FACING THE HEAT Wants fresh attempts to be made to conclude the Pathankot probe and restart the Mumbai attack-related trials

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed authorities to conclude the probe into the Pathankot attack and resume the stalled Mumbai attacks case after the civilian leadership warned the military that Pakistan faces growing international isolation,according to a media report on Thursday.

AP FILEPakistan PM Sharif at a leaders’ summit at the UN.

The civilian government delivered a “blunt, orchestrated and unprecedented warning” to the military leadership and sought consensus on several key actions, including action against banned militant groups, the Dawn newspaper quoted unnamed individuals, who were involved in the meetings between the civil and military leadership, as saying

Sharif has “directed that fresh attempts be made to conclude the Pathankot investigation and restart the stalled Mumbai attacks-related trials”, the report said.

Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar and national security advisor Nasser Janjua will travel to the four provinces with a message for provincial apex committees and ISI sector commanders – “military-led intelligence agencies are not to interfere if law enforcement acts against militant groups that are banned or until now considered off-limits for civilian action”.

Akhtar’s tour began with a visit to Lahore, the report said, adding that the decisions were made after an “extraordinary verbal confrontation between Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and the ISI DG”. The decisions apparently indicated a “high-stakes new approach by the PML-N government”, the report said.

The move comes against the backdrop of a spike in tensions between Pakistan and India. India last week carried out surgical strikes against terrorists across the Line of Control . ‘TAKE VISIBLE ACTION’

The Dawn reported that the decisions followed an undisclosed meeting between the civilian and military leadership on Monday when Sharif had also chaired a meeting of Pakistan’s political parties to forge a united front on the issue of tackling the tensions with India.

The report said foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry, while making a presentation in the Prime Minister’s Office to a small group of civil and military officials on Tuesday, said “Pakistan faces diplomatic isolation” and the “government’s talking points have been met with indifference in major world capitals”.

Referring to India, Chaudhry said the “completion of the Pathankot investigation and some visible action against Jaish-e-Mohammed were the principal demands”, the report said.

Pakistan army beefs up positions along LoC: Intel

NEW DELHI: Intelligence reports indicate that the Pakistan Army has beefed up its positions all along the Line of Control (LoC). More troops have been inducted in the area north of Sialkot and heavy artillery guns have been moved into the theatre this week in what is an apparent reaction to India’s cross-LoC strike of September 29.

The intelligence assessment, top sources have revealed, is that Pakistan’s additional deployment is to prevent any cross-LoC strike by the Indian Army in the near future.

Pakistan’s aggressive LoC posture has been reported to the highest levels of Modi government, and counter-measures have been initiated.

“The Army is also strengthening its defences in cities like Muzaffarabad and other important towns in PoK as well as major cities like Lahore,” said a senior official.

Meanwhile, two global positioning system (GPS) sets, two wireless sets with code sheets of the kind used by Muridkebased Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group has been recovered from bodies of three terrorists who were killed when they tried to attack a Rashtriya Rifles camp in Handwara in Kashmir.

Top sources said that Pakistan violated the ceasefire at five places on the LoC using area weapons and mortars to target Indian positions. The aggressive Pakistani action was noticed after deployment of more troops and guns into area under the control of Rawalpindi-based X Corps and Gilgit based Force Commander Northern Areas.

Although both Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his envoy to India Abdul Basit have made peace overtures to India, intelligence officials say militants already in the Valley will make the coming winter “hot” for the security forces.

They, however, dismiss reports of 100 militants ready to infiltrate across the LoC from Pakistan as military deployment on both sides has been beefed up.

India hits out at UNSC’s handling of terror issues

It is a body that ponders over six months on whether to sanction leaders of organisations it has itself designated as terrorists. SYED AKBARUDDIN, India’s permanent representative to UN

NEW DELHI: India has hit out at the working of the United Nations Security Council for what it perceives as an unresponsive manner in which the world body addresses the issue of terrorism.

New Delhi cited inordinate delay in sanctioning terrorists, the secrecy of the procedures and more than 20 years of dilly-dallying in amending norms to extradite terrorists to countries where they are wanted by the law.

“It is near impossible to argue the case of relevance of the UN on the issue of terrorism, where even adoption of an international norm to ‘prosecute or extradite’ terrorists evades us despite 20 years of talk,” India’s permanent representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said in his statement on the working of the organisation.

