Former defence civilians will be authorised to get groceries, but not liquor. PIC FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES

Even as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) struggles to resolve the long-pending one rank one pension (OROP) issue, there is good news for around 3.70 lakh retired defence civilians in the country. The MoD has finally agreed to extend Canteen Stores Department (CSD) facilities to former defence civilians, which they earlier had to forego after retiring. The integrated headquarters of MoD (Army) has shot off a notice in this regard to all headquarters, including seven army commands in the country. The issue has been under consideration for many years.

According to the notice, retired employees from the Defence Audit Department, Executive Officer Cantonment Board, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd personnel retired from Air Force Station Hyderabad, Jorhat, Air Force Academy, Dundigal (Hyderabad) and Air Force Station Yelahanka (Bangalore), Indian Defence Accounts Services, Secretariat Border Roads Development Board and HQ Director General Roads, retired employees of CSD and Military Engineering Services (MES) employees will be able to avail of the CSD facility.

“They will be entitled only to groceries. No liquor will be authorised,” the notice mentions. + Though defence civilians are central government employees, paid out of the defence estimate and part of the MoD, they do not come under the purview of the Armed Forces Act.

An army source said, “They are primarily governed by central government employment rules as applicable to employees of other ministries. They are employed at administrative and technical posts in various defence establishments, including service HQ, defence accounts, MES, ordnance factories, defence estates, etc.”

Welcoming the move, a senior official from HAL Bangalore, requesting anonymity, told Mirror, “It is good news for us as one’s source of income is limited after retirement. Even getting groceries is a big leap.” “Each concerned department should appoint an officer authorised to countersign and promulgate orders and forward details to the Quartermaster General’s branch,” the notice mentioned.

The sale of four-wheelers through CSD for defence civilians is, however, restricted to officers. “Defence civilians also enjoy several other benefits and perks applicable to armed forces personnel while posted in field and hard areas,” a source informed.

(Source- Pune Mirror)

PAY hikes bring cheers for some, heartburns for others. Social tensions and protests rise as inequalities increase. Comparisons become inevitable. IAS officers resent fat corporate salaries. Defence officers complain of discrimination and seek pay parity with bureaucrats. Reacting to the Central staff bonanza, farmers demand a debt waiver. A vast majority working in the unorganised sector has neither job security nor time-bound, inflation-linked wage increases. As more money chases fewer goods, prices would rise and the poor would feel the maximum pain.  With tax hikes and oil gains the Centre can manage the higher pay burden but for states it would be ruinous. State politicians too have elections to win and they also pursue politics of appeasement. Punjab’s already overstretched finances could spell disaster since ruling politicians here are not known for paring wasteful expenditure, shedding administrative flab or using technology to cut costs. Chief Minister Badal would not sack the unwanted Chief Parliamentary Secretaries or shut unnecessary PSUs like the cow board but slash posts at the lower level and reduce the budgetary allocations to hospitals, schools, colleges and universities. Countrywide, money which should have been spent on education, health and infrastructure would go into unproductive spending. Babus’ pay hikes are resented because in their interaction with people, they appear uninterested and unexcited, if not unhelpful, extortionist and corrupt. Governments justify pay hikes, saying they need to attract and retain talent. For people what matters more is an efficient, hassle-free delivery of services. Pay hikes have a cascading effect. The cost of producing goods and offering services goes up. China once attracted massive foreign investment in its manufacturing sector because it was a low-cost economy. With regular wage increases it has lost that cutting edge and is forced to move to high-technology industries. India’s consumption-driven growth following the Western model needs a relook; otherwise it would extract a high price in terms of environmental damage and exploitation of natural resources. The pay-driven boost to car buying would soon demand wider roads, more flyovers and better traffic management. The Seventh Pay Commission report is actually for the benefit of car-makers, not the employees.

The Seventh Pay Commission has recommended One Rank, One Pension (OROP) for all civilian employees.

