Monthly Archives: August 2018

New Delhi, October 14

Following “protests” by the Border Security Force (BSF) against non-inclusion of its marching contingent in the Republic Day parade event next year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today indicated it was re-considering its order.

Sources said the MHA, in its order earlier this month, had said that only the marching and band contingents of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Delhi Police would be part of the Republic Day parade next year. It asked the BSF to send only its camel contingent and camel-mounted band team.

Sources in the MHA said after the order was issued, the BSF took up the matter with the ministry, “which was now being reviewed”. 

Sources in the BSF said despite all preparations, the force’s marching contingent was not given a slot in this year’s parade too. The Republic Day parade is an esteemed event and troops and officers of various uniformed forces take pride in showcasing their ceremonial best at the event that showcases the defence, security, development and cultural prowess of the country.

The about 2.5 lakh personnel strong BSF is tasked to guard India’s terror and infiltration-prone border with Pakistan, the crime-sensitive frontier with Bangladesh and is also deployed to render a number of tasks in the internal security domain of the country. — TNS

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12

An erroneous policy of the Indian Army is holding back benefits to a particular category of personnel wounded in war, including those who were hit by the enemy bullet during the Kargil conflict (May-July 1999) or those injured in ongoing operations.

Such cases cropped up recently during the review of disability pension norms which the Army is in the process of tweaking following allegations of misuse of claims. Recognising the anomaly, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has ordered a correction, which is being worked out, sources said.

In 2012, the Army, while defining the norms for battle casualty and war wounded, had said the war wounded implied those who were injured in enemy action. Within this policy, it was defined who all were to be classified as ‘low medical category (LMC

In 2014, the policy was tweaked. It said those who had been wounded in war but had regained fitness to ‘shape 1 levels’, that is on a par with the highest physical fitness standards required in the Army, could be treated as ‘fit’.

Here comes the catch. The battle casualty and war wounded classified as ‘LMC’ under the 2012 policy get weightage for promotions, fee exemption of children’s education, reservation in educational institutions, income tax exemptions and preference in foreign postings and also advanced courses. Following the 2014 tweak, that allowed the war wounded who regained fitness to ‘shape-1 levels’ to get back to the battle front, all benefits accruing to the war wounded were stopped for this class of personnel.

Within the Army, it was felt that the 2014 tweaked policy was too harsh on personnel who, after being hit by the enemy bullet, had regained fitness and had the will to fight again. Sources said some kind of incentive would be restored to this category of persons.

On the other hand, those under the ‘low medical category’ continue to get benefits. Those who have lost a limb, were hit by bullets or have been maimed come under this category.

The 2014 tweak

While those under the ‘low medical category’ continue to get benefits, in 2014 the Army policy was tweaked, laying out that benefits would be stopped to war wounded who had regained fitness to ‘shape-1 levels’ and were ready to return to the battle front.

Two custom-made B-777 planes, which will be used to fly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top Indian dignitaries from July next year, will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force, a senior official said on Wednesday. However, the new wide-body planes will be maintained by Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), which is a subsidiary of Air India, he said. Currently, the Prime Minister, President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu fly on Air India’s B747 planes, which have the call sign “Air India One”. Air India pilots fly these B-747 aircraft for the dignitaries and the AIESL maintains them. When these B-747 aircraft are not flying the dignitaries, they are used by the Indian national carrier for commercial operations. “The two new B-777 planes will come to India from the US facility of Boeing by July next year. They will have the call sign “Air India One”. Only IAF pilots will be flying the two new aircraft for the PM, the President and the Vice President,” a senior official of the national carrier said. The official said 4-6 pilots of the IAF have already been trained by Air India to fly the B-777 planes. “Some other pilots of IAF will come for training soon,” he added. The B-777 planes will have state-of-the-art missile defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS). In February, the US agreed to sell the two defence systems to India at a cost of 190 million dollars. The centre is planning to initiate the process of divestment of its stake in Air India, which has a debt of over Rs. 60,000 crore, from November this year.

idrw.org .Read more at India No 1 Defence News Website https://idrw.org/pms-new-official-aircraft-will-be-flown-by-air-force-pilots-report/ .