“At best, it is now a body that can be described as an interesting and random mix of ad-hocism, scrambling, and political paralysis,” he said.

What he dealt at length reflected India’s frustration with not being able to bring Pakistanbased individuals such as Jaishe-Mohammed (JeM) chief Mazood Azhar under the UN sanctions committee.

“It is a body that ponders over six months on whether to sanction leaders of organisations it has itself designated as terrorists. Then, unable to decide, it gives itself three more months to further consider the issue,” he said.

While the JeM had been designated as a terrorist organisation, Indian efforts to list Azhar had run into Chinese opposition.

On March 31 this year, China – a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council – had blocked India’s move to put a ban on Azhar under the al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council. China was the sole member in the 15-nation UNSC to put a hold on India’s application with all other 14 members of the Council supporting New Delhi’s bid to place Azhar on the 1267 sanctions list that would subject him to an assets freeze and travel ban.

The Chinese technical hold had lapsed on Monday, and had China not raised further objection, the resolution designating Azhar as a terrorist would have been passed automatically. However, Beijing on Saturday announced the extension of its “technical hold”. “The extended technical hold on it will allow more time for the Committee to deliberate on the matter and for relevant parties to have further consultations,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing.

Akbaruddin said that as many as 31 entities within the United Nations deal with some aspect of countering terrorism.

“We have learnt of the adage that too many cooks spoil the broth. This is clearly the case as coherence and coordination is missing,” he said.

SAINIK SCHOOL SCHOOL

Tribune News service

Chandigarh, October 6

The All-India Sainik School Entrance Examination has been rescheduled for January 15, 2017, instead of January 8, 2017, due to administrative reasons, stated a press note.

BREAKS RANKS WITH CONGRESS ON EVIDENCE, SAYING ASKING FOR IT WAS ‘INSULTING ARMY’ Arvind Kejriwal has an income tax background and suspects everything. He believes in the doctrine of guilty unless proven innocent. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, Punjab Congress president

CHANDIGARH: Breaking ranks with the Congress that has asked the Narendra Modi government to counter Pakistani propaganda on cross-LoC strikes, Punjab unit chief Captain Amarinder Singh said on Wednesday that anyone asking for evidence was “insulting the army”.

“When the director general of military operations says terror launch pads across the LoC were destroyed, I believe every word he says. I have been a captain in the army and served it in the 1965 war. I have friends in the army and I am in regular touch with my regiment. I do not need a proof as I believe in the valour of my country’s forces,” Amarinder told HTinaninterview. CHANDIGARH: Breaking ranks with the Congress that has asked the Narendra Modi government to counter Pakistani propaganda on cross-LoC strikes, Punjab unit chief Captain Amarinder Singh said on Wednesday that anyone asking for evidence was “insulting the army”.

“When the director general of military operations says terror launch pads across the LoC were destroyed, I believe every word he says. I have been a captain in the army and served it in the 1965 war. I am a writer on military history. I have friends in the army and I am in regular touch with my regiment. I do not need a proof as I believe in the valour of my country’s forces,” Amarinder told HT in an interview.

His views are contrary to the party’s as Congress spokesperson RPN Singh said: “Subject to the considerations of national security, we again request the government to use all information, evidence and instruments at their disposal in calling the Pakistani bluff.”

Amarinder, however, had opposed the evacuation of border villages in Punjab and called for defying government orders.

TARGETS KEJRIWAL Training his guns on Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, Amarinder said the Delhi chief minister comes from an income tax background and suspects everything. “He believes in the doctrine of guilty unless proven innocent. Can we believe the propaganda of Pakistan, which is showing the international media — and CNN even broadcasts it — by putting its own men dressed in olive green uniform as Indian soldiers at the LoC? He is a joker to ask for proof to unmask such propaganda,” Amarinder said.

The Congress, which has come back into Punjab’s poll game not as much owing to its own campaign but recent setbacks suffered by the AAP starting from manifesto goof-up, sacking of its state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur and reverse swings being played by cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, has stolen a march over Kejriwal’s party in the poll-bound state by questioning the evacuation of border villages after the strikes.

