the fore. Even central service officer of a lower rank would refuse to function under military directions as his pay matrix is higher. This results in each service functioning separately and independently. The end result – Pampore type incidents or disjointed efforts in aid to civil authorities. Difficulties also arise in semi-military organizations. Military personnel are on deputation with Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Quality Assurance, Ordnance factories etc. Similarly, civilian members of the Military Engineering Service (MES), Defence Estates and Military Farms work alongside the military. Their pay matrix is not governed by military conditions but by their own service, which creates an imbalance in seniority. In simple terms, while civil services gain in seniority, the military comes down.

Functioning at every level becomes difficult and nobody seems to care. The battle for OROP was based on a simple logic. All organizations retire their staff at sixty. Therefore, the longer you serve, the more increments you obtain, hence more pension you draw. Maximum responsibilities of an individual are between the age of thirty-five to fifty. Responsibilities include growing children and ageing parents. In the military, 92 per cent retire between the ages of 35 and 45, at the peak of their financial responsibilities. They have served for a period of only 17 to 25 years as compared to 30 to 40 years prior to retirement in other services, thus earn lesser pension. With no second career option, they only have their pension to survive on.

Therefore, logically, till the third pay commission, military pensions were 70 per cent and when reduced to 50 per cent, OROP was promised. For those retiring at 60, there is genuinely no requirement of OROP. This is why only the military was affected. Ideally the government should reconsider this additional expenditure of granting it to other central services also. The military has the steepest pyramid. Only .01 per cent rise to the senior level, while it is almost 100 per cent for the IAS and fairly high in others. Thus the military was fighting for the Non Functional Upgradation (NFU), already given to every other service. It would benefit over 99 per cent who cannot proceed up the ladder due to steepness of the pyramid. It was rejected. It may be under re-consideration at present, however unless voices are raised, it would as usual be denied.

The battle for supremacy between the bureaucracy and the military has been going on since independence. At every opportunity, the status of the military has been systematically eroded. The seventh pay commission has taken the cake, relegating it to the level of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). This affects joint functioning, when forces operate together as in J and K and the North East. The defence minister also admitted his failure when he stated, “Some of their demands have been accepted, some haven’t”. In times of crises while other government services have failed, the military has been the saviour. The recent Jat agitation and subsequent Prakash Singh committee report bear testimony. It is the bureaucracy which has fuelled the fear of a coup into the minds of politicians hence delayed and diluted the possible appointment of a much needed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). There is always a tinge of jealousy which a non-uniformed civil servant has towards a uniformed one. The military earns more respect from the public than a bureaucrat or the police.

A military man stands out by his behaviour and gait and is easily distinguished. Hence, jealousy has reason and creates a desire to downgrade. It is for the national leadership to understand this shortcoming and set issues right, before it boils over and becomes an embarrassment. Therefore, military resentment is justified and should be expressed in every forum, by veterans and its wellwishers, till the government rectifies its follies.
Read more at http://www.thestatesman.com/news/opinion/military-s-unhappiness-over-pay-is-justified/153685.html#EJbkHchdpRjgFbSp.99

Man who won right for Sikhs to wear turbans in Canadian legions dies

A prominent figure in the Sikh-Canadian community who fought and won a high profile battle to allow Sikhs wearing turbans into Royal Canadian Legions, has died.

95-year-old Lt.-Col. Pritam Singh Jauhal passed away peacefully in Surrey over the weekend.

Jauhal fought for the British Empire in World War II, but on Remembrance Day in 1993 he was denied entrance to the Newton Legion in Surrey because of his turban and legion rules forbidding the wearing of hats and headgear.

“They had tried to explain that as soldiers they had fought with their turbans on so this was not something that was unknown to soldiers who had fought in World War II,” said Satwinder Bains, director for the centre for Indo-Canadian studies at the University of the Fraser Valley. “But the legion was adamant that they take them off at the door.”

“[Jauhal] didn’t understand that in the Commonwealth countries, how Canada could even think that people of the Sikh faith, who had fought in wars alongside Canadians and Europeans and people all over the world, could be not allowed into a legion,” said Bains.

Jauhal’s belief in religious freedom also led him to speak out against the Conservative government’s ban on Muslim women covering their faces during citizenship ceremonies.

