Flying Officers Mohana Singh, Avani Chaturvedi and Bhawana Kanth

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, June 18

History was created at the Air Force Academy today with the first batch of three women pilots inducted into the fighter squadron. Flying Officers Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh were the cynosure of all eyes at the graduation parade at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal as they became the country’s first batch of fighter pilots. They were commissioned into the Indian Air Force (IAF) by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who reviewed the parade.India has now joined a select band of nations in the world that have women fighter pilots. The three women pilots will get to fly fighter jets next year on completion of stage-III training at Bidar in Karnataka. They will receive training for a year on Hawk advanced jet trainers before they get to fly supersonic warplanes.It was a proud moment for the young achievers as the Defence Minister awarded them the President’s Commission. “This is just the beginning. Slowly, women in large numbers will be part of the armed forces,” Parrikar said.“It is a great honour. We are happy to get this opportunity to serve the country,” Avani, Bhawana and Mohana told the media after the parade. “Joining the Indian Air Force for flying was a dream instilled by my parents and grandparents,” said Mohana Singh, whose father is with the IAF and whose grandfather served as a flight gunner in the Aviation Research Centre.“It is an opportunity to serve the country,” said Avani who hails from Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. She was motivated by her brother, who is in the Army, to join the IAF.Bhawana hails from Darbhanga in Bihar. Daughter of an officer with the Indian Oil Corporation, she opted for the fighter stream after successfully completing stage I training. Six women cadets had competed to become fighter pilots. Only three were selected.While women pilots have been flying helicopters and transport aircraft since 1991, it was in October last year that the government decided to allow women to fly fighter jets. Combat roles in the Army and the Navy are still off limits for women owing to operational concerns and logistical constraints.Parrikar urged the young officers to give their best by adapting themselves to the dynamically changing security environment. He exhorted the officers to keep pace with the swiftly advancing technology to exploit the potential of aerospace power.

New force in the air

• Flying Officers Mohana Singh, Avani Chaturvedi and Bhawana Kanth were on Saturday commissioned as India’s first women fighter pilots.
• On completion of successful training at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal on the outskirts of Hyderabad, the trio were formally commissioned into the Indian Air Force by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and were the centre of attraction at the Combined Graduation Parade.
• The women will get to fly fighter jets next year after completion of stage-III training at Bidar in Karnataka. The women, who flew the Pilatus and Kiran jet trainers, will now get to train on the Hawk advanced trainer jets for a year before being allowed to fly supersonic warplanes. Report back page

May resolve Chief of Defence Staff issue this fiscal: Parrikar

• Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar hopes to ‘clinch’ the issue of having a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) during this fiscal
• “The question is not of hurdles (in having a CDS). The important point is that CDS actually has a linkage to ‘jointness’ in the command (in three forces),” he said
• “Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC) is already there. CDS intends to be much more than that. The ‘first among equal’ syndrome does not exist with CDS,” he added

INDIA GETS FIRST WOMEN TOP GUNS

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 13The crash of an ageing MiG-27 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Jodhpur today has yet again raised a question mark on the need to operate such vintage aircraft.For the IAF, operating the 1970s MiG-27 is a fait accompli — that is to keep flying outdated fighter jets just to maintain a minimum level in terms of numbers.As of now, the IAF has three MiG-27 squadrons (14-16 planes in each). The IAF is at its lowest strength in a decade at just 33 squadrons against the mandated 42 to tackle a simultaneous two-front attack from Pakistan and China.The Soviet-era MiG-27 jets are slated to be phased out in batches from the IAF in 2018. They are currently on an extended life — much beyond the flying capacity of the aircraft. Russia stopped flying these planes in 1994. One of the MiG-27 squadrons was phased out last year. Since 2007, a total of 11 MiG-27s have crashed, the parliamentary standing committee on defence said in its report tabled in Parliament on May 3.Former Vice-Chief of the IAF Air Marshal PK Barbora (retd) says: “There have been engine problems with MiG-27, which no one has been able to rectify. Hence, we had stopped upgrading it after two squadrons.”Last year, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha had said all MIG-27s that had not been upgraded would be phased out in the next couple of years after the induction of Rafale jets and the indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft “Tejas”. The MiG-27 along with the MiG-21 is one of the oldest aircraft in IAF’s fleet.

