Monthly Archives: August 2018

Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will hold discussions with senior US officials. ANI file

New Delhi, March 18

Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will begin a five-day visit to the US frojm Mondaytomorrow during which he will hold extensive talks with the top military brass of the Trump administration to consolidate bilateral naval cooperation, including in the Indo-Pacific region.

Admiral Lanba will hold discussions with Defence Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of the US Navy Richard V Spencer, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F Dunford Jr, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John M Richardson and Commander of Pacific Command Admiral Harry Harris, a senior Navy official said.

The Navy Chief will also meet Commander of Pacific Fleet Admiral Scott Swift and Commander of Naval Sea Systems Command Vice Admiral Thomas J Moore.

“The visit aims to consolidate cooperation between the Armed Forces of both India and USA and also to explore new avenues of defence cooperation,” the defence ministry said.

Sources said China’s growing military presence in South China Sea and its rising assertiveness in that region may figure in the talks that Admiral Lanba will have with top US military officials.

The US has been pushing for a broader role for India in the strategically important Indo-Pacific region.

In November last year, India, the US, Australia and Japan gave shape to the long-pending “Quad” to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free from Chinese influence.

India, the US and several other nations have been calling for freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea. The US has been periodically sending naval ships and planes to assert freedom of navigation to the critical sea lanes, much to the chagrin of China.

In addition to holding bilateral discussions, Admiral Lanba will also visit the Pacific Command Headquarters at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, the Naval Surface Warfare Centre (NSWC) in Dahlgren, the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.

The defence and security ties between India and the US have been on an upswing in the last few years as both the countries have concluded a number of major agreements to further bolster strategic ties.

The pacts include the Defence Framework Agreement, signed in 2015, which lays a blueprint for collaboration between the defence establishments of both countries, and the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed in 2016. The LEMOA provides for facilitating reciprocal logistics support between the armed forces of the two countries.

In addition, India was accorded Major Defence Partner status by the US in 2016, bringing New Delhi on par with Washington’s closest allies for defence-related trade and technology transfer.

The Indian Navy cooperates with the US Navy on several fronts which include operational interactions such as the Malabar naval exercise and exchange of white shipping information. Warships from both navies have also been regularly visiting each other’s ports. PTI

The budget was not sufficient to even meet the ”10-I” — Army parlance for readiness for a 10-day intense conflict or emergency procurement, parliamentary panel told.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 13

In what is a damning report on the government’s priorities on military matters, the Indian Army has told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence about the military budget for the year 2018-2019 being ‘inadequate’, while adding that it was ‘barely enough’ to cater for inflation and ‘insufficient’  to meet even existing liabilities.The report of the committee was tabled in both Houses of Parliament on Tuesday. Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd), a BJP MP from Uttarakhand, heads the panel. The committee expressed deep concern on non-allocation of projected Capital budget for Army for 2018-19.”As far as we are concerned, the state today is 68 per cent of our equipment is in the vintage category, with just about 24 per cent in the current, and 8 per cent in the state-of-the-art category,” the Army has told the committee.”Capital Budget allocation for Army had dashed hopes as it was barely enough to cater to the rise in expenses on account of inflation, and did not even cater for the taxes,” the Vice Chief of the Army told the committee.  “An allocation of Rs 21,338 crore for modernisation is insufficient even to cater for committed payment of Rs 29,033 crore for 125 ongoing schemes,” the Army has told the committee. The budget was not sufficient to even meet the ’10-I’ — Army parlance for readiness for a 10-day intense conflict or emergency procurements.The report cited the Vice Chief as having said: “Allocation for modernisation in 2018-19 was insufficient to cater for committed liabilities, ongoing schemes, ‘Make in India’ projects, infrastructural development, policy of strategic partnership of foreign and Indian companies and procurement of arms and ammunition.” Talking about the much-hyped ‘Make in India’, Army said it has identified 25 projects, however, there is no adequate budget to support this. As a result of which, many of these may end up foreclosed.The committee said it was “aghast to note this dismal scenario where the representatives of the Services have themselves frankly explained the negative repercussions on our Defence preparedness due to inadequate allocation in Capital head”.The report says a series of systems and structural reforms have empowered to fully utilise allocations. Most of what has been achieved has actually received a little set back.The committee has expressed its unhappiness at the Ministry of Finance having rejected the idea of a ‘Roll on’ and ‘Non-Lapsable’ fund.

