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Washington, March 13

Sikh-Americans have urged the Indian Government to ensure that the work on the landmark Kartarpur Corridor is not impacted by the tension between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.

A delegation of eminent Sikh-Americans from various parts of the US, gathered in Washington DC on Tuesday to present a memorandum to the Indian Embassy here.

The delegation, under the banner of California-based United Sikh Mission, also met nearly half a dozen lawmakers, including two Senators and Congressman Greg Pence, elder brother of the US Vice President, Mike Pence, urging them that the US play a role a role in ensuring peace in the region.

Leaders of various Sikh organizations, including SikhsPAC from Indiana, Gadhar Memorial Foundation from Oregon, Sikh SEVA from Virginia, Sikh Religious Society from Illinois, Let’s Share a Meal from New Jersey and those from various gurdwaras formed part of the delegation.

The ongoing tension between India and Pakistan “should not slow the progress” that has been made on the implementation of the Kartarpur Corridor, said Rashpal Singh Dhindsa, founder of United Sikh Mission in a memorandum submitted to Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

“The approval of the peace corridor is a great step in the right direction for all parties affected by this conflict. Now is the time to continue our efforts to create a peaceful resolve to this situation,” the memorandum said. PTI

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 11

With national pride becoming a pivotal issue in the General Election 2019, in Punjab Congress Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh seems to have wrested the “nationalism narrative” from the BJP and its Punjab ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Playing his cards well, he toured the state’s border areas immediately after the IAF Balakot airstrike. Taking the narrative to a whole new level, he interacted with border residents, assuring them of government help in case of any eventuality, expressing solidarity with soldiers posted at border posts as well as their families.

A day before the Modi-led Union Government “dared” Pakistan on February 26, the Punjab CM visited the families of Pulwama attack victims. Moved by the plight of the family of martyr Kulwinder Singh, who belonged to Rauli village in Ropar, he announced lifelong pension for his aged parents. 

Such gestures seems to have helped Capt Amarinder retain the goodwill of the people, preventing them from leaning towards the BJP. An ex-serviceman himself, the Chief Minister is being perceived as having said and done “the right thing, much like the PM”.  Earlier too the CM has taken a tough stand against “anti-nationals”, including separatist leaders and those funding their movements abroad.

Senior BJP leaders in Punjab have been left fretting and fuming at their party’s “political agenda” being  hijacked by the CM of a Congress-ruled state. The saffron party is contesting three seats — Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. Two of these are border constituencies where nationalist fervour is running high post the Balakot strike. “We believed the party would benefit from the nationalism agenda. But this may not be so. We are now banking on ‘anti-incumbency’ sentiment against the Capt Amarinder government,” said a  BJP leader.

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, March 8

The BRO is gearing up to begin snow-clearance operation on the Manali-Leh highway to connect 13,050 feet high Rohtang Pass, gateway to remote Lahaul, with the picturesque valley. As soon as the weather improves, the BRO will start clearing snow from Gulaba towards Lahaul.

The pass was closed to traffic in December last because of heavy snowfall, depriving the residents of Lahaul-Spiti connectivity with the rest of the state for several months. Internal link road of Lahaul Spiti are also blocked. This has paralyzed transportation badly in the district.

Now with the weather improving, the residents of Lahaul have urged the district administration and the BRO to start snow-clearance operation on the Rohtang Pass allowing connectivity between Manali and Keylong. They have urged the Deputy Commissioner Lahaul-Spiti Ashwani Kumar Chaudhari to ask the BRO and the PWD to begin snow-clearance operation within the valley to connect link roads within the district.

Tenzin Gyaccho, a Zila Parishad member in Keylong, told The Tribune, “Due to heavy snowfall this winter, life in Lahaul-Spiti has been badly hit. All internal links roads are blocked, which is giving tough time to the people of the valley. Patients are the worst sufferers because they could not be airlifted out of the valley for medical treatment due to bad weather.

