Seeks credible action against terrorists on Pak soil, says half-hearted steps won’t do

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 25

India today termed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks that his country was still hosting 30,000-40,000 armed men who had fought in Kashmir or Afghanistan a “glaring admission” of Islamabad’s policy of using armed extremists as an instrument of state policy.

Many of these militants were sent to India and the international community is well aware of this, said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

“It is a glaring admission by the Pakistan leadership. We have been saying repeatedly that it is time for Pakistan to take credible and irreversible action against terrorists,” he observed even as Khan, back in the country after a three-day visit to the US, said he felt like he had again won the World Cup. The Pakistan PM, while admitting that tens of thousands of people with dented records were still in Pakistan, also claimed previous dispensations had not been upfront about admitting the presence of 40 militant groups on Pakistani soil.

“They should make sure that the safe havens and sanctuaries in Pakistan should be neutralised. We feel that half-hearted measures to please the international community won’t do,” added Raveesh Kumar.

Despite Khan’s claim that his foreign trip was spectacularly successful, sources here pointed out that he had returned with no overt promises from the US of resuming aid that Pakistan desperately needs for its military and social sector. They pointed out that the overtly friendly gestures by US President were aimed at ensuring that Pakistan did not play spoilsport at a time when Washington wants to extricate itself from Afghanistan.

They also took on Khan for suggesting Pakistan had turned a corner in 2014 after the Peshawar school attack when he claimed all political parties decided to jointly combat terrorism.

The sources wanted to know why the ranks of militants had not depleted in these five years and despite this claimed political consensus, why did these militants continued with their armed depredation in India.

The sources drew attention to Khan’s entourage that included army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, and ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to indicate the reality of rival centres of power in Pakistan. Khan was forced to be accompanied by army generals to signal to the US that Pakistan’s rival centres of power were on the same page as him. However, Kumar sought to end the controversy over Trump’s claim that PM Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate on the Kashmir issue.

“We should move on, we have moved on,” he said, while drawing attention to the depth and breadth of Indo-US ties which, he suggested, was unlikely to be shaken by a stray comment that had already been clarified by the US State Department and denied in Parliament by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The US media has already hauled Trump over the coals for undoing the achievements of his predecessors on India by “blundering” to volunteer to mediate over the Kashmir issue. Trump has committed “diplomatic malpractice of a high order” by revealing a privileged conversation with PM Modi, said the Washington Post.

‘Feels like I have won World Cup’

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said the “rousing welcome” accorded to him by his supporters after his first official visit to the US made him feel as if he has won the cricket World Cup for the country. “I felt as if I came home after winning the World Cup and not from an official visit,” Khan, the former captain of the Pakistani cricket team, which won the cricket World Cup in 1992, said. pti

What Pak PM said in America

• Pakistan still hosting 30,000-40,000 armed men who had fought in Kashmir or Afghanistan
• Previous governments were not forthcoming on admitting presence of 40 militant groups on Pakistan soil

Mediation claim a blunder: US Media

Trump just committed diplomatic malpractice of a high order… After his trade war with India, his blundering into the Kashmir conflict further alienates an important country whose friendship the US needs to counter the rise of China. The Washington Post

Submit Your Life Certificate in November.If your age is 80 years or above, Life Certificate  can be submitted w.e.f. 1st October  and will be valid till 30.11.2020. To see  DLC (Digital Life Certificate) process,  click the Movie Link  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNMlkTYqTF8  on  Pensioners Portal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNMlkT

The standoff was finally resolved after the PLA stopped the road construction, following which India withdrew its troops. AFP file

Beijing, July 24

The Chinese military on Wednesday said it is striving to promote security and stability along the India-China border and has created “favourable conditions” to resolve the Doklam standoff in 2017.

A white paper titled ‘China’s National Defence in the New Era’, released by the Chinese Defence Ministry here touched upon various aspects of its military development comparing with India, US, Russia and other countries.

About the situation at the Sino-Indian border, the white paper said the Chinese military “strive to promote stability and security along the border with India, and taken effective measures to create favourable conditions for the peaceful resolution of the Donglang (Doklam) standoff”.

The reference to Doklam in the white paper was significant in the backdrop of the reports that China continued to reinforce its troops not far from the standoff site.

