Monthly Archives: August 2018

United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak presents the Points of Light award to veteran soldier Rajindar Singh Dhatt during a reception organised to celebrate India Global Forum’s UK-India Week 2023, at 10 Downing Street in London, on Wednesday. PTI Photo

PTI

London, June 29

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has honoured Rajindar Singh Dhatt, one of the last surviving Sikh soldiers who fought in the Second World War with a Points of Light honour at a UK-India Week reception at 10 Downing Street.

Dhatt, 101, was recognised on Wednesday for his service and his work running the “Undivided Indian Ex-Servicemen’s Association” to help bring together British Indian war veterans.

Dhatt, based in Hounslow in southwest London since 1963, was born in pre-Partition India in 1921 and fought with the Allied forces during the British colonial period.

“It is an immense honour to receive this recognition from the Prime Minister, to whom I would like to extend my deepest appreciation for acknowledging the importance and impact of the ‘Undivided Indian Ex-Servicemen’s Association’,” said Dhatt.

“The journey of establishing this organisation was driven by a deep sense of duty as an ex-serviceman and the vision of fostering unity, support, and camaraderie. This award serves as a testament to the tireless efforts of countless individuals who have contributed to the success and growth of the association over the years,” he said.

“Their unwavering commitment and selfless service has played a pivotal role in bringing about positive change in the lives of our ex-servicemen and their families,” he added.

Dhatt joined the British Indian Army during the Second World War and excelled up the ranks, being promoted to Havildar Major (Sergeant Major) in 1943.

He was later drafted to the Far East campaign to fight in Kohima in northeast India to support the Allied Forces and help break through the Japanese defences, Downing Street said. After the war, Dhatt returned to India before settling in London with his family.

His association recently created an online community for veterans, sharing articles about personal stories and opportunities to connect. Dhatt also continues to speak at memorial events and work with war veteran charities, including the Royal British Legion and the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, telling stories through teaching packs and online resources.

Dhatt said the award is a “momentous occasion” that inspires him to continue making meaningful contributions to society, even as he nears his 102nd birthday.

According to Downing Street, the Points of Light recognise outstanding people whose service is making a difference in their communities and whose stories can inspire others towards innovative solutions to social challenges in their own communities and beyond.

Dhatt’s honour coincided with a Downing Street reception celebrating India Global Forum’s UK-India Week celebration of the bilateral relationship, where Prime Minister Sunak spoke of Dhatt as an “incredible man” and thanked him for his service as a member of the Indian diaspora “living bridge”.  

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

“The victory in World War II was a triumph for the concept of the complete integration of the three dimensions of war — ground, sea and air… The great lesson for the future is that success in the art of war depends upon a complete integration of the Services.”

General Douglas MacArthur,

Commander of Allied forces in

Southwest Pacific Theatre

IT was a chilly morning on January 6, 1949. At 6.30 am, DS Sabhiki was the first cadet to report at the makeshift Joint Services Wing (JSW) academy in Clement Town, Dehradun. The barracks which housed Italian prisoners of war during World War II were spruced up for the first batch of JSW. Over four days, close to 190 cadets reported — 144 for the Army, 25 for the Navy and 21 for the Air Force. Among them were SF Rodrigues, NC Suri and L Ramdas, who later became chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy, respectively. Their batchmates RM Vohra, Hanut Singh and KS Pannu won the Maha Vir Chakra in the 1971 war. Sabhiki rose to the rank of Air Marshal and returned as Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA), his alma mater, in 1988.

Setting up a joint training academy to bring about synergy among the three arms of military was a significant lesson World War II taught the strategists. On May 2, 1945, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir Claude J Auchinleck, to examine the viability of training officers of the Army, Air Force and Navy together. There was no such institution across the world at the time.

