The Navy contributed significantly to India’s win during the war. The bombing of the Karachi port and sinking of Pakistan submarine Ghazi, PNS Muhafiz and Khaibar and merchant ship Venus Challenge turned the tide in our favour

Sea worthy: An Osa class missile boat. These were used for bombing of the Karachi port

Vijay Mohan

The bombing of the Karachi port and its surrounding areas by the Indian Navy during the opening days of hostilities was the most striking aspect of the naval operations during the 1971 War. The destruction of Pakistani submarine, PNS Ghazi, in Indian waters and the sinking of the Indian warship, INS Khukri, were among other key naval incidents of the war. This war also saw the Indian maritime force transform itself into a multi-dimensional force making a significant contribution to the war effort from its virtually non-existent role in the 1965 India-Pak War.The Indian Navy executed a series of covert operations on the Eastern seaboard in the last months of 1971 and effectively undertook a naval blockade in the Bay of Bengal that isolated East Pakistan and bottled up the Pakistan Navy and eight foreign merchant ships in ports.On December 4, aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was also deployed near East Pakistan and its Sea Hawk aircraft bombed several coastal towns, including Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar, which also neutralised the Pakistan Air Force’s capability to retaliate. Bombing operations were carried out over several days, hitting ships, fuel dumps and other port facilities.Pakistan had deployed the American-origin Ghazi, its only submarine capable of operating in the Bay of Bengal. It had been tasked to destroy INS Vikrant, but could not trace it. As an alternative, the submarine approached Vishakhapatnam to mine the approaches to its port. The Indian destroyer INS Rajput was deployed to counter submarine Ghazi, which reported underwater disturbances and launched depth-charges to counter it. Controversy still shrouds the submarine’s destruction. While official history claims that the submarine was sunk by the Indian Navy, some people have contended that it was destroyed due to an internal explosion while laying mines.The sinking of Ghazi was a huge setback to Pakistan, severely diminishing its ability to carry out effective operations in the Bay of Bengal and eliminating the threat posted to the Eastern Naval Command. The Indian Navy therefore decided to carry out an amphibious landing at Cox’s Bazar with the aim to cut off the line of retreat for Pakistan Army troops. On 12 December, an amphibious battalion aboard INS Vishwa Vijaya sailed from the Calcutta port and on the night of 15/16 December it landed at Cox’s Bazar.Simultaneously, on the western seaboard, the Indian Navy launched Operation Trident against Karachi on December 4, which, being the headquarters of the Pakistan Navy as well as the hub of Pakistan’s maritime trade, was a prime target and hence well defended. The strike by Indian missile boats was hugely successful, resulting in sinking of the minesweeper PNS Muhafiz, destroyer PNS Khaibar and the merchantman MV Venus Challenger which was carrying ammunition for Pakistan, while the destroyer PNS Shah Jahan was totally damaged. The missile ships also bombed the Kemari oil storage tanks of the port which were burnt and engulfed causing massive loss to the Karachi harbour.A second attack on Karachi, Operation Python, was launched on December 8, which resulted in the Panamanian vessel Gulf Star and the British ship SS Harmattan being sunk and Pakistan Navy’s Tanker PNS Dacca being heavily damaged. Most of Karachi’s oil reserves were destroyed and warehouses and naval workshops destroyed, inflicting a severe blow to Pakistan’s logistics as well as economy.On December 9, INS Khukri was lost with194 sailors, including its captain, Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, to a Pakistani submarine off the coast of Gujarat. This is the Indian’s Navy’s only ship to have been lost in combat. In retaliation to the December 4 attack, Pakistani aircraft hit Okha harbor, damaging fuelling facilities, jetties and shooting down an Alize aircraft.India had established complete control over the sea route from the Persian Gulf to Pakistan, whose major ships were either destroyed or forced to remain in port. The Indian Navy was able to block the Karachi port and merchant traffic to and from Karachi ceased.At the end of the war, the damage to the Pakistani Navy was the loss of two destroyers, one submarine, seven gunboats, one minesweeper, three patrol crafts, 18 cargo and supply vessels, that accounted for over a third of its force, besides large-scale damage inflicted on the naval base and docks of Karachi. Three merchant ships and 10 smaller vessels were also captured.

