Chandigarh, September 23

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has urged the Centre for expeditious resolution of the issue of opening up of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor for preparedness of 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak Dev.

Singh said that being a bilateral issue, this needed an active engagement of both India and Pakistan for its resolution.

Punjab CM said he had personally met the prime minister and the external affairs minister and requested them to take up the issue with Pakistan.

Speaking with reporters on Sunday after the ruling Congress swept the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls, Singh said that he had even raised the issue during his visit to the neighbouring country during his previous stint as Punjab chief minister (2002-07).

“The issue is of enormous religious significance for the Sikh sangat,” he added.

Singh recalled that his grandfather, late Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, of the erstwhile Patiala State, had donated Rs 1.35 lakh to save the historic gurudwara of Sri Kartarpur Sahib from ravage by the Ravi river waters during the 1920s.

The chief minister, in response to a question, said his government was fully geared to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of the first Sikh Guru.

The executive committee set up to monitor the progress of the commemoration of this mega event had already finalised the development works to be executed in the historic towns of Sultanpur Lodhi and Dera Baba Nanak.

Further, he said that on his request, the Centre had formed a national committee chaired by the Union Home Minister.

Earlier on Tuesday, Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu claimed that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has assured him of writing to the Pakistan government on opening up of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

Describing the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara as Sikhs’ “own Mecca”, Sidhu had said it is the responsibility of the Indian government to make a formal request for opening of the Kartarpur corridor.

Sidhu, who had gone to Pakistan in August to attend the oath taking ceremony of his friend Imran Khan as Pakistan’s prime Minister, had said the neighbouring country had already shown a “positive intent” in this regard. – PTI

Maj-Gen Ashok K Mehta (retd)
former GOC in IPKF, Sri Lanka

New Delhi: While reiterating that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is the biggest challenge to the country, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday warned that the armed forces have several options open, including surgical strikes, to teach a firm lesson to the country’s enemy.

”Terrorism emanating from Pakistan is the biggest challenge to the country. But surgical strikes are not the only option we have. The armed forces have several other better options for tackling cross-border infiltration and terrorism,” Gen Bipin Rawat said.

Though Gen Rawat stopped short of disclosing what strategy the armed forces were planning to adopt in order to tackle cross-border terrorism, he threw enough indications of a major military action in future if the situation warranted.

In a stern warning to Pakistan, General Rawat warned that the country’s armed forces were fully prepared to deal with any eventuality as war can take place any time.

In view of the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army Chief admitted that there was a need for another surgical strike on terror launch pads across the Line of Control.

“I won’t deny this. But surgical strikes are not the only option with us. We keep reviewing the situation and prepare our strategy accordingly. We can’t disclose how and when, but we will certainly take a decisive action whenever needed,” he added.

General Rawat said this in an exclusive interview with Zee News Editor Sudhir Choudhary during which he spoke on a wide range of issues, including the change of guard in Pakistan, political atmosphere in the country, recent kidnapping and killing of jawans and civilians, alleged violation of human rights by the armed forces, the need for another surgical strikes on terror launch pads, the Rafale row and whether he harboured any political ambitions.

Expressing his views, Gen Rawat said peace and stability in the region can be established only if the civilian government in the neighbouring nation and its armed forces make an honest effort towards it.

”Peace can come, insurgency and cross-border terrorism can end if the Imran Khan government in Pakistan takes an honest effort in that direction. Till the time the civilian government in Pakistan remains under the clutches of its army (ISI) peace will remain a distant dream,” Gen Rawat said.

While revealing that he had never met his Pakistani counterpart Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Gen Rawat said that the former has the capability of ending the proxy war between the two countries, cross-border infiltration, terrorism and all turbulence along the India-Pakistan borders.

However, in view of Gen Bajwa’s reported provocative statements, Gen Rawat said that chances were grim that the bloodshed will end in J&K.

He said that Pakistan-back terrorists were utterly frustrated with Indian Amry’s counter-terror operations in which several top terrorists had been eliminated.