The standoff began when Indian troops objected to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) building a road close to the narrow Chicken Neck corridor connecting with the North-Eastern states in an area also claimed by Bhutan.

The standoff, which led severe disruption of relations between the two countries, was finally resolved after the PLA stopped the road construction, following which India withdrew its troops.

The standoff led to both the countries revamping their ties with the first ever informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan in 2018 which paved the way for the normalisation of the ties.

President Xi is due to visit India later this year for the second informal summit, which is expected to further solidify the relations between the two counties.

The India-China border dispute covered 3,488 km and the two countries have so far held 21 rounds of talks to resolve the issue.

The white paper also highlighted the intensification of competition between the two million strong Chinese military with that of its counterparts in India, US, Russia and other countries.

“Global military competition is intensifying. Major countries around the world are readjusting their security and military strategies and military organisational structures. They are developing new types of combat forces to seize the strategic commanding heights in military competition,” it said.

The US, the white paper noted, is engaging in technological and institutional innovation in pursuit of absolute military superiority.

Russia is advancing its ‘New Look’ military reform, while the UK, France, Germany, Japan and India are re-balancing and optimising the structure of their military forces.

“Driven by the new round of technological and industrial revolution, the application of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum information, big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things are gathering pace in the military field,” it said.

The white paper noted that the international military competition is undergoing historic changes. New and high-tech military technologies based on IT are developing rapidly. There is a prevailing trend to develop long-range precision, intelligent, stealthy or unmanned weaponry and equipment.

“War is evolving in form towards informationised warfare, and intelligent warfare is on the horizon,” it said.

The defence white paper also sought to play down heavy military expenditure, saying that China is spending less on defence budgets in terms of GDP in comparison to India, US and other countries.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the leading international defence think tank, China, the second-largest spender of defence in the world, increased its military expenditure by 5.0 per cent to USD 250 billion in 2018 against India’s USD 66.5 billion.

The US, which is the largest spender of defence, spent USD 649 billion in 2018.

Arguing that China’s defence expenditure is reasonable and appropriate, the white paper stated that the country attends to both development and security.

“It is making an integrated effort to build a prosperous country and a strong military, and striving for the coordinated development of national defence and the economy,” it said and claimed that China’s defence expenditure is open and transparent.

Compared to other major countries, the ratios of China’s defence expenditure to GDP and to government expenditure, as well as the per capita defence expenditure of the country, remain at a relatively low level, it said.

As the only major country yet to be completely reunified, and one of the countries with the most complex peripheral security environment, China faces serious challenges in safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and maritime rights and interests, the white paper said.

China is moving closer to the centre of the world stage, and the international community expects more international public security goods from the Chinese military, it said.

There is still a wide gap between China’s defence expenditure and the requirements for safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, for fulfilling China’s international responsibilities and obligations as a major country, and for China’s development.

In step with national economic development, defence expenditure of China will maintain a moderate and steady growth, the white paper said. PTI

Defence outlay in the annual budget has once again belied expectations, pegged at Rs 3.18 lakh crores approximating to 1.5% of projected GDP, it is the lowest since the 1962 war. Pre-budget optimism was heightened as finance minister had piloted projections of the ministry of defence in her role as defence minister and it was natural to expect larger allocation since she knows the unsatisfactory state of inventory. Allocation marks 6.87% hike over the last budget’s revised estimates and barely caters for inflation. The only silver lining is waiving of basic customs duty on defence imports – likely to save Rs 25,000 crore, over five years. No wonder, the media has listed defence among losers’ category and treatment meted out as ‘blink and miss’ approach. Die-hard optimists can draw some solace from the government describing it as a budget with 10-year vision. It is hoped that experts will concurrently consider putting long-term defence planning and procurement back on rails to give the much-needed impetus to capability building and modernization.

The new defence minister, like his predecessors, had reiterated that financial constraints will not be allowed to impact capability building. On face value, this indeed seems very reassuring as all defence ministers and finance ministers maintain this position. While national consensus on macro issues alludes us, we have unanimity on assurances at least. The ‘feel good factor’ is further amplified with occasional booster dose provided by ill-informed media, heralding every ‘acceptance of necessity’ (AON) as induction. The AON actually is only the first step, more like starting the match. The conversion or strike rate of these for Army is as low as 30%. The Army on the average takes 30 to 40 AONs every year and every such announcement aided by media boosts ‘josh’ factor without sparing even an iota of ‘hosh’ or scrutiny for retracted and stalled AONs.

