Rangreth (Budgam), March 9

The seniormost Army officer in Kashmir on Saturday issued a public appeal to the mothers of militants, urging them to convince their sons to shun violence and return home.

“From the core of my heart, I personally request all mothers in Kashmir to please stop your children from joining militancy or terrorism and bring those back who have gone off track,” Corps Commander of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps Lt Gen Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon said while addressing a passing-out parade of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry at Rangreth in Budgam district on Saturday. Around 152 youth of the state were inducted into the Army at the passing-out parade. The Corps Commander promised safety to those who would shun violence. — TNS

Army fire tenders control blaze

Srinagar: The Army on Friday claimed to have averted a major tragedy after a fire broke out in a factory at Khanmoh on the city outskirts. The Army said the fire broke out in a paper factory at SIDCO Phase I, Khanmoh, around 3.40 pm on Friday. “The fire quickly engulfed the paper factory and many employees were trapped in the raging inferno. Goods worth lakhs of rupees were in danger of getting destroyed by the rapidly spreading blaze. TNS

Confusing and contradictory statements from all quarters are making us look absurd abroad. But do our loquacious politicians care?

Karan Thapar

Are we tying ourselves in knots over how many people were killed in the Balakot strike? It certainly seems so and, to coin a phrase, it’s turning into quite a Gordian affair.

Speaking in Ahmedabad recently, BJP chief Amit Shah claimed that “more than 250” terrorists were killed. Earlier, government sources were quoted by almost every newspaper and television channel stating 300 terrorists had been eliminated. Thereafter, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seemed to agree with the 300 figure, while UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh upped it to 400. But absolutely no one gave any reason of how they had come to their respective figures.

In contrast, officials, who should presumably know, have spoken very differently. Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa has categorically said: “We can’t count how many people have died. That depends on how many people were there.”  The Foreign Secretary simply spoke generally, non-specifically and without detail. He said: “A very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and group of jihadis were eliminated.” Both refused to say how many and one can presume that’s because they don’t know.

At a joint press conference, speaking on behalf of the military, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor was deliberately vague to the point of being almost cryptic. “There’s fairly credible evidence with us which proves that there was damage to the camps. Weapons hit the intended target and they caused the damage that was intended… whatever we intended to destroy we have got the effect we desired. We have evidence to show that whatever we wanted to do and targets we wanted to destroy we have done that.” However, he did pointedly add that “it would be premature to say what is the number of casualties and what is the number of deaths.”

So where did Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Radha Mohan Singh or the earlier unnamed government sources get their precise figures from? In fact, SS Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, has actually stated it wasn’t India’s intention to cause casualties. The aim was to send Pakistan a message that we can hit its backyard. “We did not want any human casualty,” he said. So, presumably, his position is no one was killed.

Now what does all of this suggest? That we don’t know? Or are simply guessing? Or, worse, we’re confused and contradicting ourselves? Your guess is as good as mine. However, the problem is this controversy is disquieting the nation and making us look absurd abroad. But do our loquacious politicians care?

Let me now briefly touch on another matter. This time, I admit, it’s more of academic concern than actual importance but it is still worth noting. Did India cross the LoC to carry out the Balakot strike? Or were the Spice 2000 bombs fired from inside the Indian territory? Now that we know India possesses the Spice 2000, which is capable of accurately hitting targets 100 km away, there was, in fact, no need to cross the LoC to hit Balakot, which is only 60 km inside Pakistan. So if there was no need why would the Indian Air Force have crossed into Pakistani airspace?

Government spokesmen, once again unnamed, have at least on one occasion confirmed our planes did not cross the LoC. Balakot was targeted from our side of the border. Christine Fair, a highly respected authority on India and Pakistan, emphatically agrees. However, Pakistan’s military spokesman, Major-General Asif Ghafoor, tweeted on February 26 that the “Indian Air Force violated the Line of Control. Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled. Indian aircrafts went back”. So, as far as Pakistan is concerned, we did cross. And that’s also the impression the government happily permitted to prevail when Balakot happened. But what’s the truth?

