Lt. Gen. Joshi was not only a hero in the 1999 Kargil war but is also a veteran when it comes to dealing with China.

New Delhi: Soldier-diplomat Lt Gen. Yogesh Kumar Joshi assumed charge of a crucial Army corps covering borders with both China and Pakistan over the weekend – a selection that indicates the importance the Modi government attaches to the sensitive region less than a year before general elections.

All choices for corps commanders are carefully studied before the appointments are made.

Yet, in choosing Joshi to command the 14 Corps, Army Headquarters and the government have selected an officer of outstanding merit who was not only a hero in the 1999 Kargil war but who also went on to deal with China in subsequent tenures, and is an expert on India’s eastern neighbour.

The 14 Corps, also known as the ‘Fire and Fury Corps’ was raised as a consequence of the Kargil War.

Also read: One year after Doklam, China intrudes again — in Ladakh

The frontage of Joshi’s Corps, headquartered in Leh, extends from the Drass-Mashkoh-Tiger Hill area where he fought in 1999 as a Lt. Colonel, through Kargil in the west, passing through Batalik and Turtok – all along the Line of Control in western Ladakh.

It includes the 78-km-long Siachen Glacier before turning south and east into the eastern Karakorams, covering Daulat Beg Oldi, the Chushul Valley including the Pangong Tso lake, the Spanggur Gap right up to Demchok and the Tso Moriri Lake near the border with Himachal Pradesh in the south of eastern Ladakh.

An expert on China

The uniqueness that Joshi brings to his office is not only his knowledge of the Chinese language. He also commanded a brigade and a division in the area.

Just before taking over as the General Officer Commanding the ‘Fire and Fury’ Corps, Joshi was Director General, Infantry, at Army Headquarters.

Joshi was Defence Attache to China (2005-2008) and negotiated the technicalities of the first India-China joint exercise “Hand-in-Hand” in Kunming in 2007. In Kunming that year he told this correspondent at the inauguration: “This is a beginning, let us see where this (India-China joint exercises) goes.”

He handled two sensitive positions on the China desk at the Directorate-General of Military Operations subsequently, cutting through patrolling disputes in Chumar and Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldi in Eastern Ladakh, and then giving inputs to resolve last year’s 72-day Doklam stand-off.

“Be assured that General Joshi is being specially appointed keeping the complexities of China-Pak relations in Ladakh and his experience and success with both of them,” a source in the defence ministry told ThePrint.

Also read: China builds defences in PoK territory India claims, carries out joint patrols with Pakistan

One of these complexities is a recent joint patrol by Chinese and Pakistani armies in the vicinity of the Khunjerab Pass; the other is that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that overrides Indian interests passing through territories claimed by New Delhi, is now getting into an intensive phase with more Chinese deployments in territories under Pakistani control.

There are also vulnerabilities that get exploited from time to time, a recent one in June-July was at Demchok where suspected PLA soldiers intruded as graziers.

Next Army chief?

“Outstanding soldier, military leader. Did extremely well as CO (commanding officer) 13 JAK Rif during Kargil. Had a great career thereafter…heartfelt congratulations and best wishes,” General V.P. Malik (retired), who was the Army chief during the Kargil operations, tweeted on learning of Joshi’s appointment.

At one point during the war, Joshi, commanding his unit, the 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles (13 JAK Rif), took over a gun emplacement from a nervous young soldier and began firing himself. In the Bollywood movie LOC Kargil that was subsequently made, his character, essayed by Sanjay Dutt, was known as “Jo”.

Joshi could be in the reckoning as the Army chief after General Bipin Rawat’s scheduled tenure ends in December 2019. But, as Rawat’s appointment has shown, the Centre does not go by seniority or by mere convention in choosing service heads. The Modi government executes its political prerogative to make senior appointments.

Meets new Guv amid heightened militant activity in state

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, with Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat, interacts with troops in Keran sector on Sunday. PTI

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 2

Close on the heels of the announcement of panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Army Chief General Bipin Rawat arrived in Srinagar on Sunday to discuss internal and external security situation with newly appointed Governor Satya Pal Malik.

It was their first meeting together since the new Governor assumed office.

“They discussed several important issues concerning effective management of internal and external security, particularly in the context of increasing attempts at infiltration and the ongoing anti-terrorist operations,” an official spokesman said.