”Recent kidnappings and killing of armed forces personnel, civilians and J&K policemen indicate that they (Pakistan-backed terror outfits) are frustrated and losing ground, ” he said.

Gen Rawat, while praising the officers and jawans of the armed forces, said that the country is fully prepared to deal with any eventuality and to protect the national borders.

To those seeking evidence of the 2016 surgical strike, Gen Rawat urged ”please trust your armed forces and believe in what they do and say.” ”For Army, Operation is a priority, not taking evidence of a strike,” he added.

Gen Rawat, while pitching for the inclusion of latest technology in modern warfare, said continuous upgradation of the armed forces, weaponry, logistic support is needed to sharpen the combat capabilities of the armed forces.

The Army Chief also referred to the ongoing row over Rafale defence deal. He said that defence procurement should be done through Government-to-Government channels, which will eliminate the risk of middlemen and ensure transparency.

Interestingly, Gen Rawat had on Sunday said that surgical strike is a weapon of surprise and must remain so while hinting that the security forces will respond when the appropriate time comes.

”Surgical strike is a weapon of surprise. Let it remain a surprise,” General Rawat had said.

Rawat also backed the Narendra Modi government’s decision to cancel talks with Pakistan, asserting that talks and terror cannot go together.

Gen Rawat said that whichever party comes to power at the Centre, the Indian Armed forces will always remain ”apolitical.”

The Army Chief also said infiltration from across the border persists despite the call for a ceasefire by Pakistan and stressed that this cannot be allowed to continue and appropriate action has to be taken to deter terrorists from disrupting the peace in the Kashmir Valley.

”Infiltration from across the border persists despite the call for a ceasefire by Pakistan,” said Rawat stressing that ”this cannot be allowed to continue”.

”They have been carrying out barbaric acts and Pakistan Army is used to doing this. It is not the first time that they have done it,” the Army Chief said.

When asked if he harboured any political ambitions, Gen Rawat said, ”No.”

I an not cut out for that. I would like to be remembered as an Army officer who lived his dream, who led his side with pride, and the one who always admired and respected his olive green uniform.

The no-holds-barred interview with Army Chief came nearly a week after a BSF soldier was shot dead by Pakistani forces and his mutilated body was found later.

The Army had conducted a massive surgical strike on terror launch pads across the Line of Control on September 29, two years ago.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry has decided to observe ‘Parakram Parv’ commemorating the valour and sacrifice of the armed forces on the anniversary of the 2016 surgical strikes on terrorism launch pads along the LoC.

A three-day main event between September 28-30 will be organised at the India Gate lawns in the national Capital besides similar events at 53 locations in 51 cities across the country to “highlight the valour of the Indian armed forces in general and special forces in particular”.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would inaugurate the event on September 28 at India Gate lawns.

“To showcase the courage, valour and sacrifice of the armed forces, `Parakram Parv`, which literally means a celebration of valour, is being observed,” Army spokesman Colonel Aman Anand said.

The Army conducted surgical strikes (on the intervening night of September 28-29, 2016) which had strategic ramifications and were aimed to “dissuade the inimical adversary from adopting the path of violence and to ensure an environment of peace for the nation”.

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, September 23

The ordeal of Abhilash Tomy, the injured Naval officer drifting in the south Indian Ocean in his damaged sailboat, may end by Monday.a tweet, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Spoke to VCNS VAdm Ajit Kumar P, AVSM, VSM regarding the condition of injured navy officer @Abhilashtommy. The rescue mission is being coordinated with the Australian Navy. The injured officer shall be picked up in the next 16 hrs by a French vessel Osiris.”

From the French ship, Tommy is expected to be shifted to Australian Navy vessel HMAS Ballarat which is equipped with medical facilities. HMAS Ballarat has already sailed from Perth this morning.

Indian Navy frigate INS Satpura, which has been diverted towards Tomy’s location in the South Indian Ocean for rescue, will reach there by Friday, a Navy spokesman said.

Drifting in the high sea for about 48 hours now, the Navy officer, the only Indian participant in the Golden Globe Race (GGR), has complained of vomiting and chest burning. The race organisers tweeted his message sent to them via satellite.

