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Overweight BSF personnel to be posted to hard areas immediately A list of such ‘overweight’ personnel along with remarks of the DG has also been sent to the Personnel Directorate

July 12, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

Overweight BSF personnel to be posted to hard areas immediately

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 11

Cracking the whip on overweight personnel, the Border Security Force (BSF) has directed that all personnel who do not meet the laid down physical and medical standards be posted out to “hard” areas.

Hard areas are field stations or outposts where the climate and terrain are harsh and the operational is tough such as border areas or in a counter-insurgency environment. Families are not generally permitted to reside in hard areas.

“As desired by Director General (DG), BSF, all personnel weighing more than 105 kgs be posted out to hard areas and relieved immediately,” orders issued by the DG’s secretariat to the Personnel Directorate at Force Headquarters in New Delhi, on July 10, stated.

A list of such “overweight” personnel along with remarks of the DG has also been sent to the Personnel Directorate. Being overweight or obese is a manifestation of diet and lifestyle, though in some cases it may be genetically induced.

Raised in 1965 with 25 battalions, the BSF has emerged as the largest border guarding force in the world with 186 battalions, including three disaster management battalions. It is responsible for the peacetime management of the 4096.70-km border with Bangladesh and 2289.66- km border with Pakistan. The BSF is also deployed along a 237.2-km stretch of the Line of Control from Akhnoor to Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir under the operational control of the Army.

The BSF’s responsibilities also include internal security duties, election duties, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, anti-Naxal operations and aid to civil authorities during natural calamities.

Like with all uniformed forces, physical standards and health issues are a major concern with the BSF. Given its operation role and nature of duties, high levels of fitness and training are required across the force’s hierarchy. In addition to physical fitness, stress among the rank and file is also an issue, for which various mitigating measures have been implemented.

Publicly available statistics by the Ministry of Home Affairs reveal that the leading cause of death among the personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), or paramilitary forces as they were known earlier, is not combat, but ill-health including cardiac disorders that are obesity-related.

The CAPFs include border guarding forces such as the BSF, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) and the Shashtra Seema Bal and the non-border guarding forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force and the Central Industrial Security Force.

Recently, the BSF introduced a three-week physical fitness course for officers of the rank of Commandant and Deputy Inspector General at the BSF Academy at Tekanpur. Earlier, some BSF officers were also sent to the ITBP Academy in Mussoorie for such training capsules.

About two years ago, the CAPFs had made it compulsory for all security personnel to undergo an annual mental health test to determine their well-being and where required, bring in corrective measures based on their assessment scores.

SC gives Centre a month’s time for giving permanent commission to women officers in Army

July 8, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

SC gives Centre a month's time for giving permanent commission to women officers in Army

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 7

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave one more month to the Centre to implement its February 17, 2020 verdict for permanent commission to women officers in the Army.

A Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud asked the government to ensure complete compliance with its order even as the Ministry of Defence said the decision making was at the final stage and only the formal order remained to be issued.

The top court’s orders will be complied with in letter and spirit, the government told the court, which agreed to give one additional month in view of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centre had sought six more months to implement the top court’s order for grant of permanent Commission to women officers and make provision for command posts for eligible women officers in the Army.

Noting that “the right to equality is a right to rationality,” the Supreme Court had on February 17 paved the way for women in command positions in the Army as it ordered the Government to consider granting permanent commission to all women officers in three months.

“An absolute bar on women seeking criteria or command appointments would not comport with the guarantee of equality under Article 14. Implicit in the guarantee of equality is that where the action of the state does differentiate between two classes of persons, it does not differentiate them in an unreasonable or irrational manner. In this sense, even at its bare minimum, the right to equality is a right to rationality,” a Justice Chandrachud-led Bench had said.

The Bench, however, had said, “Whether a particular candidate should or should not be granted a criteria or command assignment is a matter for the competent authority to consider having regard to all the exigencies of service, performance and organisational requirements.”

