New Delhi, March 13

The Army has said it was reeling under severe fund crunch and struggling to even make emergency procurements when it was dealing with an assertive China along the northern border after the Doklam face-off and increasing hostilities from Pakistan on the western frontier.The Army told a parliamentary panel that the insufficient allocation to it in the defence budget was going to hit the Army’s modernisation at a time when Chinese military was competing to reach the level of the US and Pakistan bolstering capability of its forces.Vice Chief of Army Lt Gen Sarath Chand said 68 per cent of the Army’s equipment is in the ‘vintage category’, adding fund crunch will also impact the serviceability of the existing equipment and may even affect payment of instalments for past purchases.The Army’s frustrations over inadequate allocations of funds in the defence budget for next fiscal figured in a report of the Standing Committee on Defence, which was tabled in Lok Sabha today.Talking about the new procurement policy, delegation of financial powers to Vice Chief of Army and several other initiatives towards modernisation of the armed forces, Lt Gen Chand told the panel that “the Budget of 2018-19 has dashed our hopes and most of what has been achieved has actually received a little setback.” He said, “Allocation of Rs 21,338 crore for modernisation is insufficient even to cater for committed payment of Rs 29,033 crore for 125 on-going schemes, emergency procurements,” he said, adding “committed liabilities of 2017, which will also get passed on to 2018, will further accentuate the situation.” Referring to the regional security scenario, Lt Gen Chand said the possibility of “two front” war is a reality and the country needs to pay attention to modernisation of the Army. He said the Doklam issue was going on and China has become increasingly assertive.The Army also informed the panel that it does not have adequate resources to even undertake the construction of strategic roads near the Sino-India border.The Vice Chief of Army Staff also referred to daring terror attacks on military installations in Uri, Pathankot, Nagrota and Sunjuwan Cantt in Jammu and said the defence forces must get their due. On its part, the Parliamentary Standing Committee, headed by BJP MP BC Khanduri, also came down hard on the government for inadequate allocation of financial resources to the armed forces. — PTI

London, March 10

A leading UK-based think tank has released a research to support its call for a new, more economical visa regime to attract Indian visitors to the country. The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) revealed that the UK was losing out as neighbouring France attracted 185,000 more Indian business visitors and tourists in 2016. Overall the number of visits to the UK by Indian nationals fell by 1.73 per cent in 2016, while in France it grew by 5.3 per cent.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) “The UK’s market share of Indian outbound tourists has more than halved from 4.4 per cent in 2006 to 1.9 per cent in 2016… 600,000 Indians visited France in 2016, 185,000 more than visited the UK,” RCS says in its new ‘Britain and India: Building a New Visa Partnership’ fact sheet presented to British MPs as part of its campaign launched in 2016 for a new UK-India bilateral visa agreement which would considerably reduce the cost of tourist visas. — PTI

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Reuters

Beijing, March 8

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today said that China and India should be “free of mental inhibition” and build mutual trust, which is a “precious commodity” in their ties.Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the Chinese parliament session, Wang said both countries, which nearly came to war over a two-month military standoff along their border last year, should replace suspicion with trust.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Sounding positive on bilateral ties in the coming year, the minister said: “The Chinese dragon and Indian elephant must not fight each other, but dance with each other.”India-China ties took a nosedive after their militaries faced-off each other in their worst standoff at Doklam. China’s opposition to a UN ban on Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar and India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has also tested their relationship. “Despite some tests and difficulties, the China-India relationship continues to grow. In the process, China has both upheld its legitimate rights and interests and taken care to preserve the relationship. Chinese and Indian leaders have developed a strategic vision for the future of our relations. The Chinese dragon and Indian elephant must not fight each other, but dance with each other,” Wang said.“China and India must do everything to empathise with and support each other and avoid mutual suspicion and attrition. “Mutual trust is the most precious commodity in China-India relations. With political trust, not even Himalayas can stop from friendly exchanges. Without it, even level land cannot bring us together,” Wang said.“Let me put this to our Indian friends, our shared understanding far outstrips our differences and far outweigh our frictions. China is ready to forward traditional friendship.”  — IANS

Quad will dissipate like sea foam’

• China on Thursday reacted sharply to the quadrilateral coalition between the US, Japan, Australia and India and its Indo-Pacific concept, saying it was a “headline grabbing” idea which will “dissipate like sea foam”
• Asked if the grouping will affect China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it was a “headline grabbing” exercise
• Wang said contrary to the claims made by academics that the strategy was aimed at containing China, the four nations have made it clear that it targets no one. “I hope they mean what they say,” he said

New Delhi, March 7

The BSF today withdrew an order deducting a week’s salary of a jawan for showing “disrespect” towards the Prime Minister during a routine drill after Narendra Modi expressed his displeasure over the punishment, the force said.Modi directed the BSF today to immediately withdraw the order, a spokesperson for the paramilitary said, adding that it had been rescinded.Constable Sanjeev Kumar, posted in the 15th battalion of the Border Security Force deployed in West Bengal’s Nadia district, was found “guilty” by his commanding officer (CO) for using the words “Modi programme” while attending a morning roll call task on February 21.The CO of the unit, Commandant Anup Lal Bhagat, issued an order handing down a “pay fine of 7 days”, which means a salary cut for a week, to the jawan for “showing disrespect towards the PM”.“The Prime Minister has expressed his displeasure and directed the force to immediately withdraw the punishment. The order has been rescinded and the Commandant concerned has been cautioned for not dealing with the matter judiciously,” the BSF spokesperson said.Officials said the jawan referred to an event that he attended as “Modi programme” during the ‘zero parade’ or reporting assembly of briefing seniors about their official activities. — PTI