Events lined up till January next year

• NDA has initiated a year-long series of events under ‘75 Glorious Year Celebrations (GYC)’ from January 16, 2023. Some of the events include ‘Open Sailing Regatta’, ‘Superdimona Ferry’, drawing, painting and poetry competitions, and the inter-school competition ‘WIZQUIZ’.
• The celebrations will culminate in a grand finale on January 15 and 16, 2024, where alumni are also invited. Activities on both days would include a leadership seminar, ceremonial events, sporting activities involving alumni and cadets, and cultural evenings.

The committee worked on the idea for 16 months. After Auchinleck left India following Partition, the idea was put on the back burner. The report was finally referred to the Chiefs of Staff Committee in 1947. An interim JSW at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, was given the go-ahead while a plan for a permanent war academy at Khadakwasla in Pune was envisioned. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of the NDA on October 6, 1949.

Three eminent educationists and a representative from each of the three Services visited military training institutions in the UK, USA and Canada. The Indian Military Academy was modelled along the lines of Sandhurst (UK) but the NDA was largely influenced by the US Military Academy at West Point.

Gift from Sudan

The Sudanese government had gifted £1,00,000 to Lord Linlithgow, then Viceroy of India (1936-1944), for a war memorial to commemorate the sacrifices of the Indian troops for the liberation of Sudan during World War II. The corpus was utilised to build the Sudan block at the NDA. The Sudan block resembles a field gun of the Army. On one side of it is the Vyas Library that appears like an anchor, and on the other, Habibullah Hall that is shaped like an aircraft.

On January 16, 1955, the NDA was formally inaugurated. The book ‘National Defence Academy: The Cradle of Military Leadership’ mentions that Khadakwasla was chosen for its “salubrious climatic conditions, suitability of terrain for military training, proximity to the Arabian Sea, the existence of an operational airfield at Lohegaon, vicinity of military establishments and the presence of a lake nearby”. Spread over 6,720 acres, NDA is situated with Sinhgad Fort (Lion’s Fort) in the backdrop.

More than 38,000 cadets have been trained into scholar-warriors at the NDA so far, along with over 1,000 cadets from friendly foreign countries.

Milestones

October 6, 1949: PM Jawaharlal Nehru lays the foundation stone of NDA

January 16, 1955: NDA is formally inaugurated

June 5, 1955: First Passing-Out Parade takes place at Khadakwasla, attended by PM Nehru

May 30, 1959: Sudan block unveiled

December 16, 1978: President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy presents colours to NDA in recognition of 30 years of service

September 22, 2021: Supreme Court orders Centre to admit women cadets from the current session

Unique jointmanship

Air Marshal KS Gill (retd), who served as the Commandant of NDA from 2013-14, describes it as a unique academy premised on the solid foundation of academic and service training. “The education branch caters to 70 per cent of the training and offers graduation courses, along with a degree in BTech. The adaptability trait and constantly-evolving patterns of academics define NDA’s vision towards jointmanship.”

Air Marshal Jasjit Singh Kler (retd), who served as the Commandant of NDA from 2016-2018, agrees that only the physical regimen has not been diluted since it directly impacts the mental strength of the cadets. “In my heyday, we were not tech-savvy but now we produce scholar-warriors — the tip of the spear.”

On what makes NDA passouts stand out as officers, Air Marshal Gill says the proof of the pudding is in the way the young officers fought from the front in 1971 and in Kargil. “Our brave soldiers have demonstrated the academy motto ‘service before self’ during the testing times — each time, every time.”

On comparisons with foreign armies, Air Marshal Kler says, “Our ability to lead from the front in any battle scenario makes us stand out. Officers of the Indian armed forces tower head and shoulders above the rest with their traits of ethos, commitment, courage, the ‘izzat’ of the regiment, and the adulation of the men they command.”

The inclusion of women cadets does not surprise the veterans. “As of today, 38 are being trained. They were able to make a smooth entry due to the embracing approach and adaptability trait of NDA,” says Gill. It was inevitable, adds Kler. “Despite the hullabaloo, the girls will only add to the essence of our armed forces and give us strength. Of course, their exposure in combat will be a graded response.”