A file photo of a US F-16. —PTI

Islamabad, June 13

Pakistan has closed the chapter of acquiring eight F-16s from the US and will now opt for Jordan-owned F-16 fighter jets, foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said on Monday amid the strains in bilateral ties over the scuttling of the deal and a US drone strike on its soil.Chaudhry, briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Foreign Policy, said “the US seemed to be satisfied with Pakistan’s decision”.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
“The chapter of receiving F-16 fighter jets from the US has been closed. Pakistan will now opt for Jordan-owned F-16 fighter jets,” he was quoted as saying by the Geo News.Choudhry said one of the reasons for “strained relations with the US was Pakistan’s close ties with China”.”Pakistan cannot cooperate with the US on some issues. One of these issues is its sovereignty,” he said.He said strained relations with the US were nothing new for Pakistan.Condemning the US policy on the war on terror he said, “The US has spent 16 years fighting the war on terror. If only it had given six years to the peace process things would have been different.”The Pak-US ties strained after Congressional restriction on financing of F-16 fighter jets sale from Foreign Military Financing programme, due to which Pakistan could not buy the jets.The relationship further suffered when the US carried out a drone strike in Balochistan, killing Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, which was termed by Pakistani leadership a violation of the country’s sovereignty. — PTI

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 11

Baba Sewa Singh Kar Sewa Wale of Khadoor Sahib honoured Kirpa Singh, a student of one of the educational institutes run by their sect on completion of his course as Assistant Commandant in Indian Coast Guard here today.Kirpa, a resident of village near Khadoor Sahib, cleared the exam for entry into Indian Coast Guard recently. He was studying at a college run by Baba Sewa Singh.While congratulating Kirpa Singh for his achievement, Baba Sewa Singh said he was a role model for other children in this rural belt.“Kirpa Singh is one of the very few children from this area, who despite lack of educational opportunities, has managed to find a place for himself. We hope that other students will be inspired by his achievement,” he said.College Principal, Dr Surinder Bangar, said Kirpa had completed his training at Indian Naval Academy, Kerala, recently. He said educational institutions run under the Kar Sewa prepare rural children for various competitive exams. He said the sect had started an institute to prepare students for civil services examinations recently.

Members of the expedition at the Assam Regiment War Memorial on Sunday. Tribune Photo

Our Correspondent

Fazilka, June 12

To celebrate the platinum jubilee of the Assam Regiment, a motorcycle expedition was flagged off from the Phantom Third War Memorial of the martyrs of the regiment from border village Gharumi, 9 km from here, today.Fortyfour officers and jawans of the 3 Assam Regiment had laid down their lives in the 1971 war in the Fazilka sector defending the country.The phantom war memorial has been raised in their memory. The mortal remains of the martyrs are also buried on the premises of the memorial. As a mark of respect, the war veterans and senior officers of the regiment – Brigadier Charandeep Singh, Brigadier SJ Singh, Col Gautam Ranpal and Col MS Kochar (retd) accompanied by members of the Shaeedon Ki Samadhi Committee, Asafwala – laid wreaths at the memorial.Army contingents also presented the guard of honour. War veteran Col MS Kauchar (retd), who had participated in the 1971 Indo-Pak war in the Fazilka sector, flagged off the bike rally led by Brigadier Charandeep Singh.The motorcycle expedition en route Ferozepur, Ludhiana and Chandigarh will reach Shimla on June 15 to mark the platinum jubilee celebrations of the regiment on its raising day. After flagging off the rally, Col Kauchar and other officers visited the war memorial at Asafwala and laid wreaths at the sanctum sanctorum.

