An Air India aeroplane. PTI file photo

New Delhi, June 3

In a novel gesture to honour armed forces personnel, national carrier Air India will allow recipients of war and peace time gallantry awards to upgrade to the business class if vacant seats are available at the time of boarding.According to Air India, the soldiers who have been bestowed with military honours such as Param Vir Chakra (PVC), Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), Vir Chakra (VC), Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra, will get an upgrade to business class from economy at the time of boarding in case seats are available in the aircraft from this month.”If seats are available, we will upgrade these awardees to business class at the boarding gate,” an Air India official said.The decision to upgrade these recipients of various gallantry awards to a higher class, which is effective from this month, is an initiative of Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani, he said.The Indian Armed Forces are eligible for various military decorations, which are awarded for extraordinary bravery and courage, as well as distinguished service during times of war and peace.Domestic carriers, including Air India, already provide a 50 per cent discount on basic fare on select classes on their domestic network to active Military personnel of Indian Armed Forces and their family members travelling at their own expense.The upgrade scheme, according to Air India, can be availed on the production of identity cards at the airline’s check-in counters. — PTI

Air India to allow gallantry award recipients free upgrade to business class

The Mughal Road reopened on Saturday. Tribune photo: Amin War

Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 25

All road links to high-altitude areas, which were closed for the past nearly six winter months, are in the process of being thrown open to vehicular traffic.The strategic Zojila, which connects the Kashmir valley with the Ladakh region through the 434-km-long road, was open as the snow had been cleared off the road. “It will take a day or two to throw open the road officially after confirmation from our drivers,” said Brig AK Das, Chief Engineer of Beacon Project of the BRO. The Centre has already approved an all-weather road to the region. It will be completed in the next seven years.The 84-km-long Mughal Road, connecting Kashmir via Shopian district with Poonch district in the Jammu region, was opened for light vehicular traffic on Saturday. The only road link that has not been reopened so far is the Anantnag-Kishtwar road that passes through Sinthan Top. 

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 2

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar headed off to Singapore and Vietnam tonight to pursue two different tracks of the “Act East” policy.In Singapore on June 3 and June 4, Parrikar will attend the Shangri-La Dialogue where, on the sidelines of the summit, he is slated to meet his counterparts from the US, Japan, France, UK, Canada and Switzerland. At the dialogue, Parrikar is expected to address India’s concerns on various issues in Asia.On his second leg of his tour (June 5 and June 6), he will visit Vietnam, a country that has a defence cooperation agreement with India, and is now seeking the BrahMos missile. Parrikar will be accompanied by the DRDO Chief, Secretary (Defence Production), Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Director General Military Training and Director Generation Operations of the IAF.This will be Parrikar’s second visit to a country that is seeking the Brahmos. On May 22 and May 23, he was in the UAE, which is also keen to have the BrahMos in its arsenal. As of now, there is no hint that New Delhi has agreed to sell the missile to either of the two nations.The missile, a joint venture between Russia and India, can be launched from ship or land. Its supersonic speed and the ability to skim the surface at heights as low as 10 m make it hard for an enemy’s radar to track. It is practically invulnerable to modern anti-missile and air defence systems.Vietnam, along with China, is one of the six countries locked in a bitter dispute over navigation rights through the South China Sea. More than $70 billion worth of Indian trade is routed through these waters. India also has rights to two oil-drilling blocks off the Vietnam coast. India’s relations with Vietnam in the past few years have been keenly watched by China. When Russia sold the Kilo Class submarines to Vietnam, the Indian Navy trained the Vietnamese Navy.India, on its part, is also setting up a satellite tracking and imaging centre in southern Vietnam that will give Hanoi access to pictures from Indian earth observation satellites that cover the region, including China and the South China Sea.On May 23, the US announced an end to its embargo on sales of lethal arms to Vietnam, a historic step that draws a line under the two countries’ old enmity.

To raise India’s concerns at Shangri-La Dialogue

• In Singapore, Defence Minister Parrikar will attend the Shangri-La Dialogue where heis expected to address India’s concernson various issues in Asia
• On his second leg of his tour (June 5 and June 6), he will visit Vietnam, a country that has a defence cooperation agreement with India, and is now seeking the BrahMos missile