More importantly, the tortuous process between trials and price negotiations culminating into contract spans four to five years. Finally, the gestation of the equipment itself is limited by capacities and could be spread over another four to five years. Recently, an AON was granted for 464 Russian T-90 tanks leading to considerable muscle flexing on social and print media, aided by graphics, as if tanks were ready to roll down. It would have been more objective if flowchart of impending process and pitfalls were included in these reports.

In 2014, an outgoing Army Chief took a rather unprecedented step of flagging critical operational deficiencies, terming them as ‘hollowness’. Consequent to this letter and as points-man for capability building in the Army, I had to anchor hearing by Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence (PSCOD). We were literally put in the dock with real architects of this sorry state, bureaucrats (as mandated by the transaction of business rules), attending as observers. We heard oft-repeated assurances, the budget will not be allowed to impact defence modernization. Yet, in 2018, in another hearing, the same committee was given rude reality check, which spelt out that against stipulated equipment profile of Modern-30, Current-40 and Ageing-30, existing inventory was 8-24-68 mix and funds not even adequate to service committed liabilities.

The army had traditionally followed threat-based planning, which amounts to reactionary capability building to handle our likely adversaries and manage the hybrid war. This was revised to threat cum capability building, duly supported by mandated levels of deterrence, ‘punitive’ against Pakistan and ‘credible’ against China. Net assessment models had stipulated quantified comparative ratios, stipulating building up 1.5 to 1 superiority against Pakistan. Capability-based planning is more pertinent for catering for ambiguous or emerging threats like artificial intelligence, robotics, space and cyber warfare.

Notwithstanding, stated parameters, in effect, the Army has been following firefighting approach driven by operations branch rather than perspective planning. There are occasional welcome doses of demonstrative acquisition of force multipliers like Rafale, C-130j, Apache, S-400 and ULH through strategic government to government (FMS in American parlance) route. The Army has been forced to resort to emergency induction of ammunition, sniper and other rifles. With regional power aspirations and as a net provider of security, it is high time that we make our procurement system functional graduating to genuine capability-based planning backed by periodic net assessment audits. While ambiguity seems to be the currently favoured approach and is needed for a few surprise capabilities yet for stable deterrence, it is axiomatic to build transparency and demonstrate seriousness in capability building. The much-needed reform of creating a non-lapsing fund for capital acquisitions will alleviate our problems as towards close of the financial year, it becomes process driven scramble to book expenditure with the status of schemes often an overriding priority.

The current, 13th Army plan covers the period from 2017 to 2022 and even at the mid-term stage, it is still in the discussion stage. It is also learnt that current review is driven by fiscal pragmatism, wherein a number of schemes may reflect budgetary realities. To put it bluntly, the armed forces have been told to cut the coat as per cloth. For those, who are statistically inclined, 12th Army plan had approximately 700 schemes and this one may have only 300 schemes. While drafting a new plan, mandatory pre-plan review invariably shows slippages, hence, it is prudent to remain pragmatic in projections but the overall impact on capabilities must be deliberately considered. It may be worthwhile to take plan holiday for first three years of the current plan, recast and draw a well-considered plan in next six months and apply it from 2020 to 2025 with clearly defined targets and more liberal funding.