Alas, the government is silent. It hasn’t said a word. So how are we to construe this? Logic would suggest if there was no need to cross the LoC we did not. However, the initial impression, which the government did not dispute, is we definitely did and most people still believe that. So where does that leave us? Sadly, once again, your guess is as good as mine.

ibune News Service

Jammu, March 5

Amid increased hostility between India and Pakistan, General Officer Commanding (GOC), Fire and Fury Corps (14 Corps), Lt Gen YK Joshi, visited forward locations in the Siachen sector on Monday.

Siachen Glacier is situated on the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) between India and Pakistan and is the highest battlefield in the world.

During his visit, the General Officer Commanding reviewed the security situation and was briefed on the operational preparedness in the sector. He interacted with troops deployed in extreme weather and highly challenging terrain for maintaining the sanctity of the border.

Appreciating the troops for their high morale and commitment even in these difficult circumstances, Lt General Joshi urged them to uphold the highest standards of professionalism of the Army.

Since the rise in tension, the Army is strengthening all borders, including the Line of Control, International Border and AGPL. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat reviewed the operational preparedness of the 16 Corps and Rising Star Corps a few days back.

Now, the GOC, 14 Corps, visited the area where temperature dips below -40°C and maintaining vigil and alertness is the toughest job.

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, March 24

The family of Army man Vikas Bhardwaj, who was shot dead by militants in Manipur in 2015, is yet to receive compensation promised by the government at the time his cremation.

Rakesh Bhardwaj, father of the slain soldier, said even after four years of the death of his son, the authorities were yet to fulfil promises made then.

The family resides in Pandol (Matehar), 7 km from Baijnath. Rakesh, who is now facing several age-related issues, said Vikas was his only son and the only hope.

He was only 24-year-old when he attained martrydom. The tragic news was conveyed to them by the Army headquarters on June 4, 2015, he said.

He said at the time of his son’s cremation, MLAs had visited their village and promised to provide financial assistance to them. It was also promised to construct a road and name a school after his son. However, even after four years, nothing had been done.

He accused the government and the Army authorities of belittling the supreme sacrifice made by his son.

The martyr’s father said in the last four years, no representative from the state government had visited them to extend support. Even the local MLA did not come.

“All we have from the authorities are a few condolence letters — from the Governor, the Chief Minister and the Commanding Officer of Vikas,” he said.

Vikas was a second-generation Army man. His father Rakesh Bhardwaj retired as a Naib Subedar.

“The way the authorities have responded to the supreme sacrifice by Vikas, we think his bravery was an act of foolishness,” said the martyr’s family members.

“I have written numerous letters to the state government and met various officials to seek justice, but in vain. I have stopped making any efforts for the past two years. There are no more expectations left,” said Rakesh Bhardwaj.

NIA officials leave after a raid at the residence of a separatist leader in Srinagar. — PTI file

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 23

With the Enforcement Directorate attaching the property of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali in Gurugram, crackdown by authorities has begun on people and organisations suspected in activities of terror funding, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.

The authorities in multi agencies moving in coordination are on the job after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) identified 12 others in the May 2017 case relating to the J&K terror funding. Watali is in Tihar jail since last year, sources in the government said today.

Two other accused, Kamran Yusuf and Javed Ajmed Bhat who have been chargesheeted for their role in stone pelting and anti-India protests, are on bail granted by the trial court, the sources said.

The government started seizing properties belonging to terror financers identified by the NIA with the Enforcement Directorate initiating action to freeze and seize such assets. Ongoing investigations in the first phase determined and quantified assets valued over Rs 7 crore as proceeds of terror-funding crimes.

Watali, the sources said, is a major conduit for funnelling terror finances in the country and incriminating documents seized by the ED show he was receiving money from Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, ISI and Pakistan High Commission at New Delhi and also known to have important sources of Hawala financing operating out of Dubai.