RESTRICTIONS on mobile telephony in the Kashmir Valley should have been lifted soon after they were removed in the Jammu region. Now, after two months, there is no apparent security reason for the administration to continue with the clampdown on communications. When the Union government is justified in congratulating itself for preventing the loss of lives in the Valley while it scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution, for the same reason, it is not justified in prolonging the mobile phone shutdown. By switching on the Valley phones earlier, the Modi government would have legitimately been able to take pride in being responsive towards its citizens. It is already late.

On Monday night, the US House foreign relations committee issued a strongly-worded statement while retweeting a New York Times story on the death of a snake-bite victim in Baramulla: ‘India’s communication blackout in Kashmir is having a devastating impact on the lives and welfare of everyday Kashmiris. It is time for India to lift these restrictions and afford Kashmiris the same rights and privileges as any other Indian citizen.’ The statement has come ahead of the Asia subcommittee hearing scheduled on October 22. The tweet is significant, for the US House committee has described Kashmiris as Indian citizens, unequivocally.

This endorsement of the Indian position on the status of J&K comes in the wake of Imran Khan’s desperate attempts to drum up support for his jihad against India. The world has had enough of Islamist expansionism and no amount of breast-beating in the name of the people of the Valley can legitimise a proxy war. Yet, it needs to be underscored that the biggest threat to the Indian state in the Valley is often itself. The Union government seems to be in a state of amnesia in its actions towards all those who had kept the flag flying in the Valley. In fact, until the phones are buzzing, nobody outside the Valley will even believe that there is no restriction on movement there. Kashmiris, too, need to be protected and connected to the rest of the world, like any other Indian citizen.

PS Randhawa

The removal of Article 370 has brought Kashmir into focus in a big way. While the official narrative is focused around ending the problems of Kashmiri people and integrating them with mainstream India, the other side is harping about the end of the special status and security clampdown along with restrictions on communication.

Having served in Kashmir on a number of occasions, starting from 1989, I can say that to date — since the beginning of insurgency — only two kinds of people (besides Kashmiri Pandits who fled) have suffered in Kashmir. One is the common man and the other is the soldier — from all uniformed forces.

There is abject poverty in remote areas of the Valley. The only job available there is of a porter, for taking rations to Army posts located at higher altitudes. That job only lasts for a limited period. The common man has very small landholdings. Those in towns are mostly dependent on tourism-related jobs that last for about six months. Insurgency has severely affected the common man. Frequent calls of shutdown have hit the small businessman, shopkeeper and daily-wage earner. He has to join protests lest he is seen as a ‘traitor’ to the cause. Studies of his children have suffered. His children, brainwashed by wily politicians, turn militants and get killed in the bargain. It is not so-called ‘azadi’ that is his biggest problem, it is to earn his living, somehow. While politicians of all hues from the Valley have prospered, he is the one who has suffered the most. His suffering continues.

Next is the soldier. There were days when posting to the Valley was much sought-after. It is no more so.  Soldiers are performing duties under severely stressful conditions. One is never sure from which direction a bullet or a stone is going to hit him. Travelling on foot or in a vehicle is equally dangerous. He doesn’t know whether he will safely return to the barracks at the end of the day. He, at times, has to skip meals, rest and sleep. He is out of communication with his kin for days. There are times he doesn’t get leave due to many compelling reasons. His folks at home live on the edge, with prayers on their lips till he returns from Kashmir. They are apprehensive to pick up the phone lest they get some bad news about him. Besides getting killed in the line of duty, a number of soldiers have lost their limbs and fallen prey to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He has sacrificed the most.

For the rest of the lot, nothing much has mattered. The business of politics has prospered. Other business continues as usual with interruptions. One can only hope and pray that peace returns to the Valley, and the common man and soldier, both enjoy a peaceful life they deserve.