NEW DELHI: On his last day in office, Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda said he didn’t see an easy solution to end the Kashmir conflict, calling it a “long war” that would require a “long-term approach”.

His comments are significant as government sources predict that the conflict with home-grown militants will end soon.

A day after seven soldiers were killed in the Nagrota strike, Hooda said the situation along the LoC was not cooling down anytime soon. He warned against calling “the first shot fired against a garrison” a security lapse, saying 100% success each time in preventing attacks reflected “little understanding of the battle the army is fighting”.

“I wish we could have prevented the Nagrota strike but some setbacks have to be accepted…and we learn our lessons. We have to move on, rather than let one incident set the discourse for overall national security,” he said.

Sixty soldiers have died in J&K this year. Hooda said the army was ruthless about finding ways to minimise casualties. “We understand this more than anyone else because our lives depend on it.” On the alleged lapses that may have led to the attack, he said, “Two officers deliberately put themselves in the line of fire to rescue women and children. Let us respect that rather than sitting in peaceful areas and mouthing criticism.” He added that alleging lapses before carrying out a detailed analysis “dilutes what soldiers are doing on the ground”.

Hooda said the army moved swiftly to kill the militants who attacked the Nagrota base or else it could have been worse than the Uri attack in which 19 soldiers were killed. He rubbished reports about actionable intelligence being available on the Nagrota attack. “We launch hundreds of operations in J&K daily on the basis of intelligence inputs. In this case, we had no specific inputs.”

He said there was an urgent need to tap smart technologies for perimeter protection of military bases to complement human effort.

Army personnel pay tributes to Lt Sandeep Chahar at Silani village in Jhajjar on Tuesday. Tribune Photo

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, November 22

Mortal remains of Lieutenant Sandeep Chahar (24), who died in the Kanpur train mishap, were consigned to flames at his native Silani village today with full military and police honour.Jhajjar SDM Pradeep Kaushik and DSP Rajiv Kumar attended the last rites to pay tributes to the martyr.Pradeep Chahar, Sandeep’s younger brother, lit the pyre in presence of a significant number of people from surrounding villages.Earlier, Sandeep’s body was brought to Silani village by Army personnel in an ambulance from Delhi.Talking to mediapersons, Honorary Captain (Retd) Jagdish Chahar, Sandeep’s grandfather, demanded the state government to accord a status of martyr to his grandson, stating he was on duty when the mishap took place.Dharampal Chahar, Sandeep’s father, said, “We want nothing but respect for our son which is given to a martyr.”

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Lt Gen DS Hooda

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 29

The Northern Command today bid adieu to its General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Lt Gen DS Hooda, who retiring after an illustrious career of 40 years. The General had taken over the command of the prestigious Northern Command on July 1, 2014.In his farewell address, the General paid rich tributes to the martyrs who have laid down their lives in the service of the nation and exhorted all ranks to continue to work with the same zeal and motivation to overcome the numerous challenges of combating terrorism, proxy war and external threats.General Hooda stressed upon the concept of “unlimited liability” associated with the profession of arms and the subtle difference of military profession from others. He emphasised the need to strengthen military ethos and stressed upon the increased responsibility that officers have towards the men they command.He appreciated efforts of all ranks for their immense professionalism and dedication in carrying out their tasks in trying conditions at the LoC/LAC and in counter-terrorists operations. He highlighted the immense contribution and cooperation of the IAF while carrying out various operations in the command theatre. He also complimented and thanked the civil administration and CAPF for the excellent synergy with the Army in pursuit of common goal of establishing “peace and tranquillity” in J&K.The General laid a wreath at Dhruva War Memorial to pay his tributes to the brave martyrs of the Northern Command.The Northern Command PRO said all officers, JCOs and men in Northern Command and the entire Indian Army would remember him fondly as an illustrious intellectual General.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force is experimenting with the sleeping pattern of its fighter pilots to find out how fatigue affects flight performance in an unforgiving environment.

AP FILEA study conducted on 40 fighter pilots reveals significant deviations in performance due to lack of sleep.