The two held discussions on the urban local bodies and panchayat elections to be held in October-December.

The meeting comes at a time when terror group Hizbul Mujaideen has issued an open threat to those contesting the polls. “People who want to participate in polls should keep their shroud ready,” Hizbul chief operations commander Riyaz Naikoo said in an audio message. J&K Police chief Shesh Paul Vaid on Sunday said they were prepared for the elections.

The state has already retained over 15,000 Central Armed Police Force personnel deployed for the Amarnath Yatra. However, the situation on the ground is quite difficult, especially in south Kashmir, which continues to remain on the edge.

Militant attacks on policemen have risen sharply in recent months. On Eid, three off-duty cops were shot dead and days later, four more were killed. For the first time in decades of insurgency in Kashmir, militants abducted 10 family members of policemen from south Kashmir in retaliation to the detention of militants’ family members. Though they were later released, it is a cause for concern for the police.

The forces, on the other hand, have intensified anti-militancy operations and killed at least 28 militants along the Line of Control or hinterland since August.

Militants are continuously making attempts to infiltrate into Kashmir. On Saturday, three suspected Pakistan militants were killed in Bandipore.

The militant recruitment this year has overtaken the number of local youth who joined militant ranks in 2017. The spike has set alarm bells ringing for the security forces.

Visits Kupwara forward posts

Accompanied by Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited forward posts in Kupwara on Sunday. She was briefed by commanders about the operational preparedness and counter-infiltration grid, said an Army statement.

As per media reports, a holistic review is being undertaken to “restructure” and “right size” the Indian Army to bring about a Revolution in Indian Military Affairs (RIIMA) for its transformation. Four different time-bound studies are underway to achieve an agile structure for field formations, a responsive mechanism at Army headquarters, a youthful profile for officer cadre and optimum terms of engagement and colour service for JCOs and ORs.

Recommendations made by these four reviews will form the basis of “transformation” of the Indian Army. They are expected to be ready for final discussion at the

Army Commanders’ conference, normally scheduled for October.

As per public domain information, terms of reference of the four reviews are based on four assumptions: Combat effectiveness of the Army in both current and future threat scenarios will be ensured, vertical promotional avenues for officers will not be affected, profile of the force remains younger than the existing one and there is no additional financial burden.

Revolution in Military Affairs (RIIMA) is an all encompassing military theoretical hypothesis about the future of warfare connected with technological, structuring and organisational changes to enable the armed forces to fight wars of the future.

If this be so, the proposed study to bring about RIIMA must have government approval. It must be tri-service in nature and the defence minister should be the prime mover. More importantly, the government needs to formalise the National Security Strategy, only after which can it formulate the Force Development Strategy in tune with the RIIMA.

The government has to finance the RIIMA which is a very costly exercise. Thus, RIIMA has to be top-down in concept and bottom-up in execution. Once the recommendations for RIIMA crystallise, trials would have to be carried out before final approval. Funding and execution of such a transformation takes place over 5 to 10 years.

At the moment, RIIMA does not seem to be on the radar of the government. Therefore, in the absence of the above prerequisites, the Indian Army study will remain a standalone exercise for internal reforms and nothing more.

How can the Army ensure that the restructuring and reorganisation will ensure combat effectiveness for present and future threat scenarios, when political leadership has not even formalised the National Security Strategy? How can you carry out technology driven transformation without incurring additional cost?

It would be prudent for the three Chiefs to get together and prevail upon the government to create prerequisites and pilot RIIMA.

During the gestation period of conceptualisation and execution of the RIIMA, there is ample scope for the three services to carry out in-house reforms. To that end, the Army Chief’s initiative to carry out a review to reduce the flab of manpower is laudable. In view of modern weapon systems with much higher accuracy and lethality, there is no point in hanging on to World War 2 structures and organisations. This exercise alone can downsize the army by 25%.

The approach to in-house restructuring and reorganisation must be ruthless and regimentation must not be allowed to interfere with the same. Unit and formation organisations must be function and technology driven and not driven by regimentation, which revels in tradition. In fact, as part of the cadre review, we must examine afresh the entire regimental system. Why must we hang on to the single class (a polite word encompassing religion and caste) units/sub units? Let the recruitment be merit driven with all units to become all India mix. If the officer corps can be selected in this manner, why not the soldiers?