Seventh Pay Commission chairman Justice (Retd.) A K Mathur on Wednesday said it appears that the report has been accepted in toto.

He said the One Rank, One Pension is one of the peculiar recommendations made to the government which has not been given so far.

WATCH VIDEO: 7th Pay Commission Is Historic, But Not The Way You Think

READ | 7th Pay Commission approved: Key highlights

“Though the army employees used to get the One Rank, One Pension, but the civilians will also get the same One Rank, One Pension. This is a very peculiar feature. No pay commission gave that,” he added.

READ | 7th Pay Commission: Govt ‘by and large’ accepts recommendations, minimum pay now Rs 18,000

Justice (Retd.) Mathur said the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission will involve an additional expenditure for the government in terms of 1, 02,100 crores.

“That will include the increase in the pay structure, allowances as well as the pension for the retired employees. The peculiar feature of this report is that we have done away with the grade pay and given an open metric system,” said Justice (Retd.) Mathur.

“It will be a very transparent system. The people will know where they stand. We have given them the entire manner in which they can find out their place in the metrics and after that they can determine their pay,” he added.

Justice (Retd.) Mathur further said there are various allowances including house rent, transport, children’s education.

“A person who enters in the government service can reasonably expect to get about Rs 24,000 per month. We have also recommended that the government employees should be covered by health insurance for everybody,” he said.

“We have also made a recommendation that the educational allowance should also be increased. We have also made a recommendation for very good allowances and perks for the army personnel. We have also given all paramilitary forces almost identical benefits as are given to the defence personnel,” he added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the recommendations will be implemented from 1st January this year. He said, the Pay Commission covers 47 lakh government employees and 53 lakh pensioners.

The Minister said the entry level salary for government employees will be Rs 18,000 against the existing Rs 7,000 per month.

Jaitley said based on minimum pay, fitment factor of 2.57 has been approved for revising pay of all employees uniformly across all levels.

The Minister informed that Seventh Pay Commission recommendations on Allowances will be referred to a Committee headed by the Finance Secretary.

Chandigarh, May 30

In an ongoing tour of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence, 12 MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha arrived on a two-day visit to the Chandimandir Military Station.The committee is chaired by Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd), who represents the Garhwal constituency.The visiting members were briefed by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen KJ Singh, on various operational and administrative aspects of the Command. A conducted tour of the military station was made by the committee members. — TNS

Beijing, June 27

China has said the vexed border dispute with India and some “emerging new issues” pose a “major challenge” to the development of bilateral ties.“As the two neighbouring countries, China and India have historical issues such as the border dispute and also some emerging new issues with the development of the relations between the two countries. How to deal with these issues is a major challenge for the relationship between the two countries,” Chinese Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Li Huilai said.“The two sides have agreed to strengthen communication and dialogue, and to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution through friendly consultations, and to manage and control these issues,” he said. —PTI

BENGALURU: It is bonanza year for government employees. Around 16 lakh ex-servicemen have received the first installment of the one-rank-one-pension payouts along with another fifty-two lakh retired pensioners from central government service who would benefit from the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. Although, technically, they have earned the money years back, the pension and pay hikes will be credited as lump sum to their bank accounts only now. This could mean a huge tax bill.  There is, however, an escape route which most are not aware of. As per tax rules, if you have received any portion of your salary or pension in arrears or in advance, you are allowed tax relief under section 89(1) The intention of the relief is to save you from any additional tax burden due to delay in receiving your earnings . “The relief protects the taxpayer from paying a higher tax. In many cases, the individual might have moved up in the tax slab and should definitely not be penalised with higher taxes because he received his income late,” says Archit Gupta, founder and CEO, ClearTax.in. Not many people understand how arrears should be taxed as the calculations are a bit complicated (s .. While you are claiming relief under Section 89(1) do not forget to fill Form 10E. It is is mandatory to file to be eligible to make the claim. “Taxpayers who have claimed relief under section 89(1) in the previous years but had not filed Form 10E have received letters from the department stating the relief was not allowed as Form 10E was not furnished,” says Gupta. Good thing is that Form 10E can be easily filed and submitted online under e-file, other than ITR section.