“5 lugged cans of ice tea. Having that. Vomiting. Cont. chest burnin,” Tomy said in a message which was tweeted by the GGR this afternoon. According to GGR, Tomy has not drunk water since his boat was hit by a storm on September 21, leaving him injured and damaging his yacht.

The 39-year-old sailor, who has circumnavigated the globe once, had on July 1 embarked on the 30,000-mile journey through some of the world’s toughest seas aboard a non-motorised sailboat all alone.

A Navy plane tasked with locating Tomy has successfully spotted the yacht. Tomy heard the noise of the plane and got very excited. “Heard AC (aircraft). ETA Rescue? (expected time of arrival of rescue?),” Tomy asked the GGR organisers via satellite.

Navy officer asks ‘ETA Rescue?’ after hearing noise of plane

A picture of Abhilash Tomy’s boat taken from the Navy plane on Sunday morning.

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, September 23

Drifting in the high seas for about 48 hours now, Abhilash Tomy, the daring Indian Navy officer who is the only Indian participant in the tough Golden Globe Race (GGR), has complained of vomiting and chest burning.

He has had some ice tea. Organisers of the race have tweeted Tomy’s message sent to them via satellite.

“5 lugged cans of ice tea. Having that. Vomiting. Cont. chest burnin”, Tomy said in a message which was tweeted by the GGR at around quarter past three this afternoon.

According to GGR, Tomy has not drunk water since his boat was hit by a storm on September 21 and left him severely injured besides causing major damage to his yacht.

The 39-year-old sailor, who has circumnavigated the globe once in the past, had on July 1 embarked on the 30,000-mile journey through some of the world’s toughest seas aboard a non-motorised sailboat all alone.

The Navy has deployed a frigate INS Satpura (with a Chetak helicopter on board) and tanker INS Jyoti for rescue of its intrepid officer who is a winner of the Keerti Chakra.

INS Satpura and INS Jyoti were operating in the Indian Ocean from where ships were diverted to the South Indian Ocean for the rescue operation.

A Navy plane tasked to locate Tomy has also successfully spotted the yacht. Tomy heard the noise of the plane and got very excited. “Heard AC (aircraft). ETA Rescue? (expected time of arrival of rescue?),” Tomy asked the GGR organisers via satellite.

Tomy’s location was initially tracked to approximately 1,900 nautical miles south west of Perth, Western Australia. The boat may have drifted further off from the coast by now.

According to GGR, a French fisheries patrol vessel arranged by the Australian marine rescue authorities to reach the scene has got delayed due to bad weather. Gregor McGuckin, a fellow GGR participant who is heading toward Tomy in his sailboat, has also slowed down because of the weather.

However, Australian warship HMAS Ballarat, which is tasked to provide medical assistance to Tomy after his rescue, has set off for the scene this morning.

In a press statement issued at 4.15 this evening, Indian Navy said its P-8I aircraft operating ex-Mauritius visually sighted the ‘SV Thuriya’ (Tomy’s yacht) at 0750 hrs this morning. Continuous watch over the boat is being maintained by Navy and RAAF aircraft till rescue is completed.

“The officer in his last text message has indicated that he is safe on the boat; however is immobile due to back injury,” stated the press release.

he Indian Army officer who participated in the 2016 surgical strike inside Pakistan territory said that the troops carried leopard’s urine to scare the dogs during the operations.

n operational strategy, while crossing villages en route, the Indian Army soldiers would spray leopard urine outside the villages. He added that the strategy worked well and the dogs left the teams ‘alone’. The teams thus achieved the much-needed stealth in the risky operation 15 km inside Pakistani territory.View image on Twitter

ANI

 ✔@ANI

 There was a possibility of dogs in villages barking at us on the route. I knew they are scared of leopards. We carried leopard urine with us & that worked & dogs didn’t dare to come forward: Lt General RR Nimbhorkar, Former Nagrota (J&K) Corps Commander on Surgical Strike (11.09)

 Nimbhorkar further added that the Indian Army had studied the pattern of the terrorists operating out of launchpads and zeroed down upon 3:30 am as the appropriate time to carry out the strikes on the terror bases. ‘Three pads’ were destroyed and ’29 terrorists’ were killed in the operation that was lauded by the political leadership.