A sleep deprivation study conducted on 40 fighter pilots has revealed significant deviations in their performance and now the IAF will kick off field studies on a larger scale, officers familiar with the research told Hindustan Times.

Insufficient sleep can lead to increased error rates, decreased levels of alertness and lapses in judgment.

The experiment is being conducted by the IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine and Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences.

Several international air forces including those of US, UK and Germany have conducted such studies to improve flight safety and come up with countermeasures for fatigue.

“Subjects are not allowed to sleep when they normally do and tested on various flight parameters. And then they are tested again in a well-rested state,” said an IAF officer, involved in the study.

“We have observed noticeable deviation from optimal flight performance.

The IAF is using a monitoring system developed by IIT Kharagpur to assess how fatigue impairs performance.

The system is similar to psychomotor vigilance task monitor used globally for measuring reaction time of pilots under different stages of sleep deprivation, said an aviation medicine specialist.

“We want to develop a system that allows us to quickly assess if a pilot is fatigued during the morning briefing. Fighter pilots have to stay sharp at all times,” said a senior IAF officer.

The scope of the IAF study will also cover the effects of “go pills” and “no-go pills” that Indian fighter pilots are authorised to use during training for specific combat missions.

The IAF allows its fighter pilots to use Modafinil, a “go pill” that helps them stay alert and focused during long sorties.

They can also pop Zolpidem, a “no-go pill” used to promote sleep after demanding day-night missions.

“The idea is to send a fully alert fighter pilot to the cockpit and be aware of his sleep pattern and the effects of pills on his performance,” said Air Marshal Pawan Kapoor, who heads the IAF’s medical wing.

4 Army men injured as Pak violates truce

Jammu, November 20

Four Army jawans were injured as the Pakistani army resorted to heavy cross-border firing in Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir tonight, in third ceasefire violation since yesterday.”The Pakistani army resorted to heavy cross-border firing in the Rajouri sector, in which four of our soldiers have been injured,” an Army officer said.He said the Army was giving a befitting response to the Pakistani fire and the exchange of fire was going on till the last reports came in.Today’s violation of the ceasefire came a day after a BSF jawan and a woman were injured when Pakistani troops targeted Indian posts and civilian areas in Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors of Rajouri. — PTI

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5. ‘It’s a conspiracy’

NEW DELHI: Former national security adviser (NSA) Shivshankar Menon has warned that the likelihood of Pakistan using tactical nuclear weapons against India has increased, which has given rise to the possibility of an all-out nuclear war between the neighbours.

Menon told a TV channel that power to use tactical nukes would be devolved to lower ranking officers in the Pakistani Army that is “increasingly religiously motivated and less professional”. He said the Pakistan Army had “consistently produced rogue officers staged coups against its own leaders”.

He indicated the use of tactical nukes by Pakistan could lead to a full-fledged nuclear conflict when India decides to mount a massive retaliation of its own.

Commenting on defence minister Manohar Parrikar’s questioning of India’s ‘no first use’ policy, Menon said the minister didn’t have a right to articulate his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public, particularly when it contradicted the country’s official policy.

He said Parrikar’s suggestion would not be in India’s interest, adding that threatening a nuclear response to a terror strike from Pakistan would be like “threatening to kill a mosquito with a shotgun”.

Menon, who was India’s foreign secretary when the 26/11 Mumbai attack took place, said he was all for “immediate visible retaliation of some sort” after the attack. He said he had pressed for action against “LeT in Muridke or their camps in PoK or against the ISI, which was clearly complicit”.

Men on said he then believed that retaliation would be “emotionally satisfying” and also go some way toward “erasing the shame of the incompetence that India’s police and security agencies displayed.” He said then foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee seemed to agree with him but didn’t reveal then PM Manmohan Singh’s response.

Thinkstock photo, only for illustrative purpose

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 18

Indian Navy on Friday dismissed reports that its submarines were chased away by Pakistan warships, as some reports by the neighbour’s media had claimed.

Indian Navy spokesperson Capt DK Sharma said that none of its submarines was in Pakistan’s waters and, therefore, there was no question of being driven out.