With all our potential adversaries being nuclear weapon armed states like us, the probability of a full-scale decisive conventional war are very low. However, conflict will continue over the rest of the spectrum from fourth generation warfare to a limited conventional war. We need a more agile Army for the 21st century.

All arms battle groups, as is being proposed, are more suited for the kind of wars we are likely to be engaged in. We should make a clean break from existing brigades and divisions. Battle groups must be tailor made and mission oriented. The proposal to do away with the rank of Brigadier and all battle groups to be commanded by Major General suits the new structure. We must be equally ruthless in reviewing organisation of units. Even these can be mission and terrain oriented, with varying number of sub-units. Interoperability, both intra and inter-battle group should become second nature. Our mechanised forces have successfully followed this concept for four decades.

Various aspects of the review underway, will be covered by me in the subsequent columns.

I urge the government to get over inaction and carry out national security reforms to create prerequisites for RIIMA and act as its driver. I wish the Army Chief well in his endeavour to bring about the standalone reforms to improve functional efficiency.

Alone, the new Pak PM can do little to build bridges with India

G Parthasarthy
A former diplomat 
There has been speculation in India about how to deal with a Pakistan government headed by Imran Khan. It is futile to speculate but one should look at future developments, which will shape his reaction towards domestic and international challenges Pakistan faces.
Imran founded the PTI together with a former ISI chief, Lt Gen Hamid Gul. General Gul invited worldwide attention for his support for radical Islamic outfits in Pakistan, Afghanistan and even Bosnia. Imran himself has supported the Afghan Taliban and other radical Islamic outfits in Pakistan. The PTI provincial government in Peshawar has been forthcoming in funding Maulana Samiul Haq, who is an electoral ally of the party. Samiul Haq, better known as the ‘father of the Taliban’, runs Darul Uloom seminary, which hosted the former Taliban (Haqqani Network) leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani. It has also hosted the local head of the Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, Asim Umar, as well as Akhtar Mansoor who succeeded Mullah Omar as the Taliban chief. The seminary has a cozy relationship with Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of Jaish-e- Mohammed, who was responsible for several attacks on India, including the attack on Parliament in 2001.
Imran’s connections with the military are an open secret. Less than two years back, he sought to destabilise the Nawaz Sharif government, staging a protest to close down the capital Islamabad, with another ISI asset, the Canada-based cleric, Tahir-ul-Qadri. While Imran may ostensibly keep some distance from these radical outfits after assuming office, the contacts of his party with them will continue. He will inevitably back the army’s favourite jihadi outfit, the Lashkar-e-Taiba. These outfits operate against both India and Afghanistan, necessitating close cooperation with Afghanistan and the Trump administration, especially in forums like the Financial Action Task Force.
Imran is going to immediately face two major challenges: Pakistan’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves, now valued at around a mere $10 billion, and the reality that IMF assistance may not be forthcoming, unless details of Pakistan’s total repayment liabilities to China on CPEC (estimated at around $90 billion) are furnished and examined. US Secretary of State Pompeo has made it clear that no money will be forthcoming from the IMF, if it is used to repay Pakistan’s debts to China. Moreover, Chinese banks appear to be reluctant to pour money into a bottomless pit. The Saudis will keep a close eye on Imran’s explicit desire to build bridges to Iran, though some Saudi banks have expressed their readiness to extend credits up to $4 billion.

