Current Events :
Pakistan is all set take delivery of four Mi-35M Hind-E combat helicopters from Russia and talks between the two countries are in progress to cut deal for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets.
With the Mi-35M Hind-E landmark deal, Pakistan and Russian Federation have entered into a new strategic cooperation to further deepen bilateral relations in various fields between the two countries.
“Pakistan is set to take delivery of the acquired Mi-35 Hind-E helicopters sometime this year as experts of the Army Aviation Division are busy making final technical assessments of the four helicopters”, a senior official of the Ministry of Defence told The Nation on Friday.
The official who requested not to be named also confirmed that talks are in progress with Russia to secure Su-35 fighter jets deal. The procurement of four helicopters is a maiden defence deal that materialised following a defence cooperation agreement signed by Pakistan and Russia in November 2014 which Pakistan’s Defence Ministry regards as ‘a milestone’ in defence cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement was signed by the Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shigu and Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in Pakistan that provides multifaceted cooperation between the countries.
It provides foundation for exchange of information on politico-military issues; cooperation for promoting international security; intensification of counter-terrorism and arms control activities. It also provides strengthening collaboration in various military fields, including education, medicine, history, topography, hydrography and culture; and sharing experiences in peacekeeping operations.
According to experts, the Mi-35M Hind-E which is a comprehensive upgrade of the Mi-24V, brings to the battlefield a whole range of capabilities.
Mi-35M Hind-E is primarily designed for attack missions, and a secondary capability enabling military transport missions, the helicopter delivers superior flight performance characteristics and manoeuvrability when compared to its predecessors.
Its cockpit and vital components are protected by titanium armour, part of the reason the Hind series is referred to as the ‘flying tank’. It has new main rotors with a better aerodynamic profile. A new X-shaped tail rotor has also been incorporated, replacing the earlier three-blade rotor. The characteristic stub wings of the Hind have been shortened, but still retain their ability to carry large amounts of rockets and guided missiles. Avionics have also received a major update with the new export model of the Hind. The cockpit is now night vision capable, with new and improved Multi Functional Displays (MFD). The sensor package has received a major upgrade too, giving the helicopter the ability to engage in combat operations at any time of the day, in all weather conditions.
The turboshaft engines have been improved and are now more powerful, making the Mi-35 perfectly suitable for operations in our tribal areas and other high altitude areas of operation.
They believed that the Mi-35 will be an excellent addition to the attack helicopter fleet flown by Pakistan Army Aviation.
“With ageing AH-1 Cobras, Army Aviation is in need for more modern combat helicopters”, Dr. Fazl-ur-Rehman a Pakistani defence strategist said , adding that Mi-35 deal will serve as backbone of a more modern attack helicopter wing, and the possibility always exist for further orders in the future. According to Najam Rafique, Director Research at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad said that the troops carrying ability of the Mi-35 Hind-E can also be used in a number of ways.
“The helicopter can be used to insert Special Service Group (SSG) personnel onto dominating heights in areas of operation, from where they can provide vital surveillance on surrounding areas or provide fire cover to ground forces to manoeuver the target”.
Army most admired, respected institution: Gen Dalbir Singh
Chennai: Army chief General Dalbir Singh on Saturday said the force was the “most admired and respected institution” in the country and it was even being recognised by the international community.
“Indian Army has an image. Our Army is the most admired and respected institution in the country. We have rendered
exemplary service in the face of external and internal challenges,” he said in his address after reviewing a passing out parade at the Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai.
He said that Indian Army’s role in UN peacekeeping operations had been “lauded by the international community” and noted that Indian Army was not just for the power it represents, but also for maturity and responsibility.
Earlier, 183 cadets, including 37 women, passed out as officers following an impressive parade.
Among those inducted as officers were Lt Nikita A Nair, a former ‘May Queen Miss Pune’ who had walked the ramp for two fashion pageants, the Army said.
Lt G Vaishali was a professional Bharatnatyam dancer while Lt Balveer Singh Rathore from Jodhpur is the son of a tourist guide who wanted to make it to the Army.
General Singh also gave away awards to outstanding cadets.
Later, Singh visited the Army’s Southern Command where he was briefed about the training activities being carried out at various regimental centres.
Singh was also briefed on the assistance provided by the Army during the December 2015 floods in Chennai and the rescue and relief effort undertaken, where “19,500 civilian were rescued, 20,000 were provided with medical aid and more than two lakh relief packages distributed”, a PIB (Defence) release said.
Singh expressed his appreciation on the work undertaken by the Army, it added.
NEW DELHI: The defence ministry has set the ball rolling to buy 244 air-defence guns at a cost of around ` 7,000 crore. The defence acquisition council, headed by defence minister Manohar Parrikar, met on Friday and gave its in-principle approval to acquire the guns to defend vital installations against the aerial threats. The guns will be built in India in possible collaboration with a foreign player. A defence ministry official said the council had accepted the necessity of buying the guns. The DAC’s ‘acceptance of necessity’ for weapons and systems is the first step towards procurement.