Jauhal’s memoir, A Soldier Remembers, was published in 2013.

Bains says Jauhal will be remembered as a kind man who stood up for what he believed in.

“He had that in him, that gentle nature and yet that steel will and determination. This was who he was,” said Bains.

WSO Statement On Passing Of Lt. Col. Pritam Singh Jauhal

—The World Sikh Organization of Canada offers its tributes to Lt. Col. Pritam Singh Jauhal who passed away on Sunday at the age of 95.  Lt. Col Jauhal led the struggle to wear turbans in Royal Canadian Legion halls in the early 1990s.

In 1993 Lt. Col Jauhal, a World War II veteran and other Sikhs were barred from entering the Royal Canadian Legion in Surrey because of their turbans after the annual Remembrance Day parade.  The WSO had supported Lt. Col. Jauhal in his attempts to have the Legion permit the wearing of the turban.  The national organization eventually changed its policy after a national debate.

WSO Senior Policy Advisor Gian Singh Sandhu said today, “the WSO had the privilege of working with Lt. Col. Jauhal in his struggle to have the turban accommodated at Royal Canadian Legion halls.  We will remember him for his courage and determination. His unwavering commitment to justice and human rights is an inspiration.  Our sincerest condolences are with his family.”

WSO President Mukhbir Singh said, “Lt. Col. Jauhal is a Canadian Sikh icon and he is an example for the next generation of Canadian Sikhs that equity and human rights are worth struggling for.  He displayed that same commitment to human rights most recently when he opposed laws limiting the freedoms of Muslim women who wear the niqab.  Lt. Col. Jauhal’s contributions to the Canadian Sikh community will be fondly remembered.”

Pravin Sawhney
The NSG, for the US, is fundamentally about non-proliferation. Unfortunately, the UPA sold the 2008 agreement as necessary for electricity needs. The Modi government is now selling the NSG as the pathway to great-power status. Both have been less than truthful.

MISPLACED ANGER: Members of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch protest outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi after China did not support India’s bid for NSG membership. PTI

