Monthly Archives: August 2018

President Yoon Suk Yeol says if North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response

AP

Seoul, September 26

South Korea’s president vowed to retaliate immediately against any potential provocations by North Korea in his Armed Forces Day speech on Tuesday, as thousands of troops prepared to march through the capital in the country’s first such military parade in 10 years.

The show of force comes as concerns grow that North Korea is seeking Russian help in expanding its nuclear arsenal in return for supplying Moscow with conventional arms exhausted by its war with Ukraine.

“Based on battle-ready combat capabilities and a solid readiness posture, our military will immediately retaliate against any North Korean provocation,” President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a ceremony after reviewing soldiers and advanced conventional weapons systems at a military airport near Seoul.

“If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response” from the South Korean-US alliance, he said.

Yoon said he would strive to build “a strong military that instills fear in the enemy.”

Later Tuesday, about 4,600 South Korean soldiers, accompanied by more than 300 US combat troops, were to parade through the streets of Seoul along with tanks, missiles and other weapons to display their readiness. South Korea last held such a parade in 2013.

Worries about North Korean-Russian military ties flared earlier this month when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia’s far eastern region to meet with President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites.

North Korea reportedly wants to receive Russian technologies to help its development of spy satellites, nuclear-propelled submarines and powerful long-range missiles. Such weapons would pose a major security threat to South Korea and the US.

Yoon didn’t mention North Korean-Russian ties in his speech Tuesday. But in an address to the UN General Assembly last week, he said South Korea “will not sit idly by” if North Korea and Russia agree to such weapons deals in violation of UN Security Council resolutions that ban all weapons trading with North Korea.

US officials have also said that North Korea and Russia would face consequences if they go ahead with such deals.

Also Tuesday, senior diplomats from South Korea, Japan and China met in Seoul to discuss the first summit of their leaders in four years, according to South Korean officials.

Yoon said last week that Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had expressed their support for a trilateral summit in South Korea.

Yoon’s moves to strengthen South Korea’s military alliance with the US and boost Seoul-Washington-Tokyo security cooperation have caused concerns that Seoul’s relations with China, its biggest trading partner, will be undermined. But Yoon says Seoul-Washington-Tokyo cooperation won’t marginalize any particular nation.

Attacks come day after Russian missile and drone attack killed two people in grain warehouse in Odesa

AP

Kyiv (Ukraine), September 26

Russia struck the Black Sea port city of Odesa for a second night in a row in a drone barrage that damaged a warehouse, charred dozens of trucks and injured two drivers in fiery explosions that led officials to suspend ferry service between Romania and Ukraine, officials said Tuesday.

Video shot from the Romanian side of the Danube River showed rapid-fire bursts of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire streaking through the night sky followed by two orange fireballs exploding near the port area. Photos showed burned-out frames of trucks.

Romanian Border Police said ferries were anchored on the Romanian shores of the Danube in Isaccea due to the attacks on Ukraine. Traffic was being redirected through Galati, a Romanian town upstream on the Danube.

The attacks came the day after a Russian missile and drone attack killed two people in a grain warehouse in Odesa and badly damaged an abandoned high-rise hotel.

Ukraine’s air force said it downed 26 of 38 drones launched by Russia overnight.

At least nine civilians were killed in Ukraine and 15 people were injured over the past 24 hours, the presidential office reported, though some of those deaths were also reported Monday.

Russian artillery damaged homes, a school, a market and a food processing plant in the southern city of Kherson that’s near the front lines of the war, officials said.

In fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast, the Russian army dropped five aerial bombs on Robotyne, a town Ukraine took in August in its slow-moving counteroffensive.

Although neither side has released casualty figures, the counteroffensive is believed to have taken a heavy toll on both sides and it has been devastating to the towns and villages where fighting has raged.

New aerial video footage of Klishchiivka, on the outskirts of Bakhmut, shot with a drone for The Associated Press shows how the battle has turned the village in eastern Ukraine into a pile of rubble after months of fierce fighting.

The footage shot two days ago shows the village in ruins with destroyed Russian tanks and military vehicles littering the main road. Barely a building remains intact in the village that was once home to almost 400 people.

The rare structure that still has four walls standing is missing its roof. Single walls stood like tombstones to mark where someone once lived.

Ukraine recaptured the village on September 17 after months of fighting, the Ukrainian military said, two days after it said it won back neighbouring Andriivka.

Both are tiny towns but were considered tactically important for Ukrainian forces as they extend gains around Bakhmut, 6 miles (10 kilometres) to the north.

The commanding heights of the village offer a view into the Russian-occupied town of Bakhmut and opens up new opportunities for Ukrainian forces to encircle the town.

