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ARMY TRAINING COMMAND

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Army Training Command known as ARTRAC was raised in 1991 at Mhow and moved to Shimla in 1993 .It acts as the nodal agency for all institutional training in the Army and also evolves joint doctrines in conjunction with other services.

No vehicle check at Army Cantt, forces see red

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No vehicle check at Army Cantt, forces see red

File photo

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 24

The Army has instructed its personnel not to stop or check civilian vehicles entering military cantonments across the country, leading to voices of protest.  A letter issued to all commands by Lt Gen RK Anand, Director General, Land Works and Environment Directorate, stipulates that civilians can use all roads inside cantonments.“All barriers, check-posts and roadblocks will be removed. Vehicles will not be stopped or checked,” says the May 21 letter.Retired personnel have taken to the social media to voice their concern over how such orders may be detrimental to the safety and security of Army personnel and their families, given that terrorists have targeted military stations in the past.A large number of families of soldiers posted on “tough duties” like Siachen, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh live in accommodation provided inside cantonments.The instructions are the outcome of a May 19 meeting chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to review the “closure of roads in cantonments”. It was decided that all roads, partially or fully closed, would be opened on May 22. Around 80 roads have been opened for civilian use. As per the Director General of Defence Estates, 62 cantonments, including Ambala, Amritsar, Dagshai, Dalhousie, Delhi, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Kasauli and Subathu, are notified under the Cantonments Act 1924, amended in 2006.The letter stipulates that sentries will record the flow of traffic on these roads for 30 days. A review of the threat perception and security concerns, besides inconvenience to the civilian population, will follow.A senior functionary, however, said this review should have been carried out before opening these roads. A January 2015 letter by the Army lays down specific rules and procedures for opening roads in cantonments. It calls for a review before any such move.There has been concern over how the civilian population is inconvenienced owing to the closure of roads in places like Secunderabad and Pune. However, there is umbrage within the force and ex-servicemen over lack of review of the risk involved.The May 21 letter, however,  exempts Badami Bagh Cantonment in Srinagar, Satwari road at Jammu Divisional Headquarters, and Parade road in Delhi Cantonment, which will remain open to public from 5 am to 11 pm.

Thefts at Beating Retreat ceremony rattle tourists Most of the tourists pickpocketed don’t bother to lodge FIRs

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Thefts at Beating Retreat ceremony rattle tourists

A social organisation has written to the BSF, demanding a proper vigil to nail anti-social elements at the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post. File photo

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 21

Dr Jaipal Reddy, a resident of Hyderabad, had to face an utter disappointment in the city after Rs 20,000 were pickpocketed during Beating the Retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post on May 18. He did not register a police case but expressed his loss to the hotel owner where stayed with his family.This is not the sole case as such incidents continue to occur, targeting tourists. Most of the tourists don’t bother to lodge police complaints.An association has even written to the BSF to curb the nefarious activity.A hotelier, Jatinder Singh Narulla, said, “Around three to four customers of my hotel complain of theft, pickpocketing and snatching at the JCP every month.”Since such incidents are rising, it is high time for the authorities concerned to act, he said. According to him, the BSF allows access to the visitors in the gallery from the gate in small groups, maintianing discipline, but the same regimen is not followed at the conclusion of the ceremony, resulting in a melee-type situation and paving the way for miscreants to target tourists.APS Chatha, president, Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHARA), said the matter often cropped up at the meetings of the association. “Since no positive response comes from the authorities, we have started alerting tourists to remain vigilant and avoid taking valuables to the Beating the Retreat ceremony,” he said.Mall Road Welfare Association president Kamal Dalmia, in a communiqué to the BSF, requested for proper security of visitors at the border. He opined that cops in mufti among the visitors could keep a watch on unscrupulous elements. CCTV cameras should also be installed at the JCP to nab the culprits, he said. Incidents of crime bring a bad name to the city that has been known as ‘Sifti Da Ghar’.

New defence planning panel by Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)