Noting that courts were conscious of the limitations, which issues of national security and policy imposed on the judicial evolution of doctrine in matters relating to the Armed forces, the Bench had made it clear that deployment of women officers in combat roles was a matter of policy as held by the Delhi High Court.

The top court said permanent commission can be given to women officers in the Army irrespective of their tenure of service. It also directed the Centre to grant permanent commission within three months to all women officers in the Army who opt for it.

It had termed as “disturbing” the government’s argument of physiological limitations and social norms for denying command posts to women officers and called for a change of mindset on the part of the government to put an end to gender bias in the armed forces.

Highlighting the laurels achieved by women officers, the Bench had said, “Their track record of service to the nation is beyond reproach. To cast aspersion on their abilities on the ground of gender is an affront not only to their dignity as women but to the dignity of the members of the Indian Army – men and women – who serve as equal citizens in a common mission.”

It had expressed strong displeasure over the Centre not implementing the 2010 Delhi High Court’s order allowing grant of permanent commission to women officers despite there being no stay on it, saying the government showed scant regard in implementing the directions for a decade.

Describing the engagement of women officers in the Army as an “evolutionary process” it had said the Centre should have implemented the high court verdict as there was no stay on it.

The top court’s order was based on the Centre’s policy decision conveyed to it on February 25, 2019 to grant of Permanent Commission to Short Service Commission women officers in all the 10 streams where women had been granted SSC in the Army.

“The decision of the Union Government to extend the grant of PC to other corps in the support arms and services recognizes that the physiological features of a woman have no significance to her equal entitlements under the Constitution,” it had said.

“Seventy years after the birth of a post-colonial independent state, there is still a need for change in attitudes and mindsets to recognise the commitment to the values of the Constitution,” it had said.

Six insurgents killed in encounter in Arunachal Pradesh

July 12, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

Six insurgents killed in encounter in Arunachal Pradesh

Six NSCN (IM) insurgents were killed in an encounter with security forces in Khonsa area of Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday. PTI photo

Six insurgents killed in encounter in Arunachal Pradesh

One soldier of Assam Rifles was injured in the operation, condition stable

New Delhi, July 11

Six NSCN (IM) insurgents were killed in an encounter with security forces in Khonsa area of Arunachal Pradesh early on Saturday morning, military sources said.

One soldier of Assam Rifles was injured in the operation and his condition was stated to be stable, they said.

Khonsa is in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh, and at a distance of 50 km from Tinsukia, a leading industrial town in Assam.

The encounter took place at around 4:30 am, the sources said, adding six weapons along with “war-like stores” were recovered from the area

The operation was launched by the Assam Rifles based on specific intelligence inputs that armed insurgents were present in the general area of Khonsa in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh.

“At approximately 4:30 hours, an operational contact was established with the NSCN (IM) insurgents in the area. In the ensuing firefight, six insurgents were neutralised,” said a source.

Arms and ammunition recovered after six NSCN (IM) insurgents were killed in an encounter with security forces in Khonsa area of Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday. PTI photo

The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) or NSCN (IM) is a militant outfit fighting for a separate homeland for Naga people for last several decades.

It has been holding talks with the Centre for resolution of the vexed six-decade-long Naga issue. PTI

Red tape leaves IAF’s Kargil heavyweight, Mi-26, out of LAC action

July 8, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

The overhaul of the fleet has been delayed for years

Red tape leaves IAF’s Kargil heavyweight, Mi-26, out of LAC action

According to IAF officers, the Mi-26 can lift up to 20 tonnes of load or accommodate 82 troops.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 8

Over 20 years ago in India’s last border conflict, the IAF’s Mi-26 heavy-lift helicopter had played a key role in the military build-up along the Line of Control (LoC) to evict Pakistani intruders, but during the current stand-off with Chinese troops on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) they have remained on ground as the overhaul of the fleet has been delayed for years.