ELEMENT: Calculating tax relief on arrears correctly.

Step 1: Calculate tax payable on the total income, including arrears for the year in which it is received

Step 2: Calculate tax payable on the total income, excluding arrears for the year in which it is received

Step 3: Calculate difference between tax liability in Step 1 and Step 2

Step 4: Calculate tax payable on the total income, including arrears for the year o which the arrears relate

Step 5: Calculate tax payable on the total income, excluding arrears for the year o which the arrears relate

Step 6: Calculate difference between tax liability in Step 4 and Step 5

Step 7: Subtract the tax difference you arrived at at Step 6 from Step 3. The excess amount is the tax relief you can claim
SOURCE: ClearTax.in

Note: If the tax liability at Step 6 is more than the tax liability at Step 3, no relief will be allowed.

PM Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent. PTI

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23

India made the final push for its entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent today. While Modi asked Jinping to “make a fair and objective assessment of India’s application”, the news coming from Seoul, where a special session of the NSG is being held to discuss India’s membership, was not that positive.Apart from China, which has been vocal about its opposition, Brazil, New Zealand, Ireland and Turkey were also not welcoming about India’s induction into the elite nuclear club. Most of these nations have expressed reservations about India not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The special session of the NSG, which began post-dinner in Seoul, concluded without reaching any decision on India’s membership. The discussions will continue tomorrow when a final call on India’s candidature can be expected.Meanwhile, Pakistan made sure that it was not left behind in the game for the NSG membership and its President Mamnoon Hussain also met Jinping in Tashkent today. According to a press note issued by the Pakistan foreign ministry, both leaders discussed the issue of Pakistan’s entry into the NSG.Pakistan has been consistently saying if an exception can be made for India, it should also be allowed to join the NSG. Both India and Pakistan have not signed the NPT. Hussain told Jinping that “any exception given for NSG membership could disturb strategic stability in South Asia”.The meeting between Modi and Jinping lasted for about 45 minutes. The Ministry of External Affairs said most of the meeting was devoted to this issue and Modi told Jinping that “China should contribute to the emerging consensus in Seoul”. The Chinese side did not come out with any details of the meeting and made no comments on what had been the response of Jinping to the Modi’s request.Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar led a team of officials in Seoul, lobbying for India’s candidature. Despite the US, the UK, France and Switzerland backing the India’s bid, the going has been tough for India.While China’s opposition was always known, what might come as a shock to many here is the resistance being put up by smaller countries. India, in a bid to woo many of these nations, had sent senior diplomats of the foreign ministry to these countries so as to address their concerns.For now, the suspense continues as discussion will resume in Seoul tomorrow morning on India’s bid for the NSG membership. The final outcome will then seal the deal for India—one way or the other.

Australia reiterates support on NSG

Harinder Sidhu

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23

Australia today reiterated its strong support to India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group, maintaining that Canberra feels the NSG should remain open for any country based on merit and willing to go through the process.“Australia has been very, very supportive of India joining the NSG. We think it is an absolutely good thing, we genuinely welcome India’s interests in the NSG and in the other non-proliferation regimes too (Wassenar and Australia group). It demonstrates to us India’s seriousness of intent of being a responsible nuclear actor. And we think India can make a solid contribution to the NSG,” new Australian High Commissioner Harinder Sidhu told The Tribune in an exclusive interview, her first here.Full interview: ‘I always had a strong sense of my Punjabi roots’Asked whether India had reached out to Australia to impress upon New Zealand, which has reservations over New Delhi’s admission to NSG, she said while Canberra has spoken to Wellington about its position, as an independent and sovereign country, New Zealand will make its own decisions.With “both sides of her parents born in Punjab”, the envoy said her focus was to take forward the bilateral relations on a higher plane.Australia, she said, is streamlining the process for Indian students who can apply online for travel permits. The number of students from India studying in Australia crossed the 50,000-mark last year and this year some 70,000 are applying.