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: US lawmakers have refused to block the sale of eight F-16 combat jets to Pakistan but said they remained resolved to deny funding for it, citing Islamabad’s sketchy counter-terrorism record.
REUTERSThe Obama administration notified Congress of the sale of the F-16s to Pakistan on March 5, paying no heed to opposition from US lawmakers and India.Republican Senator Rand Paul had sought a Senate vote on a petition to disapprove the sale. It failed in a 71-24 vote, getting support far in excess for a move doomed to fail.
But in refusing to support Raul’s move, Senate leaders, from both sides of the aisle, said they will continue to deny the Obama administration permission to finance it.
“I continue to oppose any taxpayer dollars being used at this time to support this sale given that Pakistan is providing safe haven to terrorist groups and refusing to target the Haqqani Network, which attacks US troops and threatens the future of Afghanistan,” said Bob Corker, Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
Corker has put a “hold”, an infor mal declaration of opposition to an expense, on the sale making it conditional on Pakistan acting resolutely against the Haqqani Network.
Democrat Ben Cardin, the ranking member of the Senate committee, too announced a “hold”, which he has no intention of lifting yet. In short, the sale is stuck for now, unless Pakistan pays for all the jets worth $699.04 million. Paul’s move — described as a legislative procedure — was bound to fail, said sources, because Congress has never disapproved an arms sale, conceding it as a prerogative of the administration.
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Bohar (Rohtak), March 10
Members of the Jat community assembled under the banner of the Jat Ekta Panchayat here today and demanded the withdrawal of cases registered against youths in connection with the agitation for grant of reservation to the community.The community leaders warned the state authorities that a fresh stir would be launched on March 14 if their demands were not met. A 51-member committee was also constituted to chalk out the future course of action.Jat leader Yashpal Malik maintained that the violence during the agitation was part of a political conspiracy hatched by leaders owing allegiance to the Congress as well as the BJP. He said a statewide agitation would be launched on March 14 if the cases against youths were not withdrawn.Meanwhile, differences among Jat leaders have starting coming to the fore, with khap leaders distancing themselves from the stance adopted by youths, who have been dominating the agitation.On the other hand, the Akhil Bhartiya Adarsh Jat Mahasabha has condemned the role played by Yashpal Malik in the entire episode. Deepak Rathee, a spokesman for the mahasabha, said Malik was pursuing his vested interests in the name of Jat agitation.
It was perhaps too late for the country’s apex environmental court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to stop Sri Sri Ravishankar’s mega show this weekend on Delhi’s Yamuna flood plains. It was the same case when the Supreme Court could not prevent the first violation. Then, a BJP-led government let a global religio-corporate group to build a complex of concrete. A stadium and metro terminals followed but were for the greater public good. Now, another BJP government has handed over vast proportions of Delhi’s lung for a mega event packaged in the aura of spirituality and general goodness. As the muted reactions of most politicians show, they have been happy to sup with gurus with deep pockets and affluent devotees scattered all over the world. Down the years, all parties have obliged new age gurus. But the Bharatiya Janata Party has a particularly strong urge to oblige god men. For all its claims to nationalism and devotion to the cause of the soldier, the Army was enlisted for the pre-event preparations. After Ramdev, Sri Sri is another god man with a visible increase in his political heft after he backed Narendra Modi in the the general elections. The first payback came this Republic Day with a Padma award. With the President and the Prime Minister by his side, the three-day jamboree would have heralded Sri Sri’s arrival in Delhi’s corridors of power. Till environmentalists spoilt the game, the list of attendees was an across-the-political-spectrum roll call and included even self-avowed rationalists like Arvind Kejriwal, and Akhilesh Yadav.In compensation Sri Sri has promised to leave behind a biodiversity park, though his 2010 initiative to clean the Yamuna led nowhere. This foray, however, is of an altogether different dimension. The cost of temporary occupation in the home of 320 bird species and 200 plant varieties is immense. The damage to just 60 acres is estimated at over Rs. 100 crore which will offset by a Rs. 5 crore fine. Worse, the grand setting of acres of rolling farmland framed by the river will tempt the resourceful to follow suit. That then would be the end to Delhi’s lungs.
Simran Sodhi
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 9
The government today came under fire from the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha for using Army personnel for a three-day world cultural event being organised by the Art of Living Foundation on the banks of the Yamuna.The Opposition raised slogans demanding that the Defence Minister respond to their questions. The issue was raised during Zero Hour by Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal-United along with other members of the House.The Opposition alleged that the event being planned on the banks of the Yamuna was an ecological disaster. “What function is he (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) doing? Kya tamasha kar raha hai (what drama is he doing)?” said Yadav.CPM leader Sitaram Yechury asked: “Can Army be roped in to assist a private function…It is highly irregular…for Army to be called in to create facilities for a private function.”MoS for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the Army deployment was from security point of view.
Srinagar: Indian Army said on Friday it was committed to vacating land it had agreed to during meetings held last year with the Jammu and Kashmir government.