The IAF has three Soviet-origin Mi-26s, the world’s largest helicopter, that are based with No 126 Helicopter Unit at Chandigarh, the same outfit that operates the newly inducted US-made CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter.

During the 1999 Kargil conflict, that was fought between mid-May to July-end, the Mi-26s had airlifted and positioned artillery guns, including the Bofors howitzers, which were instrumental in neutralising enemy bunkers, to strategic positions. In addition, they had also ferried troops and heavy equipment to the frontline.

According to IAF officers, the Mi-26 can lift up to 20 tonnes of load or accommodate 82 troops. “A Bofors gun that weighs 11,700 kg cannot be airlifted or tactically re-deployed by any other helicopter in a single sortie,” an IAF officer said. “Similarly, there is no other alternative to rapidly position trucks, fuel bowsers, specialist vehicles, bulldozers and construction equipment in remote areas,” he added.

The Chinooks, which were inducted in 2019, currently make up the IAF’s vertical heavy lift component, but their payload capacity is about half that of the Mi-26 and it cannot singularly airlift heavier equipment like the Bofors or a truck. Last year, in its report on capital acquisitions by the IAF, the Comptroller and Auditor General had made some critical observations on the selection process between the Mi-26 and Chinook.

In service with the IAF since 1986, the first Mi-26 was grounded in 2013, followed by the second in 2014 on expiry of their stipulated technical life. The third, though still fly-worthy, has remained non-operational since 2017, IAF sources said. They are required to be ferried to Russia for overhaul. The IAF set into motion the process to give a fresh lease of life to these grounded flying machines about four years ago but the plans remain mired in bureaucratic machinery.

Ideally, the first overhauled helicopter should have been back in service about five years ago, sources said, but apparently financial issues and some observations by officials in the Ministry of Defence have held up the overhaul process.

The IAF expects each helicopter to take 10-12 months for being returned to fly-worthy state. This would involve non-destructive analysis of the airframe, engine components and other systems to assess their integrity, replacement of certain parts and refurbishment of the flight deck and fuselage. The overhauled machines would be expected to continue serving for another 15-20 years.

The IAF had initially projected a requirement for six Mi-26s, but four were procured from the erstwhile Soviet Union. One was lost in a freak incident at Chandigarh in 1998, when it toppled over during a storm. It was replaced by a new helicopter in October 2002. In 2010 another Mi-26 crashed near Jammu while taking off.

Though expensive to maintain, the Mi-26s have performed yeoman’s service both during military operations as well as in aid to civil authorities during natural calamities. Besides air maintenance of forward posts, they have also airlifted heavy equipment and construction machinery for civilian infrastructure development projects.

China may win, without fighting | Opinion

July 12, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

The present path aids China’s strategy of attrition, friction, containment to harass, encircle and weigh India down

The present path aids China’s strategy of attrition, friction, containment to harass, encircle and weigh India down(REUTERS)

China’s territorial revisionism has been unrelenting. Under Mao Zedong, China more than doubled its size by annexing Tibet and Xinjiang, making it the world’s fourth- largest country in area. Under Xi Jinping, China’s expansionism increasingly threatens its neighbours, big and small. Xi’s regime has just opened a new territorial front against one of the world’s smallest countries, Bhutan, by disputing its eastern borders.

In this light, the outcome of China’s aggression against India will have an important bearing on Asian security. If the current India-China military disengagement ends up like the 2017 Doklam disengagement in making China the clear winner, an emboldened Xi regime will likely become a greater threat to neighbours.

China’s strategy after its disastrous 1979 invasion of Vietnam has been to win without fighting. Deception, concealment and surprise have driven China’s repeated use of force — from seizing the Johnson Reef in 1988 and the Mischief Reef in 1995 to occupying the Scarborough Shoal in 2012 and now vantage locations in Ladakh. It has changed the South China Sea’s geopolitical map without firing a shot or incurring any international costs.