Dinesh Kumar in Chandigarh
The otherwise militarily well-executed intrusions by Pakistan, who for the first few weeks succeeded in misleading India, reflected badly on the security apparatus of a country considered a regional power with the world’s third largest army, fourth largest air force and seventh largest navy. The Tribune takes you 17 years back and makes a realistic assessment of the situation from the peaks of hard-earned victory

Tribune file photo: Manoj Mahajan

SEVENTEEN years ago on 26th May 1999, a wave of six Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft comprising two Soviet-origin MiG-21, MiG-23BN and MiG-27M each launched air strikes on Pakistani soldiers located in about 130 pickets on scores of dominating mountain peaks and ridge lines along a 160 km stretch on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kargil and Leh districts of J&K.With the battleground ranging between 14,000 and 18,000 feet, the 85-day limited Kargil War between India and Pakistan turned out to be the world’s highest elevation air and land war during which the Army fired a staggering 250,000 artillery shells (average 5,000 a day), a scale unprecedented since World War-II. The IAF, which did some brilliant innovations including unprecedented high altitude night operations in moonlight, ended up flying 7,631 sorties (average 40 a day) including 1,730 missions by 60 fighter aircraft that dropped about 500 bombs including, for the first time, laser guided bombs in anger.Over several weeks preceding the start of the Kargil War, the Pakistani Army surreptitiously intruded 8 to 10 km inside the Indian side of the LoC across four contiguously located sub sectors – Mushkoh Valley (adjacent to the 11,500 Zoji La), Dras, Kargil and Batalik (adjoining the Siachen glacier) – and established outposts overlooking the country’s solitary National Highway connecting Srinagar to Leh. Pakistan’s multi-fold intention was to realign the LoC by salami slicing a part of J&K, interdict the highway and thereby disrupt the Army’s line of communication, cut off the Siachen Glacier, internationalise the J&K issue and give a fillip to its sponsored militancy in the state.Both the Indian intelligence and the Army were caught shamefully unawares just as it had in the two previous Kashmir wars – 1947-48 and 1965. As in 1965, the intrusion first came to the Army’s notice from (two) shepherds on the payrolls of the military intelligence after they sighted intruders on the higher reaches of Batalik.Then had begun a flurry of activity aimed at ascertaining the identity of and vacating the intruders. The first Army patrol sent to investigate was attacked and met with casualties (four killed and five wounded); a second patrol went missing; an IAF helicopter followed by a Canberra reconnaissance aircraft were damaged in Pakistani rocket fire; and an attempt to dislodge the Pakistanis from a key peak (Point 5353) was repulsed. By 25th May, i.e. a day before the start of air strikes, 29 Indian soldiers had either been killed or gone missing and another 30 wounded. But the Army still did not know the full extent of the intrusions, their number and identity (whether Pakistani Army or militants as they were claiming). It was not the brightest moment for a country that only a year earlier had proudly self declared to be a nuclear weapon state and had 28 years earlier (1971) soundly defeated and dismembered Pakistan.On 26th July, two weeks after the IAF concluded their strike missions on 12th July, the government announced that all intrusions had been vacated. Officers and soldiers of a not so well prepared and equipped Army valiantly fought dozens of difficult high altitude battles that involved crossing deep ravines and painstakingly scaling steep hostile craggy rocky slopes, often at night, to retake lost territory peak by peak yard by yard in an inhospitable terrain and sub zero temperatures which was as much the enemy as the Pakistani soldiers. Indian soldiers and air force pilots had to function within the constraint of a government directive forbidding crossing the LoC. However, for tactical reasons the Army thrice successfully crossed the LoC to capture tactically important features to facilitate vacating the intruders. The 27 Rajput battalion crossed the LoC south of Turtuk near NJ 9842; 14 Sikh battalion similarly captured a feature about a kilometre inside the Pakistani side of the LoC near Chorbat La while a Jat battalion captured a feature adjacent to the Kupwara sector. In the latter case, however, the soldiers had to withdraw west of the Mushkoh Valley after about 30 of them suffered frost bite. The Army continues to retain all the captured features.