Funds, the sources added, were made available to the leadership of Valley-based terrorist groups for providing the means to misguide and recruit local youth to terrorist ranks, including from madarsas and mosques. In addition, operational activities of terror groups were also being financed, including attacks on security forces personnel, their camps and convoys, the sources added.

Money obtained through these channels was also being used by major secessionist formations, particularly All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the source said, adding these funds were used to maintain top APHC leadership and to use propaganda machinery to arouse disaffection among people of J&K against the Government of India. In addition, the sources said the funds were used to spread false information through media contacts, newspapers and social media.

In turn, these activities were used to instigate and lure misguided youth to resort to anti-India activities, violent street protests, demonstrations and stone pelting on security forces at encounter sites to foment further violence, the sources said.

In addition, such funds were used to finance institutions focussed on subverting the local population through selected mosques, madarsas and organisations, including banned Jammat-e-Islami (J&K).

The sources said in addition to Watali, 10 others under probe in the NIA case of May 2017 regarding funding include Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, Sayed Salahuddin, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Altf Ahmad Shah, Mohammed Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Mohadd Akbar Khanday, Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat and Nawal Kishore Kapoor, who is alleged to have remitted Rs 5.6 crore to Watali.

he Supreme Court on Thursday reserved orders on the preliminary objections raised by the government in the Rafale matter. The Supreme Court had in December 2018 ruled that no probe was needed into the ‘Rafale scam’. The petitioners had sought a review of that ruling based on their earlier plea. Since then, however, new documents and material have become available on the decision-making process that led to the purchase of 36 Rafale fighters for the Indian Air Force. The petitioners sought to…

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/what-all-can-the-court-overlook-in-the-rafale-matter-723110.html

Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Barnala, March 13

Family members of a Prisoner of War (PoW) lodged in a Pakistan Jail on Tuesday wrote a letter to the President, seeking his help to take up the matter with the Pakistan authorities. At present, there are 55 PoWs from India lodged in various jails of Pakistan.

“Maha Singh from Karmgarh village, son of Sepoy Lal Singh, has never seen his father after the 1965 war with Pakistan. After that, he had gone missing. Initially, the family thought that he had died, but in August 2013, Satish Kumar, a resident of Ferozepur, informed them that his father was in the Kila Attack Frontier Jail. Satish has spent 12 years in a Pakistan jail. On Tuesday, family members and we wrote a letter the President with all details and requested him to take up the matter with Pakistan for the release of all 53 PoWs” said, Gurjinder Singh Sidhu, state chief of the ex-servicemen wing of the SAD.

Maha Singh has also served in the Army and retired as a Head Constable in 2001.  

“My mother has struggled a lot in her life. I was born in 1966 and whenever we came to know about any news of PoWs, we always try to get any information about my father. But nothing positive has happened. The release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has again revived our hopes. Hopefully, after the forthcoming elections, the new Indian Government will take up the matter with the Pakistan government,” he added.

Maha Singh added that he, along with some other relatives of PoWs, has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking its intervention for the release of PoWs. The next date of hearing is in April, he said.

“We have all required evidence to prove that our relatives are lodged in different jails of Pakistan. In the coming hearings, we will share all evidences,” he said.

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 7

In a significant move indicating India’s re-energised military equipment partnership with Russia, the two countries today inked a deal for the lease of a nuclear-powered Akula-class attack submarine from Moscow.

Having leased its first nuclear submarine from Russia in 1988, India is already operating INS Chakra—inducted in 2012 — on a 10-year contract. New Delhi also has self-built INS Arihant, a nuclear-tipped missile carrying vessel, and INS Arighat.

The latest submarine from Russia is to cost around $3 billion (Rs 21,000 crore) and is expected to arrive in five years. It would be fitted with indigenous communication systems and sensors.