Backed by loyalist MLAs from border areas, Amarinder has thrown the ruling SAD-BJP alliance off balance by asking villagers to defy government evacuation orders. He attacked both the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Parkash Singh Badal government in Punjab on the motive behind the evacuation without discrediting the surgical strikes.

“Badal is playing Modi’s game of creating war hysteria with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh polls to show his chest of 56 inches has expanded to 58. Both the striking and holding units of the army are in their barracks in places such as Bathinda, Jalandhar and Ambala. Why did the CM try to create panic by displacing border villagers? On Wednesday, he ordered border schools be reopened. How can children go to school if their families are told to move out? I asked villagers not to be misled by Badal and stay put in their villages and look after their crop, cattle and children,” he said.

DISAGREES WITH NIRUPAM

Amarinder, however, distanced himself from remarks of Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam saying he is not concerned about what a party leader said in Maharashtra. On Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala asking the Modi government to release evidence to discredit Pakistan propaganda that no strikes took place, he said former Union minister P Chidambaram said that surgical strikes took place even during the UPA rule but it never made them public. “The party is opposed to the Modi government’s bid to take political mileage out of the strikes,” the former CM said.

The AAP, which is battling hostile fire over Kejriwal’s demand for proof even in Punjab, is now toeing Amarinder’s line. Its leaders led by state convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich (Ghuggi) on Tuesday asked Badal at a press meet that if the evacuation orders came from the Centre, why was the BSF unaware? He was referring to BSF director general KK Sharma’s tweet: “India never gave orders for evacuation of villages near international border post(s).”

Have proof of strike, but will not release it: Centre

No chest-thumping needed, PM tells his ministers

NEW DELHI: The army has handed over video evidence of its September 29 surgical strikes on terrorist launchpads in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir but the government doesn’t see the need to make them public, two senior ministers said on Wednesday.

PTISoldiers patrol the LoC in Pallanwal sector. After a brief lull, Pakistan Army resumed shelling a major portion of the LoC on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his ministers not to indulge in chest-thumping over the raid, sources said, adding the army, too, is not in favour of making public the details of the sensitive operation.

Urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu rejected the opposition’s demand for proof of the strikes, saying any further discussions would be an “insult” to the army. “There is no need to respond to such irresponsible comments and demands. Fortunately, the Congress has also realised its mistake and distanced itself from the comments of its leaders,” Naidu told mediapersons a day after he said that the proof would be presented at an appropriate time.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar has also concurred with the army. Parrikar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval were shown unedited footage of the September 29 operation on October 1, followed by a presentation of an edited version the next day by the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO). After seeing the visuals, Parrikar conveyed to the Prime Minister that he was satisfied and felt there was no need to release the footage.

Hindustan Times had reported on October 3 that Modi had on September 23 — five days after an army camp in Uri was attacked by militants that India says were based out of Pakistan — first told Parrikar and Doval of his decision to strike across the LoC.

“The opposition should understand the difference between a covert and overt strike. And it is not incumbent on the Indian army to release video footage every time they do their duty,” a senior official said on conditions of anonymity.

South Block sources said there was no need to rub Pakistan’s nose in the dirt after the successful surgical strike. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and a section of Congress leaders have been calling for evidence, couching it as a must to debunk “Pakistan propaganda” that the raid was nothing but crossborder fighting.

The Congress repeated its demand on Wednesday but tempered it by saying the government should provide proof only after considering national security. Saying it had unequivocally supported the armed forces and the government on the cross-LoC action, the Congress said it was time to “expose the malicious lies and false propaganda” of Pakistan.

Several ministers had taken on the opposition for “questioning” army’s courage in demanding evidence for the raid. “I don’t think any Indian citizen has got any doubt… It would be an insult to the army if we further discuss,” Naidu said. “Only Pakistan is saying something because they have to say something. They are not in a position to conduct funeral or last rites of their own citizens…This is their culture.”

Sources in the army said the force was not in favour of releasing the evidence though the final decision lay with the government. The army would like to keep under wraps the tactics of its special forces. The army, they said, was proud of its apolitical and secular credentials and didn’t want to be dragged into political wrangling.

GPS device, wire-cutters found during search; India, Pak NSAs discuss de-escalation

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Militants who attacked a paramilitary camp in north Kashmir’s Baramulla used civilians to “shield” their escape, police said on Monday, even as the national security advisers of India and Pakistan spoke over phone to reduce hostilities along the defacto border.