Lt Gen KJ Singh (retd), former Army Commander, Western Command, recalls the Passing-Out Parade (POP), or the lack of it, of his 50th course (1973). “It was a larger course, 300-plus. We had the dubious record of graduating without the POP, as there was a storm. Our Commandant, Rear Admiral MP Awati, in his usual cool style, remarked, ‘When you have an Admiral at the helm, water and sea will come to you.’ POP or no POP, that day is etched in our memory.”

Gruelling training

A typical day for a cadet starts at 4.30 am and by 10.30 pm, he or she has to go to sleep. Retired Junior Warrant Officer Pradip Mallick was the Physical Training Instructor at NDA from 2003 to 2008. “If a cadet is not physically fit, he can’t be mentally fit. There is no shortcut for moulding young cadets from various backgrounds into fighting-fit officers strong in every field. Instructors have to work equally hard and give extra time to weak cadets.”

He recalls how Ground Training Instructors from the Air Force had to undergo a three-month course at the Army School of Physical Training in Pune before imparting training at NDA. “Only the best instructors are posted at training centres.”

On moulding 18-year-olds, Maj Gen Raj Mehta (retd), who served as an instructor at NDA from 1981-1984 as a Captain/Major, says, “You need to become a child to teach a child. How would you teach a cadet to face life’s challenges? You have to emphasise taking challenges as serious fun. In the end, it’s mental strength which makes you succeed. For that, you need patience and you only learn from mistakes.”

Citing an example, he says, “You are facing bullets. A task has to be completed with minimum loss and maximum gain. Your bullet has to hit the enemy, and you have to dodge his bullet. There may be other ways to make him surrender. Now, it is a mental thing and not a physical one. A soldier in the end will say that his best friend was the failures he experienced.”

On reporting to the NDA, a cadet is allotted one of the 18 squadrons which then becomes his/her home for the next three years. Admiral Sunil Lanba (retd), former Chief of Naval Staff, is from the 51st course of NDA. “My favourite memory,” he says, “was being part of the Golf Squadron. There were 15 of us who joined together. If any of us made a mistake, all 15 used to be punished. Such was the bonding.”

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 27

The Army is verifying allegations against a Major posted in Kashmir that troops had forced worshippers in a Pulwama mosque to chant Jai Shree Ram, said sources. NC chief Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti have demanded a probe.

Mehbooba Mufti had tweeted that she was shocked to hear about it. She asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a probe. Omar had in his tweet tagged Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking an investigation.

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Gp Capt Murli Menon (Retd)

Defence analyst

The mutiny or rebellion, or whatever it is being presented as by the Russian establishment, shows apparent cracks in President Putin’s overwhelming authority, and could well force him to exit the Ukraine war on unfavourable terms. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group poses a direct challenge after forcing an amnesty agreement on Moscow. Having overrun two Russian cities, Wagner was threatening a march to Moscow itself, till the deal stopped its advance. Though Moscow accused the group of treason, all charges were subsequently dropped. The Wagner troops are expected to return to their bases and regroup in western Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus was apparently the one who negotiated Putin’s deal with Wagner.

Unregulated elements such as Wagner Group can cause incalculable damage to Russia’s polity.

A probable NATO hand in these developments cannot be ruled out, seeing the dramatic manner in which the once-loyal fringe group, Putin’s own militia deployed earlier in Crimea and Syria, rose up in arms. The statement by Prigozhin about the Ukraine invasion being uncalled-for and a result of career ambitions of Russian Generals does not augur well for Putin. Prigozhin was last seen leaving Rostov-on-Don, one of the cities in which military facilities were taken over by his fighters. Apparently, Russia has interfered with Wagner’s normal communication lines and more details of the rebellion would emerge once these are restored. US Secretary of State Blinken is of the opinion that it is too early to predict the course of the war, now that Putin has to defend Moscow against a mercenary entity of his own machinations.