Watched curiously across the globe, today’s deal with Russia would be the fourth major agreement over the past six months and fifth in last two years. In October last year, New Delhi ignored the US threat of sanctions and went ahead to procure S-400 ‘Triumf’ air defence missile system from Russia for Rs 39,000 crore. In the same month, Delhi signed contracts to purchase four Admiral Grigorovich-class stealth frigates for around Rs 6,700 crore.

This week, India and Russia started the joint production of AK- 203 rifles in Amethi. The armed forces need some 7 lakh of these at a cost of around Rs 12,000 crore and the requirement could shoot up to 20 lakh once the central armed police forces, too, submit their orders. In 2016, Russia signed a pact for the joint manufacturing of 200 Kamov 226-T helicopters in India. 

Washington, March 5

Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan has said he is not aware of any request made by the US about the use of F-16 fighter jets by his country in the recent aerial confrontation with India.

The Indian Air Force on Thursday displayed parts of an AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile as evidence to “conclusively” prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian military installations in Kashmir after India’s anti-terror operation in Balakot.

Pakistan on Wednesday categorically said that no F-16 fighter jets were used and denied that one of its planes had been downed by the Indian Air Force.

The US State Department has said that America is seeking more information from Pakistan on the potential misuse of American-made F-16 fighter jets by it against India in violation of the end-user agreement.

“On F-16, I don’t know, India has been alleging so many other things. We don’t get into every single one of them. I am not aware of request from the US side about the F 16,” Khan told a Washington audience at the US Institute of Peace, a Congress-funded think-tank, on Monday.

Asked about the media reports saying that US is seeking more information on the alleged misuse of F-16 against India in a potential violation of the end-user agreement, he said: “I think the question is whether the Pakistan is prevented by (end-user-agreement)”.

“I have not seen those end user agreements. I am not a position to comment on that,” the top Pakistani diplomat said.

The US, which is the largest seller of high-tech defence equipment globally and has a strong end-user monitoring agreement, as a matter of practice takes all allegations of misuse of defence articles very seriously.

AMRAAM missiles allow a fighter pilot to target an enemy aircraft that is beyond visual range, in day or night, and in all-weather conditions. They have an autonomous guidance capability, which allows the pilot to manoeuvre immediately after the missile’s launch.

Khan said that the US of late had played an important role in counselling restraint between the two countries.

“In terms of chemistry, I don’t know if there was any chemistry to begin with (between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan),” he replied when asked about the relationship between the two leaders.

As leaders of two big countries, it is not the chemistry that should determine, but the need, he said.

Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26.

The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on Friday. — PTI 

During the Modi rule, fighting terrorism was the primary job of the armed forces, never mind the growing real threats from the two military lines, with Pakistan and China. Since terrorism had a global appeal, fighting it would help raise Modi’s stature on the world stage.

Pravin Sawhney
Strategic Affairs Expert

Contrary to the perception, five years of the Modi government have weakened India’s national security since the focus was not on making India militarily strong, but on furthering the right-wing agenda of projecting a muscular India. This was done by a three-pronged simultaneous plan: identification of a desirable threat; centralised defence planning; and deep selection of service chiefs. This has eliminated the need for urgent military reforms. Interestingly, nobody even noticed this.

The recent appointment of Vice-Admiral Karambir Singh as the next Chief of Naval Staff superseding an officer does not mean that he manipulated his elevation. All it implies is that he was perceived as more suitable for the task at hand which was explained by the Prime Minister himself in October 2014. Addressing the combined commanders’ conference, Narendra Modi had said, “The threats may be known, but the enemy may be invisible.” At once, it was clear that fighting terrorism would be the primary job of the armed forces, never mind the growing real threats from the two military lines, with Pakistan and China.