NITIN KANOTRA / HT AND PTIBSF men stand guard near the International Border fence in Akhnoor sector on Monday; and (right) tributes being paid to a BSF trooper who was killed in the Baramulla attack, in Srinagar.

A Border Security Force (BSF) soldier was killed and another jawan wounded after at least six gunmen attacked the 46 Rashtriya Rifles camp in Janbazpora on the outskirts of Baramulla city around 10.30pm on Sunday, triggering retaliation from the forces. The attack continued till 1am.

A “GPS device and wire cutters” were found during a search after the attack, a BSF spokesperson said, indicating that the attackers may have crossed over from across the LoC.

Wire cutters, compass and GPS devices were also recovered after the Uri camp attack, which India blames on the Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed. The Army, however, said the attack was not in “retaliation” to the “surgical strikes” by India across the LoC as the militants may have crossed over “a month or two” ago.

The Baramulla attack came three days after India claimed to have conducted “surgical strikes” to wipe out seven to eight militant launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Army sources said attackers were unlikely to have crossed the LoC in the past few days when vigil along the LoC has been very tight.

Reports of two militants being killed during the attack were untrue, sources said.

Ties between India and Pakistan have nosedived since the September 18 attack on an Indian Army garrison in northern Kashmir’s Uri that killed 19 soldiers. While India has blamed Pakistan-based terrorists for the strike, Islamabad has denied the charges.

North Kashmir DIG Uttam Chand told HT that the militants involved in the Baramulla attack used the large population near the camp as “shield” to escape under the cover of darknes. He said forces could not retaliate heavily as it would have otherwise caused civilian casualties.

The BSF company deployed in Baramulla shares the 46 RR headquarters with the army. At the time of attack both BSF and army men were on guard.

“A massive combing operation is on to nab the attackers,” said Vikas Chandra, the BSF’s inspector general in Srinagar.

Reports said the BSF also foiled an infiltration attempt by a group of 8-10 militants near the Chakri border out post (BoP), 30 km from Gurdaspur in Punjab.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s top diplomat Sartaj Aziz said the NSAs of both countries have spoken to reduce hostilities along the LoC.

A home ministry spokesperson in New Delhi confirmed the telephonic discussion.

Aziz, the adviser to prime minister on foreign affairs, told Geo. tv that Pakistan wants to “reduce tensions on LoC”, and added Pakistani NSA Nasser Janjua and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval have stressed the need to establish contact.Aziz, however, alleged that India was escalating tensions with Pakistan “to deflect the attention of the world from Kashmir issue”.

Pervez Musharraf

Lahore, October 2

Taking on the Nawaz Sharif-led government, former prime minsiter General Pervez Musharraf (retired) has claimed that Pakistan is facing international isolation thanks to its own wrong policies.

Musharraf’s statement comes in the wake of the postponing of the SAARC summit, which was scheduled for November in Islamabad, as Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan, joined by Sri Lanka on Friday, pulled out citing concerns over terrorism.

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According to Dawn, the Chairman of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) spoke by telephone to APML workers on the party’s sixth foundation day and lashed out at the government.

“It is astonishing that the government has taken and spent a loan of $35 billion, but not a single beneficial megaproject has been completed with that money. Instead, the people have been suffering because of the government’s corruption,” he said.

Training his guns on New Delhi, Musharraf stated that India is only good at hurling threats but if Pakistani military decides to act on them the response will assume a far more practical form.

“India should realise that Pakistan is not Bhutan. India has a habit of levelling allegations against Pakistan each time there’s an attack on its soil,” he said. — ANI

The Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief at it again. AFP

Lahore, October 1

Hafiz Saeed, chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), an Islamic charity linked to outlawed militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has said that New Delhi staged the “surgical strike” drama following domestic pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to retaliate after 19 soldiers were killed in the Uri attack.“They (some people in India) started asking that ‘you had said that you would attack Pakistan, you would do a surgical strike’. Everyone who was in grip of this fever started asking Modi and the Indian government. For this Ajit Doval staged a drama. He made up a surgical strike drama while sitting indoors,” Saeed said.