The Wagner Group had an easy run pushing towards Moscow before the truce was called. More importantly, Prigozhin is a free man who could well orchestrate further problems for Putin down the line. A former criminal cultivated by Putin to fight his shadow wars in Syria and Mali, he formed the Wagner Group in 2014, publicly denying raising the private militia. The deniability built into Wagner’s operations had made him a favourite with the Russian leader. As a mercenary at ease with violence, Prigozhin was an outsider to Putin’s close coterie of advisers, and known to have a perennial animosity towards Valery Gerasimo, head of Russian military, and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. Most of Putin’s cronies hailed from his hometown of St Petersburg, whereas Shoigu was born in a tiny rural area along the Russo-Mongolian border. It is interesting that despite leading the Russian military for over a decade, Defence Minister Shoigu has never served in uniform. Prigozhin’s anti-military stance is known to have got exacerbated after the Wagner Group’s rout in the bloody Battle of Bakhmut, wherein several Wagners, recruited from Russia’s jails, are known to have perished. These in-house rivalries are part of Putin’s style of functioning. Prigozhin also nursed a grudge over the Russian military withholding ammunition for his troops.

It is believed that Putin had a virtual “trip wire” to prevent a coup, with all actors in the drama checkmating each other. Some analysts believe that Putin is in favour of prolonging the Ukraine war mainly to benefit the 10-odd defence corporations bankrolling the Ukraine operations. The Wagner Group itself is known to have booty close to $50 million. But there is no gainsaying that prolongation of the Ukraine war holds a serious domestic political risk for the entire Russian Federation and for Putin himself. The Wagner Group could well regroup in Belarus and keep their shadow operations going from there. On the whole, the situation is murky and could well deteriorate into a civil war in Russia. Wagner may not itself have any air force of its own, but it’s a question of time before that happens. Unregulated elements such as these may support short-term ambitions of autocratic leaders but can cause incalculable damage to Russia’s polity. The European NATO countries would love to see Putin stew in his own soup, no doubt, and the supply of planes, tanks and howitzers orchestrated by the US would ultimately beef up Ukraine sufficiently to sustain the war, and perhaps ultimately sound the death knell for Putin and his ambitions. The Russia-Ukraine war is rather unconventional in that the use of air power has been curtailed largely and the deployment of drones has also been limited. The Iranians are known to have supplied attack drones to Russia and these could well find employability by the Wagner Group, creating substantial problems for Russian armour in border areas as well as Russian ground troops. Countries like Turkey would like to cash in on the profitability of selling assets such as Bayraktar.

For the kind of ground operations envisaged, with limited distances and manoeuvres, it is conceivable that the air situation could turn into what happened in Nagorno-Karabakh with the Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Drones would then play an important role in the ground battle and city warfare. Sabotage operations by Ukrainians against Russian assets and by the Wagner Group, against whosoever they perceive as inimical, would be the highlights of the war in Europe going forward. As for the air war, the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s by NATO and the possible influx of additional MiG-29s to beef up the Ukrainian air force are noteworthy. On the pros and cons of bringing in armed private militias into regular combat, the advantages of dramatic surprise attacks that Wagner offered were clearly negated by the chaos and unreliability posed by its nefarious wheeling-dealing and guerrilla warfare. There is no substitute for regular volunteer fighting forces, wherever be the theatre of war. The Russian mafia gangs of the Soviet era seem to have spurred unaccountability, as espoused by the likes of the Wagner Group. 

Action aimed at deterring Imran’s sympathisers

Pakistan army has sacked three officers, including a Lt General, and taken disciplinary action against three Major Generals and seven Brigadiers for their failure to protect key military installations during the violence that erupted on May 9 after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. File photo
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IN a desperate bid to reassert its authority, the Pakistan army has sacked three officers, including a Lt General, and taken disciplinary action against three Major Generals and seven Brigadiers for their failure to protect key military installations during the violence that erupted on May 9 after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. In all, more than 100 people are on trial in military courts in connection with the attacks on over 20 defence installations and government buildings, including the Lahore Corps Commander House, the Mianwali airbase, the ISI building in Faisalabad and the army headquarters in Rawalpindi.