Victory’s cost

Did the Kargil War end with an Indian victory and Pakistan’s defeat? Has India learnt its lessons? Has Pakistan too learnt its lessons and desist from repeating history? The meaning of events changes with time and 17 years is a fairly long time to reflect.India’s victory lies in recovering territory lost due to its incompetence, this came at a high human cost: 527 soldiers (including six airmen) killed and 1,363 wounded (many maimed for life). When compared to duration and geographical spread, the Army proportionately lost more soldiers in the over two-month war than in the 14-month 1947-48 war in which 1,103 soldiers were killed. The IAF lost three aircraft – a MiG 27M to engine failure and a MiG-21 and Mi-17 helicopter each to Pakistani missiles. Some deft diplomacy led to an unusual public support by the US and all major countries for the Indian position vis-à-vis a diplomatically isolated Pakistan. Islamabad’s, rather Rawalpindi’s (headquarters of the Pakistani Army), ‘success’ lay in internationalising the Kashmir issue; exposing the Indian Army and intelligence agencies, respectively, for their lack of preparedness and incompetence; and continuing their proxy war in J&K. Overall the otherwise militarily well executed intrusions by Pakistan, who for the first few weeks succeeded in misleading the Indian Army and intelligence agencies, reflected badly on the security apparatus of a country considered a regional power with the world’s third largest army, fourth largest air force and seventh largest navy.

Panel and all that

Three days after the war ended, the government on 29th July 1999 constituted the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) headed by K. Subrahmanyam to examine the sequence of events and make recommendations for the future. The report submitted in December 1999 was tabled in Parliament in February 2000 following which in April 2000 the government constituted the Group of Ministers (GoM) Committee headed by LK Advani  to examine the entire gamut of the national defence structure and to formulate specific proposals for implementation of the report prepared by the KRC. The GoM, which met 27 times, in turn formed four Task Forces, each of which examined the intelligence apparatus, internal security, border management and the management of defence. The report submitted on 26th February 2001 was discussed by the Cabinet Committee on Security two-and-a-half months later on 11th May.Some of the recommendations accepted included the establishing of an Intelligence Coordination Group and a Technical Coordination Group (tasked to oversee technical intelligence). The Aviation Research Centre or ARC, which earlier formed part of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was elevated to a separate agency known as the National Technical Reconnaissance Organisation (NTRO). Border management is now based on the one-border one-force principle.Some of the Services-specific measures taken included elevating the Fortress Andaman and Nicobar (FORTAN), earlier under the Eastern Naval Command, to the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), a first-ever tri-service Command. The government created the Strategic Forces Command entrusted with nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, a tri-services Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), a Defence Procurement Board and a system of a holistic 15-year Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP). India now has better resolution (one metre) satellites to detect intrusions while large portions of the LoC have been fenced with barbed wire and sensors. The Army has since truncated the geographical jurisdiction of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps and raised 14 Corps in Leh to exclusively cater for the Ladakh region that faces the armies of two countries – China and Pakistan. J&K now has three Corps – numbers 14, for Ladakh, 15, for the Valley and Nagrota-based 16, for the Jammu-Poonch region.