Something quite fascinating has just happened at Chebarkul, a Russian town located 1,800 kilometres east of Moscow. A not-too-reported event has generated different types of emotions among people in India who are aware of the happenings there. It was a joint training event of the armed forces of the eight full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), organised for the first time after the induction of both India and Pakistan into the grouping’s membership.

It was in Qingdao, China that the Chinese- and Russian-sponsored regional cooperation body, which now includes member countries from both Central and South Asia, saw the political and diplomatic optics being fully played out with the new expanded membership. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan were earlier associate members but became full members last year after which the expanded summit took place at Qingdao in June this year, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Chebarkul event saw the Indian and Pakistan armies coming together to train along with other member armies, for international security related contingencies, to include counter-terrorism, peacekeeping and disaster management. Before describing what international military cooperation training exercises are all about it may be appropriate to consider why the Chebarkul event was considered awkward by many in India, including a couple of television channels.

After Modi’s serious effort to break the ice with Pakistan through his surprise and unscheduled visit to Lahore on 25 December, 2015, the years 2016 and 2017 saw just the opposite of what India had intended. The Pathankot terror attack was followed by the Uri attack in Sep 2016 and the Nagrota attack in November of the same year. India put on hold an attempted process to find an elusive peace with Pakistan, immediately after Pathankot and subsequent events cemented its resolve that peace talks and sponsored terror could not go on hand-in-hand — an opinion, supported by a very large segment, developed in India as the response to Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of terror on Indian soil, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rationally, this opinion frowns on attempts by private bodies, peace groups (often called peaceniks), media houses and other advocates of unconditional talks with Pakistan; the argument of the latter elements is that without engagement and talks none of the differences between India and Pakistan can be ever resolved. The first opinion remains fixed on the resolve that no talks are possible unless there is demonstrated intent by Pakistan on a series of demands including the prosecution of those involved with the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008. This point-of-view also promotes the belief that any private initiatives involving people-to-people contact or other means of engagement only demonstrate Indian weakness to pressurise Pakistan since the latter continuously attempts to legitimise the proxy war it has chosen to wage against India since 1989.

Now this is where the perceptional paradox arises with context to the event at Chebarkul.

On one hand, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu’s visit to Pakistan and the spontaneous hug with the Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, during the inauguration of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has been hugely criticised by some who advocate a no-engagement policy. A significant section of the media took Sidhu to the cleaners. Just when the idea was getting well embedded that India would not compromise on the strong messaging it intended to continue sending to Pakistan and the international community about no possibility of talks or engagement of any kind, there are suddenly many images of the Indian and Pakistan armies coming together at Chebarkul.

A recording of a friendly volleyball game between the two contingents has been made available for viewing on social media.

While the Indian Army unit won all three games in that match, the atmosphere shows friendly cheering and most interestingly many Pakistan Army officers coming over to the Indian team and warmly complimenting its members. There has been feeble protest against the Indian Army’s involvement in joint training with the Pakistan Army and the government has expressed nothing to say that such events won’t take place again.

At this juncture it’s good to revert to the Chebarkul event and guess what else would have happened there. Among many other activities, a simple tactical setting would have been projected and battle procedures and drills would have been discussed in order to work out how to respond to these situations while identifying what aspects of interoperability were necessary to refine them. The Indian and Pakistani contingents would be much at home with each other with commonality of language, terminologies and even formats for orders and briefings. Visits to each other’s camps and social events involving international cooking would surely have been scheduled.