Two Indian Air Force (IAF) officers will face court-martial for the Mi-17 chopper crash in which six of its personnel were killed due to friendly fire by own missile system on February 27 over Srinagar. As many as four other officers will also face administrative action in the case which includes two Air Commodores (equivalent to Army Brigadiers) and two Flight Lieutenants (Captain equivalents in Army) for their respective roles in the entire case. “Two officers including a Group Captain and a Wing Commander would be tried by a court-martial for their lapses in the case due to which six IAF personnel were killed in friendly fire,” defence sources told news agency ANI. On the morning of February 27, when Pakistan counter-attacked in response to the Balakot airstrike, an IAF Mi-17 chopper crashed over Budgam area near Srinagar killing all six of its occupants. It was revealed that the chopper was hit by its own air defence system SPYDER deployed in Srinagar. The chopper of the Srinagar-based 154 Helicopter Unit crashed within 10 minutes of taking off even as a dogfight raged over 100 kilometres away between intruding Pakistani jets and the IAF, in which Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was also involved. Six IAF personnel onboard and a civilian on the ground had lost their lives in the crash. Soon after taking over, newly-appointed IAF chief RKS Bhadauria had stated that the Mi-17 chopper crash on February 27 was a “big mistake” on part of the Air Force. Earlier, Bhadauria had said, “Court of Inquiry has completed and it was our mistake as our missile had hit our own chopper.” The fateful Mi-17 helicopter was shot down by an Indian missile when Indian air defences were on high alert following the February 26 Balakot airstrike that targetted a terrorist camp in Pakistan. The helicopter crashed near Budgam, killing all six Indian Air Force personnel on board. The helicopter was flown by squadron leader Siddharth Vashisht with other members squadron leader Ninad Mandvgane, Kumar Pandey, sergeant Vikrant Sehrawat, corporals Deepak Pandey and Pankaj Kuma

idrw.org .Read more at India No 1 Defence News Website http://idrw.org/2-iaf-officers-face-court-martial-4-others-administrative-action-for-shooting-down-of-mi-17-chopper/ .

Retired Army man Mohammad Sanaullah was kept at a detention camp in Assam last month as he failed to furnish evidence before a foreigners’ tribunal in the state to establish that he was Indian by birth, the Rajya Sabha was informed by Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy in a written reply. Sanaullah failed to furnish evidence before the tribunal to establish his linkage to his parentage on Indian soil prior to March 25, 1971, the House was informed. PTI

Increase defence outlay: Tewari

Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari asked the government to allocate adequate budget for defence. He told the Lok Sabha that the spending on military was just 1.52 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was the lowest in 58 years. India faces a two-front onslaught from Pakistan and China. The minister said China’s defence spending has been growing, while India’s dropping. TNS

Three days before Chinese President Xi Jinping was to land in Chennai, China sprang a surprise to infuse life into the informal summit he will hold with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since the actual venue of Mamallapuram is quite a mouthful for the world at large, the Chennai Informal Summit, as it will be called, seemed headed to become a footnote in the diplomatic calendar of bilateral meetings. The bad blood between the two countries over the abrogation of Article 370 had created a stalemate till the Chinese Foreign Office spokesperson advised India and Pakistan to resolve their differences over J&K through dialogue.

For the first time since India effected the changes on August 5, Beijing dropped all references to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. This reference is a red rag for India since it considers the Simla Agreement, which Pakistan has also signed, as the starting point for talks on J&K. The Chinese gesture does create a conducive environment for the two leaders to hold frank and unrestrained conversations with each other in order to remove the distrust and suspicion about each other’s policy choices. The first informal summit did produce a Chinese appreciation of India’s massive trade deficit and guidance to the two militaries to peacefully manage the border. But the Chinese stand on Kashmir nipped the shoots and stiffened India’s back to the extent that it upgraded its consultations with the Quad, an anti-China grouping, to the ministerial level.

At this moment, China cannot afford to antagonise India. Already grappling with unrest in Hong Kong, its mass internment of Muslims in Xinjiang has come under global scrutiny; US sanctioned the first lot of Chinese officials on Tuesday. The US pincer on trade is unlikely to ease and signature Belt and Road Initiative has enough challenges on its hands to dissuade China from opening new fronts. Hopefully, the Indian Army’s exercises have transmitted the right signals because China may not be ready to abandon Pakistan on Kashmir. As China has reaffirmed, Sino-Indian ties transcend sectoral disputes. But the challenge will be in adroitly managing them in the crucial days ahead.

Modi’s second term will focus on circumventing China

G Parthasarathy
Former Diplomat 

Recently published figures on global exports of countries are interesting. China, whose exports were less than India’s in 1948, is today the world’s largest exporter, with annual exports of $1.99 trillion. Even the US lags behind China, with annual exports of $1.46 trillion. India, with annual exports of $268.6 billion, ranks 20th — behind Singapore and Taiwan. Those who believe that India can match China’s regional influence, on its own, should remember these facts. India will have to be realistic in seeking to balance Chinese power across the Indian Ocean. We are working with littoral countries against becoming overly dependent on China. Our effort is to balance Chinese power in cooperation with partners like Japan, the US, EU members Germany and France and like-minded Asian countries like Indonesia and Vietnam.