The violence, allegedly perpetrated by supporters of Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, had exposed disunity within the military, which has had a stranglehold on the country’s polity over the decades. The fact that pro-Imran protesters managed to storm heavily guarded premises left no room for doubt that some insiders were in league with them. The Inter-Services Public Relations Director General, Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif, has claimed that there is a system of ‘strict self-accountability’ within the military and action is taken irrespective of post or position. The thinly veiled warning is that defence officers or their family members whose sympathies are with Imran will not be spared.

With the General Election due later this year, the military and the Shehbaz Sharif government are going all out to defang Imran and his loyalists. Playing the victim card to the hilt, the popular ex-PM has alleged that he and other PTI leaders are being targeted because of his relentless tirade against the army. The military’s two-pronged strategy — a crackdown on the PTI top brass and a purge within its own ranks — could help it regain control. Or else, the ploy may backfire and tilt the electoral scales Imran’s way. In either case, the economically crippled Pakistan needs to brace itself for a long spell of political unrest.https://cdn.vuukle.com/widgets/quiz.html?version=1.2.1Advertisement

Ajay Banerjee

After the United States offered India cutting-edge, elusive and restricted technologies on making aero-engines for fighter jets, armed drones, semiconductors, space-based radars, quantum computing and 6G communications, New Delhi has made a strategic shift — away from being Russia-centric or France-centric — to access such technologies. Aero-engines and armed drones are military-use equipment. The other technologies are dual-use, which aid critical applications of modern-day militaries during peace and conflict.

The bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Washington DC on June 22 had unprecedented announcements on technology sharing. From New Delhi’s point of view, it would be imprudent to term the shift pro-American, or ‘moving away’ from Russia, its longstanding ally. For now, it’s just about getting partners for the elusive military technology as threats from China rise.

In the past 60 years, India has licensed-produced military equipment of Russian/Soviet Union parentage, including T-90 tanks, Sukhoi 30 MKI and MiG-21 jets. India and Russia co-produced the BrahMos missile. Moscow handheld India in the nuclear submarine programme; it converted a warship into an aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, and supplied the S400 air-defence missile system.

Similarly, France joined hands with India to make the Scorpene class submarines in India. It sold the cutting-edge Rafale jets in 2019 and in 1980s, provided the Mirage 2000 jets, the latest at the time.

Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in March released its assessment for a five-year period (2018-2022). It said: “Russia remains the largest supplier of major arms and supplied 45 per cent of all Indian imports.” France and the US were second and third with 29 per cent and 11 per cent share, respectively. The report compared the five-year period with the previous five-year period to show that Russia’s share in India’s market was declining.

New Delhi was officially ‘non-aligned’ during the Cold War (1945-1991) but was an ally of the Soviet Union, including signing in August 1971 the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation. It allowed Soviet Union to intervene to stall a possible US strike during the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

The India-US strategic relations took baby steps after the Cold War. In 1995, the two agreed on having ‘defence relations’. Ten years later, in 2005, the two signed a ‘framework of defence relationship’. A buyer-seller relationship emerged. India sourced planes like the C-17, C-130 and the Boeing P8I maritime reconnaissance planes. Helicopters included the Apache, the Chinook and the submarine-hunting MH 60R. There was no technology transfer involved.

The India-US technology shift was described thus by President Biden at the joint press conference: “We have made critical and emerging technologies the pillar of our next-generation partnership.” Biden is not off the mark, as over the next three decades, US-origin technology will be a part and parcel of India’s war-fighting effort.

US-origin engines

US aerospace giant General Electric (GE) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will produce the GE-F414 engines for fighter jets in India. The US okaying technology transfer of 80 per cent of the engine means a geo-strategic shift is set to unfold.

US-origin engines could be put on 440 fighter jets scheduled to be made in India over the next two decades. This includes the 83 Tejas Mark 1A, the production of which starts in February using the already contracted General Electric engine F404.