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Saeed was of the opinion that no raid was actually carried out by the Indian troops.“The whole film was made in which this surgical drama was shown in which they said their 150 expert paratroopers, after crossing the control line and entering Pakistan, carried out a raid. Actually, no raid was carried out, neither in Bhimber nor in Lipa, Chamb and Dudhnial,” he added.The Indian Army has said it conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in response to the terrorist attack at Uri sector. Two Pakistani soldiers and over 30 terrorists were reportedly killed in the attack.Director General of Military Operations Lt General Ranbir Singh said the motive of the operation was to hit out at the terrorists who were planning to infiltrate into the Indian territory.Lt Gen Singh said significant casualty was caused to terrorists during the operation.The DGMO said it was a matter of serious concern that there had been many infiltration bids by terrorists at the LoC and it was reflected in the terror attacks in Poonch and Uri on 11th and 18th of this month.Meanwhile, anti- India protests were held in Lahore, Multan, Karachi and some cities of Balochistan in wake of the rising tensions between the arch-rivals. ANI

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The lone Indian soldier, who strayed across the LoC after the surgical strikes on Wednesday, was identified as 22-year-old Chandu Chavan, who hails from Borvihir village in Dhule district of Maharashtra. Local Marathi television channel IBN Lokmat reported that his grandmother, Lilabai Patil, died after she heard of his capture by the Pakistan army. It is reported that the maternal grandmother had brought up Chavan since he was a child after his parents were killed. Minister Rajnath Singh said, “The government has taken note of media reports that say our soldier is in Pakistan’s captivity… India will take up the matter with Pakistan,” TV channels reported him as saying. Singh also spoke to the Chavan’s family and assured them of all support.

File photo of a Rafale fighter jet

Beijing, September 30

China apprehends that India will deploy the 36 nuclear-capable Rafale fighter jets to be acquired from France in the border regions of China and Pakistan to enhance its deterrence capability, a media report here said.

India will deploy the new French-made fighters in the disputed areas bordering Pakistan and China, state-run Global Times reported quoting Shenzhen Television.

A recent report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said India is the largest arms importer in the world, the newspaper said.

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Increased arms imports into the Asian region are primarily due to the unstable security environment in the Middle East and concerns from China’s neighbours over its rise.

The Rafale fighters in flyaway condition carry tactical nuclear warheads, and this means India’s nuclear deterrence capability will be greatly improved, Shenzhen Television reported.

“India also wants to purchase the Rafale technology from Dassault but France refused, meaning France has no intention to help India promote its military industrial system,” Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies said.

While India is rapidly expanding its military capabilities spending an estimated $100 billion on new defence systems, many other countries with an advanced military industry are also competing for India’s market, such as Russia, the US and Israel, the daily quoted SIPRI report as saying.

Zhao said before this deal with France, India was also considering the US-made F-16s.

“India picked French-made jet fighters because they are cheaper and have a nuclear-deterrence capability,” he said.

SIPRI’s list of the top 10 arms importers for 2011-2015 has nine Asian or Asia-Pacific countries.

Many of China’s neighbours are also on the list of top 10 importers, such as Vietnam, South Korea and India, he said.

“Due to the South China Sea dispute and the increasing power of the Chinese navy, countries like Vietnam and the Philippines are very concerned, but the US is not helping China solve the problem peacefully,” said Song Zhongping, a Beijing-based military expert.

“The US government and media are hyping the ‘China Threat Theory,’ trying to convince countries in Asia that China is on the offensive,” he said. — PTI

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) India said on Thursday it carried out surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the LoC inflicting heavy casualties, triggering a sharp warning from Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Eleven days after terrorists killed 18 Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Special Forces targeted “some terrorist teams” positioned at launch pads on the Line of Control (LoC), the military announced.

“During these counter-terrorist operation, significant casualties have been caused to the terrorists and those who support them,” Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, the Director General Military Operations (DGMO), told the media here.

The announcement followed a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Pakistan denied any surgical strike by India but admitted to the death of two soldiers in cross-LoC firing by Indian troops.

Sharif warned that Pakistan’s “intent for peaceful neighbourhood should not be mistaken as our weakness”.

Gen Ranbir Singh said the targeted terrorists had planned “to carry out infiltration and terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir and various other metros in our country.

“The operation was basically focussed to ensure that these terrorists do not succeed in their design of infiltration and carrying out destruction and endangering the lives of citizens of our country,” he said.