“Now as the weather has improved the people want speedy restoration of roads within the district and outside. It will be of great help to us to move in and out of the district”, he added.

The DC Lahaul-Spiti had called a meeting of BRO and PWD officials at Satingri yesterday to discuss the issue. The DC said the BRO was going to start snow clearance operation in a day or two from Satingri toward Tandi and Sissu to connect the road with the Rohtang tunnel in north portal. The tunnel can be used for transportation of tribals between Lahaul and Kullu in emergency cases. Similarly, BRO workforce and machinery is moving from Udaipur ahead toward Kolang.

Colonel Uma Shankar, BRO Commander, 38 BRTF, Manali said, “Snow clearance work on the Manali-Leh highway will start from Gulaba towards Rohtang Pass within one week depending upon the weather conditions. There is warning of snowfall in the coming days and we will observe the situation. As soon as the weather improves we will begin snow-clearance operation

njit Thakur

Doda, March 6

Nawaz Ahmed, 32, is among hundreds of youth who came to take part in a recruitment rally of the Territorial Army in Doda district.

Ahmed Hails from Kuntwara in Kishtwar district. He said, “I have participated in 13 recruitment rallies so far because I want to be a part of the Army. I wanted to participate in this recruitment rally but had no money. The imam sahab of the local mosque extended a helping hand and gave me Rs 1,500. I want to join the Army to serve my nation and also take care of my family as we hardly have any employment opportunities here.”

Sushil Shan, another youth, said, “My family is against my decision. They wanted me to do a civil job. I also got selected for one but left it to cherish by childhood dream to join the Army. I want that youth should come forward to join the armed forces to strengthen our nation.”

The Territorial Army is conducting a recruitment rally in four districts of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban and Udhampur from March 5 to 13 at the Sports Stadium, Doda.

“The enthusiasm among youth is high post the Pulwama attack. They are reaching here from the remotest areas, braving snow and cold conditions. Over 3,000 youth have participated in the rally in two days,” an official said.

“In all, 1,533 youth participated on Wednesday but only 89 managed to get selected for physical tests. Though the turnout is high, the youth are unable to clear the ground race due to lack of skills and guidance,” he said.

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 5

In the first major restructuring of the Army headquarters in the national capital, the Ministry of Defence is learnt to have reduced some 20 per cent of the officer posts, merged two weapons and systems procurement agencies and created a new post of Deputy Chief who will coordinate with military intelligence, operations and logistics wings.

Sources say Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has taken the decision in line with the government’s resolve to make the 1.3-million strong Army leaner and fit for a 21st century war. A formal notification is expected anytime soon.

The new Deputy Chief will oversee strategy and operations, intelligence collation, conduct of operations and the movement of logistics. At present, the DG (Military Operations) and the DG (Military Intelligence) report to the Army Chief or Vice-Chief.

Also, the restructuring will merge the Master General Ordnance (MGO), who is currently under the Vice-Chief, and the DG (Weapons and Equipment) under a single vertical with the Deputy Chief (Planning and Strategy), which will be renamed Capability Development.

The officers who will be weaned off the headquarters will be sent to formations.

At present, there are an estimated 950 to 1,000 officers posted at the headquarters.

The MoD has also okayed the creation of a consolidated information warfare wing that will subsume two existing wings under the DGMI and the DGMO. The DG (Military Training) will now be merged with the Shimla-based Army Training Command.

Part of four major in-house studies, the restructuring okayed now is called “Reorganisation of the Army headquarters” and is aimed at its integration.

The other three studies on which a decision is yet to be announced are “Reorganisation and rightsizing of the Army”, “Cadre review of officers” and “Review of terms of engagement of rank and file”.

The rightsizing move is aimed at having a balanced cadre to meet the aspirations of the officers. This will include longer tenures as Brigadier, Major General and Lieutenant General and faster promotion from Colonel to Brigadier. The purpose of the last one is to have a younger profile of the officers.

