Monthly Archives: August 2018

Visitors targeted to dispel normalcy claims: Report

PTI

New Delhi, Updated At : 03:30 AM May 04, 2025 IST

A security official keep a vigil on the banks of the Dal Lake in Srinagar. PTI

Days before the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, intelligence agencies had flagged the potential targeting of tourists especially those staying in hotels on the outskirts of Srinagar in the foothills of the Zabarwan range, officials said on Saturday.

This prompted a heightened security presence in these areas with top police brass camping in Srinagar to oversee combing operations around Dachigam, Nishat and adjacent areas.

These areas gained attention and security forces increased patrolling because of a terrorist attack on a construction site in Gagangir, Sonamarg, in October last year in which seven persons, including a doctor, were killed. The area is located on the other side of Zabarwan range overlooking Srinagar city.

Despite a two-week operation, security forces conducted extensive searches on the outskirts of Srinagar based on the intelligence, but these efforts did not yield any breakthroughs and the operation was called off on April 22, the day when terrorists targeted tourists in Pahalgam.

There were inputs to suggest that terrorists wanted to carry out such nefarious designs during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier last month to flag off the first train from Katra to Srinagar.

“Definitely, Pakistan is not happy over the impending railway link that aims to connect the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country,” the officials said. They, however, added that the PM’s visit, earlier scheduled for April 19, was postponed due to adverse weather forecasts.

The officials made it clear that while weather was the sole reason for the postponement, fresh inauguration dates were expected to be announced soon.

The state and non-state actors sitting across the border never wanted the powerful visuals of flagging off the first train to get international attention and hence might have planned to overshadow the event with such barbaric killings, the officials said.

On the Pahalgam attack, the officials said what was emerging was that two local terrorists had already mingled with the tourists and as soon as the first shots were fired, they herded the tourists to a food court complex, where two other terrorists, reportedly Pakistanis, fired and killed 26 persons.

The aim of the attack seemed to be creating fear among the citizens and possibly to lead to retribution attacks against Kashmiris elsewhere in the country, the sources said.

The officials have also reported a worrisome trend in J&K following the recovery of advanced weaponry like M-series rifles, sniper rifles and armour-piercing bullets from encounter locations. These are suspected to be leftover weapons and ammunition of NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The authorities also warned against depending on the tourist arrivals in J&K solely as a marker of peace and noted the case of former CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had used tourist arrivals as an index of normalcy in the past.

Shortly after his statement in May 2006, four tourists were killed and six others injured when terrorists attacked a bus carrying tourists from Gujarat in Srinagar as it was reaching the Mughal Gardens.

According to the officials, in a conflict zone, tourism should primarily be viewed as an economic activity rather than a barometer for gauging normalcy

Move coincides with heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, there won’t be any immediate impact on military readiness, as acquisition will take months

Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service

he Indian Air Force will be acquiring “pseudo satellites” capable of providing communication, conducting surveillance and acting as a data relay system between aircraft and ground stations. Additionally, the Indian Army will get 48 launchers of the very short range air defence system (VSHORADS), along with 85 missiles and 48 night-vision sights.

Will boost air defence

IAF to deploy solar-powered pseudo satellites for persistent surveillance, communication and data relay at 16 km altitude

Army to induct 48 launchers with night vision capability, enhancing last-line defence against low-flying aerial threats

Despite border tensions, acquisitions won’t impact immediate readiness as procurement process will take months

Although these purchases coincide with heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, there will be no immediate impact on military readiness, as the acquisition process will take several months.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has sought pseudo satellites, referred to as high-altitude platform systems (HAPS). These solar-powered systems function as long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) and do not require refuelling. Unlike conventional rooftop solar panels, the ones used to power these aircraft are made of extremely thin solar films.

HAPS operate at altitudes higher than traditional drones but lower than low Earth orbit satellites, providing a satellite-like view for extended periods.