Gen Ranbir Singh said the operation had since ceased. “We do not have plans of further continuation of the operations. However, the Indian armed forces are fully prepared for any contingency that may arrived.”

The surgical strikes were based on “very specific and credible information”, he said.

The Pakistani military said there were no surgical strikes by India, “instead there had been cross-border fire initiated and conducted by India which is existential phenomenon.

“As per rules of engagement, the same was strongly and befittingly responded by Pakistani troops. The notion of surgical strikes linked to alleged terrorist bases is an illusion being deliberately generated by India.”

On Thursday, Pakistani military shelled Indian positions across the Line of Control — which divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two countries — at Danesh and Lakshmi posts in Naugam sector, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said. The Indian military retaliated.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations said the exchange of fire began at 2.30 a.m. and continued till 8.00 a.m., leaving two Pakistani soldiers dead.

“Pakistani troops befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing on the LoC in Bhimber, Hotspring Kel and Lipa sectors,” it said.

Minutes after India announced the surgical strikes on Thursday, Prime Minister Sharif denounced what he called was an “unprovoked and naked aggression” by Indian forces.

“Our intent for peaceful neighbourhood should not be mistaken as our weakness as our valiant forces are fully capable of defending the territorial integrity of our country,” Sharif said.

He said Pakistan can “thwart any evil design made to undermine the sovereignty of Pakistan”.

The Indian DGMO said he spoke to his Pakistani counterpart and “explained our concerns and also shared with him the operation that we had conducted.

“It is India’s intention to maintain peace and tranquility in the region but we cannot — certainly not — allow the terrorists to operate across the LoC with impunity and attack the citizens of the country.

“We expect the Pakistan Army to cooperate with us to erase the menace of terrorism from our region,” he added.

“Indian troops are effectively retaliating Pakistani firing. Exchanges are still going on in the area,” the police added.

–IANS

Saba Naqvi
After Sharif’s latest speech at the UN and the Uri attack whatever goodwill there was may have gone for the immediate future.

A demonstration in Mumbai. PTI

The highpoint of my TV entertainment this week was to hear an RSS/BJP functionary who is an old friend of mine declare on prime time that Sri Aurobindo had predicted that Pakistan would cease to exist by 2018. Wonderful, I thought, problem solved! Before that another agitated panelist had held forth about the vile nature of the Pakistani army: among the sins he listed a proclivity for keeping many “mistresses”. A third panelist suggested in all seriousness that one of the panelists be sent forthwith to serve the nation in the PMO. It was a complete scream. But jokes apart we must ask if after the Uri attack the government is contemplating military options against Pakistan. Not being a retired general or retired foreign secretary I don’t know. But I do know that both the prime ministers of India from the BJP have had dramatic engagements with Pakistan, fluctuating from war noises to peace gestures to mobilizing troops. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose PMO I covered for six years, genuinely wanted to leave a legacy of a peace in South Asia. That was his passion (economics frankly bored him). But as it turned out we had the Kargil war instead (provoked entirely by Pakistani excursions) and then Operation Parakram that began after the attack on Indian Parliament. It cost us a bomb literally and metaphorically and killed 798 Indian soldiers, mostly due to stepping on land mines and ammunition accidents. The Kargil war claimed less lives: 527 Indian soldiers. Narendra Modi is a very different personality but even he has made a couple of friendly gestures towards Pakistan, most dramatically dropping in suddenly to greet Nawaz Sharif on his birthday on December 25 last year. Now after Sharif’s latest speech at the UN and the Uri attack whatever goodwill there was may have gone for the immediate future. But are we seriously thinking of military options? I wish Jaswant Singh, a critical part of the Vajpayee establishment, had been able to give his views about mobilizing troops on the border. (Sadly, he has been in a coma for two years). The man who served as Finance, Defence and External Affairs minister under Vajpayee had elaborated to me about his opposition to Operation Parakram.Here are his exact words as I recorded them: “I was not there when certain important decisions were taken. When I came back, I said, what have you done? No, no, it will be advantageous, I was told. Then it was fait accompli. Troops had already been deployed. I said I did not stand for war. Soldiers know what war is. A soldier can never be a war-monger. I had differences with Atalji too at that time. When he said “aar-paar ki ladai ho jaaye (let there be a fight to the finish)”, I said to him, what are you saying? Atalji said, “Us waqt kah diya (I just said it at that time).” Atalji was a man given to emotion and rhetoric. But he would never take offence at honest criticism.” The last time I met Jaswant Singh was in September 2012 when I moderated the discussion at the launch of his book titled The Audacity of Opinion: Reflections, Journeys, Musings. He did have a lot of opinions that did not sit well in the BJP post the Vajpayee era. I imagine he would have thought that if revenge is to be a trigger for action, then it is a dish best served cold.Meanwhile, it may be worth our while to reflect on the fact that Vajpayee possibly earned a certain level of credibility in Kashmir valley as he was prime minister when one of the fairest elections in Jammu & Kashmir took place in 2002 in four phases. Electronic voting machines were used for the first time and the elections were seen as a victory of the ballot over the bullet.  Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became chief minister after for three years in a seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress. I remember covering that campaign and meeting two candidates who were later shot dead by terrorists who were opposing the elections. There was also a close shave when I got delayed returning from the beautiful Lolab valley that was then a hiding place for separatists and militants. It was dark and we had not made it to Srinagar when an army post shot at our vehicle and missed. We could only move on when our Indian identities were revealed. This time round Mufti made a pact with the BJP. He has passed away but his party has for a complicated set of reasons not under their control, now lost all credibility. The valley should have by now been under Governor’s rule but I suspect the only reason that the PDP-BJP regime stays in power is because the BJP has stakes in government. It is a good question to ask why the people of Jammu should be denied their mandate. But what of the people in the Valley now entering the third month of their torment? Perhaps we should ask friends in the RSS if there are any prophecies about Kashmir. Pakistan, rest assured, will cease to exist.