Nashik, March 1

The mortal remains of pilot Ninad Mandavgane, who died in an IAF helicopter crash in Jammu and Kashmir two days back, were consigned to flames with full military honours here on Friday.

Mandavgane (33), who hailed from Nashik, was cremated on the bank of Godavari river around 12.30 pm.

Mandavgane and six others died on Wednesday, when the IAF chopper crashed in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to officials, the helicopter crashed in an open field near Garend Kalaan village in Budgam around 10.05 am. Besides its pilots, four others on board and a local resident died in the incident.

Mandavgane’s body was brought to Ojhar airport from New Delhi by a special IAF plane on Thursday night. Air Force officials, including Air Commodore Samir Borade, Commanding Officer of the IAF Station Ojhar, and Nashik Collector Radhakrishna B, paid tribute to the pilot at the airport.

The body was later taken to his residence in DGP Nagar locality in Nashik.

A large number of people gathered at the crematorium on Friday to bid adieu to the departed soul. When the body was brought to the crematorium around noon, people present there raised slogans of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.

Mandavgane’s father Anil, mother Sushma, wife Vijeta and their two-year-old daughter, his relatives and other people attended the funeral.

Before the funeral pyre was lit by Mandavgane’s father, the Nashik unit of IAF and city police gave a 21-gun salute.

Before joining the IAF, Mandavgane had studied in Bhonsala Military School in Nashik, Services Preparatory Institute (SPI) in Aurangabad and the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune. PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

Bengaluru, February 24

Russian aerospace major RAC MiG, which is offering the new MiG-35 fighter jet to India, has said that it is ready to localise production of the jet.

At Aero India, MiG Director General Tarasenko Ilya said, “At present, we are the number one plane in the world and offer to localise the MiG-35 production in India.”

Tarasenko said, “We have been here for more than 50 years (MiG-21 arrived in India in 1963). We have had excellent cooperation with India in the past and will continue it.”

MiG is one of the seven companies in the race for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) tender seeking 110 fighter jets. Tarasenko said, “We will meet all requirements of the MoD.” One of the requirements is the maximum ‘make in India’. The company has already made a presentation on new technologies, showcasing technological advantages of the MiG-35.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) operates 110 MiG-21 and MiG-27 jets which are on the verge of being phased out. It also operates MiG-29 jets while the Navy operates the MiG-29K — the sea variant.

The company has claimed that the MiG-35 will be 20 per cent cheaper than the similar offers from direct competitors.

Tarasenko said, “There is no need to disassemble the aircraft or even a part of it for maintenance and upgrade —just replacing the module is sufficient. Besides, the replacement of the propulsion unit (the engine) takes only 58 minutes in field conditions.”

The MiG-35 is armed with new types of guided and unguided air-attack systems which provide maximum effectiveness in combat against air and ground targets. It also carries a new optronic sighting, navigation system with a weapon control, a new communications system complex and AESA radar.

The Russian company has also set up a new public joint stock company United Aircraft Corporation as a part of  an after-sales service concept. It is expected to reduce time and costs at all stages of the after-sales service — from the creation of technical centres to performing maintenance and repair works.

Advanced & Lethal 

• The MiG-35 is armed with new types of guided and unguided air-attack systems which provide maximum effectiveness in combat against air and ground targets
• It also carries a new optronic sighting, navigation system with a weapon control, a new communications system complex and AESA radar

Manoj Joshi
Distinguished fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

The dilemma over military responses to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) attack in Pulwama that took the lives of 40 CRPF jawans is not new. India has been there and done that. Following the attack on Parliament House on December 13, 2001, India mobilised its entire army and threatened war for an entire year, but finally called it off.

After the Mumbai strike of November 26, 2008, PM Manmohan Singh sought military options, but was told that they were not quite prepared for the possibility of a larger war that may be triggered by a retaliatory strike.

And now, PM Modi has declared that the security forces have been given a free hand to decide the time, place and the mode of the future course of action, adding that this was an India with a new policy and practice.