It also potentially allows Ukrainians a better view of Russian logistic lines

China has disputes with almost all its neighbours over maritime and land borders including in the South China SeA

Kolkata, September 26

A top Australian envoy on Tuesday claimed China is putting together the “largest” conventional military buildup since the Second World War, without clarifying the strategic purpose behind the exercise.

Australia has sought to stabilise its relationship with China after a “difficult period”, he said.

 “China is engaging in the largest conventional military buildup that the world has seen since the Second World War. And, this buildup is happening without an explanation of its strategic purpose or any reassuring statecraft.

“To be clear, Australia values the productive engagement we have with China and we have sought to stabilise our relationship after a difficult period. Dialogue has recommenced, including in the important area of defence,” Philip Green, the Australian High Commissioner to India, said, without elaborating on the exact area of the military buildup.

China has disputes with almost all its neighbours over maritime and land borders including in the South China Sea, an area of special interest to Australia.

Green was speaking here at the ‘Kolkata Dialogue – Australia and India: Working Together to Build Island State Resilience’, organised by the Australia India Institute in partnership with India’s Observer Research Foundation.

The Kolkata Dialogue is happening as the two-day 13th Indo-Pacific Army Chiefs’ Conference started in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Australian and Indian experts deliberated at the ‘Kolkata Dialogue’ on subjects such as building climate resilience in the Indo-Pacific island states, countering economic coercion and disinformation in the region.

Australia and China resumed a high-level dialogue earlier this month after a hiatus of three years.

“… But we need to acknowledge what we see in the world. And, one of those realities is military buildup and its potential to destabilise,” Green said.

The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the region.

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region, comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has reportedly built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.  

Cash-strapped Pakistan gives up its opposition to setting up a new imported coal-fired power plant in Gwadar in Balochistan province

PTI

Islamabad, September 26

China has refused to further expand cooperation in the areas of energy, water management, and climate change under the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it emerged on Tuesday, signalling a strain in the ‘ironclad’ friendship between the two all-weather allies.

Cash-strapped Pakistan also gave up its opposition to setting up a new imported coal-fired power plant in Gwadar in Balochistan province and agreed to a number of Chinese demands to address Beijing’s concerns, The Express Tribune newspaper reported, citing the signed minutes of the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC.

The JCC is a strategic decision-making body of the CPEC and its 11th meeting was held virtually on October 27 last year on the insistence of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government that wanted to showcase some progress.

However, the minutes of the meeting were signed almost a year later on July 31 during the visit of Chinese vice premier He Lifeng, highlighting the difference of opinions on both sides that led to such a huge delay in reaching a consensus, the report said.

When contacted, the Ministry of Planning stated that it was a global practice for the minutes of meetings between two countries to be signed by both sides only after due consultation and evolving consensus.

Interestingly, the final draft shared with Beijing by Pakistan and the final minutes signed by both sides were different in many ways, the report said.

China’s disagreement to further expand cooperation in areas of energy, water management, and climate change under the CPEC underscores “the challenges that both the sides are facing in deepening the economic ties”, it said.

The USD 60 billion CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of China’s ambitious multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI is seen as an attempt by China to further its influence abroad with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world.

The CPEC is a collection of infrastructure and other projects under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013. India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The details of the final minutes of the 11th JCC showed that China did not agree to a host of measures that Pakistan had proposed in the areas of energy, water management, climate change and tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, PoK and the coastal areas.

China excluded cooperation in the areas of cross-border tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, PoK and cooperation for the promotion of coastal tourism from the final minutes, the details showed.

China also did not agree to Pakistan’s proposal for the inclusion of Water Resources Management and Climate Change and Urban Infrastructure Development in the CPEC framework. The proposal for setting up a new joint working group on water resources management and climate change was also rejected by China.

China excluded the issue of financial challenges being faced by the power companies from the final minutes.

Beijing also did not agree to a proposal to include a 500kv transmission line from Hub to Gwadar to link the seaport city with the national grid in the CPEC framework.

China did not agree to “carry out joint studies for future development of Thar coal blocks, including development of mega power parks and power evacuation infrastructure, with a view to meet Pakistan’s energy needs from indigenous resources, conversion of coal into other products for domestic demand as well as exports”, the report said.

Similarly, there is no mention of the South-North gas pipeline project in the final minutes. The draft minutes mentioned the examination of a feasibility study and Chinese cooperation for the purpose.

Pakistan had proposed Chinese participation in a strategic underground gas storage project but there is no mention of this mega project in the final minutes.

