Monthly Archives: August 2018

Jammu: The Indian Air Force on Tuesday rescued a US citizen from the Zhingchan area, 75 km from Leh. The IAF successfully evacuated the US citizen to Leh from Zhingchan, where she was stranded due to an injury. Public Relations Officer (PRO), IAF, Wing Commander Anupam Banerjee said the IAF responded after getting a request from the US embassy in New Delhi through the Defence Ministry. “Margaret Allen Stone, a US citizen, had set out for trekking in the Ladakh region and had been held up in Zhingchan since September 6 due to an injury. Her condition had deteriorated during this prolonged period of lack of care and she was in a critical condition,” the PRO said. “The US Government informed the IAF of the situation on Tuesday afternoon and the IAF responded with requisite alacrity. The exact location of Margaret Allen Stone was ascertained with the help of the civil administration and by evening, two IAF helicopters were able to locate her in a valley,” he said, adding that Stone was brought to a Leh hospital for medical care by sunset. TNS

Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 22

To improve the quality of life in remote and rural areas, the Army has constructed sheds for the nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals at Nilhal in Reasi district.Gujjars and Bakerwals form an important segment of the multicultural identity of Jammu and Kashmir.The Army constructed the sheds to ease the hardships of the community members during their migration.The sheds will provide basic transit facilities and fulfil the long-standing demand of the communities.Such social ventures have helped ease the hardships faced by the nomads.

New Delhi, September 11The Indian Air Force has allowed candidates in Punjab and Haryana to re-appear in the Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT).These candidates were to take an exam on August 27 but unrest due to the arrest of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh led to disruption in transport services and even curfew in certain areas.The IAF today said candidates who were allotted exam centres at Ambala-1 & 2, Adampur-1 & 2, Amritsar, Barnala, Bathinda, Chandigarh- 1, 2, 3 & 4, Halwara, Sarsawa, and Sirsa for AFCAT 02/2017, which was scheduled on August 27, would be allowed to reapper.A supplementary AFCAT exam is scheduled for September 17 (Sunday) at the same venues and time.Any change in time of venue or time will be informed through registered e-mail, the IAF said.Candidates will have to carry admit cards issued earlier and adhere to all other instructions as before.Candidates who have already appeared on Aug 27 at any centre are not eligible to appear in the supplementary test on Sept 17. Details are also on www.careerairforce.nic.in. — TNS

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat with Rasoolan Bibi, wife of Havildar Abdul Hamid who received Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his actions during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, during his death anniversary in Bhamupur village of Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday.

Gazipur: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat with Rasoolan Bibi, wife of Havildar Abdul Hamid who received Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his actions during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, during his death anniversary in Bhamupur village of Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday. PTIBlue Whale: Lucknow schools bar smartphonesLucknow: The use of smartphones by children in schools has been banned in the state capital by the Education Department in a bid to keep them away from the ‘Blue Whale Challenge’, an online dare game linked to teen deaths. The orders come after a 14-year-old boy allegedly hanged himself in Indira Nagar last week. PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with President Xi Jinping during the BRICS Summit in China. PTI/PIB file

Beijing, September 7

China on Thursday reacted sharply to Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s assertion that Beijing was testing India’s limits, saying the remarks were contrary to the views expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Xiamen this week.

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Rawat, while speaking at a seminar organised by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi, had said India should be prepared for a two-front war, insisting that China had started “flexing its muscles”, while there seems to be no scope for reconciliation with Pakistan whose military and polity saw an adversary in India.

Read: Army Chief sees possibility of 2-front war

Reacting to the comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a briefing that, “We have noted the statement by relevant people in India. Also, we noticed some Indian press remarked that the reports are shocking.”

Referring to the remarks expressed by Xi and Modi during their first meeting following the end of a 73-day standoff between the militaries of the two countries at Dokalam, Geng also questioned whether Rawat was authorised to speak and if his comments represented the Indian government’s position.

“As reported by Indian press…we don’t know whether he was authorised to speak those words or it was just his spontaneous words or whether his words represented the position of the Indian government,” Geng said.

Noting that China and India are important neighbours and are two large countries, Geng said sound and steady development of ties serves the fundamental interests of both the countries.

This is what the international community wishes to see, he said.

“Just two days ago, President Xi Jinping pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the two countries are each other’s development opportunities, not threats,” Geng said.