What is new, in many ways, is the extent of public anger and the somewhat blatant efforts to make political use of the event.  Modi’s statements indicate that a strike is a question of when, not if.

An important factor that restrained India in 1992 (following the Bombay blasts) or in 2001 and 2008 is absent. The US played a major role in preventing an Indian retaliation, in the main out of concerns over Pakistan. Now, to go by the message being conveyed by the incendiary US national security adviser John Bolton is ‘go ahead’.

So, what will the new policy and action be?

First, the Prime Minister needs to understand that such things cannot be left to the security forces. Military action is, as Clausewitz put it, a continuation of politics by other means. In today’s post-nuclear era, when all-out war is not desirable, it is important to use the military instrument with great care, along with ‘a mix of diplomatic, economic and informational implements’.

More than ever, the present situation demands a careful mix of various means and strong political guidance and control. Just how this works was evident in the Indian response to the Kargil incursions. PM Vajpayee ordered the Army and later the Air Force in, but kept a tight control on them, ensuring a major Indian military and diplomatic victory. Not only were the Pakistani intruders pushed back, but also the international community internalised the notion of the sanctity of the Line of Control that divides the Indian and Pakistani forces in J&K.

A lesser-known fact is that the Indian Navy took up aggressive positions in the Arabian Sea and threatened to blockade Karachi in the event of a larger war.

In the long term, many options are there, including a stepped-up covert war and even an economic one. India could up the ante in Afghanistan, or for that matter in the UN Security Council. But Modi also has electoral compulsions for quick and kinetic action.

Air strikes are the easiest. An IAF aircraft can launch a Popeye air-to-surface missile with a 340-kg warhead from Indian airspace and it can travel 70 km or so to a target across the LoC. India has longer range options with the air-launched version of the Brahmos missile that can travel 400 km with a 200-kg warhead.

The second option is an overland ‘surgical strike’. Again, to be effective, it must be sufficiently violent. The so-called surgical strikes of September 26, 2016, were not, because Pakistan was able to pretend they never occurred. More important, Rawalpindi was clearly not deterred because its cross-border attacks on India did not stop. Indeed, one took place two months later on Nagrota, the HQ of 16 Corps.

The problem is targets. In the surgical strikes, India took out a couple of huts being used as launchpads and killed their occupants. But using a 200-300 kg warhead for that would be overkill. It is not clear whether we have exact coordinates of larger facilities used by the Jaish. If we do target them, we would have to be sure that they are, indeed, Jaish targets, and then the IAF would have to ensure accuracy, because in the crowded South Asian terrain, a small error could lead to hundreds of non-combatants being killed.

Since the terrorists operate in small groups and stay in scattered facilities, identifying and targeting larger facilities inland and retrieving a commando group without getting entangled with the dense Pakistan army positions would be a daunting task.

Both these options are made with the presumption that India would seek to differentiate between the Pakistan army and the terrorists. Were India be willing to strike at Pakistani military facilities, we would be into an entirely different ball game. Make no mistake, the Pakistan army will retaliate against any deliberate targeting of its facilities.

If New Delhi decides to play that game it could well also order a blockade of Pakistani air and maritime space. India does not have to be able to enforce this directly, but the threat of being sunk or shot down would be sufficient for air and maritime traffic to be severely disrupted. But this would unleash a different dynamic and affect third countries, thus complicating the outcome.

Whatever the choices are, it is imperative that the Modi government ensure that they are tightly controlled and managed by the political authorities. The Army may have the freedom to decide the nature, time and place of the action, but the responsibility for the outcome will rest on the shoulders of those who wield the instrumentality.

The bigger question recent exposes by The Wire and The Hindu raise with regard to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) conducting parallel negotiations in the Rafale deal is what did India gain by generously granting so many concessions to the French government?