Motorcycle expedition heads for Shimla

Senior Army officers flag off a motorcycle expedition in Akhnoor on Sunday. A Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 12

A motorcycle expedition was today flagged off from Mandiala area in Akhnoor to mark the Assam Regiment’s platinum jubilee celebrations and commemorating its valiant action during the 1971 war.Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (P&S) and Colonel, Assam Regiment and Arunachal Scouts, Lt Gen Subarata Saha along with Maj Gen (Retd) PK Puri, a 1971-war veteran, laid wreath at the 5 Assam Regiment War Memorial at Rakhmuthi and flagged off the expedition.The battalion was conferred the Battle Honour for Chhamb and Theatre Honour for Jammu and Kashmir for its heroic performance in the war.Pakistani troops, supported by heavy armour, had attacked 5 Assam positions on December 3, 1971. However, due to resolute leadership and dauntless courage of the men of the unit, the attack was stemmed and as such the capture of Akhnoor bridge, the objective of the offensive and India’s jugular vein to J&K, was prevented. The victory came at a price of five officers and 19 men, who laid down their lives to defend the motherland.General Puri, who was the Company Commander at the time, extolled the Army saluted the sacrifices made by its personnel.Commemorating its platinum jubilee celebrations and 75 years of dedicated service to the nation, the Regiment is conducting two motorcycle expeditions– one from Mandiala (Akhnoor) and the other from Fazilka (Punjab). Both the expeditions will terminate in Shimla, where its First Battalion is presently stationed.

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, June 11

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 11

Gentleman Cadet Pankaj Kumar, son of retired Subedar, joined the elite Indian Army after taking part in the passing-out parade at the IMA here today.He dedicated his success to his father, Subedar Shyam Lal (retd), and mother Kamlesh Rani. Settled in Panchkula, Sector 6, GC Kumar’s source of inspiration was his father. B.Tech in mechanical engineering, GC Kumar always wanted to serve the nation just like his father.He said serving in the army as an officer was the rarest opportunity given to only selected candidates. GC Kumar said youth should join in larger number to serve the nation.Reacting to his achievement, GC Gauravjet Singh Batth, a resident of Sector of 21-A and a son of retired Capt GS Batth, said his hard work had paid off and helped him achieve his dream. GC Batth said rigorous training made GCs mentally and physically tough which helped them overcome any challenges.

610 cadets to pass out today

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 10

Lt-Gen Sarath Chand, General Officer Commanding-In-Chief (GOC-in-C), South Western Command, and Colonel of the Garhwal Rifles and Garhwal Scouts will be the reviewing officer at the passing-out-parade scheduled for tomorrow at the Indian Military Academy (IMA).A fleet of 610 gentleman cadets (GCs), including 45 foreign gentleman cadets, will pass out from the IMA.The police said additional personnel had been deployed around the IMA to maintain law and order in the city. Additional traffic policemen had been deployed to decongest traffic near the IMA. The IMA administration said necessary preparations had been done to ensure the smooth conducting of the passing-out parade.It may be recalled that Lt Sarath Chand was commissioned into Garhwal Rifles in June 1979 and has had an outstanding professional career spanning over 37 years. He is an alumnus of Sainik School, Kazhakootam, National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune, and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, and National Defence College, New Delhi.

india’s application for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) has gone down to the wire. It is not just China but a group of half a dozen countries are also opposing India’s entry into the NSG without making any tangible commitments to the cause of non-proliferation. This stand translates into pressure on India to sign at least one of the tools of non-proliferation — the Fissile Missile Cut-off Treaty, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty or the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). With two not very well disposed nuclear armed neighbours, India is not inclined to oblige the six countries, popularly called the ‘nuclear ayatollahs’, for their hard line stand of insisting that India must sign on the dotted line while ignoring its stellar record in non-proliferation.China’s objection is of a different kettle altogether. Beijing’s spanner serves two purposes. One, it tries to cool India’s ardour for a military tango with the US in the South China Sea. This was evident in the Obama-Modi joint statement that completely omitted South China Sea as compared to prominent mention in their vision statement last year. Second, China does not want a situation where India gets in the NSG and then permanently locks out Pakistan because decisions in that body are taken by consensus. It has, therefore, suggested common criteria for all countries that have not signed the NPT — which essentially means India, Pakistan and Israel.After Modi rubbed China the wrong way on the border dispute, diplomats have their task cut out to persuade China to drop its insistence on a criteria-based approach. Unlike the picture being portrayed by strategic experts, China is not an unreasonable nation. In the late nineties, China had stepped up to the plate after the US and Russia had stopped supplying uranium to India and most plants were on the verge of closure. The NSG is crucial for the inflow of high technology in order to jump-start the Make-in-India project. The US and France will be beneficiaries with billions of dollars in orders for nuclear plants.  In such a situation, India will have no option but to extend an olive branch to both Pakistan and China.

