Monthly Archives: August 2018

There was a time when hostilities had not marred the pristine beauty of the landscape. With the recent month-long India-China impasse, the areas of Doklam plateau, Dokala, trijunction in east Sikkim and the Chicken’s neck-Siliguri corridor have been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

TOUGH TERRAIN: The belligerence between two big neighbours calls for tough diplomacy

Brig Jasbir Singh Bawa (retd)MY mind goes back to the “Hindi-Chini  bhai-bhai” days of friendship at Dokala in 1990-1991. As the Company Commander at Dokala, I was the presiding deity for friendly Chinese patrols once a quarter or so. That was a period of peace on the tactical surface that let you enjoy the sheer beauty of Dokala and the freedom of an independent command.    On my return from a posting abroad, I had the fortune of going back to command my old company,  “Delta,” at that time deployed at Dokala. This is fortunate for those of us who return to the unit after an outing. I had christened the Company as “Sher Company” and  men were  “Sher ka Bachcha”— surreptitiously  borrowed from the much-revered, late Papa Pande, our ex-Colonel of the regiment. Getting back to Sher Company was indeed a cause for much joy. The men were happy to see me again for we shared a very healthy rapport. I was fortunate to have my Company 2IC Sub Indra Bahadur still in the chair but a lot of the senior NCOs had moved away on posting or had retired. It was a great feeling to see the young sepoys and NCOs one had tutored and mentored, take up varying  positions of responsibility with confidence and pride. Dokala was the abode of an exceptionally happy family on the eastern-most tip of east Sikkim that descended sharply to the Jaldhaka wildlife sanctuary thence to the Siliguri corridor. Dokala, the most beautiful area in all of east Sikkim, is a lush green meadow in sharp contrast to the surrounding countryside that is characterised by jagged and  rocky ridgelines without a blade of grass for miles together. Significantly lower in altitude than the Batangla-Nathula ridge line, Dokala is approximately a two-km-long pass with a width varying from 150 to about 400 m. The Sher Company was deployed at its north-western base. The meadow is green except during the four winter months. Almost through the year, the green turf of the meadow is interspersed with clumps of wild flowers. Wild blue poppy, small rhododendrons and numerous tubular flowers add to the kaleidoscope of daisies in white, yellow, shades of red and blue. I have enjoyed many a walk with my trusted buddy and radio operator on the soft surface of Dokala, on our way up and down the formidable Gamochin Peak which dominates the pass from the south. Gamochin, a huge rocky feature, towers over the neighbouring heights and Dokala. The climb to Gamochin is a sheer wall and can only be negotiated by fixed rope — a challenge even for seasoned climbers. Troops deployed on the feature would welcome us with hot pakoras to be downed with a drink of warm jam water and glucose. As you regain your breath after the gruelling climb, the reality of scaling an impossible-looking massif sinks in. The view from its top is mesmerising. On a clear day you could catch the Kanchenjunga in all its glory, with just a speck of cloud covering the summit. Come winters and the ascent on snow and ice walls gets toughe,r while coming down is sheer ecstasy thanks to the innovative  snow slides that the Rhinoboys would develop. Any talk of the area would be incomplete without mention of the mighty Kanchenjunga. The Company Commander’s hut at Dokala is designed to host senior visiting officers should they get stuck due to the savagery of weather. It has huge perplex glass windows on three sides, with a breathtaking view of the mother of all Himalayan peaks. At day break on clear winter mornings the crimson glow that drapes the eastern slope of mount Kanchenchenga, the sight transports you to another world. The colours gradually change from a riveting deep crimson to orange to golden yellow, seamlessly meshing into each other as dawn gives way to a fresh bright day.  Hold your breath, the full moon nights at Dokala were also so special. The Kanchenchenga looked more than glorious while the snowy shine of the majestic Gamochin would be complemented by a seemingly endless silver sheen on  Dokala. Many such nights were spent by a bonfire, memories of which refuse to fade. There was a routine patrol that we would send to the trijunction then down to the Jaldhaka, circuit the base of our deployment, eventually  to emerge at the northern entrance of Dokala. This meant climbing about 1,000 feet from the post, going down a steep descent to a height of about 4,000 feet and again climbing up to 11,500 ft  or so getting  back to Dokala. The distance covered was approx 15 kilometre. The bulk of the area fell within the Jaldhaka wildlife sanctuary. In keeping with a compulsive tribal trait, a large number of animal traps were set up by  the Sher ka bachcha in this area before it was declared a sanctuary. There would always be a rush of volunteers for this tri-weekly patrol and understandably so — the boys would reap the fruits of their labour returning  with plenty of small game caught in the traps. These patrols would generally get back in the late afternoon to a hero’s welcome, particularly so on Saturdays for that meant a big bonfire, generous drinking and endless kahanis and  singing by the guitar and makeshift degchi drums followed by a feast for dinner. The Sher ka bachchas —  driven very hard on training, keeping watch, patrolling and negotiating tough climbs to fetch stores and rations through the week —looked forward to their Saturday  party. That was also the evening when Sher Company would open its liquor chest and come alive. Soon after dusk, Dokala would witness rising flames of the bonfire and reverberate to peppy song and music.  Those were dreamlike days that I would love to relive. The reality however lies in the increasing belligerence between the two big neighbours. That calls for tough diplomacy, difficult options and a strong military response that is thoroughly vetted for implications from the sub-tactical to the strategic. The response must hinge on deft diplomacy but has to be holistic with carefully orchestrated synergy between the stakeholders.The writer, an Infantry veteran, was the Company Commander at Dokala in the early 1990s.