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25

The world’s largest aircraft, the AN-225 Mriya, will make its maiden landing in India next month en route to Australia from Europe. The aircraft will make an overnight technical halt at Hyderabad.The aircraft will arrive in India from Turkmanbashi in Central Asia and proceed to Jakarta and hereafter to its final destination Perth. It is carrying a generator that weighs 116 tonnes.Sources in the aviation sector say May 13 is the tentative date for its arrival in India and it will depart the next day after staying in the country for 20 hours. They said Hyderabad was chosen for the halt for several factors such as runway length, ground manoeuvering area, technical facilities, air traffic density and proximity to the trans-continental air route.The six-engined Mriya, which means dream in Russian, is the longest and heaviest airplane ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes. It was developed to transport the Soviet Braun space shuttle or other super-heavy and outsized cargo. Given its size, wing-span and engine wake, it can operate from a limited number of airports. Only one AN-225 was built in 1988 that served with the Soviet Air Force. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, it remained in storage for a few years and was later, after refurbishment, entered commercial service with the Antonov Airlines of Ukraine. The construction of a second airframe was started in the late 1980s, but it remains unfinished to date due to funding issues.The AN-225 can carry up to 250 tonnes of cargo as compared to 157 tonnes by the double-deck Airbus A–380, the largest passenger aircraft in service, or 80 tonnes by the Boeing C-17, the heaviest freighter operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF). In fact, the IAF has a close association with Mriya’s manufacturer, the Antonov Design Bureau, having operated sizable numbers of the AN-12 medium-lift aircraft and the AN-32 tactical transporter.While Soviet-origin aircraft such as the AN-12, AN-32, IL-76 and IL-78 have been the mainstay of the IAF’s logistic support fleet for the past few decades, Western aircraft such as the C-17 and C-130 have taken over a large chuck of this role. Western aircraft manufacturers are also strong contenders for the IAF’s medium transport aircraft and midair refueling aircraft requirements. The IAF has operated Western transport aircraft in the past, with the Dakota, Caribou, Packet, Otter, Constellation, Avro, Devox and Flying Boxcar prominent among them.

Islamabad, May 28

The father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan today said the country could have become a nuclear power as early as 1984 but the then President General Zia ul Haq “opposed the move”.He was addressing a gathering on the anniversary of first nuclear tests, which were carried out under his supervision in 1998.”We were able and we had a plan to launch nuclear test in 1984. But President General Zia ul Haq had opposed the move,” said Khan.He said General Zia, who ruled Pakistan from 1979 to 1988, opposed the nuclear testing as he believed that the world would intervene militarily.Khan also said Pakistan has the ability to target Indian capital Delhi from Kahuta near Rawalpindi in five minutes.Khan was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to accept responsibility for proliferation and live a life of semi house arrest.He regretted the treatment and said Pakistan would never have achieved the feat of becoming first Muslim nuclear country without his “services”.”We are facing the worst against our services to the country’s nuclear program,” he said referring to the humiliation he suffered. — PTI

All women officers completing seven years with the Indian Navy will now be eligible for permanent commission. The Navy was the only wing of the armed forces which had denied the permanent commission to women.

With the decks cleared, the first set of women officers on permanent commission will be appointed this year.

Women officers in the Navy are commissioned for short service with a maximum term of 14 years, which makes them ineligible for pension since it requires a minimum 20 years of service. In fact, no short service commission officer, male or female, is entitled for pension.Three women officers – Commander Suman Kumari, Commander Supriya Sethu and Commander Pawan Preet Mann – had moved the Supreme Court seeking reinstatement in the Navy. They have now been called for their medical tests for the permanent commission.

A total of 17 short service commission women officers had moved various writ petitions seeking permanent commissions. The verdict on the remaining petitions is also expected soon.

In November last year, the apex court had barred the Navy from releasing 17 women officers, who had challenged the government’s decision to extend permanent commission to women officers in education, law and naval architecture to those who joined after September 2008.

In 2010, a similar court order had allowed women permanent commission in the Army and the Air Force, noting that women officers “deserve better from the government”.

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Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

Beijing, May 25

Amid President Pranab Mukherjee’s ongoing visit, China seems to be softening its stance towards India with state news agency Xinhua running an article blaming the West for the hyped tension between “the dragon and the elephant”. One of the reasons for this could be growing Chinese apprehensions that India, Japan and the US are getting together as a power bloc to challenge Beijing’s dominance in the region.The report talks about the Chabahar port and how this is also being used to drive a wedge between the two Asian giants. “One of the latest targets of their smear campaign is a New Delhi-Tehran deal on developing Iran’s port of Chabahar. The seaport is 100 km from Pakistan’s Gwadar seaport, which is co-developed by China. Those media claim the Elephant-Dragon rivalry is unavoidable,” said the Xinhua report today. The report goes on to add that such hype is both “untrue and harmful”.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The report comes out heavily in its criticism of the Western media, which it blames for creating such tension between China and other nations. The report goes on to state: “Yet the distorted coverage of China-India ties lays bare a deep and unfounded bias against China among Western media”.

G Parthasarathy
India shouldn’t have exaggerated expectations of any real breakthrough

The Pakistan army regards itself as being above the law, disregarding even court notices.

