Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

The Indian establishment has been lax in its response to the emerging challenges in Kashmir, resulting in China flexing its interventionist muscles as a big brother to resolve the issue between India and Pakistan. This is a marked change from its earlier stand that this was a bilateral issue between Delhi and Islamabad.Delhi has a reason to take Beijing’s interventionist instincts seriously, not only that China is a bigger country with almost a superpower status but also because of its known hostilities towards India — Doklam standoff being the latest — and its friendly ties with chronic India-obsessed Pakistan. China has drawn closer to Kashmir as it has virtually colonised Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and poses a serious threat to India’s strategic Siachen glacier which Pakistan has been eyeing for decades now.China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuan on Wednesday summed up intentions of his country in 90 words vis-à-vis Kashmir in response to a question that centered on the Organisation of Islamic Conference’s condemnation of the “tense situation in the Indian administered Kashmir.” His words: “China hopes relevant parties to do more to help with regional peace and stability and refrain from escalating the tension. China stands ready to play a constructive role to improve the relations between Pakistan and India,” were an obliging statement to Islamabad’s unending calls to the international community to intervene in resolving the Kashmir issue.Pakistan would definitely be emboldened by this and Kashmiri separatists have already started dreaming of their wish being fulfilled by Beijing. Prominent separatist Shabir Shah has advised India to take “China’s words seriously” implying that Delhi should prepare itself for international intervention on the Kashmir issue, while other separatists Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have elevated the status of China as one of the “stakeholders in Kashmir”. This campaign had started in early 2000s and now it has reached a point where Beijing is suggesting openly its intervention, while it itself is guilty of intrusion from across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), especially in the Ladakh sector. It is in illegal occupation of 38,000 sq km of J&K territory.The Chinese foreign ministry’s assertive suggestion, almost sounding like a threat couched in diplomatic lexicon, has come after Chinese media hinted that the Chinese army would enter Kashmir at the “request of Pakistan.” The context should be viewed against the backdrop of intrusions and standoff along the LAC, China aggressively dictating the stoppage of development works in Ladakh as also forcibly chasing away Indian shepherds and their livestock from pastures on the Indian side of the LAC. The Indian foreign ministry has adopted a squeamish approach and never asked China to demarcate border in clear terms. This has its own pitfalls.As of now the situation is very serious because China is now openly supporting the idea of intervention, which is a nectar to the separatist sentiment in Kashmir. And, it needs to be admitted that rhetoric of “integral part” is unable to hide the grim situation in the Valley, where every symbol of India is under attack.

File photo of the US Ship Nimitz. Reuters

Chennai, July 10

The Indian, US and Japanese navies on Monday began the Malabar Naval Exercise-2017 aimed at achieving deeper military ties between the three nations.

Taking part in the trilateral naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal would be US Ship Nimitz (CVN68), guided missile cruise USS Princeton (CG59), guided missile destroyers USS Howard (DDG83), USS Shoup (DDG86) and USS Kidd (DDG100), a Poseidon P-8A aircraft as well as a Los Angeles fast-attack submarine.

Besides, Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force ships JS Izumo (DDH 183), JS Sazanami (DD1 13) along with Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa and INS Vikramaditya would participate in the joint Naval exercise, an official press release said.

The 21^st edition of the exercise, conducted ashore and at sea, would include professional exchanges on carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare.

Medical operations, damage control, explosive ordinance disposal, helicopter operations and anti-submarine warfare would also take place.

The at-sea exercise includes events such as submarine familiarisation, air defence exercises, medical evacuation drills, surface ware fare exercises, communication exercise and search and rescue operations.

Indian, Japanese and US maritime forces have an understanding and knowledge of shared working environment at sea. As members of Indo-Asia Pacific operations, the three maritime forces would look forward to continuing to strengthen the bonds and personal relationships, a press release said.

The Malabar exercise is taking place amid the military standoff between armies of the India and China in the Sikkim section and Beijing ramping up its naval presence in the South China Sea. PTI

There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violation in June. — Tribune file photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 8

A Territorial Army jawan who was on leave and his wife died and a few others were injured on Saturday as Pakistan Army violated ceasefire in Poonch sector.A shell landed on the house of jawan Muhammad Showkat, killing the couple.The Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector from 0630 hours, a defence spokesman said.

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The Indian troops retaliated effectively, he said.The Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing targeting civilian villages as well, a police officer said.“Very heavy shelling is going on. So far two civilians have died in Pakistani shelling at Khadi Karmara village along the LoC,” he said, adding that some other people suffered injuries. With PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 5