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New defence planning panel

Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd)Stung by the inability to draw any positive strokes to get the complex defence sector into a fast and efficient track, the government is setting up the Defence Planning Committee (DPC). No decision-making power appears to be advocated for the body, which is going to be a permanent institution more on the lines of a high-level official think tank. It is to study challenges, evolve recommendations for procedures and, more importantly, for doctrine and strategy.
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The committee to be headed by the National Security Adviser (NSA) is likely to have among its members the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), the remaining two Service Chiefs, and the Secretaries for Defence, Foreign Affairs and Finance (Expenditure). The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) will also be inducted into it. A report also indicates the possible inclusion of the Principal Secretary to the PM. The domains selected to be addressed are evident from the four sub-committees that are proposed to be set up. These are policy and strategy, plans and capability development, defence diplomacy and defence manufacturing. These four domains form the crux of the core areas of concern in the field of defence. On the face of it, any such development which creates the basic means and structure to examine these challenges in an integrated way is welcome.One of the triggers for the DPC has been the deposition before the Parliamentary Committee on Defence by representatives of the three Services, bringing out how the current Budget allocation is out of sync with the needs of the Services. Two issues in particular are found galling by the Services. First, the inability over the last many years to get even a modicum of approval for the 15-year long-term integrated perspective plan (LTIPP) which spelt out their future planning needs. Second, the near impossibility of having a National Security Strategy (NSS) document approved by the government to provide, among other things, relevant guidance in the allocation of resources and to facilitate optimal support to the Services. What was really missing was a layer between the high-powered Cabinet Committee on Security at the top and the Ministry of Defence at the lower level; a body which could examine the MoD’s evaluations. Defining priorities and deciding between the competing proposals of the Services, with adequate inputs from supporting ministries, is likely to aid the acquisition process. It could be argued that earlier the setting up of the National Security Council and the creation of the appointment of the NSA was supposed to overcome the silo-based approach to national security issues. However, the NSA’s role has expanded and the necessity for an exclusive look at military strategy and security is increasing due to complexities. This body will, therefore, hopefully, bridge that necessity. Defence diplomacy has been given its due by the proposed creation of an exclusive subcommittee. The Services have been hankering for their contribution to the domain of diplomacy being aware of the scope they have to offer through training exchanges, liaison activities, resource sharing and military goodwill as a support to other forms of diplomacy.For years, India has done without the benefit of a National Security Strategy as a guideline for stakeholders who are responsible for the security of the country. Senior bureaucrats involved with security may have been apologetic about it, but insisted that enough understanding existed. What was missed out was the need for continuity of understanding, the necessity for relevant ministries to be on the same page and a review system which would always keep the NSS up to date. Will an NSS document finally emerge? It is not even certain whether this committee will be tasked with the drafting of an NSS, although reports indicate that the entire gamut of national military strategy, strategic defence review, external risk assessment and national defence and security priorities will fall within its ambit. The size of its secretariat and the intellectual support elements needed to sustain such processes will have to be thought through deeply. Will these personnel be from the Services or another bureaucratic cadre is a question up for debate. Will there be some link to academia and the proliferating think tanks to absorb expertise and advice is a moot point.  If acquisition, defence manufacturing and capability enhancement is to be a major responsibility in terms of advice to the Defence Minister, how are the two major organisations — the DRDO and Ordnance Factories Board — going to be represented here? Or is their role not envisaged at all? Another observation relates to the fact that 80 per cent of the defence spending is consumed by the revenue budget, with the bulk of the expenditure on personnel. Policies related to personnel have not been the strongest area with the MoD; a Cabinet-approved decision on the ‘peel factor’ (lateral absorption) is pending execution for 15 years. Should a committee be devoted towards looking at issues such as right sizing, which is going to increasingly be taking up more time in the future?  One can visualise that the case for theatre commands, joint operations and cyber war would be examined more closely. Perhaps this is the opportunity to look at the two much-neglected domains in India — information and psychological warfare. There is lack of clarity on the responsibility for the conduct of these.Are we to assume that defence planning and capability development does not include internal security within its ambit, especially in an era of hybrid war? The Central Armed Police Forces are an adjunct of the Army in war or during internal conflict situations. The major challenge of coordination still remains between the MHA and the MoD; acquisitions being one domain. Perhaps a system of invitation to MHA officials on relevant matters needs to be considered and will probably emerge as analyses are done and execution effected. There will, in all probability, be a need for a few more committees (such as infrastructure development) and an invitation system for experts to be taken on board. Lastly, this does not dilute the continuing case for more uniformed presence in the MoD, where advice will be far more effective when examined and acted upon by those experienced in the ways of robust security. Does this effectively seal the case for an ultimate Chief of the Defence Staff? The portents are not very bright. 

Navy all-women crew in Goa tomorrow after circling globe 0 SHARES FacebookTwitterGoogle+EmailPrint

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Navy all-women crew in Goa tomorrow after circling globe

Panaji, May 19

Over eight months after it set sail from Goa, the all-women crew of the Indian Navy on board the naval vessel INSV Tarini will return to the state on Monday after the historic circumnavigation of the globe. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will welcome the all-women crew when it arrives near Panaji, from where they had embarked on the journey on September 10 last year.“The Defence Minister and Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will be present for the flag-in ceremony of the ship near Panaji on Monday,” a Navy spokesperson said.The expedition named ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’ is led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi and it is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew, the spokesperson said. The crew also included Lt-Commanders Pratibha Jamwal and Swati P, and Lieutenants Aishwarya Boddapati, S Vijaya Devi and Payal Gupta.The six women officers trained under Captain Dilip Donde, the first Indian to solo-circumnavigate the globe in 2009-10, the Navy official said.The expedition was sailed in six legs, with stopovers at the Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falkland Islands), Cape Town (South Africa) and Mauritius.“It covered 21,600 nautical miles in the Indian-built sailing vessel INSV Tarini that visited five countries and crossed the Equator twice, sailed across four continents and three oceans, and passed south of the three Great Capes—Leeuwin, Horn and Good Hope,” the spokesperson said. — PTI