The next lot of Indian jets will get the higher-powered F414 engine with a 98 kilo newton (kN) thrust. The F414 engine is good for 130 of the Tejas Mark 2 jets and 100 of the twin-engine deck-based fighters (TEDBF) for the Indian Navy. Besides this, the 126 Indian Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) are planned in two phases. The F414 engine is compatible with the first lot of 40 AMCAs. For the later version, GE has submitted a proposal of co-developing and co-manufacturing a higher-powered 110 kilo newton thrust engine, it is learnt.

The Tejas Mark 1 — 40 jets have been inducted in the Indian Air Force — is powered by GE F404. The transfer of technology includes critical and restricted technologies like crystal blade coating, laser drilling and polymers, to name a few. The US, France, UK and Russia have these elusive technologies. “India will get technology never transferred to any country,” said a top functionary in the defence establishment.

Access to armed drones

Some three years ago, in August 2020, India, during the military standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), leased two MQ-9A surveillance drones from the US company General Atomics. The images and videos beamed live to controllers on the ground provided inputs at a much lesser cost than a manned surveillance plane.

Now, India is ready to induct 31 armed drones, the MQ-9B, made by General Atomics. The US and its allies like the UK, Japan, Canada or Australia have these.

Former Deputy Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh (retd), says: “The MQ-9A increased our maritime domain awareness. The MQ-9B has better sensors, range, endurance, electronic surveillance and can carry weapons.”

The India-US joint statement said: “MQ-9Bs will be assembled in India. General Atomics will also establish a comprehensive global MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) facility in India to support India’s long-term goals to boost indigenous defence capabilities”. That means, similar drones of other countries can undergo repair and overhaul here. Indian-origin Vivek Lall, Chief Executive of General Atomics Global Corporation, was leading this effort of getting India on board.

The MQ-9B is classified as a category-1 equipment under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). It can be used to target enemy positions on ground, warships at sea, submarines, airbases and even small targets like planes, besides providing 24×7 surveillance capability.

At sea, the drones buttress the Navy’s fleet of P8I surveillance planes. “The drones can pick up signals from existing ‘sonobuoys’ at sea and remain focussed on target for longer periods,” says Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh. On land, the Himalayas create a boundary between India and China. Vast areas that are physically inaccessible will be monitored by the drones.

US warship repairs

In August last year, US Navy Ship (USNS) Charles Drew arrived at L&T’s shipyard at Kattupalli, Chennai, for repairs, the first ever repair of a US Navy ship in India.

The Ministry of Defence said it “assumes special significance in the strategic partnership and marks the beginning of a new chapter for deeper engagements”.

Now, apart from L&T, the US Navy is finalising ship repair agreements with Mazagon Docks Limited, Mumbai, and Goa Shipyard. “These will allow mid-voyage US Navy ships to undergo service and repair, facilitating cost-effective and (be) time-saving,” a fact sheet issued by the White House said. The Indo-US Defence Industrial Roadmap looks to work together for the creation of logistic, repair and maintenance infrastructure for aircraft and vessels in India.

Space missions

In April 2024, it will be 40 years since Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma’s space flight onboard a Russian spacecraft. The year will mark a major transition for India-US space activities. NASA and ISRO have announced a joint manned mission to the International Space Station. Also, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is to be launched in 2024.

The radar of the satellite was delivered to ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru in March this year. ISRO has identified a range of applications of relevance to India, including monitoring of snow and glacier studies, coastal and ocean studies. India’s boundary with China and a large part of the boundary with Pakistan are snow-bound.

India and USA also have a Space Situational Awareness (SSA) arrangement. The India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group spans cutting-edge earth observation capabilities to interplanetary exploration. India is now a signatory to the Artemis Accords and joins 26 countries committed to the peaceful, sustainable and transparent exploration of Moon, Mars, and beyond. Another $318 million investment has been made to construct a Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory in India, which will work in tandem with US, Europe and Japan.