A Pakistan Navy spokesman said the Indian submarines were detected near Pakistan’s territorial waters but had been pushed back.

“The Indian Navy, in order to fulfil its nefarious designs, was deploying submarines. The Pakistan Navy, alert and using its extreme skill, prevented Indian submarines from entering Pakistani waters,” the Pakistan Navy spokesman said in a statement. “Pakistan Navy fleet units detected the presence of Indian submarines in the southern parts of Pakistani waters…and restricted their activity.”

Territorial waters are defined as 12 nautical miles (22.2kms) from shore. (With inputs from PTI)

Pak says it ‘drove out’ Indian sub

New Delhi denies claim as tension between neighbours reaches Arabian Sea

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 18

The India-Pakistan tension today shifted from Jammu and Kashmir to Arabian Sea where Islamabad and Beijing have been conducting a naval exercise. Pakistan claimed to have “detected” an Indian submarine, which had “violated the sea limits” and said it was “driven back”, a claim New Delhi vehemently denied.   The Indian Navy refused to accept that its submarine had entered the territorial waters of Pakistan-that is 12 nautical miles (some 22 km) from the shore.Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) realised a video and pictures of a diesel-electric powered submarine while “breathing” or “snorting” (showing its periscope and masts above sea level even when the vessel is submerged and charging its batteries). The pictures and video indicate that the shots were from an infra-red camera or sensor, signifying these were captured at night from either a warship or a low-flying drone.This, Pakistan claimed, was an Indian submarine, which had entered Pakistan’s waters.  India operates two varieties of the diesel-electric submarine-Russian-origin Kilo class and German-origin HDW. India’s nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra would not need to “snort” as a nuclear vessel need not charge its batteries at sea.ISPR said, “(Indian) submarine was deployed within Pakistani waters to secretly sneak into Pakistani limits; however, it was successfully traced”.  Meanwhile, the Pakistan-China navy exercise would enter its ‘marine drill phase’ tomorrow. 

Pakistan claims it ‘blocked’ Indian sub, New Delhi denies

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy said on Friday it had “blocked” an Indian submarine from entering the country’s territorial waters, though officials in New Delhi described the claim as “blatant lies”.

AFP FILEThe Pakistani Navy said the submarine was detected “south of the Pakistani coast” on Monday.

“The Pakistan Navy once again proved its vigilance and operational competence by detecting and blocking an Indian submarine from entering in Pakistani waters,” an official statement said.

“The unsuspecting submarine was detected and localised south of Pakistani coast on November 16. Thereafter, despite submarine’s desperate efforts to escape detection, it was continuously tracked by Pakistan Navy fleet units and pushed well clear of our waters,” the statement said. The detection of the Indian submarine reflected the Pakistan Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities, it added. The navy also released footage and photographs of what it was said was the submarine trying to enter Pakistani waters.

In New Delhi, Indian Navy officials described the Pakistani claim as “blatant lies” and said none of its vessels were in that area. Security analyst Admiral (retired) Tasnim Ahmad told the media the submarine had been in Pakistani waters for more than four days. He said the vessel left Pakistani waters after being detected. Earlier this week, the Pakistan Navy announced that the first cargo containers for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were safely escorted in the Arabian Sea towards their destinations in Middle Eastern and African countries.

It said the success of the CPEC and Gwadar port project was linked to a safe and secure maritime environment in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

Tribune News Service

Ambala, November 26

Gunjan(12), a resident of Mahesh Nagar, was mowed down by an Army truck at Parshuram Chowk in Ambala Cantonment today. The victim was reportedly returning home from school along with her cousins, when their motorbike was hit by the truck. She died on the spot. The truck driver fled the spot.Later, kin of the deceased kept the body on the road and tried to block the Ambala-Jagadhri road. They alleged the police were trying to protect the accused as the truck belonged to the Army.They lifted the road blockade after seeing a copy of FIR. Deputy Superintendent of Police Suresh Kaushik said the truck driver had been booked under sections 279 and 304A of the IPC. He said the Army officials concerned had been informed about the situation and efforts were being made to nab the driver.