The MoD issued a request for information (RFI), a step in the tender process, seeking three such platforms for the IAF and has invited domestic manufacturers to bid. The RFI states that these are needed for ‘persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)’ as well as airborne data relay for other unmanned platforms while intercepting adversary electronic signals.

The MoD requires the system to operate at an altitude of 16 km (16,000 metres). For context, Mount Everest stands at 8,849 metres, while long-haul international flights typically cruise at around 10,000 metres. Additionally, the HAPS should be capable of clear line-of-sight communication up to 150 km and at least 400 km when communicating with satellites.

Last year, the Navy signed a deal with Bengaluru-based NewSpace Research & Technologies (NSRT) to design and develop a domestically built HAPS. The MoD had funded this research under its Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative.

Separately, the MoD has issued a request for proposal, another step in the tendering process, for new-generation VSHORADS. These are man-portable anti-aircraft missiles designed to counter low-flying adversary aerial platforms.

VSHORAD systems are used by forward field formations and serve as the last line of defence in a multi-layered air defence mechanism to neutralise incoming threats.

The MoD seeks a man-portable launcher capable of engaging airborne threats during both day and night operations. The missile should be effective at distances of up to 6,000 metres.

Aircraft was thoroughly inspected, subsequently cleared for further operations

The Sri Lankan police on Saturday searched a flight arriving here from Chennai after being tipped-off that a suspect linked to the Pahalgam terror attack could be on board, a police spokesperson said here.

A statement from the national carrier SriLankan Airlines said its flight arrived at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport from Chennai at 11.59 am and underwent a comprehensive security inspection upon arrival.

“The search was carried out in coordination with local authorities following an alert from the Chennai Area Control Centre regarding a suspect wanted in India who was believed to be on board,” the statement said.

The aircraft was thoroughly inspected and subsequently cleared for further operations, it added. On April 22, terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Indian authorities have identified five terrorists — including three Pakistani nationals — behind the massacre in Pahalgam.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 24 vowed to punish the terrorists behind the Pahalgam terror attack and those part of the conspiracy beyond their imagination, asserting that the country’s enemies targeted not merely unarmed tourists but dared to attack India’s soul.

In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass on April 29, Modi asserted that the armed forces have “complete operational freedom” to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India’s response to the terror attack, according to government sources.

Pakistan Army fires across the LoC in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani and Akhnoor in J-K

Pakistani troops continued unprovoked small-arms firing in different sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, prompting effective retaliation by the Indian army, officials said on Sunday.

The ceasefire violation by Pakistan was reported from eight places spread across five districts in the Union Territory during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday but there was no report of any casualty, the officials said.

This was the 10th consecutive night of unprovoked firing from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir, amid heightened tensions following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.

“During the night of May 3 and 4, Pakistan Army posts resorted to unprovoked small-arms firing across the LoC in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani and Akhnoor in J-K. Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately,” a defence spokesperson said.

The ceasefire violations along the LoC and International Border (IB) have been very rare since India and Pakistan renewed the ceasefire agreement on February 25, 2021.

Taking precautionary measures, the panicked border villagers have already started cleaning their community and individual bunkers to make them habitable.

Since the night of April 24, just hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistani troops have been resorting to unprovoked firing at various places along the LoC in J-K, starting from the Kashmir Valley.

Initially beginning with unprovoked small-arms firing at several posts along the LoC in Kupwara and Baramulla districts of north Kashmir, Pakistan swiftly expanded its ceasefire violations to the Poonch sector and subsequently to the Akhnoor sector of the Jammu region.

This was followed by small-arms firing at several posts along the LoC in the Sunderbani and Naushera sectors of Rajouri district. Subsequently, the firing expanded to Mendhar in Poonch district and the international border in Pargwal sector in Jammu district.

The renewed ceasefire violations come despite a recent hotline conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan, during which the Indian side is learnt to have cautioned Pakistan.