Army men patrol along the LoC in the Uri sector of Baramulla. Tribune Photo

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 9

An Army jawan was injured along the Line of Control (LoC) in a ceasefire violation in the Uri sector in Baramulla district, the Army said today.Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said Pakistan violated the ceasefire this morning, which was retaliated appropriately. “Unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Uri sector this morning in which one soldier was injured. He was taken to Army’s 92 base hospital in Srinagar,” he said, adding “our troops retaliated appropriately.”Sources said the Pakistan army fired at Indian posts in the Churnada sector, some 120 km from Srinagar, this morning. “The Pakistan army fired at our posts around 4 am and we responded to it. The exchange of fire continued for a brief time,” the sources said.This is the first exchange of fire along the LoC in the Kashmir region in the past nearly two weeks. On February 24, Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy artillery in the Uri sector — first time after the ceasefire agreement in 2003 — that triggered a panic in the entire sector. The exchange of heavy fire triggered migration of over 100 families along the LoC from Balkote, Silikote, Tilawari and Churnada villages. However, these families returned home last Friday.Apart from the Uri sector, ceasefire violations by Pakistan took place in the Tangdhar sector in Kupwara district last month. BSF Constable Sunil Murmu of the 124 Battalion was killed at Tangdhar by a sniper from across on February 22.

Pak: LoC situation deterioratingIslamabad: Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday said the situation on the Line of Control and working boundary with India has been rapidly deteriorating since 2017. Responding to a query in the National Assembly, he alleged India had committed more than 400 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the working boundary since January in which 18 civilians had been killed. PTI

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 7

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s past association with the Army still seems to tug at his heartstrings. He spent a major portion of his discretionary grant on the Army and the BSF. The fact came to the fore in information obtained under the RTI Act.As per the information, the CM spent Rs 1.98 crore in the past one year. Of this amount, Rs 84 lakh went to the welfare of the Army and the BSF.It started in July last year, when the CM gave Rs 23 lakh to the 23rd Battalion of the Sikh Regiment, which was moving from Jammu to Ladakh. In August, the CM gave Rs 11 lakh to the 3rd Battalion of the Sikh Regiment located at Tibri Cantonment, Gurdaspur. Amarinder then spent Rs 40 lakh on the construction of an officers’ mess at BSF station headquarters in Gurdaspur in October. Similarly in December, he gave Rs 10 lakh to the 2nd Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry, Kapurthala.Besides, he spent Rs 50 lakh for the development of infrastructure of the Bar Association of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He also gave Rs 10 lakh to Saragarhi Trust for light and sound show.Parvinder Singh Kittna, a Nawanshahr-based RTI activist who obtained the information, said: “The government keeps telling us that the financial health of the state is poor. But the pattern of CM’s spending of discretionary grant reveals that the state is sponsoring the welfare of those who already have plenty of funds at their disposal.”It is not for the first time when the CM gave largesse to the Army. In November last year, Amarinder spent Rs 50 lakh on polo matches organsied by the Western Command of the Army in Patiala. The event was “funded” by the Punjab Livestock Development Board (PLDB). The money was meant for the welfare of small dairy farmers of the state.Significantly, each minister can spend Rs 3 crore annually under the discretionary grant, while the CM can spend up to Rs 10 crore.Spending pattern

• Most commonly, the ministers spent grant on building the boundary wall of cremation grounds
• Building entrance gates of villages also figures among the top spending by ministers
• Grants are also given to religion and caste-based groups, which is a gross violation of the rules

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 5

A soldier was killed while performing snow-clearance duty with the Border Roads Organisation in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Sunday.Sapper Amandeep Singh, 26, a resident of Kalloh village in Mansa, Punjab, laid down his life braving the vagaries of nature in the Keran sector, the Army said.Amandeep got critically injured when the bulldozer that he was driving on the Farkin-Keran road was hit by an avalanche on Sunday. He later succumbed to his injuries.Earlier, three Army personnel were killed when an avalanche struck their post in Machil sector on February 2.