The earrings belonged to the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Photo courtesy Twitter handle: @bonhams1793

London, April 25

A pair of gold pendant earrings from the collection of last Sikh Queen of Punjab Maharani Jind Kaur fetched 175,000 pounds, nearly six times the guide price, at an auction here.The earrings, the highlight of the Islamic and Indian sale at Bonhams yesterday, were estimated to attract bids between 20,000 and 30,000 pounds.The earrings belonged to the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was the only wife of the Sikh ruler not to commit sati on his funeral pyre following his death in 1839.She went on to be appointed as the de facto ruler of Punjab before being captured by the British. It was only many years later when she arrived in England that her jewellery, including the earrings on sale, were handed back to her.“The impressive price paid for these beautiful pieces of jewellery conveys their significance,” said Oliver White, Head of Islamic and Indian Art at Bonhams.“These gold earrings are a powerful reminder of a courageous woman who endured the loss of her kingdom, and persecution and privation, with great dignity and fortitude,” he noted.When Kaur’s five-year-old son Duleep Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of Punjab in 1843, she was appointed Regent.The Punjab Empire at the time stretched from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas and the court was fabled for its artistic and scientific achievements and opulence and riches.The East India Company invaded and annexed Punjab, despite armed opposition organised and led by Kaur. She was deposed in 1846, separated from her son and imprisoned.According to Bonhams’ historians, the Maharani’s personal wealth was confiscated and the state Treasury plundered by the British Army.The famous Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Timur Ruby were sent back to London as gifts for Queen Victoria. Mother and son were eventually reunited after 13-and-a-half-years in 1861 when Kaur moved to England to be with her son. She died in 1863.Besides her earrings, some of the other Indian highlights of the Bonhams auction this week included a painting by Gujarati artist Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh.His ‘Composition in green and black’ inscribed on the reverse with the artist’s name sold for 40,000 pounds, within the guide price estimate of 35,000 and 45,000 pounds.Another Indian painting, dating back to circa 1820-30, ‘Shiva and Parvati with Ganesh, Karttikeya and Nandi on Mount Kailasa’ went under the hammer for 16,250 pounds, beyond the estimated 8,000-12,000 pounds.A ‘Mother and Child’ portrait by Jamini Roy dating back to circa 1950 fetched 11,875 pounds, also beating the guide price estimate of 6,000-8,000 pounds. — PTI

London, April 24

A top UK diplomat has called the Golden Temple a mosque following which he apologised for the gaffe amid protests by Sikhs.Simon McDonald, Permanent Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, referred to the Golden Temple in Amritsar as the “Golden Mosque” in a tweet on Monday.“At the Queen’s birthday party, presented with picture of The Queen at Golden Mosque in Amritsar in 1997, a permanent memento for Deputy High Commission’s wall,” he tweeted. On realising his mistake, he apologised for the gaffe. The Foreign Office top diplomat said this morning: “I was wrong: I am sorry. I should, of course, have said the Golden Temple or, better, Sri Harmandir Sahib.”However, Bhai Amrik Singh, the chairman of the Sikh Federation, said: “This was a major gaffe by a top civil servant and unacceptable. It demonstrates a remarkable level of ignorance from someone in his position.” “In our view, a public apology and admitting the mistake is not enough. What we need is a commitment from the UK government and senior civil servants to root out such ignorance and discrimination or we will continue to face hate, abuse and threats of violence,” he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.The gaffe comes as Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn vowed to launch an independent inquiry into Britain’s military role in the Indian Army’s 1984 raid on the Golden Temple under his party’s government. The Labour leader promised that an investigation into the attack, which is said to have left thousands of people dead, would be in the party’s next manifesto. — PTI

File photo of F-16 fighter plane. PTI

Washington, March 19

F-16 jets give India a unique opportunity to be at the centre of the world’s largest fighter aircraft ecosystem and it is the only programme with proven performance to meet its operational needs and ‘Make in India’ priorities, according to an American defence company.