Since terrorism had a global appeal, it would help raise Modi’s stature on the world stage. With the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval himself being a counter-terror specialist, he could comfortably lead the defence services. The generals, who had risen in service doing counter-terror operations (CT ops) for over three decades, were delighted. They were no longer required to make excuses for not going back to their primary role of war-fighting — a thankless job without the attendant perks like publicity, promotions and awards. Not for nothing the two-year tenure of 15 Corps Commander (in Kashmir) was curtailed to less than a year to accommodate the growing list of aspirants vying for the prized posting. Moreover, the Modi dispensation managed to manipulate most of the media and the mood of people, who, charged with ultra-nationalist fervour, took pride in counting our own dead draped in the Tricolour instead of asking the government why so many of our own were dying.

Once terrorism became the primary threat, the need for urgent military reforms to make India militarily strong became unnecessary. Fighting terror is a single service, low-level tactical job. Each service can identify the terror threat on land, sea and air, and then keep fighting it till kingdom comes. Unless the support, source and sanctuaries of terrorists in Pakistan are not threatened, faceless terrorists can never be defeated. Ironically, even for a decisive victory against terrorism, India needs to build credible war-fighting capabilities, which in turn requires major political and military reforms, including joint training for optimal results. The army is least happy with this prospect — its large numbers and prominent role would be drastically reduced — since given the rapid technology infusion, modern war-fighting entails pivotal role for the air force.

There is an added problem. In war-fighting, offence is the best defence. This means that all fences that the army has built on the border and around itself since the November 2003 ceasefire would have to be dismantled, and the risk of actual war with Pakistan would rise. Unfortunately, the political leadership does not understand war dynamics between nuclear adversaries, and the military is unprepared for it. Hence, the focus on low-grade CT ops, which bleeds us more!

In order to formally oversee the threat of terrorism, the Defence Planning Committee (DPC) under the NSA was created in April 2018. The DPC was required to formulate the national security strategy, defence capability building plan, defence manufacturing eco-system and defence diplomacy. With this, the job of the Defence Minister was officially rendered to be ceremonial, with the three services chiefs and senior civilian defence officials reporting to the NSA. On the one hand, urgency was given to equipment and withal needed for fighting terror, on the other hand, the services were asked to formulate and prioritise their capability-building plans based on available finances. With chances of a war with Pakistan and China (it takes two to fight) being assessed to be low, military reforms like the post of Chief of Defence Staff, theatre commanders and so on are subjects for seminars and debates.

It is immaterial that centralised defence planning would throw up limited options on how to deal with adversaries. This suited the Modi dispensation since end-game for use of force was already decided. The need was for military leadership to do it, and the veteran fraternity to applaud it. For example, the army leadership insisted that the 2016 so-called surgical strikes — which were neither surgical or strikes against the real adversary (Pakistan) — indicated unprecedented signalling. It is another matter that the then foreign secretary, S Jaishankar, called them ‘low-level, targeted, counter-terror operations’, and the Pakistan army, cognisant of reality, decided to payback with increased proxy war. The Army Chief, General Dalbir Singh, who oversaw these operations was found hobnobbing with the BJP top brass post retirement, and his Vice-Chief, Lt-Gen Bipin Rawat, was made the Army Chief, superseding two officers. The government, however, made the mistake of saying that Rawat was elevated for his expertise in CT ops (no one had asked the government); this let the cat out of the bag: why focus on CT ops rather than the tangible conventional threats?

When Modi ordered the 2019 air strike, Pakistan immediately retaliated in full force in daytime, exposing India’s defunct war escalatory capability even when India called it an action against ‘non-military’ targets. The Indian Air Force did not tell Modi that the use of air power would be unacceptable to Pakistan since it would imbalance conventional warfare parity between the two sides. Worse, senior air force veterans assessed that the air spat is good use of air power.

Not to be left behind, the outgoing Navy Chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba, recently spoke of terror threat from sea. This when the threat of interoperability between China and Pakistan navies is staring in the face. Wonder if this was deliberate signalling to indicate the government would choose its favourable officer for what it believes is the threat to nation.