Crucial exclusion

But the government stopped short of implementing two major recommendations of the GoM – creating a Chief of Defence Staff/Force and integrating the armed forces with the decision-making apparatus of the Ministry of Defence where, currently, pivotal decision making positions are held by generalist bureaucrats on deputation. The existing Service commands also need to be restructured into joint or unified commands for better focus, synergy and optimum use of resources. Instead of appointing a CDS or CDF as the principal military advisor, the government took a half measure by creating a holistic tri-service secretariat headed by a Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS) with officials from departments such as the Ministry of External Affairs and the Defence Research and Development Organisations on deputation. It is a different matter that some of the key non-Services positions are seldom filled.Notwithstanding the measures taken, successive governments at the Centre are yet to effectively address three basic issues that characterised the Kargil War: (a) intelligence gathering, the failure of which led to Pakistan’s successful intrusion; (b) deficiencies in defence equipment which was evident during the Kargil War when Army Chief General VP Malik famously remarked ‘we will fight with whatever we have’ on being asked whether the Army was prepared in case the Army’s operation in the Kargil region escalated into a full fledged war (see interview) and (c) the Army-dominated Pakistani establishment’s policy of deception, subterfuge and using terror as an instrument of state policy.Deficiencies in India’s ability to collect, collate and analyse intelligence is evident from the several embarrassing intelligence failures that have occurred since. The December 1999 hijack of an Indian Airlines aircraft from Kathmandu to Kandahar, the December 2001 terror attack on Parliament, the 26th November 2008 terror attack in Mumbai and the more recent terror attacks in the Punjab border towns of Dinanagar (2015) and Pathankot air base (2016) all point to the continuing shortcomings in India’s intelligence apparatus and the fact that Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment continues to either encourage terrorist groups or directly sponsor terrorism in India.

Preparedness lacking

In recent years India has attained the dubious distinction of becoming the world’s largest importer of defence equipment. Yet, India’s defence story in the last decade-and-a-half is one of slippages in preparedness notwithstanding an annual defence budget of Rs 340,000 crore. The import-dependent armed forces continue to suffer shortages on a grand scale. For example, the IAF squadron strength has fallen from the sanctioned 42 to 33 with projections of a further fall to 25 unless the replacement rate exceeds the retirement pace of ageing aircraft. The Navy, with a submarine fleet down to 13, is finding it difficult to maintain a force level of 138 ships and submarines approved by the government 52 years ago in 1964 let alone increase the strength to 198 ships and submarines approved in 2012. The Army is deficient of practically every equipment ranging from bulletproof jackets, night vision devices, and ammunition to artillery guns. The War Wastage Reserves (reserves set apart for an anticipated use during war) are perilously low and the Army is struggling to raise its first Mountain Strike Corps.In the long-term New Delhi needs to handle Islamabad with its India-obsessed Army that sees itself as not just Pakistan’s territorial guardian but also the custodian of its ideology. The Pakistani Army continues to play a dominant role in that country’s governance and foreign policy, especially concerning India. Pakistan, which seeks parity with India, is expected to continue training, arming and mentoring terror groups against India, particularly in J&K, and to internationalise the issue. It has and will continue to attempt nuclear blackmail against India as it has in the past.