Reuters file photo

Beijing, July 17

China’s military today said it had conducted live-fire exercises in the remote mountainous Tibet region to test its strike capability on plateaus, amid the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Doklam area in the Sikkim sector.The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted the 11-hour-long live-fire exercises at an altitude of 5,000 metres on the plateau in Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, aimed at improving the combat capability on such locations, the military said.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The exercise was conducted by a ground combat brigade of the PLA Tibet Regional Command this month and involved scenarios such as rapid deployment, multi-unit joint strike and anti-aircraft defence, state-run China Daily quoted a PLA press release as saying.The exercise effectively tested the brigade’s joint strike capability on plateaus, according to the press release. The brigade that conducted the drills was from the PLA’s Tibet Military Command and is one of China’s two plateau mountain brigades.The PLA Tibet command guards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) of the India-China border along several sections connecting the mountainous Tibetan region.Analysts believe that the drill is an apparent attempt by the military to reassure the Chinese public about the combat readiness of its troops.“Showing an opponent that you are combat ready is more likely to prevent an actual battle,” Wang Dehua, South Asia studies expert at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said.Broadcasting the drill on CCTV was also likely designed to keep the public happy, he said. “It could also reassure the Chinese people that a strong PLA force is there, capable and determined to defend Chinese territory,” Wang told Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.The CCTV report did not disclose the location of the drills but said the brigade responsible for frontline combat missions has long been stationed around the middle and lower reaches of the Brahmaputra (Yarlung Zangbo in Chinese). Brahmaputra flows into India from Arunachal Pradesh border.“The PLA wanted to demonstrate it could easily overpower its Indian counterparts,” Beijing-based military commentator Zhou Chenming told the Post.The Chinese force that took part in the drill is stationed in the Lizhi region of eastern Tibet, close to the stand-off, the Post said.China has a clear advantage in terms of speed of movement, firepower, and logistics, Zhou said. “By staging a small-scale drill, China wants to control the problem and lower the risk of shots being fired,” he said.Separately, Tibet’s mobile communication agency conducted a drill on July 10 in Lhasa, capital of Tibet, where members of the agency practiced setting up a temporary mobile network to secure communications in an emergency.China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area in the Sikkim sector, where Indian troops stopped road construction by Chinese soldiers on June 16. — PTI 

Amid Sikkim standoff, key ITBP post restored

• The government has restored a crucial senior-level post in the Sino-India border guarding force ITBP after three years, a development seen as strengthening the paramilitary in the wake of frequent military standoffs between the two sides
• RK Mishra, a 1986-batch IPS officer, on Monday took over as the new additional director general of force with the strength of 90,000 personnel
• The lone ADG post of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police was diverted to the NDRF in February, 2014 by the Union Home Ministry, under which the two forces function PTI

PATIALA: The two-day antim ardas (final prayer) for wing commander Mandeep Singh Dhillon, who died in a chopper crash during a rescue sortie last week in Arunachal Pradesh, began at his house in Patiala on Saturday. Squadron leader PS Dhillon (retd), father of the Indian Air Force officer, urged CM Capt Amarinder Singh to attend. On July 4, Dhillon, the commanding officer of the Tezpur-based advanced light helicopter (ALH) unit, met with a tragic end. He is survived by wife Prabhpreet Kaur Dhillon, daughter Sehaj and son Eshar.