ALSO WATCH | ‘Great damage to world’: Trump slams China as US backs India amid face-off

China has displayed its art of deception even in its disengagement process with India. The first accord of June 6 to disengage collapsed after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) erected structures on Indian territory and then ambushed and killed Indian Army men on verification patrol. The disengagement process restarted after Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi seemed to let China off the hook with his June 19 speech at the all-party meeting. But the fresh process became a ruse for PLA to encroach on two new Indian areas — the Depsang Y-Junction; and the Galwan Valley site of the ambush killings.

India and China are now in their third disengagement series. But while the previous two abortive rounds followed military-level talks, the latest cycle is being driven politically. We now know that Modi’s July 3 Ladakh visit, and his tough words there, were essentially designed to create domestic political space for his government to seek de-escalation with China. Barely 48 hours after his visit, India and China hammered out a disengagement deal.

Will the latest deal stick? Having encroached on key areas that overlook India’s defences, PLA is sitting pretty. A full return to status quo ante as sought by India seems remote, thanks to India’s own mixed signals. Moreover, by encroaching on additional areas behind the previous disengagement facade, China has armed itself with greater leverage to impose a revised status quo, including by applying the precept that “possession is nine-tenths of the law”.

Disengagement (pullback of rival forces from close proximity), if not de-escalation (ending hostilities through demobilisation of forces), meshes well with China’s interest in presenting India a fait accompli. Removing the threat of an Indian counteroffensive or Indian tit-for-tat land grab will help China win without fighting.

This explains why China has accepted disengagement — but on its terms. This is illustrated in the Galwan Valley, where India has pulled back from its own territory and created a “buffer zone” on its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). These steps, though temporary, create a new, China-advantageous status quo that PLA could seek to enforce because it keeps India out of China’s newly-claimed zone — the Galwan Valley.

The risk that, like at Doklam, the current disengagement may not end well for India is high. Instead of demonstrating strength and resolve, India has displayed zeal to end the stand-off, despite its armed forces being mobilised for possible war.

At a time when the international environment is beginning to turn against China, India could have prolonged the stand-off until winter to compel restoration of status quo ante. But, instead, it has kicked status quo ante down the road and settled merely for disengagement. This allows China to hold on its core territorial gains and trade the marginal occupied territories for Indian concessions, as part of its well-known “advance 10 miles and retreat six miles” strategy.

Far from imposing military costs, India has shied away even from trade actions against the aggressor, as if to preserve the option of another Modi-Xi summit. India’s steps so far (banning Chinese mobile apps and announcing an intent to restrict Chinese investment in some areas) have been designed to assuage public anger at home, but without imposing substantive costs on Beijing or damaging bilateral relations.

In 1967, a weak India, while recovering from the 1962 and 1965 wars, gave China a bloody nose. But in 2017 and again now, after its soldiers displayed extraordinary bravery in tackling China’s aggression, a nuclear-armed India hastily sought disengagement. Its decision-makers remain loath to fundamentally change the China policy even when faced with aggression.

Bite by bite, China has been nibbling away at India’s borderlands, even as successive Indian PMs have sought to appease it. When political calculations trump military factors and a nation lives by empty rhetoric, it can win neither war nor peace.

The present path risks locking India in a “no war, no peace” situation with China and imposing mounting security costs. This path aids China’s time-tested strategy of attrition, friction and containment to harass, encumber, encircle, deceive and weigh India down.

If India wants Himalayan peace, it must make China pay for its aggression to help create a deterrent effect. The present aggression — the most serious since the 1960s — resulted from India letting China off the hook too easily in 2017, allowing it to capture Doklam. And if China emerges the winner from the current crisis, its next aggression could be worse. Only a chastened China saddled with high costs and loss of face will rein in its aggressive expansionism.

Brahma Chellaney is a geostrategist.