For the last two months, there was relative quiet in the Middle East and the standoff between the US and Iran appeared easing although tensions never abated. Perhaps by sheer coincidence that was also the period during which President Trump and his security policy team were focusing on the possible US pullout or further drawdown from Afghanistan. The hiatus was broken on Sep 14 with the Saudi Aramco oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais being targeted by 18 drones and 7 cruise missiles.

Abqaiq refinery is the largest crude oil stabilization plant in the world producing 7 million barrels of oil every day or about 7% of the world’s production. That makes it a crucial part of the energy infrastructure of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil.  Ownership of the attacks was claimed immediately by the Zaidi Shia Houthi rebels, Iran supported rebels fighting the Saudi backed government in Yemen. The Houthis control a part of western and southern Yemen with access to the sea. Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition against the Houthis after they overthrew the government led by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. The war was assumed to be over in a few weeks but continues to date despite efforts at a full blockade which the coalition has attempted to establish. Iranian arms supplies apparently continue to reach the Houthis assisting them in their fight which has previously witnessed missile attacks on the Saudi territory.

The Yemen-Saudi war has all the manifestations of the Shia Sunni conflict fought by proxy in a wretchedly impoverished land. That larger ideological and sectarian confrontation may continue long and without outcome, but spurts of it fought by proxies have all the potential of lighting fires in the volatile Middle East.

Here is how it can happen. Swarming from the air with comparatively inexpensive but fitted out drones can be a nightmare for the most advanced air defence systems. The Saudi air defence was clearly not prepared for such a contingency when high profile vulnerable points (VPs) are attacked en masse. As proxies get bolder they are likely to employ more of these against Saudi oil infrastructure, water purification facilities and other installations in the Gulf countries. Shipping itself could be the target as large tankers move in and out of Saudi waters. The first impact of this will always be a cut back in oil production, increase in oil prices and enhanced cost of insurance for shipping. Already prices for Brent crude have jumped 20% to touch US$ 76 a barrel. One-off attacks may yet find a staving off of military confrontation. However, persistence will result in compulsive turbulence.

Passivity in the face of such direct intimidation may not be acceptable to the US as it is a direct challenge to its alliances and power in the Middle East. Going into election year President Trump was keen to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Does this mean that he may not pursue US strategic interests and support its main allies in the Middle East too? The US decision to drop the potential agreement with the Taliban for the sake of pursuing its chief interests would equally apply here irrespective of the internal impact on US electoral politics.

The US as the major supporter of Saudi interests and in 40-year confrontation with Iran has accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of masterminding the drone attacks. Proof of the same is yet to be produced but in such situations that isn’t necessary; the US did, after all, invade and fight Gulf War II in 2003 on the basis of unproven allegations of nuclear ‘weaponisation’ by Saddam Hussain. It led to the eight-year deployment in Iraq.  Robert McNally a former NSA from the Bush-era stated – “This drone attack was about Iran demonstrating that it has the means and will to execute exquisitely precise attacks on the most vital oil infrastructure in the world by far; they can do this again and again”. Is this a rational surmise? Is Iran in triumphal mood seeking confrontation or is it defensive because of the effect of sanctions? Perhaps the IRGC may have wished to demonstrate the capability of executing a proxy war which could target Saudi Arabia’s critical infrastructure; an attack to cause deterrence. However, any repetition of this will discount any theory of attempting deterrence and will probably invite retaliation. Why this seems implausible strategy by the IRGC is that in due course the Saudi-Israel-US combine will find solutions to counter swarming attacks by drones which will neutralize one element of surprise which cuts across the tactical to the strategic level.