No doubts that veterans have donated in thousands and in Lakhs for the cause of OROP. Donations contributions were given by the veterans in the Name of UFESM but you played dirty and because of your non-transparency in collections and expenditure and where are you depositing the donations as IESM accounts were seized hence  the organisations like IESL, had to part with due to your attitude and not giving accounts of the collections.

 Wg Cdr CK Sharma the treasure along with Lt Pandey your security company employ were collecting the donations in cash. At the end of the day you collected all the collection and personally took along with you.

There was more emphasizes on the filling up of IESM member ship forms to regularize the donation but veterans who donated and had the right to ask for proper receipts were made fools that the proper receipt of UFESM will be send at their home address or collect them next time as printing was under way. No amount bwas deposited in UFESM account as it fragmented but you kept all veterans in dark about the fragmented UFESM .Later you termed the UFESM(JM) to further fool the veterans of the Nation because UFESM got registered under the President ship of Col Charanjit Singh Khera(Retd). However on the cheques you got it in the name of IESM reissued from the donors from UFESM and they were only deposited in the account.

Till date you have not disclosed where is the Cash donated amount of Veterans and the Donation received from Abroad in crores had been deposited in personal acconuts along with your team as alleged and information recieved and in circulations among veterans.

Maj Gen Satbir must provide why Veterans have been deprived off to obtain Tax Relief in the IT return .

The Contents of the CK Sharma  Email speaks volumes of your deception plan of concealing the amounts of Donations till date

File photo

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 12

In a significant move, the Ministry of Defence has permanently authorised the Army to make emergency purchases of ammunition and spares for selected weapons platform.The Army Vice-Chief has been tasked to ensure that the force is always in a state of preparedness for “short intense war”, top sources said. The Vice-Chief will not follow the circuitous route to purchase through the MoD.A total of 56 kinds of ammunition and  spares for 10 such  arms platforms, such as infantry combat vehicles and  half a dozen mines, fall under this category. The Vice-Chief  shall be spending from the “revenue” side of the defence budget and not under the head of ‘capital acquisition’ plan. An executive order has been issued in this regardIn September last, the Master General Ordnance (MGO) had conducted an audit, revealing a critical shortfall in artillery ammunition, tanks shells, fuses and spares for weapons platforms. As an emergency measure, the Army was authorised to make emergency purchases till March 31, 2017. The system worked well. Now these now powers have been extended till “further notice.

US and Japan Navy ships at a harbour during inauguration of joint naval drill with India, in Chennai. AFP

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 10

The eight-day joint naval exercise ‘Malabar’ between India, US and Japan commenced in the Bay Bengal today with special focus on hunting submarines at sea.Started in 1992 between the Indian and US navies, the exercise has steadily grown in scope, complexity and participation into a multifaceted exercise with the participation of Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF). This is the 21st edition of the exercise and the primary aim is to increase interoperability amongst the three navies as well as develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations. The scope of the exercise includes wide-ranging professional interactions during the ‘Harbour Phase’ at Chennai from July 10-13 and a diverse range of operational activities at sea during the ‘Sea Phase’ from July 14-17. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The thrust of the exercises at sea this year would be on aircraft carrier operations, air defence, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, visit board search and seizure, search and rescue, joint manoeuvres and tactical procedures. In addition, officials from the three countries will be flown onboard the ships at sea on July 15.The Indian Navy will be represented by aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya with its air wing, guided missile destroyer Ranvir, indigenous stealth frigates Shivalik and Sahyadri, indigenous ASW corvette Kamorta, missile corvettes Kora and Kirpan, one Sindhughosh class submarine, fleet tanker INS Jyoti and Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft P8I. The US Navy will be represented by the ships from the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group and other units from the US 7th Fleet. The US Navy forces will include the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Nimitz and a Los Angeles-class attack submarine among other ships.The Japanese shall be represented by JS Izumo, a helicopter carrier with helicopters and JS Sazanami, a missile destroyer.Highlights

• 16 warships, two submarines and more than 95 aircraft of Indian, US and Japanese navies are participating in the exercise
• 8 day drill comprises professional interactions from July 10-13 and a diverse range of operational activities at sea from July 14-17

A file photo of the 31-storey Adarsh Housing Society building complex located at Colaba in Mumbai. — PTI