The views expressed are personal

China holds trilateral with Pakistan, Afghanistan Comes day after India participated in a meeting of regional countries

July 8, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

China holds trilateral with Pakistan, Afghanistan

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 7

A day after India participated in a meeting of regional countries on promoting peace in Afghanistan and Pakistan held a Foreign Secretary-level trilateral with Afghanistan and China.

India had participated via video conference in a conference that had about 20 regional countries deliberating on promoting unity and stability in Afghanistan. Delivering his address, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani singled out Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing Covid-related assistance to Afghanistan and for initiating the SAARC leaders’ meeting for coordinated efforts in the region.

A day later, the third China-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral saw Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui (former Chinese envoy to India), Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Mirwais Nab and Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood discuss in greater depth the unfolding peace process including issues of release of prisoners and the return of refugees.

Both China and Pakistan appreciated the efforts by the Ghani government and “relevant parties” (Taliban) in expediting the exchange of the prisoners to pave the way for the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations. They also agreed that the return of Afghan refugees should be part of the peace and reconciliation process. India has virtually no role on both these issues.

The trilateral joint statement pointedly supported the World Health Organisation’s “leading role” in coordinating global COVID-19 response. China in turn has promised a constructive role in implementing the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS).

Significantly, the three sides agreed to continue to strengthen counter-terrorism and security cooperation. They also resolved to combat the “East Turkistan Islamic Movement”, and all other terrorist forces and networks posing threats to the common security of the three countries.

How PM Modi called China’s bluff in Ladakh, writes Shishir Gupta

July 12, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with the Indian troops during his visit to the forward post at Nimu in Ladakh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with the Indian troops during his visit to the forward post at Nimu in Ladakh(PTI)

After the successful outcome of the July 6 meeting between National Security Adviser and Special Representative for boundary talks, Ajit Doval, and his counterpart and Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, there has been a palpable lowering of tensions between the Indian and Chinese armies along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC). The aggressive Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has thinned its presence at Finger Four in Pangong Tso, has withdrawn from forward positions to base camps in the Galwan sector, and is on the way back to its April positions in the Gogra and Hot Springs area. Disengagement has begun with de-escalation to follow in next three weeks — three divisions (30,000 troops) each of the Indian and Chinese armies are still facing each other from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.

There is a certain amount of satisfaction among national security planners that the Indian military stood up to PLA, but the massive bilateral erosion of trust after the June 15 flare-up has convinced the Narendra Modi government that Beijing will be back on LAC, perhaps at Depsang Plains in Ladakh, next summer. For a country which believes that it is a global superpower, 2017 Doklam and 2020 Galwan are mere tactical mistakes in power projection and ambition.

That Prime Minister (PM) Modi will think a hundred times before he does a Wuhan or Chennai connect again with paramount leader Xi Jinping is akin to a traffic ticket for the Middle Kingdom. For a rampaging China, it is only the big picture that matters.

The Chinese expansionist posture in Ladakh is intertwined with the country’s plans in the South China Sea — something that is evident by looking at the world map. Beijing wants the Shyok river alignment to be the border with India in Ladakh so that the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is further away from the Indian military positions, and also to ensure it gets a better all-weather route linking the Tibet Highway in Aksai Chin to the Karakoram highway south of the Khunjerab pass.

With Pakistan now reduced to a client State of China, it is through the port of Balochistan that the PLA Navy will dominate the oil trade in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The Chinese base in Djibouti and Beijing’s huge influence on Africa’s eastern seaboard will allow it to dominate the sea route from Suez Canal. The strategic location of both the Gwadar and Djibouti bases makes this amply evident to any military planner.

The Chinese military’s ambition in the South China Sea is not only limited to dominating more than half of world trade passing through the Malacca, Lombard and Sunda Straits, but to also capture Taiwan as part of One China Policy to, then, break out from its backyard and contest the dominance of the Pacific Ocean with the United States (US) Japan and Australia. The military key to this posture is the presence of ballistic missile firing Chinese nuclear submarines at Yulin Naval Base at Hainan Islands, just north of Vietnam.