Iran is confident that the Saudis are incapable of launching war alone. The US projected its will to some extent in a buildup towards confrontation just a few months ago. Conventional all-out war is ruled out, or anything entailing ground operations for entry into Iranian mainland. A US carrier group, each south of the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, may form the bulk of the naval and air resources while a buildup of ground troops to identified vulnerable hot spots in Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia will take place. But none of this will deter the thousands of proxies that the IRGC controls and can launch without international borders being an obstacle. It’s a case where conflict initiation could still be easy but termination would be in no one’s control. In the absence of a firm US commitment, Saudi Arabia has little capacity to actively resist Iran’s intent. That could be a temptation by the proxies to strike again, creating conditions for the US to step into the cauldron of what could be another of the Middle East’s interminable wars.

The start point of any measures to offset potential showdown is to terminate the war in Yemen. That will be a virtual admission of Saudi defeat and a serious threat to its stature in Middle East politics. The US has limited options and military ones are far and few. Inaction on its part will prove the failure of its strategy of pressurizing Iran through the abrogation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) of 2015 and looking for regime change to weaken it. Iran’s control over many proxies in the region is the key to its capability and ability to offset ideas of military confrontation. It’s the next violent move which will throw open even more challenges and hurtle the Middle East towards war, the impact of which will have serious implications for the world economy and the balance of power in the Middle East.

The author commanded the 15 Corps in J&K

In what is likely the Indian Army’s largest such order till date, private players have been invited to participate in the bidding process for a contract of around 1 million anti-personnel mines, reports The Economic Times. Interestingly, it is only private companies who are being asked to bid.

Such mines are used regularly along the Line-of-Control (LoC) to tackle infiltration attempts by terrorists and by their Pakistan Army backers. The LoC remains the world’s most mined area after the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing North and South Korea.

Currently, there is no Indian private firm which produces or supplies anti-personnel mines; some do however provide parts for anti-personnel mines manufactured by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), so responses to the invitation are expected from such private players.
The company which clinches the contract will be required to supply one million mines over a five year timeline. The mines which the Indian Army wants to procure are of the Non Metallic Mine (NMM) 14 type, which is especially difficult to detect as it is primarily made of plastic.

A panic gripped across Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district after loud explosions were heard as the Indian Army destroyed its old ordnance on Tuesday evening.

The Indian Army stated, “Old ordnance was being destroyed between 6.30 pm and 7.15 pm at Pokhran area of Thar desert.”

The force said it is a routine affair and there was nothing unusual about it. As the sound of the blasts reached across the border, the Pakistan security forces started running a campaign of fake news that India was conducting a “thermonuclear and tactical nuclear weapons test”.
People in the vicinity came out of their homes in panic as the window panes rattled due to the impact of the five or more blasts.

Many thought the blasts were emanating from across the border. Sources in the armed security forces clarified that “it is just destruction of old ordnance and there is nothing to panic”.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has ordered to stop the ration money allowance (RMA) given to its troops for this month since the government delayed the sanctioning of ₹800 crore additional funds, news reports said on Sunday (September 29).

However, news agency PTI reported that the paramilitary force has denied reports that jawans have “run out” of ration money and said that the September allowance will be paid shortly.

CRPF jawans and its non-gazetted officers receive the allowance for their daily meals and is included in their monthly salaries. It said that the RMA was recently revised by the government, due to which, the issue occurred.

“On account of the revision of the ration money allowance made by the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) on July 12, ₹22,194 per head ration money (in arrears) was paid to around 2 lakh CRPF personnel in July,” the force said in a statement. This amount, it said, is more than six times the monthly ration allowance of jawans and other non-gazetted rank officers.

Also read | CRPF’s Kashmir helpline 14411 reactivated, over 500 calls received

It further said that the process of the payment of the allowance (about ₹3,600) is in progress and will be paid shortly. Therefore, it clarified that it will be “incorrect, baseless and preposterous” to contend that the jawans have run out of money. “There is no crisis whatsoever,” it said.

According to a communication issued last month, the CRPF has sought sanction of reserve funds worth ₹800 crore from the Union Home Ministry to pay the revised RMA to its troops, the report further said. The CRPF has made at least three communications to the ministry in the past.

It said that the RMA will be provided to the troops once they receive the additional budget from the ministry.

(With inputs from agencies)