1.Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari takes charge as IAF Vice Chief

2.Brigadier Inderjeet Singh Chugh slams Bilawal Bhutto’s U-turn remarks on terrorism

3.On 26th anniversary, recalling a war that dawned upon India in May 1999

4.Supreme Court protects family facing deportation to Pakistan, asks authorities to verify documents

5.US hopes Pakistan cooperates with India against terrorists: Vance on Pahalgam attack

6.Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s YouTube channel blocked in India 

7.Pakistan closes air space over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir

8.Pakistani troops resort to unprovoked firing at LoC for eighth consecutive day

9.CRPF jawan may face action for marrying Pak woman sans nod

10.Bangladesh distances itself from ex-army officer’s remarks of occupying India’s Northeast

11.Pakistan’s old playbook in a new crisis

12Border skirmishes continue in different sectors along LoC for 9th day in J-K

13.Punjab Congress MP Channi demands proof of surgical strikes, backtracks after BJP’s counter

He played a key role in operationalising the ‘Litening’ laser designation pod during the Kargil Operations in 1999

Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service

Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari has taken charge as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force, succeeding Air Marshal SP Dharkar, who superannuated on April 30. Prior to this appointment, Air Marshal Tiwari commanded the IAF’s South Western Air Command at Gandhinagar.

The new Vice Chief of the IAF carries an interesting war-time legacy. He played a key role in operationalising the ‘Litening’ laser designation pod during the Kargil Operations in 1999. The pod, sourced from Israel and installed on IAF jets, marked an invisible beam that served as the path for laser-guided bombs to follow upon launch. This technology significantly enhanced the IAF’s precision targeting capabilities against Pakistani troops occupying mountain heights during the conflict.

A seasoned pilot, Air Marshal Tiwari has flown the Mirage and Tejas fighter jets. He served as a test pilot for the Tejas and held the position of Chief Test Pilot at Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment.

Air Marshal Tiwari completed his schooling at the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) in Dehradun before joining the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasala. He graduated from the NDA in June 1985 with the President’s Gold Medal and was commissioned as a Fighter Pilot in the IAF in June 1986. With over 3,600 hours of flying experience, he is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot. Additionally, he is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, USA.

Brigadier Inderjeet Singh Chugh on Friday strongly criticised Pakistan for its double standards on terrorism and pointed out how former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto in the past had admitted that Pakistan had trained and funded terrorists and threatened India with atomic bombs, but later said that the country suffered a lot of damage, likely due to pressure from other countries.

Chandigarh [India], May 2 (ANI): Brigadier Inderjeet Singh Chugh on Friday strongly criticised Pakistan for its double standards on terrorism and pointed out how former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto in the past had admitted that Pakistan had trained and funded terrorists and threatened India with atomic bombs, but later said that the country suffered a lot of damage, likely due to pressure from other countries.

Speaking with ANI, Chugh said, “Bilawal Bhutto, who has made many statements in the past and threatened us with atomic bombs, is going back on his statement, maybe because of the pressure. Now he says that we used to train and fund the terrorists, but we suffered a lot of damage to our country, and we have learned lessons from it, and now we have stopped all this. The information was given earlier in such a way that we used to train them under the pressure of the United States and the United Kingdom. So, with all these statements, he has gone back…”

Chugh said, “There is a lot of pressure on them right now… America must have asked them when we told them thirty years ago to send terrorists against India. So, there is a pressure war and pressure from the countries they had linked together. So he has withdrawn his statement.”

Notably, Bilawal Bhutto on Thursday acknowledged Pakistan’s history with terrorism, claiming the nation has suffered but has reformed.

In a Thursday conversation with Sky News’s Yalda Hakim, Bhutto said, “As far as what the defence minister said, I don’t think it is a secret that Pakistan has a past… As a result, we have suffered, Pakistan has suffered. We have gone through wave after wave of extremism. But because of what we suffered, we also learned our lessons. We have gone through internal reforms to address this problem…”

“As far as Pakistan’s history is concerned, it is history and it is not something that we are partaking in today. It is indeed an unfortunate part of our history,” Bhutto said.