Semiconductors, the holy grail

Semiconductors are used by the military for avionics on warships, planes, guiding missiles, computing and communications, among other applications. SCL-Mohali, BEL and HAL cater to the defence and space sectors. Capacities are limited and technology has overtaken these public sector entities.

The Modi-Biden meet announced a $825 million investment by Micron Technology, another $400 million by Applied Materials, while Lam Research will train 60,000 engineers. The new ecosystem is expected to spill over into the military and strategic domains in terms of knowledge. Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar termed these “significant and meaningful milestones”.

Crucial information sharing

The US and India are working to strengthen undersea domain awareness cooperation. For the first time, Indian liaison officers will be placed in three US commands — deepening critical information sharing. The two sides are in talks for a Security of Supply Arrangement and Reciprocal Defence Procurement Arrangement that will enable the supply of defence goods in the event of unanticipated supply chain disruptions.

The defence industries are enabled for co-production of advanced systems as well as collaborative research, testing and prototyping of the technologies that will determine the future of military power.

Yes we all are to be grateful to those who packed our parachutes. There is none in this world who can say he does not need help.
That is the reason why I help anyone who approaches me.
Who knows when I need help?
We are not happy with what we have. But when we see those who do not have what we have, we all must thank God for His Blessings he showered on us.
Thank you Wg Cdr Gurmail Singh Sir for this video.

Kham Khan Suan Hausing

Prof & head, Political Science Dept, University of HyderabadAdvertisement

ONE hundred and forty years ago and six years after the British Raj fixed a 509 sq km Inner Line Reserve Forest in 1877, which sought to enclose a large part of what now constitutes Mizoram, the then Deputy Commissioner of Cachar reported in 1883 that four Lushai (Mizo) who ventured to tap rubber in this reserve were ‘shot down like birds’ on the pretext that they were ‘encroachers’.

The gay abandon with which this killing happened and was reported resonates powerfully in the wave of violence that Manipur has witnessed since May 3, when the state’s high-handed attempt to transform the Kuki-Zomi into ‘encroachers’ without following established procedures constitutes one of the major sources of structural violence against this community.

The deafening silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for over 50 days and the refusal to impose the President’s rule to establish a semblance of law and order underscores the Centre’s abdication of constitutional responsibility. Not surprisingly, this continues to perpetuate structural violence against the Kuki-Zomi and allows Manipur to remain an island of lawlessness. Over 120 (including 94 Kuki-Zomi) lives have been lost, 355 churches and over 200 (including 160 Kuki-Zomi) villages burnt, and more than 50,000 (including over 41,000 Kuki-Zomi) have been displaced as a result.Advertisement

What is common in the 1883 killings and the current situation are the unilateral targeting of the Kuki-Zomi as ‘encroachers’ — and by implication, ‘troublemakers’ — and the high-handedness with which they were sought to be resolved by the colonial and post-colonial states. What is often ignored is a contextual understanding where hitherto owners and protectors of forest commons are sought to be transformed overtime into ‘encroachers’ by the state. The 1883 shooting emanated from the sidelines of modern state-making and state expansion that got fixated in a ‘territorial trap’ of fixing its border and in the enclosure of forest commons in an otherwise fluid and fuzzy land frontier; the current Manipur violence also stems largely from this, plus the high-handed manner in which the ‘protected forest’ (PF) concept has been sought to be implemented since October 2022.

On close scrutiny, you find that the Churachandpur-Khoupum PF, declared in 1966 under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, to cover some 38 villages spread across 500 sq km, was contested from the very outset. Not surprisingly, assistant settlement officers (ASOs) mandated by this Act reviewed the contestation and demand for the exclusion of these villages from 1971 to 1988. As many as 24 villages, spanning over 470 sq km, were excluded from the PF as a result.

However, Biren Singh’s BJP government, which began reviewing this matter in June 2022, nullified these exclusions in October 2022 on the pretext that the relevant ASOs did not conduct a proper inquiry before exclusions were made. At the heart of this is the contestation over uti possidetis juris, an internationally accepted legal principle which recognises the historical rights of actual owners of land and property.