New Delhi, July 9Two former army chiefs — General N C Vij and General Deepak Kapoor — and several other retired military officials have been named by a high-level inquiry committee appointed by the defence ministry for their alleged complicity in the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai.The probe panel also mentioned three retired Lt Generals – G S Sihota, Tejinder Singh and Shantanu Choudhary — and four Major Generals – A R Kumar, V S Yadav, T K Kaul and R K Hooda — in its over 100-page report, citing a range of violations and irregularities.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The apartments in a tony part of town in Mumbai were meant for the families of Kargil heroes. But army officers, politicians and bureaucrats were allegedly allotted flats in violation of the rules.Seen as a symbol of corruption, the Adarsh scam had kicked up a huge political storm after it surfaced in 2010, leading to the resignation of then Congress chief minister Ashok Chavan.Sources said the defence ministry report is a validation of the findings of a Court of Inquiry by the Army in 2011 which had probed the roles of a number of military officials in the scam.According to the findings of the probe, Gen Vij appeared to have provided a “protective umbrella” towards efforts in facilitating the “alienation of the land in question”.It said at no stage did he raise any questions on the matter, nor did he flag any security concerns during the annual security review as the Army Commander or otherwise.The report said it was known that he had a “vested interest” in the matter, the sources said.About Gen Kapoor, the report said though he was not directly connected with the case, he was not “well advised” in accepting a membership of the society, adding that it did not seem he had adequately weighed the implications of accepting a flat in the complex.The Indian Navy had raised security concerns as the 31-storey building overlooked several of its key installations.The housing complex, built on defence land, was originally for Kargil war heroes and those who had lost their spouses in the war.The defence ministry probe found a number of other senior military officials guilty and said all those found involved in the scam or those who had turned a blind eye to the irregularities should not be engaged in any employment or services by the government.The Bombay high court, in an order last year, blamed members of the housing society, who it said happened to be close relatives of highly-placed bureaucrats or related to politicians or ministers, for conspiring with them to grab a plot.Former navy chief admiral Madhavendra Singh, who was also allotted a flat in the housing society, has also been named in the report.The report said though he was not involved in the scam, he was ineligible to become a member of the housing society as he gave a misleading undertaking stating that he did not own any house in Mumbai.According to the findings, almost all the military officials found guilty in the scam were given flats in the complex.Then Defence minister A K Antony had on December 9, 2010, ordered a CBI probe to fix responsibility among armed forces and defence estates officers in the scam.The probe agency was also asked to look into commitments made for allotment of flats in the society for Kargil widows and martyrs’ families.The preliminary findings of the ministry’s probe brought out a “criminal conspiracy” at the local level in the Army and defence estates to give up the land, which was in the Army’s possession till 1999-2000, in favour of the housing society. — PTI

PTI file phto

Ajay Banerjee

TribuneNews Service

New Delhi, July 6

In a significant strategic signal to the military world, India, the US and Japan will create  a unique first when three seaborne aircraft carriers — considered the most potent projection of power by a country at sea — will be operating in the Bay of Bengal under exercise named ‘Malabar’ commencing on July 10.India will field its Russian built 46,000-tonne warship, the INS Vikramaditya, with onboard MiG-29k fighter jets. The US navy will bring its one lakh-tonne nuclear-powered USS Nimitiz with onboard F/A-18 Boeing fighter jets. Japan will be fielding its flat-deck, JS Izumo, a 24,000-tonne helicopter carrier specialising in anti-submarine warfare.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Though named helicopter, the carrier’s 248-metre-long deck makes it often getting termed as an “aircraft carrier in disguise”. The F-35B jet built by Lockheed Martin has the ability to do short take off and vertical (STOVL). More than 120 platforms – fighter planes, warships, submarines, surveillance aircraft and helicopters – drawn from the navies of these three countries shall be part of the exercise.And with such a massive flotilla being around, China is expectedly not far behind. Its intelligence-gathering warship, the ‘Haiwingxing’, entered the waters of the Indian Ocean in the end of June. These are international waters and one can be stationed there outside the designated and announced area of exercise. A spy ship normally listening can captures radar signatures of vessels — unique to ship, plane or submarine.The Malabar is part of ongoing series of exercises that have grown in scope and complexity over the years to address the variety of shared threats to maritime security in the Indo-Asia Pacific.The exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training. While ashore in Chennai, training will include subject matter expert and professional exchanges on carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare, medical operations, damage control, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), helicopter operations, and visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operations.The at-sea portions, to be conducted in the Bay of Bengal, are designed to advance participating nations’ military-to-military coordination and capacity to plan and execute tactical operations in a multinational environment.  PTI file phto Ajay Banerjee TribuneNews Service New Delhi, July 6 In a significant strategic signal to the military world, India, the US and Japan will create  a unique first when three seaborne aircraft carriers — considered the most potent projection of power by a country at sea — will be operating in the Bay of Bengal under exercise named ‘Malabar’ commencing on July 10. India will field its Russian built 46,000-tonne warship, the INS Vikramaditya, with onboard MiG-29k fighter jets. The US navy will bring its one lakh-tonne nuclear-powered USS Nimitiz with onboard F/A-18 Boeing fighter jets. Japan will be fielding its flat-deck, JS Izumo, a 24,000-tonne helicopter carrier specialising in anti-submarine warfare. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)  Though named helicopter, the carrier’s 248-metre-long deck makes it often getting termed as an “aircraft carrier in disguise”. The F-35B jet built by Lockheed Martin has the ability to do short take off and vertical (STOVL).  More than 120 platforms – fighter planes, warships, submarines, surveillance aircraft and helicopters – drawn from the navies of these three countries shall be part of the exercise. And with such a massive flotilla being around, China is expectedly not far behind. Its intelligence-gathering warship, the ‘Haiwingxing’, entered the waters of the Indian Ocean in the end of June. These are international waters and one can be stationed there outside the designated and announced area of exercise. A spy ship normally listening can captures radar signatures of vessels — unique to ship, plane or submarine. The Malabar is part of ongoing series of exercises that have grown in scope and complexity over the years to address the variety of shared threats to maritime security in the Indo-Asia Pacific. The exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training. While ashore in Chennai, training will include subject matter expert and professional exchanges on carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare, medical operations, damage control, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), helicopter operations, and visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operations. The at-sea portions, to be conducted in the Bay of Bengal, are designed to advance participating nations’ military-to-military coordination and capacity to plan and execute tactical operations in a multinational environment.