Missed opportunities

India’s defence mismanagement and history of missed opportunities to militarily settle the Kashmir issue has not helped. India failed to take the 1947-48 war to its logical conclusion and wrest complete control of J&K. Instead it accepted a UN-sponsored ceasefire ceding 33 per cent of the state to Pakistan marking the genesis of the problem. A second opportunity arose in 1965 when it accepted a ceasefire without knowing then that Pakistan was low on ammunition and could not afford to continue the war. The third opportunity arose in 1971, the only time India was militarily pro-active. But India kept the war on the western front on a limited scale and later failed to use the stunning military victory to reach a final settlement to the J&K issue on the negotiation table.A fourth opportunity arguably arose during Exercise Brasstack (1986) when India had mobilised its armed forces on the western front. As American scholar Steven Cohen later remarked, 1986-87 was India’s last chance to fight a conventional war with Pakistan. The Pakistan-sponsored militant uprising in J&K in 1990, the Kargil War, the terror attack on parliament (2001) and in Mumbai (2008) were other provocations. But then a full-scale conventional war between India and Pakistan seems difficult with Islamabad possessing nuclear weapons. In any case, over the years India’s superiority in conventional weapons vis-a-vis Pakistan has declined. In the meantime an assertive China has been aggressively patrolling a yet-to-be delineated Line of Actual Control, established its military presence in Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and further strengthened its line of communication. India’s security environment remains complicated and difficult. And continued slippages and deficiencies in India’s intelligence gathering and military preparedness are big problems.The craft of warThe supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
— Sun Tzu, the art of war If you win, you need not have to explain…If you lose, you should not be there to explain!
— Adolf Hitler War is over … If you want it.
— John LennonIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.
— George S Patton JrTo know your enemy, you must become your enemy.
— Sun Tzu, the art of war In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
— Dwight D Eisenhower, us presidentYou may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.
— Margaret Thatcher, uk pmTo be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.
— George Washington, us president 

— dkumar@tribunemail.com

U-TURN Beijing mutes opposition a day after saying India’s application not on Seoul agenda; US reinforces support

BEIJING: Hours after Washington reiterated its support for New Delhi’s bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, China toned down on Tuesday its opposition to India’s admission to the elite club, saying members were open to discussing the inclusion of countries that are still to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a nuclear arms control pact.

The position adopted by China marked a shift from its assertion on Monday that India’s application to join the 48-nation NSG was not on the agenda of the organisation’s plenary in Seoul on June 23-24.

“The door is still open within the NSG for non-NPT members to join,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. “There is always room for discussion.”

“We did not target any country, India or Pakistan. We only care about the non-proliferation treaty,” she said, suggesting that the topic of including non-NPT countries in the NSG could “probably” come up during the plenary.

China, which is perceived to be acting at the behest of its “all weather ally” Pakistan, has blocked India’s bid by linking it to the NPT. Neither India nor Pakistan has signed the NPT. Days after India applied, Pakistan responded with a bid of its own to join the NSG. Indian sources said they were making every effort to get into the club, making realistic assessments of hurdles and devising means to overcome them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too will take up the issue with Chinese President Xi Jingping on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tashkent on June 23.

As the Americans and the Japanese continued to work the phone lines to drum up support for India, reports suggested foreign secretary S Jaishankar is likely to travel to Seoul to marshal Indian efforts to get membership of the NSG. But the sources admitted that while China remained the biggest challenge, there were some other countries, including Austria and Ireland, which have reservations about a non-NPT member being admitted to the exclusive club.

“We are working the phone lines, convincing members about our impeccable non-proliferation credentials and remain hopeful of becoming a member of the NSG. Of course, such negotiations go down to the wire,” a source said. The NSG functions by consensus and opposition from even one member will mean that India will not be able to gain entry. The NPT is the “cornerstone” of the NSG and the nonproliferation regime, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua said. “The NSG members should focus on whether the criteria (of admitting new members) should be changed,” she said, underlining fears that such a move could have implications for the Iran nuclear deal and the situation in North Korea.

The US, she said, was the country which made the rule that non-NPT countries should not be allowed to join the NSG.

But on Monday, the US again called on NSG members to back India’s application in Seoul. “We believe, and this has been US policy for some time, that India is ready for membership and the US calls on participating governments to support India’s application,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

India enjoys most of the benefits of membership under a 2008 exemption to NSG rules granted to support its nuclear cooperation deal with Washington.

Other than China, no other nation is openly backing Pakistan because of its track record. The father of its nuclear weapons programme ran an illicit network for years that sold nuclear secrets to countries, including North Korea and Iran.

An op-ed in the Chinese state-run Global Times tried to downplay Islamabad’s role in the proliferation of nuclear secrets. “Actually, the proliferation carried out by Pakistan was done by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan’s chief nuclear scientist, and was not an official policy of the Pakistani government,” it said.