Given that the state government does not have khas land (wasteland) in the tribal hill areas as the land belong to the tribal communities or village chiefs, and given that the hill areas are excluded from cadastral survey, the state is required to vet matters such as the declaration of certain areas under the PF to the village authorities, district councils and Hill Areas Committee (HAC), as mandated by law under Article 371C.

This point was underscored by the HAC in March 2021, when it resolved that the arbitrary extension of provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, after 1972 without routing the matter to it, as mandated by law, would be null and void.

Instead of following the established procedure, Singh’s government came up with a set of satellite images covering a limited time space to bypass this and demonstrate that various new Kuki village settlements ‘encroached’ upon this PF. The eviction drive that it started on February 20 at Songjang village antagonised the Kuki-Zomi group. The refusal to regularise the tribal churches which possess dag chitha (paper document) — as against the 188 Meitei Hindu temples it has regularised since 2010 — and the eviction and demolition of three tribal churches in Imphal at night on April 11 in violation of the law — which mandated that no demolition be made before sunrise and after sunset — reinforced the high-handedness of the state.Advertisement

Meanwhile, various Meitei Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were mobilised to support the eviction drive and a larger narrative was built to target Kuki-Zomi groups as ‘encroachers’, ‘illegal immigrants’, ‘poppy cultivators’ and ‘narco-terrorists’. This happened notwithstanding the fact that all communities are involved in poppy cultivation and drugs trade. Interestingly, out of the 2,438 drug traders caught during 2017-22, the Kuki-Chin, Meiteis and Pangals (Muslims) account for 33 per cent, 15 per cent and 43.5 per cent, respectively. Former police officer Thounaojam Brinda’s major drug expose in 2018, and Uripok MLA Raghumani Singh’s recent letter to Amit Shah demonstrate the direct involvement of high-ranking political leaders, who, in collusion with proscribed Meitei armed groups, control and play conduits to a larger international drugs-and-guns-trade network.

The centrality of land and the Meiteis’ grievances surrounding their lack of access to control tribal land and resources as the major source of Manipur’s violence must not be lost in the midst of the rancorous contestation. In the past, the discovery of tea, oil, rubber and coal since the 1840s in the North-East drove the state’s desire for territorial expansion and framing of a new land use policy in ways that augment the state’s revenue; in much the same way, the discovery in 2010 of a massive deposit of natural gas in the erstwhile Lamka (Churachandpur) district, which sits on the fertile Assam-Arakan basin, drives the state and majoritarian-minded Meitei CSOs to have direct control and access to resources in the tribal hill areas. The identification of 17 out the 32 natural gas fields in Lamka and Pherzawl districts by the Netherlands-based Jubilant Energy, which signed Petroleum Exploratory Licence with the Government of India in 2010, whipped up the desire of the integrationist state and majoritarian-minded Meitei CSOs.Advertisement

The Meiteis’ demand for Scheduled Tribe status, which gained momentum around this time, is seen by the tribals as a larger ploy to manipulate and bypass established procedures which protect tribal rights on land and resources. The choice for New Delhi is, therefore, stark: perpetuate structural violence against the Kuki-Zomi in gay abandon by projecting them as ‘troublemakers’, or invoke the political will to commit itself to upholding constitutional provisions to secure distinctive tribal rights and demand for a separate administration against the absolute autocracy of the majority. 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 22

The Border Security Force (BSF) has seized a Pakistani drone along with 2 kg narcotics near the International Border in the Fazilka sector on Thursday morning.

A search operation was launched by the BSF on the outskirts of Jodhawala village in the morning based on specific information, a BSF officer said.

During the search, at 6.45 am, BSF personnel found a drone along with a bag containing two packets of narcotics from the fields adjoining the village, he added.

The recovered drone is a quadcopter of DJI Matrice 300 RTK series.