As India continues to shop around to add new fighter jets into its air force, Lockheed, which is the world’s largest defence company which has offered to relocate its entire production line to India has said that it intends to create far more an F-16 “assembly line” in India.

“We plan to introduce two new words into the lexicon of international fighter aircraft manufacturing: “India” and “exclusive.” F-16 production in India will be exclusive—something that has never before been presented by any other fighter aircraft manufacturer, past or present,” Vivek Lall, vice president, Strategy and Business Development, Lockheed Martin told PTI in an interview.

“The F-16 gives Indian industry a unique opportunity to be at the centre of the world’s largest fighter aircraft ecosystem,” Lall said.

“The F-16 provides unprecedented manufacturing, sustainment, upgrade and export opportunities to Indian industry well into the future. Only Lockheed Martin and its Indian partners can deliver the capabilities and industrial benefits to truly propel India’s military and defense industrial base into the future, Lall said.

He has played a key role in some of the big ticket American military sales to India, including the General Atomics-built Guardian Predator Drones announced by the US last year. Known as a renowned global aerospace leader, Lall recently joined Lockheed after spending a few years in General Atomics.

“The F-16 is the only aircraft programme in this competition with the proven performance and industrial scale to meet India’s operational needs and Make in India priorities,” he said, claiming that that no competing aircraft comes close to matching the F-16’s operational effectiveness and industrial success.

“The success of the F-16—3,000 F-16s flying today with 25 leading air forces—is a testament to the cost-effective, combat-proven capabilities the F-16 delivers. That combination of cost and capabilities is why F-16 production opportunities today total more than 400 aircraft, including India,” he said.

Lockheed is offering F-16 Block 70, which is the most advanced version of the aircraft.

“The F-16 continues to aerodynamically outperform its competitors and advanced technologies are continually integrated into the F-16. Block 70 mission systems are completely new and leverage technologies from the F-35,” Lall said.

The F-16 remains the backbone of the US Air Force, the world’s most capable air force, he said.

Structural and avionic upgrades to the US F-16 fleet will extend service life to 2045, while the F-16 becomes even more capable as technology enhancements from the F-22 and F-35 are continuously integrated across all three platforms, he added.

Responding to a question, Lall said the offer from Lockheed is cost advantage for India.

The single-engine F-16 has a 30-40 per cent lower operation and maintenance cost per flying hour than twin-engine aircraft in its class, according to figures published by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, he said.

“Whether you’re talking about battlefields or budgets, the F-16 is the clear choice for India,” he said.

Lall, however, refused to reply questions on F-35.

“Any discussions regarding potential new F-35 customers begin at the government-to-government level. It is not our place to speak on behalf of the US government or the government of India,” he said.

Notably the US Pacific Command Commander Admiral Harry Harris during his two recent Congressional testimonies have supported selling F-35 to India.

“At the moment, India is considering a number of US systems for purchase, all of which USPACOM fully supports: the F-16 for India’s large single-engine, multi-role fighter acquisition programme, Harris told the Congressional committees last week.

He also said the purchase includes, F/A-18E for India’s multi-engine, carrier-based fighter purchase; a reorder of 12-15 P-8Is; a potential purchase of SeaGuardian UAS; MH-60R multi-role sea-based helicopter; and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 18