With foreign trade and investment gaining importance in promoting national influence in today’s world, safeguarding maritime security is becoming increasingly important. India is, therefore, paying greater attention now to the security of its sea-lanes across the Indian Ocean ‘neighbourhood’. This extends from Aden and the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow gateway in the oil-rich Persian Gulf, astride India’s western shores, to the Malacca Straits. It is across these sea-lanes that over 60% of the world’s petroleum exports move on maritime routes. These lanes, which move across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in our east, are also the strategic routes for the flow of oil from across the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The Straits of Malacca are regarded as crucial ‘choke points’ for the world’s sea-borne oil supplies. The security of Indian Ocean routes from Hormuz to Malacca, therefore, remains crucial for India’s national security.

India gets over 70% of its oil supplies across the sea routes of the Indian Ocean. The imperatives of energy security are becoming increasingly complex because of rivalries within the Indian Ocean Region as India now faces an assertive China. Beijing receives most of its oil imports from across the Indian Ocean through the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Straits of Malacca. An estimated 16 million barrels of oil are transported across the Straits of Malacca daily. China would have realistically recognised that any land-based adventure across its borders with India could lead to disruption in its supplies of oil and gas, crossing the narrow straits. China is sparing no effort to expand the Myanmar Port of Kyaukpyu in the Bay of Bengal. This port is linked to it Yunnan province by pipelines across Myanmar. 

Security of the sea-lanes in the Indian Ocean now has global dimensions. Apart from rivalries within the region, its geopolitics is substantially influenced by the US and its allies like Japan, on the one hand, and rivals like China on the other. Tensions also arise from the sectarian, Shia-Sunni and civilisational Arab-Iranian rivalries. Iraq is the only major Arab power with a majority Shia population. It carefully balances ties between its Sunni Arab brethren and Iran! Superimposed on these rivalries are Israeli-Palestinian tensions, with Islamic countries paying lip service to the Palestinian cause.

While China and India have avoided involvement in these rivalries, India has concerns about China’s ambitions for military bases. China uses its economic clout to offer credits for infrastructure projects, leading recipients into a ‘debt trap’. Beijing has invested $590 million in building a naval base at Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The US, France and Japan have bases nearby. China took over control of the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka after Colombo was unable to repay credits. The port of Mombasa, Kenya, appears headed in the same direction, as also the airport in Zambian capital Lusaka. India has been drawing the attention of smaller countries to the dangers of getting exposed to excessive debt liabilities with China. China also extends patronage to leaders like former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen, who are ‘encouraged’ to ignore Indian interests. PM Modi has evolved a strategy to deal with partner countries across the Indian Ocean. India has taken measures to promote economic and security cooperation with island states like Mauritius, Seychelles and the Maldives. The ‘special relationship’ that India enjoys in Mauritius was evident by the presence of Maldives PM Pravind Jugnauth in the swearing-in ceremony of Modi, both in 2014 and 2019. Three Indian-built patrol boats have been supplied to Mauritius in recent years. Modi noted: ‘As frontline states of the Indian Ocean, PM Jugnauth and I agree that it is our responsibility to ensure collective maritime security around our coasts and in our exclusive economic zone.’ Ties with Seychelles are also being strengthened.

There are concerns that China appears to be undertaking an effort in Colombo to take over the management of another port. India recently offered to participate in building a container terminal in Colombo in collaboration with Japan. The bulk of the cargo handled in Colombo is destined for India. China has, however, made a serious mistake by making untenable claims on maritime borders with its maritime neighbours. It is facing a serious problem with Indonesia, which has demarcated its maritime boundaries with India. Rejecting Chinese claims on its Natuna Islands, Indonesia asserted: ‘China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis under international law.’ Modi and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo agreed recently that India would cooperate in building the Sabang Port in Indonesia, located close to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Our Navy is now well positioned to meet security challenges. Contrary to popular perception, India is moving towards playing a significant role in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood.

Lt Gen KJ Singh (retd)

Ideally, individual war memorials should be avoided as these get neglected due to lack of institutionalised funding. Yet, they are being allowed to come up in native villages and towns, often for vote bank and emotional considerations. Another worrying trend is the installation of statues and busts.