PAKISTAN is one of the few countries today, which puts its defence minister in a virtual “purdah”. All those who deal with Pakistan, have heard of, or seen the ubiquitous Gen Raheel Sharif. Does anybody, however, know the name of the person who holds the high office of the defence minister in Pakistan? The peripatetic General Sharif is in Washington on one day, in Kabul on the next. He is also frequently travelling with Nawaz Sharif to countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. When VIPS, including Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, or US Vice- President Joe Biden visit Pakistan, they visit the GHQ, to pay respects to the army chief. But defence minister Khwaja Asif, a Muslim League stalwart, is rarely seen or heard. Pakistan’s defence ministry hardly has the gumption or authority to turn down anything that the army chief based in the GHQ in Rawalpindi says or does. General Sharif has never been seen accompanying, meeting or talking to the hapless Khwaja Asif. He is only seen sitting opposite, or besides the Prime Minister, behaving like a co-equal of the Prime Minister. Even federal ministers and the Prime Minister’s brother and Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, have to seek permission to meet the regal General Sharif in his hallowed GHQ. The army regards itself as being above the law, disregarding notices from the Supreme Court on its operations in Baluchistan and undermining the court’s efforts to bring Musharraf to book for violating Pakistan’s constitution.Given this exalted role of the GHQ, one was surprised to recently read a widely publicised statement made to a parliamentary committee by Pakistan’s defence secretary. Incidentally, given their contempt for “bloody civilians”, the Pakistan army routinely insists that the defence secretary should be a retired army officer.   Defence secretary Lt Gen Alam Khattak told the parliamentary committee on April 6 that India’s “infamous” R&AW had set up a “special cell” to sabotage the much-hyped “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor”, which the Pakistan army believes is the “magic wand” to solve all the country’s economic ills. General Khattak’s statement came the day after General Sharif said the same thing while blaming India for “destabilising” Pakistan. General Khattak added the usual “masala” to his statement by alleging that Indian consulates in Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan were working with that country’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan counterpart of the ISI, by carrying out “subversive activities” in Baluchistan and the Pashtun tribal areas of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan.Such allegations against India are not new. The recent addition has been the references to that “notorious” Indian “spy” Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was first said to have been arrested along the border with Afghanistan and was later claimed to have been arrested in Baluchistan. But here again, Pakistan finds itself in a bind. By denying India customary “consular access” to an arrested Indian national, statements made by Jadhav while under Pakistani custody will be seen to have been made under coercion. If Pakistan releases him, which seems unlikely for the present, Jadhav will sing a different tune and severely embarrass his captors with the many truths he will reveal. The Jadhav episode has also cast a shadow on Pakistan’s efforts to mend its strained relations with Iran. The bumptious General Sharif chose not to be present when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. With his customary swagger stick in his hand, he separately met President Rouhani the next day. The obedient army spokesman dutifully tweeted that his exalted boss had given “evidence” to the Iranian President about the evil Indians using Iranian soil to destabilise the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. An obviously irritated President Rouhani bristled with anger, when he was asked about this, noting that India, like Pakistan, was a friendly country. The Iranian embassy reiterated this a few days later.All this is occurring at a time when Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan are going through a critical phase. With great difficulty and with significant help of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the infamous Taliban linked Haqqani Network, the ISI has united a number of top Taliban leaders, including members of Mullah Omar’s family, with its handpicked protégé, Mullah Akhtar Mansour. The ISI calculation had been that with the Obama Administration beating a hasty retreat from Afghanistan, its Taliban protégés would take over, with China facilitating this process of transition. China obviously expects that a Pakistan-sponsored regime in Kabul would help it in eliminating the insurgency by its Muslim population in its neighbouring Xinjiang province. With the Taliban determined to seize control of more and more territory, one can expect heavy casualties in the ensuing months in Afghanistan. More so, as the China-US-Pakistan brokered peace talks, which are said to be “Afghan led” and “Afghan owned”, are going to be headed nowhere.Pakistan cannot remain unaffected by the conflict across the Durand Line. General Sharif’s operation Zarb-e-Azb in Pashtun tribal areas has resulted in nearly one million Pashtun tribesmen being uprooted from their homes, with bleak prospects of early return and rehabilitation. The Tehriq-e-Taliban, now operating from Afghan soil, has hit back, with attacks on institutions in Pakistan, linked to the Pakistani military. For the first time, the army is fighting its citizens in all four provinces of Pakistan. With Pashtuns comprising around one-fourth of the army, its generals will have to start looking at the reliability of its Pashtun soldiers. General Sharif has obviously learnt nothing from history. The only time Punjabi soldiers have prevailed over Pashtuns was under the command of a Sikh General, Hari Singh Nalwa, during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Sadly for Pakistan, General Sharif does not have the attributes of military leadership of 

Hari Singh Nalwa.

It is clear that the present dispensation in Pakistan has neither the imagination, nor foresight, to escape the inevitable consequences of its blunders in Afghanistan. Moreover, after the revelations of Nawaz Sharif’s family’s offshore accounts in Panama, Pakistan’s Prime Minister himself faces an uncertain future and tempestuous times ahead. While continuing a process of engagement with Pakistan, we should not have exaggerated expectations of any significant “breakthrough”. General Sharif should be left to stew in his own juice, along Pakistan’s western frontiers.