Border Security Force soldiers patrol the border fence. — PTI file photo

Washington, June 10

The US has asked Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used for planning attacks in India, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said terrorism is being “incubated in India’s neighbourhood”.

“This is one of the steps that the US is encouraging Pakistan to do for the improvement of its relations with India,” a State Department spokesman said on Friday.

“We believe that Pakistan and India stand to benefit from practical cooperation and encourage direct dialogue aimed at increasing cooperation and reducing tensions,” State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said.

“And that includes steps by Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used to plan attacks in India and that Pakistan takes steps to address or to go after, I think, all the terrorist groups that are currently using its territory,” Toner said.

“That continues to be an area of collaboration and cooperation that we pursue with Pakistan is its counterterrorism operations,” he said in response to a question.

Responding to a question, Toner said Pakistan was one of the issues discussed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama.

“Certainly that was one of the discussions, frankly, that was raised at the – or one of the issues, frankly, that was raised in discussions with Prime Minister Modi. They talked about a wide range of regional issues, in fact,” he said.

“Our bilateral relations with India and Pakistan are separate and stand on their own merits, and so I don’t think we… it’s not prudent for us to view our security cooperation in the region in kind of a zero-sum game… or zero-sum terms, rather.”have constructive security relationships with each other. And that’s Pakistan, that’s India, and it’s also Afghanistan,” Toner said.

In his address to the joint sitting of US Congress here, Modi had said terrorism has to be fought with “one voice” as he commended the American Parliament for sending out a clear message by refusing to “reward” those who preach and practice terrorism for political gains, an apparent reference to the blocking of sale of 8 F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. — PTI

President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari at the release of first copy of the book ‘The Education President’ at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 8

The Indian Army will help establish a Signals training school for the Namibian armed forces in the African country as part of its growing engagement with countries located in what was known as the dark continent. At the same time, India, besides focusing on bilateral trade and cultural relations, will also push for procurement of uranium from Namibia.A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for helping setting up the military school was expected to be signed between the two countries during President Pranab Mukherjee’s state visit to Namibia next week, senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. Besides Namibia, the president will also visit Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).While this is the first-ever visit of an Indian President to Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, a presidential visit to Namibia, is being undertaken after 21 years. The reaching out to African countries, many of which have historical and cultural ties with India, comes in the backdrop of China having made significant inroads in that continent. China has major presence in the aforementioned countries with major developmental projects and high volume of trade. A team of three Indian Army officers and other staff will proceed to Namibia for the project once the formalities are worked out. A defence cooperation agreement with Namibia was signed in 1995, following which Indian Air Force training teams have been stationed in Namibia, which has also procured some defence equipment from India, including three transport helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.MEA officials said an agreement was signed with Namibia, which is the fourth largest producer of uranium, for peaceful civilian use of nuclear energy, but its implementation had been held up as it was still to be ratified by the Namibian legislature. An agreement among African countries on uranium export is another impediment to the agreement. A number of other agreements are also expected to be signed with the countries that the President is visiting, besides holding delegation level talks with leaders of the respective countries and interaction with the local diaspora.An agreement for setting up a gas-powered fertiliser plant in Ghana and reopening the regional office of the EXIM Bank for West Africa are also on the agenda. The President will address a joint business forum and students and faculty of the University of Ghana besides unveiling a statue of Mahatma Gandhi gifted by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations. In Cote d’Ivoire, among other official engagements, Mukherjee will be honoured with the National Order of the Republic of Ivory Coast, the highest civilian award of that country

India to press for uranium supply

• An agreement was signed with Namibia, the fourth largest producer of uranium, for peaceful civilian use of nuclear energy
• However, its implementation has been held up as it is still to be ratified by the Namibian legislature