India enjoys a strong numerical advantage over Pakistan in both conventional and nuclear weapons, giving it an edge in its current confrontation with its perennial foe, according to data released by a leading US think tank.

But a prominent US expert on South Asia also warned that the roughly two-to-one military advantage of the Indian armed forces makes it more likely that a cornered Islamabad could lash out with a nuclear strike.

“If you had a full war between India and Pakistan, not just skirmishes on the border, India would start winning,” said former US ambasador Dennis Kux, who has served in both India and Pakistan. “And at a certain point Pakistan, rather than going under, would push the button,” he said on CNN’s The Capital Gang show.

According to a report by the Washington-based , India has more than 12 lakh soldiers on active duty compared to Pakistan’s 6.2 lakh.

A similar advantage is observed in practically all major conventional weapons category, the survey showed. New Delhi’s arsenal includes 3,414 main battle tanks and 1,540 light tanks, while Islamabad’s heavy armor is limited to a total of 2,300 pieces.

India is also better positioned in the sky, if its current tensions with Pakistan were ever to boil over into a shooting war.

India’s air bases house a total of 738 combat aircraft while Pakistan’s house 353, according to CSIS. New Delhi also has nearly a five-fold advantage in transport aircraft and a six-fold advantage in combat helicopters, which, as events in Afghanistan have shown, can inflict devastating damage on ground troops.

In addition, India has 37 Naval aircraft compared to Pakistan’s five, the reported indicated.

Islamabad has an advantage only in self-propelled artillery, being able to field 240 pieces compared to India’s 180. But it loses out in towed artillery where New Delhi has a 4,175-to-1,467 advantage, the data showed.

Kux said geography also favored India because an armored blitz across arid Punjab province toward the Afghan border could cut off Islamabad, the capital, from Sindh, the country’s economic owerhouse and its main port of Karachi.

“India could just cut across the middle of Pakistan,” said the former diplomat. “In the desert, it should be fairly easy to do.”

US experts believe that even in an exchange of nuclear strikes, India, while suffering tremendous losses, could have an advantage. Although no reliable official data is available, it is estimated that New Delhi has 400 kg of weapons-usable plutonium, according to the CSIS report.

Since it takes about six kg of plutonium to manufacture a nuclear bomb, the amount would be sufficient to produce some 65 bombs if old technologies are used, or 90 bombs employing more advanced methods.

By contrast, Pakistan is believed to have more than 200 kg of weapons-grade uranium, which is enough to construct 15 to 25 nuclear weapons, the report said.Copyright © 2001 Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd all rights reserved

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