Islamabad had also proposed the participation of China in the national seismic study for sedimentary areas and sought Chinese equipment. But this idea is also shelved at the bilateral level.

Pakistan proposed joint exploration, development, and marketing of metallic minerals and sought Chinese technology, but the final minutes were silent on this issue too, according to the Express Tribune report.

China also did not agree to Pakistan’s proposal of developing a policy framework for coal gasification to fertiliser projects based on Thar coal.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has given significant concessions to China on the issue of setting up the 300MW Gwadar Power Plant.

Islamabad wanted to either shelve the 300MW project or change its location to Thar to use the local coal. However, China did not agree to it, the report said.

Pakistan also wanted the conversion of the imported fuel-based Gwadar plant to Thar coal to address energy security and liquidity issues to which China did not agree.

Pakistan also committed that it would follow the consensus reached by two sides, and will direct the Pakistani power purchase companies to stop deducting the capacity power rate and return the deducted power rate.

To ensure the normal operations of CPEC power projects, the Pakistani side promised to take necessary measures to ensure timely exchange to US dollars for CPEC power projects to buy necessary fuels, the report said.

Arms and ammunition, including a pistol, a pistol magazine and eight live rounds were recovered

PTI

Srinagar, September 26

A terrorist and eight terror associates, including two women, involved in cross-border smuggling of arms and ammunition were arrested in separate operations as security forces unearthed two terror modules in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said on Tuesday.

The terrorist associates were involved in cross-border smuggling of arms and ammunition at the behest of Pakistan-based terror handlers and its further distribution to Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists for carrying out terror activities.

Giving details at a press conference in Baramulla, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Baramulla, Amod Nagpure, said on September 21, police, through reliable sources, came to know that Yaseen Ahmad Shah, resident of Janbazpora Baramulla, is missing from his home and has joined proscribed terror outfit LeT/TRF.

TRF or The Resistance Front is the shadow outfit of the LeT.

Nagpure said a case was registered and investigation was taken up.

On receipt of the information, based on human/technical intelligence, during mobile vehicle check-point (MVCP) checking at Tapper Pattan, the security forces apprehended the terrorist on September 22.

Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition, including a pistol, a pistol magazine and eight live rounds were recovered from his possession, the SSP said.

During questioning, Shah disclosed the name of his other associate as Parvaiz Ahmad, resident of Takiya Wagoora.

Accordingly, security forces raided his residence and subsequently arrested him, the SSP said.

Upon his disclosure, two hand grenades were also recovered from his possession, he added.

The next day, the SSP said, during the further course of interrogation of the terrorist, and on his disclosure, a pistol, a pistol magazine and eight live rounds were again recovered from his house at Janbazpora.

Shah disclosed the names of his women associates as Nigeena, resident of Vijipora Hajin, and Aafreena alias Aayat, resident of Patpora Shalteng Srinagar and upon their disclosure, two hand grenades were recovered from their possession, Nagpure said.

On Monday, during further questioning of Shah and Ahmad, they disclosed the names of two more associates as Mudasir Ahmad Rather, resident of Takiya Wagoora, and Showkat Ahmad Malik, resident of Wagila Wagoora, the police officer said.

Upon their disclosure, he said, a Chinese grenade, a pistol, a pistol magazine and eight live rounds were recovered from their possession.

The investigation has revealed that the terrorist along with his five associates were operating on the directions from Pakistan-based handlers and were planning to recruit more terrorists and carry out terrorist activities in Baramulla and nearby areas, the SSP added.

A case under sections of UA(P) and Arms Act has been  registered and further investigation is going on.

In another operation, the SSP said, a terror module was unearthed with the arrest of three terrorist associates of LeT outfit.

During checking at Paranpeelan Bridge Uri, security forces noticed two suspected persons coming from Dachi towards Paranpeelan Bridge and tried to flee while noticing the naka party, but were apprehended tactfully, Nagpure said.

During their search, two Glock pistols, four pistol magazines, two pistol silencers, five Chinese grenades and 29 live pistol rounds were recovered from them.

They were taken into custody and have been identified as Zaid Hassan Malla, resident of Mir Sahib Baramulla, and Mohammad Arif Channa, resident of Stadium Colony Baramulla.

The police said the terror associates were involved in cross-border smuggling of arms and ammunition at the behest of Pakistan-based terror handlers and its further distribution to LeT terrorists for carrying out terror activities.

A case under the Indian Arms Act and UA (P) Act was registered and investigations was taken up.

During the course of investigation, they disclosed the name of their associate as Aftaar Ahmad Lohar, resident of Surankote Poonch, who was subsequently arrested, the SSP said.  