Meanwhile, following the clearance of the Army and Air Force versions of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv for operations, Chugh told ANI, “This is the Dhruv Chopper, which our HAL manufactured. This is an advanced light helicopter for the Indian Army and AIR Force, which was used for many purposes, transportation, evacuation and some such helicopters had fighting capability as well. There was an accident on January 5, and 300 helicopters were grounded. So now, the good news is that HAL has checked all the helicopters and given clearance. So these helicopters will now be available to our defence force. It’s a very important one.”

Defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, in a statement on Thursday, said, “In furtherance of the clarification dated 11th April 2025, it is now intimated that the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv Army and Air Force versions are cleared for operations based on the Defect Investigation (DI) Committee recommendations. A time-bound plan for the resumption of operations has been worked out with the users.”

The Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard versions of the choppers will continue to be on the ground as the investigations are still continuing.

The choppers were grounded after a crash involving an Indian Coast Guard chopper in Porbandar earlier this year. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)

It was on May 3, 1999, that Tashi Namgyal, a shepherd looking for a missing yak, saw Pakistan army personnel atop the Batalik mountain range in Ladakh on the Indian side of the LoC and informed the Indian Army

Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service

Even as war clouds gather again, it’s the anniversary of a clash dating back 26 years between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

It was on May 3, 1999, that Tashi Namgyal, a shepherd looking for a missing yak, saw Pakistan army personnel atop the Batalik mountain range in Ladakh on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC). Namgyal – who died in December last year – informed the Indian Army and it kicked off ‘Operation Vijay’. The Kargil conflict lasted from May to July.

Air reconnaissance by Indian surveillance agencies in February that year – around the same time Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was making his famous bus trip to Lahore — had filmed the Pakistan army activity. The extent of the threat dawned on India only after May 3, 1999.

Pakistani troops had occupied several peaks along the 168-km frontage of the Mushkoh-Dras-Kargil-Batalik-Turtuk axis. The Indian Army and Indian Air Force lost 527 personnel. The sanctity of the LoC was restored with a mix of military might and diplomatic heft. The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Vajpayee forbade the Indian troops from crossing the LoC.

Between the 1971 Indo-Pak war and Kargil, an interim of 28 years, technology had progressed while geo-strategic alignments had been reworked after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991-92. India and Pakistan were facing sanctions from the US in the aftermath of their respective nuclear tests in May 1998. Terrorists like Osama bin Laden were still not on the hit list of the US. Satellite imagery was just making its debut in the Indian military lexicon.

Multi-pronged plan

During winter, 140 Indian posts at altitudes between 15,000 feet and 19,000 feet used to be vacated. Pakistan used this ‘winter’ window’ to launch ‘Operation Koh-e- Paima’ in October 1998 to occupy these posts.

Gen Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan army chief, planned to cut off the two road approaches to Siachen and slice away territory in Ladakh. Islamabad believed international intervention would be quick, asking the nuke-carrying nations to stop.

One road to Siachen passes through Srinagar-Dras-Kargil. The second is via Manali and traverses north of Khardung La and reaches Turtuk valley area, which abuts the south-western edge of the Siachen glacial belt. Pakistan planned to establish a base at Turtuk to threaten the road to the glacier’s base.

Lt Gen Shahid Aziz, who worked in Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, authored a book ‘Putting our Children in Line of Fire’, in which he says: “Our clearly expressed intent was to cut the supply line to Siachen and force the Indians to pull out.”

How Pak plan failed

Militarily, the Pakistani plan was questionable. Col Ashfaq Hussain (retd), who was in the Pakistan army’s media arm, in his book ‘Witness to Blunder: Kargil Story Unfolds’, questions Gen Musharraf. “The plan was a success only till Pakistani forces came face to face with the enemy. Our troops crossed the LoC at a time when the enemy (India from his perspective) was not present.”