China today again asked India to pull back troops from Doklam in the Sikkim sector to “avoid worsening of the situation” as it accused New Delhi of “trampling on” the Panchsheel pact by “illegally entering” its territory.It was weighing options on a travel alert for citizens visiting India, China added, charging India with “misleading” the public by saying that the Chinese had built a road near the Siliguri corridor.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Amid the military standoff, on-ground postures of the forces are, for now, “non-aggressive” as a high-level dedicated group set up in 2012 is mandated to discuss such flare-ups.  The military standoff is being conducted from a “civil distance” even as both sides have dug in heels at a spot on the Doklam plateau (10,000 feet) at the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China. Both sides have pitched in tents and maintain a line for supplies, indicating readiness for a long haul. The area is disputed between Bhutan and China. India is there to help a friend.In January 2012, the two countries established a “Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs”. It has representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs as also the Ministry of Defence of either side.Its mandate under Article VI of the agreement says: “The working mechanism will address issues and situations that may arise in the border areas that affect the maintenance of peace and tranquility and will work actively towards maintaining the friendly atmosphere between the two countries.”It is tasked with meeting at fixed intervals and “emergency consultations” can be convened mutually.In the past, similar standoffs have been resolved through diplomacy. The two countries do not have a demarcated border and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the de facto boundary all along the 3,488-km frontier.The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement inked in 2013 says: “If the forces come face to face… both sides shall exercise maximum self-restraint, refrain from provocative action, not use force or threaten to use force, and prevent exchange of fire.”

With agency inputs

In another transgression, Chinese troops entered India in the Sikkim sector and jostled with Indian army personnel guarding the Sino-India frontier, besides destroying two bunkers.

The face-off has been going on in Doka La general area in Sikkim for the past ten days and the Chinese troops have also stopped the batch of pilgrims that was proceeding for Kailash Mansovar yatra, official sources said today.

The Indian troops had to struggle hard to stop the Chinese personnel from advancing further into Indian territory. They formed a human wall along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to stop the PLA personnel, some of whom also videographed and clicked pictures of the incident.

The bunkers have been destroyed in Lalten area of the Doka La area. A flag meeting was also held between senior army officers of both the sides on June 20, but the tension still continues.

It is not the first time that such a transgression has happened at the Doka La, a place at the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction.

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New Delhi, June 21The Union Home Ministry will look into reports of an insufficient number of bulletproof vehicles available for police officers in Jammu and Kashmir.The reports had said that police officer Feroz Ahmed Dar, who was killed in a terror attack last week, had requested for such a vehicle several times.Dar, the 32-year-old Station House Officer of Achabal, and five other policemen were killed on June 16 in a gruesome ambush in Anantnag district by Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists. The militants also tried to disfigure the faces of the six policemen before walking away with their weapons.Official sources said today the Centre was finding out whether J&K police officers were getting adequate bulletproof vehicles. They said the responsibility of purchasing bulletproof vehicles rested with the state government concerned. The Centre reimbursed such expenditure under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme. — PTI

They said as the plane accelerated to take off, it was asked to abort and return to the gate by the ATC.

Chandigarh, April 30

A major mishap was averted when an Air Vistara flight was asked to abort its take-off at the last moment to avoid crashing into an Indian Air Force plane that was landing on the same runway at the International Airport here.Sources said the timely intervention by the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) prevented the mishap from happening when the Delhi-bound Air Vistara flight was about to take off from here on Saturday after an IL-76 cargo plane of the Indian Air Force (IAF) sought permission for landing on the runway.

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The Air Vistara flight had 151 passengers on board and was scheduled to depart at 3.20 pm. However, it got delayed and left past 5 pm, officials said.They said as the plane accelerated to take off, it was asked to abort and return to the gate by the ATC.After the incident, Vistara tweeted, “Regret the trouble, take off was aborted as per instructions from ATC at Chandigarh airport.”IAF officials said the decision to abort take-off of the private airline was taken by the ATC keeping in view the safety norms. PTI

Students of Nishan-e-Sikhi Institute with Baba Sewa Singh (left) in Khadoor Sahib on Friday. Tribune photo

Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, June 16The three candidates who made it to the NDA after taking coaching from Nishan-e-Sikhi Preparatory Institute (NESPI), Khadoor Sahib, being run by Baba Sewa Singh, an environmentalist, were honoured at Khadoor Sahib on Friday.Baba Sewa Singh is the head of the Kar Sewa sect in Khadoor Sahib and also runs a national-level hockey academy, besides doing other social, educational and religious activities.The selected candidates — Adeshparkash Singh (Rank 116), Harsidakpal Singh (Rank 198) and Dharampreet Singh (Rank 252) — were felicitated with siropas and given Rs 1 lakh each by the sect. The preparatory institute is being run for the last over eight years.Major General RS Chhatwal (retd), Director, NESPI, in his address, appreciated the services of Baba Sewa Singh for providing coaching to rural and needy students of this backward area to compete in the national-level military exam.As many as seven lakh students had appeared in the exam conducted by the UPSC and only 6,000 could succeeded. Twenty-three students of the NESPI were among these successful candidates. Only 584 out of the 6,000 candidates could clear the interview of the SSB (Staff Selection Board).In the rank-wise position, Adeshparkash would be the commissioned officer in the Air Force, Harsidalpal Singh in the Army and Dharampreet Singh in the Navy.The selected candidates would join a four-year course for the commissioned officer to be started from July 1 at Kharakvasl (Pune).A large number of people of the area participated in the felicitation function today.Baba Sewa Singh extended his best wishes to the selected candidates.

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