Our Correspondent

Srinagar September 26

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested one Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist and his five associates, including two women and a juvenile, allegedly involved in a cross-border arms racket.

Baramulla SSP Amog Nagpure said the police had arrested an LeT terrorist and five associates in Baramulla and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including grenades and pistols.

“The process of arrests started after two suspects were detained in September in Uri. The five terror associates arrested include two women and a juvenile as well,” Nagpure said. The chain of events leading to this revelation began with the detention of two suspicious individuals in Uri on September 14. Zaid Hassan Malla and Muhammad Arif Channa were caught attempting to evade a police checkpoint. Little did the authorities know that this encounter would unveil a complex network involved in smuggling arms and ammunition across the border.

Upon searching the detained individuals, the police discovered a cache of weapons, including glock pistols, pistol magazines, pistol silencers, Chinese grenades and live pistol rounds. The two men, hailing from Baramulla, confessed that they were part of an arms smuggling operation orchestrated by Pakistan-based terror handlers. Their mission was to facilitate the distribution of weapons to LeT terrorists for carrying out acts of terror.

As the investigation progressed, the police learned of a broader conspiracy. The arrested individuals’ disclosure led to more arrests. The arms supply chain, it seemed, stretched far beyond Baramulla, with tendrils reaching into other regions.

The investigation continued to unravel the network, leading to the arrest of Nigeena and Aafreena, two women associated with the terrorists. Hand grenades were confiscated from their possessions.

Houses of 4 OGWs raided in Jammu, Udhampur

Jammu: Clamping down on terror infrastructure and those helping Pakistani terrorists after they infiltrate into J&K, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Tuesday raided four residential premises of over ground workers (OGWs) in Udhampur and Jammu. These workers were allegedly passing on information, including photographs of vital installations, to Pakistan’s ISI and terror outfits by mobile applications and Whatsapp. OC

56 medium-lift planes on procurement list | To boost tactical capability

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh performs puja during induction of C-295 at Hindon Air Force Station. PHOTO: MANAS RANJAN BHUI
Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, September 25

The first Airbus-built transport plane, C-295 MW, was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) following a formal ‘Sarv Dharm Puja’ (multi-religious ceremony) at the Hindon Air Force Station, east of Delhi, today. The medium-lift tactical aircraft is capable of taking off and landing from unprepared landing grounds.

Rs 21,935 cr cost of project

5-10 tonne Payload

Capacity

40 paratroopers

70 passengers

Rajnath in a post on X said the C-295 would bolster medium-lift tactical capability of the IAF. He termed the defence and aerospace sectors as the two important pillars for making India self-reliant in the coming years.

The first IAF squadron to be equipped with the aircraft, 11 Squadron (The Rhinos), is based in Vadodara.

Needs short runway

Can operate on unprepared landing grounds; needs short runway; has rear ramp door

40 to be produced under ‘Make in India’

• Airbus will make 15 more in Spain, complete deliveries by 2025
• Tata firm to make 40 in Vadodara; first delivery in 2026, rest by 2031
• Most parts, assembly components slated to be made in Hyderabad

The first plane was handed over to the IAF on September 13 at Seville, Spain. It can carry 40 paratroopers or 71 passengers, and land or take off from short runways.

India has procured 56 C-295 transport aircraft under a Rs 21,935-crore project sealed two years ago. Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its assembly line in Spain by 2025 and the subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled at Vadodara by Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies. The delivery of second aircraft is due in May 2024 and the next 14 will roll out at a rate of one per month until August 2025. The electronic warfare suite is being designed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and will be fitted into all 56 planes.

The plane has a 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology. The aircraft has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and paradropping of troops and cargo.

A large number of parts, sub-assemblies and major component assemblies of its structure are scheduled to be manufactured in India.

Airbus in a statement had on September 13 said production of components of 40 ‘Make in India’ aircraft has already started in the main constituent assembly (MCA) facility in Hyderabad, India.

These parts will be shipped to Vadodara, where the facility is expected to be operational by November 2024.

“The first ‘Make in India’ C295 will roll out of Vadodara in September 2026,” said Airbus.

harat Drone Shakti-2023, a first-of-its-kind drone exhibition-cum-display, was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Air Force Station, Hindon.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25

Bharat Drone Shakti-2023, a first-of-its-kind drone exhibition-cum-display, was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Air Force Station, Hindon. Organised by Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Drone Federation of India (DFI), the two-day event (September 25 and 26) features over 75 drone start-ups from across the country.

The featured drones can be employed for a variety of military and civil applications. During the event, the Defence Minister was also briefed on the latest in-house innovations of the IAF.