While there are many reasons why India’s strong pitch led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group was doomed to fail, two most important ones have not received attention.In the bid to salvage the bruised image of the Prime Minister, efforts are on to convey all is not lost. An unnamed US senior official has been quoted as saying that India’s case for membership is strong and should happen with some more push by December. Similarly, the outgoing chairperson of the NSG, Argentinian diplomat Rafael Grossi, has said that some way would be found to get India inside the NSG conclave. The key question remains whether India would get benefits as NSG member befitting a nuclear-weapon state?The first reason why this will not happen is that the US, and not China, had dashed all hopes of India doing trade in nuclear technologies with NSG members. In 2007, when President George Bush was pushing India’s case for exemption from the global restrictive regimes and in the US Congress as agreed in the 2005 Indo-US framework document, the US, under its global commitment, was also urging the NSG to review its export control rules to check proliferation. Thus, in July 2011, the NSG announced its new export norms: only those nations which had signed the NPT would be eligible for reprocessing and enrichment (ENR) technologies. This came as a bombshell for India. While allowed to trade for fuel with the NSG, India would be denied ENR technologies needed for utilisation of closed fuel cycle because it had not signed the NPT.In simple terms, while India could buy nuclear fuel from the world, it could not use it fully as without ENR technologies it would be unable to use the nuclear waste for energy production. This was when Indian scientists protested that they had own limited reprocessing capabilities and were not entirely bereft of them.The second reason is that Modi’s India has displeased Beijing no end by pitting itself as a leading power in Asia, rivalling China, which it is not. It has forgotten that China had rejected the US’ G-2 (Group of Two) proposal for global power sharing and had instead sought the new major power relationship, a move that moved the US pivot to Asia since it signalled the race for global supremacy. The G2 system was informally proposed in January 2009. It was soon endorsed by the Obama administration.However, China was not impressed as it had other plans. During Obama’s China visit in November 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told him that China preferred a multipolar world. What he did not say was that China aimed to displace the US as the global power in the 21st century. This task was left for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who, heading its fifth-generation leadership, sought the new major power relationship with the US in December 2012.Also little understood is that Pakistan is no longer China’s lackey. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2013 announcement of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as the flagship of his ambitious Belt and Road project (the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road), Pakistan has emerged as China’s critical partner on the global chessboard. China believes that success of the CPEC would convince the world to jump on the Belt and Road bandwagon to help Beijing create alternative security architecture in Asia, the gateway to a new global order.Given this, China can hardly be blamed for India’s short-sightedness and little understanding of strategic imperatives. Beijing opposed Delhi’s inclusion as NSG member not because it wants India to remain boxed in South Asia, but because it has reason to pull Pakistan out of South Asia as well. If this truism had been grasped by the Modi dispensation, it would have realised that the NSG is not the high table it should seek (that remains the elusive membership of the UN Security Council).Just like the 2008 Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, the NSG, from US’ perspective, was and remains fundamentally about non-proliferation. Unfortunately, the Manmohan Singh government sold the 2008 agreement as necessary for providing round-the-clock electricity to the people of India. The Modi government is now selling the NSG as the pathway to great power status. Both governments have been less than truthful. Regarding India’s quest for membership of the NSG — the club which works on consensus principle — China had in July 2015 made it clear that signing of the NPT would be essential for new member states. What China had left unsaid was that India could become NSG member only if it signed the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state.To understand the implications of India joining the NSG, it would be instructive to revisit the 2008 Indo-US agreement. According to it, India was to place certain numbers of its nuclear reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. In return, the US promised to end India’s nuclear apartheid by acknowledging it as a nuclear weapons power, agreed to India getting access to high and dual-use technologies, and offered to cooperate on civilian nuclear energy to meet India’s energy demands.It seemed that India would get the moon: it would become a nuclear weapons power (with freedom to maintain its credible minimum deterrence); be free to decide on more indigenous nuclear reactors for strategic purposes; be part of the global restricted technology cartels, namely, the NSG, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement (all led by the US but working by consensus); maintain strategic autonomy, implying independent foreign policy; not be clubbed with Pakistan; be free to buy nuclear fuel (uranium); run the nuclear closed fuel cycle (including reprocessing and subsequently the indigenous three-stage thorium cycle), and purchase state-of-the-art ENR technologies for its energy needs. It appeared to be a win-win situation for India.In reality, from the US perspective, the deal was about non-proliferation by coercing India to identify maximum numbers of its reactors for civilian use, getting India to de facto sign the CTBT even when the US Senate had rejected it, getting India’s foreign policy closely aligned with that of the US, doing commerce in civil nuclear reactors and defence (through a 10-year Defence Framework signed separately but highlighted in the July 18, 2005, framework document), and eventually having India as a junior strategic partner if not junior ally in the Asia-Pacific region.Against this backdrop, hypothetically speaking, if India becomes a member of the NSG, what would it get? It would certainly not get the ENR technologies that it desires from NSG member states. In any case, this is a bilateral issue. For example, China, an NSG member, continues to unabashedly give ENR technologies to Pakistan without even a mild protest from other NSG members, including the US.On China, Indian diplomats incorrectly compare 2008 with 2016. At that time, China agreed to the US’ call to support India for two reasons: a strictly one-time waiver had been sought for India from the NSG to do nuclear commerce. And, China had yet not disclosed its grand China Dream with the Belt and Road as its manifestation to challenge US’ global supremacy. But China is now willing to discuss India’s entry into the NSG, provided Pakistan’s is also considered.The reasons for India and Pakistan seeking to join the NSG are different. Pakistan’s quest for the NSG membership is not about nuclear technologies trade but about maintaining strategic balance with India. India, on the other hand, wants to be in the proverbial NSG tent to be able to participate in its policy-making. Considering the NSG was created as the consequence of India’s 1974 nuclear test, it is unrealistic to expect the conclave to alter its NPT imperative to allow nuclear technologies trade with India.The writer is editor, FORCE newsmagazine