“Army would like to clarify that it is committed to meeting all the mutually agreed decisions arising not only out of Civil Military Liaison Conference, 2015 but of all previous such CMLC meetings,” a defence spokesman said here.
Dismissing a media report that Army was undecided over vacating land for civic amenities, he said while it has implemented several decisions taken at these conferences, the genuine needs of the force also need to be addressed.
“In the past, army has handed over A1 Defence Land at Batmaloo, Pantha Chowk and Hari Parbat which were essential to develop civil amenities.
“Army has also provided timely NOC to infrastructure development projects like Haft Chinar flyover, roads construction under NHAI, BEACON and PMGSY especially in border areas,” the spokesman said.
He said “while it has been agreed in principle to exchange Tattoo Ground land for alternative land, in the interim a citizen park is under construction”.
He said army has also committed to providing land for expansion of Jammu University and land under its possession in Anantnag for setting up of south campus of Kashmir University.
Army has also agreed to vacate the Lower Plateau in Kargil at the request of the administration, the spokesman said.
PTI
Manila, March 5
The Philippines said today it had impounded a North Korean vessel in response to tough new United Nations sanctions introduced in response to Pyongyang’s recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests.The 6,830-tonne cargo ship Jin Teng will not be allowed to leave Subic port, northeast of the capital Manila, where it had been docked for three days and its crew will be deported, presidential spokesman Manolo Quezon said on state-run radio station Radyo ng Bayan.It was the first reported case of the sanctions — the toughest to date, which were adopted late Wednesday by the UN Security Council — being enforced.”The world is concerned over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and as a member of the UN, the Philippines has to do its part to enforce the sanctions,” Quezon said.A team from the UN is expected to inspect the ship in the port, located near a former United States naval base, foreign affairs spokesman Charles Jose said.The Jin Teng was inspected for the second time today, this time using electronic weapons sensors, coastguard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo told AFP, adding the 21 crewmen were “very cooperative”.North Korea has no embassy in the Philippines. Its embassies in Thailand and Indonesia were unavailable for comment when contacted by AFP.There are no other North Korean ships docked in Subic, according to the coastguard.The Jin Teng, carrying palm kernels, arrived in Subic from Palembang, Indonesia Thursday afternoon, just hours after the latest sanctions were unanimously passed.In response to the UN’s move, Pyongyang fired six short-range missiles into the sea on Thursday, while North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered its nuclear arsenal put on standby for pre-empty use at anytime.Yesterday, the European Union also tightened sanctions against North Korea by adding 16 individuals and 12 entities to a list of some 60 individuals and groups who were hit with travel bans and asset freezes. — AFP
A file photo of Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Affairs Adviser to Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif.
Washington, March 2
Acknowledging that there was a “significant change” in its policy to act against terror groups without discrimination, Pakistan has said it hopes the US would now consider it an “ally from heaven” and not from hell, as described in a recent book by an ex-CIA chief.
“After my government came in 2013, there has been a significant change in our policy. We are now moving against all terrorists without any discrimination. And I hope that we would qualify to be an ally (of US) from heaven,” Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Affairs Adviser to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, told a Washington audience.
Aziz’s remarks during his interaction at the Council on Foreign Relations came in response to a question in which his attention was drawn to a recently-released book written by a former CIA chief in which Pakistan was described as “an ally from the hell”.
“There was a big divide in our thinking after 9/11 because the US suddenly changed sides from those people who they trained to fight the Russians. From holy warrior they suddenly became terrorists,” Aziz said.
He conceded that from 2002 till 2012-13, there was a perception that Pakistan was on one hand participating in the war against terrorism and on the other supporting some of these groups.
But, this perception and the narrative being sold in the West was not correct, Aziz said, claiming that Pakistan had arrested and handed over some 600 al Qaida terrorists to the US during the same time.
“That time we were fully co-operating. At that time there was question mark on some of the groups. And that’s the time when these kinds of perception came in,” Aziz said. “But in my view they are out of date,” he added.
“Now there has been a significant change in our policy,” Aziz said.
In his latest book “Playing to the Edge”, Michael Hayden, the former CIA Director and also head of Director of National Intelligence, expresses his deep frustration of the “duplicity” of the Pakistani leadership when it came to taking action against terrorist group in particular al Qaeda, the Taliban, LeT and the Haqqani network.
Arguing that the Pakistani Army is built to fight against India and not terrorists, the country’s top leadership particularly those from its military in the past one decade have repeatedly expressed its inability to take on the terrorist groups in the tribal regions as desired by the US, he wrote.
Narrating an incidence when the then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf refused to fill up gas in the airplane that flew him to Islamabad, where he had gone to press him to take action against terrorists Hayden wrote: “One more bit of evidence that these guys really were the ally from hell.” The crew had forgotten their government credit card— you can’t make this stuff up— and the Pakistanis wouldn’t budge, he wrote. — PTI
Ex servicemen Joint Action Front(Sanjha Morcha) Team visited Ambala to join Rally with Ex-Servicemen welfare committee.