As a military plan, all this looked good and achievable, till such time India, under PM Modi, called the Ladakh bluff and the mighty US Navy simultaneously pincered Beijing by challenging the PLA Navy in the South China Sea. Currently, supercarriers USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz are not only orchestrating a full spectrum war game in the South China Sea but also daring Beijing’s mouthpieces who threaten to use DF-21 D and DF-26 “ship killer” nuclear missiles on carriers. The US task forces now dominate all the exit routes from the East and South China sea in Miyako, Bashi Channel and Luzon Strait through which the global internet cables pass undersea.

Asean countries are also unhappy with China, and Japan is finally standing up to Beijing in the Senkaku Island dispute. Australia and Canada have called out China, and Europe has finally woken up to the reality of a Communist State. If one were to look at the big picture, then the global pushback against China was inspired by the Galwan fightback and followed by US President Donald Trump translating America’s often stated but never implemented Asian Pivot objectives on the sea. The plight of the Buddhist people of Tibet and Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang under the traditionally xenophobic Han Chinese is back on the global agenda, and suddenly things don’t look so good for the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Rather than distracting countries from the global fight against the marauding coronavirus, which originated from Wuhan, by indulging in a war dance in Ladakh and the South China Sea, China should be at the forefront of the battle against the pandemic. It needs to de-escalate from both the areas and not wait for another opportunistic strike when the world is focused on US Presidential elections in November 2020 as it did against India in 1962 taking advantage of Cuban Missile Crisis.

Taking a leaf out of past paramount rulers, China needs to settle the borders on basis of the 2005 agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles of the India-China Boundary Question. President Xi surely understands the popularity of Modi, whom much of India followed faithfully through the painful demonetisation and total lockdown. But the global bully that China has become, it understands only the language of power, and the economic, military might and technological superiority of the US. Had the India-US nuclear deal been nixed by opponents in India, the 2005 border agreement would have never come through. Beijing will not forget 2020, the year of the metal rat in the Chinese calendar, in a hurry. The world, particularly India and the happy tiny kingdom of Bhutan, will hear the echoes of this in the future.

US military to stand with India in conflict with China, indicates White House official

July 8, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

We’re not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether it’s in that region or over here,’ White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said

US military to stand with India in conflict with China, indicates White House official

Photo for representation only

Washington, July 7

The US military “will continue to stand strong” in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else, a top White House official has said, after the Navy deployed two aircraft carriers to the strategic South China Sea to boost its presence in the region.

“The message is clear. We’re not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether it’s in that region or over here,” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News on Monday.

“And the message is clear. Our military might stands strong and will continue to stand strong, whether it’s in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else,” Meadows said in response to a question.

He was told that India banned Chinese apps because Indian soldiers were killed by Chinese troops last month and asked what’s mission of the two aircraft carriers – the Ronald Reagan and the Nimitz – and what’s America’s mission.

The troops of India and China are locked in an eight-week standoff in several areas in eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring. The situation deteriorated last month following the Galwan Valley clashes that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC.

The Chinese military on Monday began withdrawing troops from the Galwan Valley and Gogra Hot Spring after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held lengthy talks on Sunday. Doval and Wang are also the special representatives on the India-China boundary talks.

The United States has sent two of its aircraft carriers to the South China Sea. “Our mission is to make sure that the world knows that we still have the preeminent fighting force on the face of the globe,” Meadows said.

President Donald Trump has invested more in the US military, more in not only the hardware, but the men and women who serve so sacrificially each and every day, he said. “He (Trump) continues to do so,” he added.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter-claims over the area.

Meadows also hinted that President Trump might sign an executive order that relates to China, among other issues.

“I’ll give you a couple of hints, all right. So a sneak preview here. We’re going to be looking at how we make sure that China is addressed, how we bring manufacturing back from overseas to make sure the American worker is supported,” he said.