Martyr Captain Rupinder Singh Garcha (extreme right) with his family members

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 30

Rupi was to come home on leave just days before the fateful incident. However, he could not make it as another officer from his unit had to extend his leave due to his father’s ailment. All that came back to us was a ‘box’ filled with the memories of his last days, shared Col Joginder Singh Garcha, father of the martyr, Roopinder Singh Garcha, putting up a brave face as he spoke to The Tribune at his residence here at Ravinder Nagar.While the whole district administration along with senior Army officials gathered on Thursday to lay wreath at his status on his 16th martyrdom day at the Urban Estate Phase II market, his father Col Joginder due to his ailing health could not attend the event and silently paid tribute to his brave heart at his home .“He seems to have been destined for the job as he had an inclination towards Army since childhood. He used to play ‘battalion’ games at home and even made us participate in those games as Army men. Within a short span of two years service, ‘Rupi’ was almost done with four crucial courses of the Army. His flourishing career was cut short by his sudden death,” said the proud father.The family still remembers the fateful day. “Rupi just had his lunch when he was called by the 2IC. As he was the only officer who had done the commando course in his unit during that time, he was asked to clear Ghatlokam village in Pulwama district situated nearby which was taken over by terrorists,” shared Col Garcha. Roopinder along with another officer took a vehicle and left immediately for the spot and instructed his 80 men to come in other vehicles. “Just before entering the village, Rupi stopped his jeep and was about to step down to plan the attack with his men when an Improvised Explosive Devise (IED) planted under his seat went off blowing up his body up to 23 ft. We still could not understand as to how the device was planted under his seat,” said Col Garcha. While remembering his commando days, Rupi’s mother Harminder Kaur shared he never wanted to do the commando course as not being in the infantry, the course was not mandatory for him. Roopinder even planned to leave the course in between. “However, it was only me who convinced him to continue by saying that he will be called a coward who ran away from the course,” said Kaur. She shared an instance when Rupinder was doing his commando training and came to his sister’s home at New Delhi. “His feet were swollen and were covered with blisters. When asked as to how he is managing his morning run every day, he said that he can do it easily by wearing four to five pairs of socks,” said his mother. 

Even though it’s been 16 years since Rupi has gone, the proud mother even remembers the taste of tea which Rupi used to make whenever he would come on leave. “He was a very caring child and always concerned about my health. Whenever he was at home during leave, he would send our house maid on long leave. He made me do all the household chores. When I used to finish my work, he used to make two cups of tea along with some snacks and then we both used to sit on the floor and enjoy it,” said the proud mother as she prevented her tears from falling. While calling the recent provision of One Rank One Pension as ‘half baked’, Col Garcha slammed the Centre for overlooking the concerns of the armed forces. “Army has made huge sacrifices whenever the national security was put under threat by external forces. However, it is unfortunate that the politicians do not recognise their value and hold bureaucracy supreme than the men in olive greens,” said Col Garcha adding that politicians were not interested in sending their own children to Army. Also, raising concern of the city residents for forgetting the war heroes, Col Garcha said the city too had paid heavily during times of need. He said in the Kargil war, the city alone lost seven officers. In rural areas, the number could have gone manifolds. “People are insensitive towards these heroes.  Despite requesting so many times, the banks established inside Capt Roopinder Singh Garcha’s shopping complex do not use his name and instead write their address as the Urban Estate Phase II market,” said Col Garcha. He also informed that though he had started Garcha Trust an year after his son’s martyrdom to support children from poor families who would like to join Army, but could not find anyone till date who could match the spark that was there in his brave son. “I have lost the most precious gem of my life and I will remember the harsh fact till my last breath,” said the aggrieved father. 

16th martyrdom day observed at Urban Estate Phase II

• The city on Thursday observed the 16th martyrdom day of Capt Roopinder Singh Garcha. Former District Welfare Officer Col Manmohan Singh organised an event to commemorate the occasion at Capt Roopinder SinghGarcha Commercial Complex in Urban Estate Phase II.
• An impressive guard of honour was given by the Army men. As many as 323 Air Defence regiment had specially come from Pune to pay tribute to the officer. Also, schoolchildren presented a patriotic cultural show to remember the sacrifice of the braveheart wholaid down his life at the age of 23.
• While remembering Capt Garcha, chief guest Major General Sanjeev Bajaj, GOC 91 sub area, lauded his father for guiding his son to the path of patriotism. Gen Bajaj also presented a cheque of Rs 25,000 to Captain Garcha Trust.
• Also present on the occasion were Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav,Col Manmohan Singh and Deependra Singh, brother of Capt Garcha.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar speaks in the Rajya Sabha in New Delhi on Friday. — PTI/TV grab

New Delhi, July 29

The government on Friday said in the Rajya Sabha that the possibility of sabotage in the mysterious disappearance of AN-32 aircraft of IAF was “comparatively very less” and informed that the help of the US has also been sought in locating the plane.