Pakistan’s perception that ‘a bold strike to capture areas in J&K may go unchallenged by New Delhi’ proved to be wrong.

India’s directive to the military was to ‘evict the pockets of intrusion and restore the sanctity of the LoC’. No time-frame was given. The military strategy was based on three objectives: contain intrusion and prevent further build-up; evict the intruders and restore the LoC; and finally, hold ground.

Diplomatically, India managed to separate the intrusion from what Pakistan calls the ‘Kashmir issue’. US President Bill Clinton and Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif met in Washington DC on July 4. The statement called upon Pakistan (and not India) to take steps to restore the LoC and without linking it with the Kashmir dispute.

Petitioners’ counsel contended that they were Indian citizens having valid passports and Aadhaar numbers

Staring at deportation to Pakistan, six members of a family from Jammu and Kashmir on Friday got a reprieve from the Supreme Court which asked the Centre not to take any coercive action against them.

A Bench led by Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh asked the authorities to verify the identity documents of the petitioners who allegedly overstayed their visa. It gave the petitioners liberty to move the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, if aggrieved by the document verification order.

Asking the authorities to take a decision at the earliest, the Bench said no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners till such time. The order shall not be treated as a precedent, it clarified.

The six members of the family—two of whom worked in Bengaluru—were facing deportation to Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 innocent tourists were killed.

Petitioner Ahmed Tarek Butt and his five family members contended they were detained and taken to the Wagah Border for deportation to Pakistan despite having valid Indian documents such as Indian passports and Aadhaar numbers.

Following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the Centre, in a notification dated April 25, revoked the visa of Pakistani nationals, except for those provided in the order itself and gave a specific timeline for their deportation, the Bench noted.

The petitioners’ counsel contended that they were Indian citizens having valid passports and Aadhaar numbers. While the sons worked in Bangalore, parents and daughter lived in Srinagar. The family members in Srinagar were taken in a jeep to the Wagah Border and were likely to be thrown out of India, he submitted.

“How did the father come to India from Pakistan?” the Bench asked as it wondered if the petitioners made full disclosure on the issue in their petition.

The father came to India in 1987 after surrendering his passport at the border, the counsel said, even as one of the sons—appearing virtually—claimed his father came to India from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the petitioners should first approach the authorities concerned for verification of their claims.

Following a decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the Government decided to suspend visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect.

All existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from 27 April 2025, it said, adding medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be valid only till 29 April 2025. All Pakistani nationals currently in India must leave India before the expiry of visas, as now amended, it said.

However, the order has been modified to allow Pakistanis to return via the Attari-Wagah Border until further orders as against its previous direction that said the border would be closed on April 30.

Vance’s remarks were made on the ‘Special Report with Bret Baier’ show

Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service

The US has potentially linked Pakistan to terrorism in India with Vice President JD Vance saying Washington hopes Pakistan would cooperate with India to hunt down and bring to justice terrorists “sometimes operating from its territory”

Vance’s remarks were made on the ‘Special Report with Bret Baier’ show on Thursday.

When asked to comment on the tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, Vance said Washington is in touch with both the countries.

“Our hope is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that does not lead to a broader regional conflict. And we hope that Pakistan to the extent that they are responsible cooperate with India to hunt down terrorists, sometimes operating in their territory. That is how we hope it unfolds. We are obviously in close contact with India and Pakistan,” Vance said a day after India conveyed to the US that it wanted the perpetrators, planners and backers brought to justice.

On Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made this clear to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a call.

Later in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh named Pakistan in the telephonic talks with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth and said Pakistan is a rogue state fuelling global terrorism and the world could no longer turn a blind eye to it.

This is the line India took at the UN earlier this week where it recorded the recent confession by Pakistan defence minister that Pakistan had financed terror networks.

The US had earlier urged both India and Pakistan to de-escalate.