“We’re also going to look at a number of issues as it relates to immigration. We’re going to look at a number of issues as it relates to prescription drug prices and we’re going to get them done when Congress couldn’t get them done,” Meadows said.

Appearing on the same Fox News on Monday talk show with host Brian Kilmeade, influential Republican Senator Tom Cotton said that the US aircraft carriers are headed to the South China Sea to thwart off any Chinese misadventure against Taiwan or other countries in the region.

“That’s one of the reasons why we have those aircraft carrier groups in the South China Sea. I mean, look what China did in the southwest. It’s essentially invaded India over the last few weeks and killed Indian soldiers,” Cotton said.

“No country on China’s periphery, right now, is safe from Chinese aggression. All those countries want a close relationship with the United States. We ought to have one,” Cotton said. PTI

Era of expansionism over, PM calls out China Modi meets troops during unannounced Ladakh visit | Given first-hand account of Commander-level talks

July 8, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

Era of expansionism over, PM calls out China

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise early Friday visit to Ladakh marked a historic first as he sent out an unequivocal message directed at China with a declaration that the “era of expansionism is over” and that the Indian soldiers have demonstrated to the world the country’s strength by displaying their “fire and fury”.

Edit: Russia on board

The PM’s visit came amid a prolonged standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh, especially after the June 15 violent clashes in the Galwan valley that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

In an address to troops, Modi paid tributes to the fallen soldiers and said tales of the bravery and valour of the armed forces were echoing in every part of the country.

‘Enemies tasted fire and fury of our soldiers’

The bravery of 14 Corps will be talked about everywhere.

Tales of your bravery and valour are echoing in every house across the country.

Bharat Mata’s enemies have seen your fire and fury.— Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Hailing the bravery of soldiers as “unparalleled”, the PM said the “enemies of India had seen fire and fury of our forces”. Simultaneously, he reminded China, without naming it, the “era of expansionism is over”, in a clear declaration that any misadventure of transgressing the Indian territory would not be tolerated. He asserted bravery was a prerequisite for peace and that the weak could never accomplish it.

The PM’s visit to Nimu began with a strategic review of the situation in eastern Ladakh. XIV Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh gave the PM a first-hand account of the three rounds of Commander-level talks held with Chinese counterpart Major General Liu Lin in Chushul and Moldo over the past one month.

Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, who accompanied the PM from Delhi, were part of the review meeting. PM’s tone was passionate and full of messages, particularly to China and Pakistan that border Ladakh. While reflecting on the Galwan valley clashes, the PM said “due to the exemplary bravery of our armed forces in the recent weeks, the world has taken note of India’s strength”.

He sought to dispel any false notion about the country, saying India’s commitment to peace should not be seen as a weakness. He invoked Lord Krishna, saying: “We are the same people who pray to the flute-playing Lord Krishna, but we are also those who idolise the same Lord Krishna who carries the ‘Sudarshana Chakra’.”

The PM later visited a military hospital in Leh where he interacted with soldiers injured in the clashes.

Chinese troops have created a war-like situation because of their actions in the Galwan valley, Hot Springs, Pangong Tso and other areas in eastern Ladakh. These are seen as part of Beijing’s expansionist designs as it has not retreated to the April 2020 position despite military and diplomatic talks.

China under Xi agressive towards India: US report

China under Xi Jinping has stepped up its ‘aggressive’ foreign policy towards India and ‘resisted’ efforts to clarify the LAC that prevented a lasting peace from being realised, says a US Congress-appointed commission report. “Since 2013, China has engaged in five major altercations with India along the LAC,” it said. PTI

No power infra import

Power Minister RK Singh on Friday said India will not import electricity equipment from China, amid the ongoing border standoff. Equipment import from China and Pakistan would not be permitted, he said, while asking state discoms not to place orders for supply of equipment with Chinese firms. PTI

Delhi gets Japan backing

In a strong support to India over the LAC standoff, Japan on Friday said it opposed ‘any unilateral’ attempts to change the status quo in the region. After a meeting with FS Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Japanese Ambassador Satoshi Suzuki said they hoped for peaceful resolution of the row through talks. PTI

Mistrust as only one retreat step okayed No limit for 2nd, 3rd pullback stages

July 8, 2020 webadmin Leave a comment

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 7

A 3-km buffer zone between troops of India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh has raised fresh questions even as it is being implemented as a temporary measure.