China says it wants to stick to ‘right path’ of bilateral ties with India

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China says it wants to stick to ‘right path’ of bilateral ties with India

Beijing, April 16

China wants to stick to the “right path” of bilateral ties with India, explore new areas for cooperation and ensure sound and steady development of the relationship, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s remarks came during a media briefing as she replied to a question on a series of high-level meetings between the two countries.After last year’s stand-off in Doklam, India and China have stepped up dialogue at various levels to reset the ties.Hua said China’s ties with India had seen new progress and allround cooperation this year.“This year, under the guidance of the two leaders (Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi), China and India relations have been developing with a sound momentum,” Hua said.“China attaches great importance to developing relations with India and we would like to work together to implement the consensus reached by leaders, stick to the right path of the bilateral ties, accumulate more positive energy, explore new areas for cooperation and ensure sound and steady development of bilateral ties,” she said.“We have seen close exchanges at all levels and new progress in allround cooperation,” Hua said without elaborating.On April 13, a meeting was held between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Yang Jiechi, Director of China’s Foreign Affairs Commission and member of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) in Shanghai.  Besides the meeting between Yang and Doval, the two countries “successfully” held the 11th Joint Economic Group meeting and the fifth Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), she said.Hua said officials from the two foreign ministries also met. The two sides also held working mechanism meeting on border affairs and cross-border rivers, she said.“These interactions show that China and India share wide range of common interests and our bilateral cooperation holds great potential,” she said.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are also due to visit China on April 24 to take part in the meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).Prime Minister Modi himself is scheduled to visit China in June to take part in the SCO summit in the Chinese city of Qingdao. PTI

Northern Army chief reviews security

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Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 5

Days after three separate counter-insurgency operations left 13 militants dead on a single day, the Northern Army Commander, Lt Gen D Anbu, on Tuesday reviewed the security situation in the Valley.Accompanied by Chinar Corps Commander, Lt Gen AK Bhatt, the Army Commander visited the hinterland formations in south Kashmir and was briefed by the commanders on ground with regard to operational preparedness, an Army spokesman said.“The Army Commander complimented the troops for their recent success and commended them for their dedication to duty and high standards of professionalism. He was appreciative of the measures and standard operating procedures instituted by the units and formations to meet the challenges by inimical elements,” the spokesman said.Lauding the excellent synergy amongst all security forces, the Army Commander exhorted all ranks to maintain a safe, secure and peaceful environment for the people of the Valley.

Vohra releases book on warfare

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Jammu, April 6

Governor NN Vohra released ‘Information War-Disinformation Will Decide Future Wars’, a book written by veteran journalist Ramesh Bhan, at Raj Bhawan on Friday.The book expounds the manner in which information is being manipulated the world over to serve vested interests. Based on his journalistic experience in J&K, Afghanistan and Crimea, the author has reflected on how terrorism and insurgency can be fought effectively by using media.Complimenting Bhan, the Governor hoped that his writing would generate interest among the readers about the non-combat modes of warfare. He wished Bhan success in his future literary endeavours. —TNS

Lt Col Sandhu hiding in UP, claim Mohali cops May be staying in Kanpur or Gorakhpur

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Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 1

The Mohali police claimed to have got a tip-off that Lt Col BS Sandhu (retd) might be staying in Uttar Pradesh.A senior official of the Mohali police said they got the tip-off that Sandhu could be staying in Kanpur or Gorakhpur.“He is not using his phone number, but some new number. We are trying to locate him,” said the official.Notably, the Mohali police have got Sandhu’s non-bailable arrest warrants from a court in Kharar on Saturday as he (Sandhu) failed to join police investigations in the case of murder of CTU employee Abhishek Guleria so far. Sandhu was nominated in the case on March 27.Meanwhile, four persons, Ramesh, Ramesh Chand, Dharampal and Davinder, who were also named in the case by the Mohali police on Saturday, have also gone underground, said the police. The foursome are said to be security guards at Forest Hill Resort, owned by Lt Col Sandhu, at Nayagaon.The police said these four persons were not found at their respective residences when the police party went there to summon them for investigation. Despite instructions, they did not turn up so far.As per the police, these four persons were involved in stuffing the body of the victim in a sack and then in a polythene bag before disposing it off at a deserted place along the Pinjore-Baddi road. The body was recovered by the police on March 24.It is to be noted that a four-member SIT has been formed to work out the case.Four persons named in FIR go undergroundFour persons, Ramesh, Ramesh Chand, Dharampal and Davinder, who were also named in the case by the Mohali police on Saturday, have also gone underground, said the police. The foursome are said to be security guards at Forest Hill Resort, owned by Lt Col Sandhu, at Nayagaon.