With the advent of winter, infiltration in the Kashmir valley will naturally fall. The real test will come after the winter snow melts. There are enough jihadi cheerleaders in Pakistan for Imran’s PTI to keep up the anti-India tirade for jihad against India and for Taliban rule in Afghanistan. There are three noted India baiters in Imran’s cabinet: foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureishi, ‘human rights’ minister Shireen Mazari and railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Imran’s comments on India have generally been moderate. But, he will be given little space by the army to do or say anything that comes in the way of the army’s ‘bleed India with a thousand cuts’ approach.
India should not rush into uncharted waters by hurriedly engaging in any ‘composite’ or ‘comprehensive dialogue’, wherein terrorism receives scant importance. We should make it clear that the framework for a dialogue already exists under the high-level foreign ministerial-led India-Pakistan Joint Commission set up in 1983, where all issues, including Kashmir, can be discussed. But, no serious dialogue can be held unless Pakistan fulfils the assurance that General Musharraf gave PM Vajpayee in 2004 that ‘territory under Pakistan’s control’ would not be used for terrorism against India. Dialogue with Pakistan was resumed only after verifying that Musharraf was abiding by this assurance. A serious ‘back channel’ discussion on Kashmir followed only after terrorism ended.
In the meantime, discreet official contacts with Pakistan can continue. We should be prepared to upgrade the present conversations between the DGMOs, which discuss prevailing ground issues, to meetings at a higher level between India’s Vice-Chief/Army Commander and Pakistan’s Chief of General Staff, who wields clout in GHQ Rawalpindi. These contacts can be used to end infiltration and craft CBMs to ensure peace across the border and the LoC (Pakistan’s DGMO is a relatively junior ‘two star’ General). We have such mechanisms with other neighbours like China and Myanmar. Like in Myanmar, the army plays the predominant role on security issues and the army’s chief of general staff wields far greater clout than its National Security Adviser on security issues, in Pakistan.
Imran is keen on hosting the next SAARC Summit in Islamabad. There is little point in the summit before Pakistan fulfils its obligations on free trade with India under the Free Trade Agreement and provides transit facilities for trade between India and Afghanistan. Since there is no question of China, which is not a South Asian country, becoming a member of SAARC, there should be prior agreement that Pakistan will not raise the issue of China’s membership.
When the Indian Consulate-General was being set up in Karachi, then External Affairs Minister Vajpayee decreed that visas for those wishing to visit India should be liberally issued. This policy paid remarkable returns in ending the hostility of those brainwashed for three decades. We need to make it clear that our aim is to be unwavering in responding strongly to those who promote terrorism, while keeping the doors open for those who seek understanding to visit India.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

The IAF on Friday evacuated a 50-year-old French woman who was seriously injured in a road mishap while on a road trip to Leh on bikes along with her husband.Bresson Florence was taken to a nearby Army hospital and shifted to the ICU at SNM Hospital in Leh. Her condition was critical while her husband, Christophe, suffered minor injuries.The Embassy of France at New Delhi requested immediate evacuation of the patients to Chandigarh or Delhi on Thursday. A C-17 Globemaster aircraft was prepared with a Patient Transfer Unit, a mobile ICU. However, the weather at Leh on Thursday did not allow the aircraft to land. Early on Friday, a C-17 aircraft from Chandigarh landed at Leh with the PTU. Bresson was transferred to the PTU.Simultaneously, a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Hindon reached Leh and took off with the patient accompanied by her husband and other medicare personnel and landed in New Delhi.“Due to bad weather we could not launch the aircraft last evening. Our medical team was in touch with the doctors at Leh and at the first opportune moment, both the aircraft were launched and the mission was executed successfully,” said Air Cmde S Srinivasan, Air Officer Commanding, 12 Wing Chandigarh.

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 8

The Army on Wednesday paid tributes to its four soldiers, including a Major, who were killed in a fierce gunfight in north Kashmir’s mountainous Gurez sector on Tuesday.The tributes were led by Srinagar-based 15 Corps chief Lt Gen AK Bhatt at a ceremony at the Badamibagh cantonment in the city. Director General of Police SP Vaid was also present, a defence spokesman said.The bodies of the four soldiers were flown for their last rites to their native places, where they would be laid to rest with full military honours, the spokesman said.“In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and remains committed to their dignity and well-being,” the spokesman said.The slain soldiers included Major Kaustubh Prakash Kumar Rane, Rifleman Hameer Singh, Rifleman Mandeep Singh Rawat and Gunner Vikramjeet Singh. They were provided immediate first aid and evacuated to 92 Base Hospital but succumbed to their injuries.Two militants who were attempting to infiltrate into the Kashmir valley were also killed in the gunfight.Major Kaustubh Prakash Kumar Rane (29) was a Sena Medal recipient and had joined the Army in 2011. He hailed from Thane, Maharashtra, and is survived by his wife and a son. The two Riflemen were from Uttarakhand, while the Gunner was from Tepla village in Haryana.