Sudhanshu Mohanty, former secretary, defence finance, who had suggested the ‘escrow account’ option after the French refused to offer a sovereign guarantee to India, argues that the Centre was in a great position to bargain because it was a near monopoly buyer  of the Rafale fighter jets. Even more so because it came at a time when the company, Dassault Aviation, was struggling financially due to its falling order book.

Mohanty suggests that the India’s near “monopsony status” should have made Dassault vulnerable. However, the opposite seems to have happened as the PMO conducted parallel parleys with the French government and ceded considerable ground on several counts.

India’s demand for sovereign or bank guarantees from France for Dassault’s performance over a longer period with spares, maintenance etc was refused and we now learn that the head of the Indian negotiating team, Air Marshal S.B.P. Sinha, received a direct communication from a joint secretary in PMO indicating that the French had refused to give a sovereign guarantee. Even a bank guarantee was refused by the French.

Similarly, when Mohanty formally suggested an ‘Escrow Account’ to be strictly operated by the French government in lieu of sovereign or bank guarantee, it was accepted initially and even cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security in August 2016. However, even this clause was taken out at the eleventh hour under pressure from the PMO.

The Defence Acquisition Council was asked to sit afresh to remove this and also the anti- corruption clause after the Cabinet had cleared it the previous month. This was indeed unprecedented. What were the pressures working on the PMO during this period can only be speculated.

“All the post-facto amendments appear to be aimed at benefiting private companies on both sides [offset partners] under the garb of an intergovernmental agreement,” Mohanty told The Wire.

Nevertheless, it is clear that after a point, the PMO virtually started dictating to the Indian negotiating team set up by the Defence Ministry under the Defence Procurement Procedure policy of 2013. This sacrosanct system of procedures was violated time and again as observed by some senior defence ministry officials, including the-then defence secretary G. Mohan Kumar.

Last week, Kumar publicly said that his observation on the files – that the PMO was undermining the negotiating position of the defence ministry – was only in the context of diluting the sovereign guarantee clause and had nothing to do with pricing of the Rafale jets.

Mohanty, however, argues that issues like sovereign guarantee or bank guarantee are inextricably linked to pricing because these decisions, including the one to remove the anti-corruption clause, create big changes in the risk profile of the contract. It is a settled commercial and market principle that a higher or lower risk is accompanied by corresponding change in pricing of the product. For instance, the removal of a sovereign guarantee must be accompanied by reduction in cost of the Rafale jet as the future risk for India increases. On the other hand, having a bank guarantee adds to the cost.

The question therefore to ask is what has India really gained by removing all these critical provisions in the DPP document, in a deal where it had monopsony status? As near monopoly buyer it could have forced the French to accept all these conditions with little increase in cost.

This is the real puzzle which must be unraveled.

Another concession India made to the French against the advice of the law ministry is that it agreed to allow arbitration proceedings happen in Geneva under UNCITRAL rules. In May 2017, as The Wire first reported, finance minister Arun Jaitley sent an urgent note to the PMO arguing that India was losing too many arbitration cases against global companies because of arbitration under the international framework.

The finance ministry suggested that India needed to be more proactive and devise a mechanism to ensure that Indian judges are also part of the arbitration bench.

In the context of the Rafale deal too, the law ministry’s inputs were also that arbitration proceedings should take place in India and not Switzerland. These concerns are not merely theoretical: it was only in late 2017 that Dassault and Taiwan settled a 20-year-old dispute over an arms sale through arbitration, with the French company being fined nearly 135 million euros.

It would seem the arbitration clause in the Rafale deal violates the spirit of the note sent by the finance ministry to the PMO and the law ministry’s beliefs. Why would India concede to arbitration in Geneva that too in the absence of other safeguards such as sovereign guarantee, bank guarantee etc. A mere letter of comfort assuring future performance by Dassault  is legally a very weak substitute, most experts have opined.

Therefore the fundamental  question remains as to why India agreed to so many concessions, in violation of DPP 2013, when it was clearly in a strong position as a near monopsony vis a vis a company starved of orders globally.