Naval drill ‘Malabar’ begins on July 10

• India will host the United States and Japan for naval drill ‘Malabar’ in the Bayof Bengal on July 10
• The 2017 exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training off the eastern coast of India with focus on high-end war-fighting skill sets, combined carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol, surface and anti-submarine warfare, etc.

Naval drill ‘Malabar’ begins on July 10 India will host the United States and Japan for naval drill ‘Malabar’ in the Bayof Bengal on July 10 The 2017 exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training off the eastern coast of India with focus on high-end war-fighting skill sets, combined carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol, surface and anti-submarine warfare, etc.

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 3

Fruit and vegetable dealers and vendors at the wholesale market at Vallah have a new ray of hope after the Defence Ministry reduces the area of no-construction zone around ammunition depots.Situated in the vicinity of Vallah ammunition depot of the Army, the progress of the Vallah Mandi had stopped due to restrictions enforced to safeguard the vital defence installation. Fruit and Vegetable Merchants Union general secretary Surinder Bindra said the Director General of Defence Estates through a circular dated October 21 had stated that ammunition depots were categorised into two categories and no-construction zones were reduced to 10 metres and 50 metres in each of them.He said the circular was put on the internet, but the local authorities were not aware of it. He requested the district administration to confirm the matter with the Central and state governments to implement it locally.Union president Ravinder Singh Sekhon said the ammunition depot came into existence in 2004 and during the same time the wholesale fruit and vegetable market was also shifted out of the congested part of the city to Vallah. He said due to restriction of construction within a periphery of 1,000 yards of the ammunition depot, many shops could not be raised. He said even simple amenities were also denied.Sekhon said 75 traders, uprooted from the old Sabzi Mandi outside the Hall Gate, were allotted space in the new market in 2004. Fourty concrete shops were constructed. The remaining 35 traders were not allowed in the new market after the ammunition depot rules were enforced. These disgruntled traders went to the Court and on the directions of the Court, the Mandi Board relocated these 35 traders to a new site within the Vallah Mandi in 2010.However, the traders failed to get enough business as the site was not suitably located in the main market. Now, these traders are demanding swift implementation of the rules so that they can get a modern market with all amenities.In December 2013, Operational and Logistics Branch of the Home Department carried out a survey of all ammunition depots in Punjab, including Vallah, to ascertain if any reduction in the notified area could be made, he recalled.

Construction area to increase

Situated in the vicinity of ammunition depot of the Army, the progress of the Vallah Mandi had stopped due to restrictions enforced to safeguard the vital defence installation. Fruit and Vegetable Merchants Union general secretary Surinder Bindra said the circular in this regard was available on internet, but the local authorities were not aware of it. He requested the district administration to implement it locally as soon as possible.