In what could be a deliberate move, China’s state-owned shipbuilder has revealed, and then removed from its website, plans for a massive naval scale-up, including a nuclear-powered sea-going aircraft carrier of 1 lakh tonnes and a new set of nuclear submarines that would be more silent while operating underwater.The state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), which runs Dalian shipyard where China builds its aircraft carriers, revealed future plans with models last week only to later remove the same from its website. This could possibly be a deliberate move to tell the world what’s coming, especially as India expands to dominate greater parts of the Indian Ocean while Japan is adding to its naval fleet and the US has increased its naval presence in South-East Asia.The CSIC is a major shipbuilder for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and its biggest item could be China’s first nuclear-powered carrier. In strategic circles, this is identified as “Type 003”. Till now, there were only estimates on its size, structures and operations. Now, it seems, this will be the largest non-American warship in the world. China already has two diesel-electric powered carriers—the Ukraine-built “Liaoning” and the domestically built carrier, CV-17, launched in 2017.Only the US and France, operate nuclear-powered carriers. The Chinese one is expected to displace between 90,000-100,000 tonnes and have electromagnetically assisted launch system (EMALS) for fighter jets (only the US has tried these, so far). It will possibly carry J-15 fighters, J-31 stealth fighters, airborne early warning and control aircraft, anti-submarine warfare helicopters, and stealth attack drones.A nuclear-powered carrier will give China unlimited endurance at sea as the ship will not need to stop for fuel, and water is nowadays recycled from sea.The CSIC website also said it would build a new nuclear-powered submarine, likely to be called Type 095 nuclear-attack submarine (SSN). Compared to the existing Shang Class nuclear submarines, the 095 SSN will include new noise-reduction measures. The CSIC said it was also working on a separate “quiet” submarine, autonomous robot submarines or what are called the armed unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). Autonomous UUVs, armed with torpedoes and missiles, could undertake missions that manned vessels cannot.Separately, the US Department of Defence, in its annual report to the Congress titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2017”, warned: “The PLAN lays high priority on the modernisation of its submarine force. It currently possesses 63. By 2020, this force is likely to grow to 78.”

The aircraft carrier

• It seems the new aircraft carrier will be the largest non-American warship in the world; only theUS and France operate nuclear-powered carriers so far
• The Chinese one is expectedto displace between 90,000-100,000 tonnes and have electromagnetically assisted launchsystem for fighter jets (only theUS has tried these, so far)

The submarine

• The new nuclear-powered submarine is likely to be called Type 095 nuclear-attack submarine (SSN)
• Compared to the existing Shang Class nuclear submarines, this will include new noise-reduction measures

Una, March 14

A war memorial at the Municipal Park here will be formally inaugurated on March 23.In a press note issued here today, chairman of the district Ex-Servicemen Welfare Council Yashpal Thakur said members of 87 martyrs’ families would be honoured. The memorial, which displays the names of all martyrs, has been constructed with contributions from ex-serviceman, the Municipal Committee, the district administration, social organisations and public funds. — OC

The photogenic and politically correct French President Emmanuel Macron waltzed through his India state visit with the customary Parisian sophistication and panache by playing on South Block’s insecurities to set the stage for offloading more defence equipment on India. In brass tacks, the French signalled their intentions to supply two more squadrons of Rafale fighters; reopened conversations on a mega French nuclear power project; and won orders for their companies equal to one year of Indo-French trade. In return, India got a French offer to checkmate China in the Indian Ocean by the liberal use of each other’s naval facilities. The French astutely played on Indian susceptibilities and worries vis-a-vis a rising China to project themselves as India’s best allies. But will a French President, whose maiden overseas State visit was to Beijing, watch India’s back in a square up with China? Or when the Sino-French bilateral commerce is 10 times Indo-French annual trade? Paris, anyway, lost interest in South China Sea after being drummed out of Vietnam and Cambodia decades back. The second billing, after the joint Indo-French maritime alliance, was taken by the reopening of talks for French nuclear plants, rejected the world-over for their unproven technology and steep tariff. We are none the wiser about whether the French have patched up the security vulnerabilities in Scorpene submarines after 20,000 pages of its classified data was leaked to the media. The silver lining of Macron’s visit was the simultaneous staging of the first summit of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). France’s co-promotion of the ISA (along with India) brought in several heads of state from the mineral-rich Francophonic Africa where the Indian diplomatic footprint has been traditionally weak. The best challenge to China should be on land rather than in the oceans. India can do this in Africa by dovetailing the India-Japan led Africa Growth Corridor with an India-France trade centred foray in West Africa by riding on the opportunity given by the ISA. This approach will meet India’s prime aim of opening new trade avenues to compensate for the loss of existing ones due to the coming trade war.