“We hope India could view China’s development in a correct and rational way. We need to show to the world that peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries,” Geng quoted Xi as telling Modi during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

“We should respect each other, seek common ground and shelve differences, preserve peace and tranquillity of the border area,” Xi had said.

Prime Minister Modi had also said that the Indian side is willing to work with China to maintain steady development of bilateral ties, Geng said.

“We should not treat each other as rivals. We should make cooperation the mainstream and the two sides should work together to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” Geng said.

“Hope that this military official would see clearly this trend and contribute to development of China and India relations and see something more in that regard,” he said in response to Rawat’s remarks.

Rawat, in his remarks, had said, “As far as northern adversary is concerned, the flexing of muscle has started. The salami slicing, taking over territory in a very gradual manner, testing our limits of threshold is something we have to be wary about and remain prepared for situations emerging which could gradually emerge into conflict.” PTI

At a time when the security forces have achieved impressive results in terrorist kills over the last three months, the statement surprised some observers in Kashmir.

When  Prime Minister Narendra Modi uttered his now famous phrase, “ Na Goli Se, Na Gaali Se, Dil Jeetenge Kashmir Ko Gale Lagane Se” (Not by Bullets, Not by Abuse, We Will Win by Embracing all Kashmiris) it is not the first time that the concept of winning over people in an insurgency/terror-stricken area was being advocated. At a time when security forces have achieved impressive results in terrorist kills over the last three months, the statement surprised some observers with Kashmir focus.

They say the time is ripe to continue the hardline operations to eliminate the maximum number of terrorists to bring peace in the Valley. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Letting relentless operations against the terrorists be the only strategy would be unprofessional for an organization such as the Indian Army, which understands the conflict better than anyone else.

PM Modi has demonstrated this understanding at perhaps the most appropriate time. His detractors point out that he said nothing of this kind in last year’s Independence Day address. But in 2016 when Modi spoke, it was just five weeks after Burhan Wani had been killed; the situation was still chaotic. Governments do not start advocating soft power when the chips are down.

A mix of hard and soft power is the only way forward. It happened in Northern Ireland too, when after a point the British Army took a step back, holding only the periphery and allowed economics and social aspects to play their role. Mixed schooling and the development of tourism along the Belfast waterfront were considered the prime movers.

Through the summer of 2017 the PM kept quiet, while security forces went about their jobs clinically. From the grand low they were at in March 2017, when the ratio of losses to achievements had dipped to a negative of 1:0.8, security forces came back to establish far better statistics. That indicates the return of dominance of the security space although we still have  operations going on almost every day. These do appear to point to the possibility of a larger number of terrorists present, rather than the 250-300 generally spoken about.

The PM chose to speak from a position of strength. He knows that speaking to Pakistan is not something acceptable to the people of India. He has already mounted intense pressure on the Hurriyat by focusing on dismantling its financial networks. The combined strategy of security related operations (at the LoC and hinterland) and targeting of financial networks lacked one element: outreach to the people.

That is a lacuna he attempted to overcome. The PM understands that the security establishment and the political leadership in Delhi and Srinagar must get their act together to ensure that the recent successes are not wasted like before.

To do that, there must be a clearer vision and a full appreciation of the power of outreach. A group of Delhi-based strategic experts has been advocating talks with the Hurriyat, but that strategy is now dated. Others advocating waiting for an alternative, but diffused, leadership will have to wait much longer.

There is only one way. And this was tested in 2011-12 — direct engagement with the people through town hall-type meetings, and engaging with the youth separately as well. It is a model that needs to be examined for its worth. It began by arranging events with people who have rarely seen anyone come to them for a community interaction in all these years. The first step is creating hope and overcoming despair.

Victory does not lie in the domain of only crushing terrorists. The Hearts Doctrine espoused in 2011 had at its core a direct engagement with people without interlocution by any leaders. It started as small gatherings in safe areas with the army and the police providing security and administrative cover. As enthusiasm increased and a platform was available to people to express their thoughts without holding back sentiments, we found that the politicians, legislators, sarpanchs and government officials joined in as well.

It is time to return to that model, it just needs to be updated and a doctrinal touch added to it.

Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd), a former GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, is associated with the Vivekanand International Foundation and the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. Twitter: @atahasnain53

The government must carry forward the momentum generated by its decision to redeploy over 50,000 Army personnel to ensure that this initiative is not a flash in the pan. The Indian Army has downsized itself twice in the past to cut down on the flab and use the savings to buy more weapon systems. In the 1980s, the axe fell on the supply, ordnance and medical corps and signals, while another attempt was abandoned midway because of the Kargil conflict. As opposed to those two efforts, the latest decision improves the numbers in the trenches but does not impact the wage bill. Therefore, the closure of military farms or outsourcing transport in peace locations not only dents revenue expenditure but also divests the Army of noncore activities. The government now needs to review the flab in civilian organisations like defence PSUs and the DRDO.But this is a job that the Army has just begun as compared to its potential adversaries Pakistan and China, whose forces are several times leaner. Therefore, the latest exercise must not be allowed to become an end in itself. Other armies have been much faster in grasping the trend towards reliance on smart weapons. They have also been more radical — China reduced its strength by three lakh soldiers and the UK by 80,000, while Russia has slashed its land forces in two phases. The Indian military, in comparison, is still several initiatives removed from transforming into a smaller, technologically able and mobile force.The government also faces the gigantic task of fostering jointness among the three services. This means having a single chief who will have all the three forces at his disposal, a proposal that has awaited implementation for two decades. Now that China has also reconfigured its military to end departmentalism, it is time for India to bite the bullet. The move to reorganise military manpower and structure to give a better bang to the taxpayer’s buck and reorient to the demands of modern warfare has started afresh. India now needs a full-time Defence Minister to quarterback the tougher reforms.

1. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH WILL ADDRESS VIAYDASHMI RALLY OF PUNJAB EX-SERVICEMEN AT PATHANKOT:30 SEP 2017
2. NIRMALA PUTS SHOULDER TO COMBAT VEHICLE PROJECT
3. NO TROOPS FOR AFGHANISTAN: INDIA US DEFENCE SECRETARY: WON’T TOLERATE TERROR HAVENS, WANT FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION
4. WOMAN COMPLETES TOUGH US MARINE COURSE
5. DO YOU KNOW YOUR DEFENSE FORCES? FAQS: ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF DEFENSE FORCES?
6. WORLD WAR­1: BRITISH HISTORIAN SPOTLIGHTS ROLE OF PRINCELY STATES AND PUNJAB
7. ACT AGAINST INFILTRATION, SHELLING: EXPERTS
8. A YEAR AFTER SURGICAL STRIKES LITTLE CHANGE ON GROUND ZERO IN KASHMIR
9. SHAHEED BHAGAT SINGH’S 110TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY TOMORROW FIVE DECADES ON, HERITAGE STATUS ELUDES HUSSAINIWALA MEMORIAL
10. RETD MAJOR GETS BAIL IN MALEGAON BLAST
11. VALLEY’S LONGEST-SURVIVING MILITANT SHOT CLOSE TO LOC
12. GENERAL RECORD
13. ‘HUMAN SHIELD’ VOTED BEFORE HE WAS TIED TO ARMY JEEP, SAY COPS
14. ARMY CHIEF RAWAT WARNS OF ANOTHER SURGICAL STRIKE IF NEEDED
15. ARMY CHANGES TACK, PUTS TANKS AT AKHNOOR CHAMMB-JAURIAN SECTOR SAW PITCHED BATTLES DURING ’65, ’71 INDO-PAK WARS
16. AT UN, INDIA SHOWS PAK’S ‘TRUE PICTURE’
17. SCORPENE-CLASS SUBMARINE LIKELY TO BE COMMISSIONED BY NOV-DEC

India’s UN envoy Paulomi Tripathi, holds a picture at UNGA. PTI

United Nations, September 25

India hit out at Pakistan saying it callously exploited the picture of an injured Palestinian girl to spread falsehoods about India and to divert attention from Islamabad’s role as a global terror hub.Paulomi Tripathi, a First Secretary in India’s UN Mission, on Monday held up  the fake picture used by Pakistani Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi and the photograph of Lt Umar Faiyaz, a young soldier from Kashmir who was kidnapped, tortured and killed by terrorists.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Poinitng to Faiyaz’s picture, Tripathi said: “This is Lt Umar Faiyaz’s real picture, not fake. The officer from Jammu and Kashmir was brutally tortured and killed by Pakistan-supported terrorists in May 2017.” “This is a true picture. It portrays a harsh reality. A picture of terror emanating from across our borders that the people of India, especially in J&K, have to struggle with daily,” Tripathi said. — IANS