Buffer zone dynamics

A 3-km buffer zone (1.5 km by each side) is being worked out along the LAC in Galwan, Hot Springs and Pangong Tso

For now, no patrolling will be carried out by either army in the buffer zone

Patrolling will be allowed to both sides after the 3-step disengagement process is complete, which may take months

A buffer zone of 1.5 km on each side bars patrolling by troops, meaning the Indian Army for now will not patrol the areas along the LAC which it once did. According to the agreement, patrolling will be allowed only when the entire three-step disengagement process is completed, and that might take many months. By then, winter will set in and snow will make it impossible to patrol some of the routes like Patrolling Point (PP)-14, PP-15 and PP-17A.

Mistrust continues to persist as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, at successive meetings conducted by Lt General-level commanders, has agreed to only the first step of pulling back troops from the friction areas along the LAC. The first step will be reviewed after two weeks. The PLA is yet to agree to a timeline for the second step, which includes pulling back the war-like stores — long-range guns, rockets, tanks — from the LAC. For that another round of meetings is to be conducted, meaning as of now there is no deadline for the second and third steps of the disengagement process.

Some of the disputes at Galwan and the Gogra-Hot Springs area are due to fresh claims being made by China. Earlier, there was no dispute about the LAC alignment in Galwan, as India “accepted” the Chinese claim line proposed in 1960 by its premier Zhou Enlai. China’s claim in June on the entire Galwan valley has been debunked by India. The LAC alignment at Gogra- Hot Springs is disputed and India does not accept China’s claims. At Pangong Tso, China is exercising claim over Finger-4, while India claims several kilometres east of it till Finger- 8. The LAC was drawn at Finger-8 as per China’s own claim in 1960.

An official said an ideal situation would be to have a buffer zone as per the April 2020 position. Another official recalled that the 2014 standoff at Chumur in south-eastern Ladakh had ended with a no-patrolling zone. It was created temporarily for a few weeks to reduce friction.

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ALL INDIA EX-SERVICEMEN JOINT ACTION FRONT

SANJHA MORCHA

CHAIRMAN ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA

BRIG PRAHALAD SINGH , Dogra Regt

PRESIDENT ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA ,Director (Hony) Sr Veterans Association, Ontario, .Member Indo- Canadian Veteran Association Canada

COL CHARANJIT SINGH,BENGAL SAPPERS

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JOINT PRESIDENT ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA

COL AVTAR SINGH BHINDER, SIKH REGT

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PRESIDENT DISTT PATIALA CUM JOINT SECRETARY SANJHA MORCHA

CAPT KUSHWANT SINGH DHILLON,BOMBAY SAPPERS

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PRESIDENT CALCUTTA ZONE SANJHA MORCHA

MAJOR JOGINDER SINGH KOCHAR

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EX-SERVICEMEN COORDINATOR : MOHALI

HAV NASIB SINGH , Engineers

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MAJOR GEN HARVIJAY SINGH, SENA MEDAL ,corps of signals

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PRESIDENT CHANDIGARH ZONE

COL SHANJIT SINGH BHULLAR

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PRESIDENT ALL INDIA
SANJHA MORCHA ,
Director (Hony) Sr Veterans Association, Ontario,
.Member Indo- Canadian Veteran Association Canada

JOINT PRESIDENT ALL INDIA
SANJHA MORCHA

PRESIDENT DISTT PATIALA CUM JOINT SECRETARY
SANJHA MORCHA

15 Th PRESIDENT OF INDIA
SUPREME COMMANDER ARMED FORCES