It may be worthwhile to recall that Indian and Pakistani peacekeeping contingents have often served together on a single UN mission: Somalia, Congo and Sudan were three of these where officers from the two armies have exercised operational command or some control over each other’s contingents. All this without a blemish. In fact, the relief of the Pakistani armour squadron from airport security duties by a half squadron of just-arrived Indian tanks in Somalia in October 1993, saved the day for the US Embassy in Mogadishu. Pakistani tanks could then immediately move to secure the embassy that was under serious threat.

There are professional international responsibilities of the Indian Army that call for social inter-mixing, joint training and operations with the Pakistan Army. It is not known to many that Indian officers attend training courses abroad alongside Pakistani officers and have the best of relationships extending to their families. They work together as part of UN Military Observer teams, on staffs of missions and at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in the UN headquarters New York. India’s officers and soldiers know exactly how to conduct themselves with military efficiency and correctness; the dignity of the Indian Army being the issue highest in their priority.

The SCO event at Chebarkul is nothing unusual. In a resetting world there will be many such events and India will appear churlish if it is to refuse attendance by its army representatives in order to score political brownie points that may not translate to the diplomatic sphere.

It’s best for the nation to continue abiding by the policy the government is following: To separate the political aspects of the relationship with Pakistan from other multilateral interests and commitments. Even the media would be well-advised to look beyond the horizon and see the larger gains from international military engagements that could only incidentally involve the Pakistan Army too. Perhaps the much in-demand strategy within India, of engaging with the actual rulers of Pakistan’s destiny (its army), could well have had its beginning there, at Chebarkul in the bleak Russian landscape. The town is known more for one of the largest meteorite strikes in recent history. One just wonders whether that was a good omen.

The author is a retired lieutenant-general and former general officer commanding 15 and 21 Corps

Sepoy Happy Singh of Ram Nagar Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda, Punjab.

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, September 27

Two civilians, a soldier and three militants, including an SPO-turned-militant, were killed in Kashmir on Thursday.

Three encounters broke out in Anantnag, Srinagar and Budgam districts when security forces launched three separate operations in the wee hours of Thursday.

A civilian was killed at Noorbagh locality in Srinagar city, during a cordon and search operation which was launched following an input about the presence of militants.

The slain civilian was identified as Mohammad Saleem Malik. Security sources said they had an input about the presence of two militants in the area when the operation was launched.

Intense clashes erupted in the area and authorities suspended mobile internet in Srinagar to maintain law and order.

J&K Police blamed militants for the death of Malik.

“…The hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately resulting in death of Saleem Malik,” a police spokesman said.  The operation was later called off.

In a separate gunfight, a soldier and a local militant were killed in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district that broke out on Thursday morning.

The gunfight broke at Gaksigund Dooru when the forces were carrying out a search operation in the area.

“In the gunfight, a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant commander and a soldier were killed,” police said.

Police identified the slain militant as Asif Malik.

“He was involved in several attacks on security forces including the killing of CRPF men at Achabal this year and in many other cases of civilian atrocities,” a police spokesman said.

The slain jawan was identified as 25-year-old Happy Singh of 19 Rashtriya Rifles and a resident of Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda.

Two local militants were killed and two soldiers were injured in another gunfight in Budgam district.

The two local militants were trapped in Panzan mosque during a cordon and a search operation. Special forces were deployed to flush out the militants.

“Security forces also appealed to the terrorists to come out.  However, the terrorists turned down the offer and consequently the operation had to be carried out in a deliberate manner keeping intact the sanctity of the mosque. In this operation, two terrorists were killed,” the spokesman said.

The two militants were identified as Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat of Kralwari Chadoora and Irfan Ahmad Dar of Kakapora Pulwama and the two were affiliated with  Hizbul Mujahideen.

Irfan Ahmad Dar was working as an SPO and had deserted a couple of months ago, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, an unidentified man was killed in alleged Army firing in Kupwara district.

Police said the Army at around 2 am had laid an ambush at Rangward area of Kralpora when they noticed a man moving in the area who was challenged.

“He ran away and the Army fired at him. The man was injured and taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning,” he said.

The identity of the slain youth could not be established. However, he does not appear to be a local.

A Srinagar-based defence spokesman said they were ascertaining the facts about the incident.