All types of techniques are being used to locate the aircraft, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said while replying to clarifications sought by members on his suo motu statement on the disappearance of the aircraft on July 22.

As members expressed concern and raised questions over how the plane went missing, he said, “I can’t speculate because we are searching for it and I will not like to speculate. But I can say only this much. The possibility, although we are checking all angles, of any sabotage is comparatively very less because they have standard operating procedures.”

While sharing the concern of the members, he gave details of the operation being carried out for the last one week in trying to locate the plane, carrying 29 people, which went missing during a flight from Tambaram in Tamil Nadu to Port Blair.

“I appreciate anxiety of members. I am also disturbed at the sudden disappearance of the plane. I have spoken to several experts and former air chiefs who were also puzzled by the sudden disappearance,” Parrikar said.

The Minister said that at the time of disappearance, the aircraft was on “secondary/passive radar” and that “There was no SOS or transmission of any frequency. It just disappeared, so that is the worrying part”.

The government has sought help from the US for detection of images and is seeking help from American defence forces to ascertain whether their satellites had picked up any signal before the disappearance of the plane.

“It is total blank. There was not even a single signal recorded. That is the reason we are contacting American defence forces to ascertain whether their satellites picked up any signal,” Parrikar said.

“Besides our own satellite imagery, we have asked the US for their imagery for the detection of emergency frequency to space based assets. Foreign countries we have already asked. I only hope that our efforts succeed,” he added while replying to queries whether foreign help has been sought.

Queried about the age of the aircraft, the Defence Minister said it was “almost as good as new aircraft”.

Elaborating he said, “I don’t know exact age but it is well within lifetime. It has undergone first overhauling. Lot of replacement has been done…. They are considered as one of the safest aircraft.”

He said the accident rate of Indian Air Force is 0.23 out of 10,000 hours of flying against the global rate of 0.023 and assured the House that maximum efforts would be made to ensure that the mishaps come down.

“If aircraft is not fit for flying we don’t fly it. We have decided to check up whether we can improve the signalling system,” he added.

About the missing aircraft, Parrikar said that after the first overhaul, the plane had already done 279 hours and the pilot was experienced, having put in 500 hours on this route.

The Defence Minister, who had made suo motu statement on the plane’s disappearance in both Houses of Parliament yesterday, said, “Let us hope that we track it down. I can assure that maximum efforts will be taken.” Sharing details of the search operation so far, he said 10 Indian Navy ships as well as submarine ‘Sindhudhwaj’ are carrying searches and “virtually checking up everything”.

Twenty-three inputs had been located, out of which 6 were of the nature of blinks and all inputs have been checked, he said.

“If we locate something, then we can send deepwater equipment to pick up. We have also diverted ‘Sagar Nidhi’ (vessel) from Mauritius. It will reach on August one and it can go up to 6,000 metres depth. But we have to locate objects.

“We have to locate it because at this depth you cannot keep on scratching the bottom,” Parrikar said.

The Defence Minister said he was personally monitoring the situation. “We owe that much to the people, I have seen (to it) that every family is kept in touch.” Yesterday, he had said that “several inputs and leads” regarding floating objects have been picked up but there is no concrete evidence so far with respect to missing AN-32 aircraft of the IAF. — PTI

New Delhi, July 27

India today inked a deal with the US defence and aerospace giant Boeing to procure four more P-8I submarine hunter planes worth $1 billion.The Navy has already purchased eight P-8Is for $2.1 billion and deployed some of these in Andaman and Nicobar islands near the busy shipping route passing through the Malacca Straits.The P-8I, classified as a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, is based on the body of Boeing’s 737-800 commercial aircraft. It is the Navy variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing has developed for the US Navy. It has a range of 4,500 nautical miles.  The Navy’s anti-submarine and surface warfare capabilities will be augmented once the planes join the fleet. — TNS

Tab on China

• The acquisition of additional P-8Is will be a shot in the arm for the Navy as the country has been building up its naval surveillance capabilities to check China’s presence in the Indian Ocean.