Former CM of Jammu & Kashmir Farooq Abdullah showing his golfing skills at Imperial Golf Estate near Ludhiana on Sunday. Tribune photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Ludhiana, February 11

Pakistan is living in a fool’s paradise in thinking that it could ever capture Kashmir, Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said here on Sunday.The National Conference chief emphatically said “Kashmir was, is, and will remain an integral part of India”.”Pakistan is living in a fool’s paradise in thinking that it could ever capture Kashmir…Pakistan should better think of itself and its future rather than keeping an eye on Kashmir,” Abdullah told reporters at Imperial Golf Club in Mullanpur, about 25 km from here.In reply to a question, Abdullah said that peaceful co-existence was the only solution and war would lead to total destruction of all.”War would only spell disaster, the type of which can be seen in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and some other nations,” he said.Abdullah had yesterday warned that India would not keep from waging war on Pakistan if it did not stop sending terrorists.His remark came after Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists attacked an Army camp in Jammu, killing two junior commissioned officers and injuring 6 others, including a Major and a daughter of an Army personnel.”If Pakistan continued to send militants, India would not stop itself from waging war against it,” he said yesterday.Meanwhile, he also responded on a senior lawmaker of the National Conference raising Pro-Pakistan slogans in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.”Fools could be found in every party. God knows what he had eaten up or consumed on that day. But we cannot shoot him now,” he said when asked to react on party MLA Mohammad Akbar Lone’s pro-Pakistan sloganeering yesterday.Notably, the NC has already distanced itself from Lone’s sloganeering which had come at a time when the operation to flush out terrorists from the Sunjuwan camp in Jammu was underway.To a question, Abdullah expressed grave concern over the unabated rise in the prices of petroleum products.Meanwhile, the NC president called upon the union government to promote the game of golf through ministry of sports. — PTI 

To,

             The President of India,

            The Supreme Commander.

            Rashtarpati Bhawan. New Delhi.

 PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS IS AN OFFENCE  SINCE 1960 – WHAT ABOUT CRUELTY TO SOLDIERS ON MILITARY DUTY IN J&K?

 Sir,

             President of India as the Supreme Commander & the Armed Forces are under oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India; continue to silently suffer ‘cruelty’ in J&K, when it is an offence against Animals but for some unknown reasons, Soldiers continue to suffer, not objected by RM or COAS, except their Children or Parents of the Soldiers.

2. Is RM not responsible to prevent cruelty to Soldiers? Fundamental Duty of all Citizens including Military Officers Article 51A is to bring to the notice of concerned authority, if something is going wrong.

3,         Why Rajya Sainik Board of J&K / Kendra Sainik Board of MoD ares keeping quite when Welfare of AFs is on ‘concurrent list’?

4. As a responsible War Veterans request the President of India to protect Soldiers from cruelty of Stone Pelting by issuing Presidential Order please since Political Leaders have failed to en-act Law in this respect.

Dated 9 Feb 2018.

   Brig HS Ghuman, SC, Retd.

# 1043 Sector 71, SAS Nagar.

Punjab, Pin 160071.

Dastgir said Pakistan was committed to the 2003 ceasefire agreement with India but said that it should not be interpreted as weakness to respond in case of a war.

Islamabad, February 6

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir has warned India of a “response” in case of a “misadventure” by it.Dastagir’s remarks came during a Kashmir Solidarity Day gathering at the President House here on Monday which was hosted by President Mamnoon Hussain.“They [India] may have the right to start an [unprovoked] misadventure but the right to respond, at what level and with what magnitude will be reserved by us,” The Express Tribune quoted Dastagir as saying.He said Pakistan was committed to the 2003 ceasefire agreement with India but said that it should not be interpreted as weakness to respond in case of a war.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

“Our commitment to abide by the ceasefire agreement is not a response limitation,” the Defence Minister said.He claimed that the Indian forces were involved in crimes against humanity in Kashmir.“It makes it incumbent on me to demand that there must be an international inquiry to determine the exact spectre of the crimes being committed by the Indian forces in Kashmir,” he said.Speaking at another event, the Defence Minister said Islamabad retained the right to decide the measure and modicum of response to ceasefire violations by India. PTI

Changing tunes: Bands perform during the ‘Beating Retreat’ at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Monday.   | Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

‘Sitar and ghatam do not fit into a military band’

FOR at least three decades now, the President of India’s addresses to the nation on the eve of the Independence Day, as also on the eve of the Republic Day, have been personal statements; that is, these are not vetted by the Council of Ministers and provide an occasion for independent reflections. Since the Emergency days, the President, as the head of the Republic, has come to be seen and respected as someone who would stand apart and, if need be, away from the political regime and its partisanship. For President Ram Nath Kovind, 25th January, 2018, was an opportunity to reaffirm the tradition and expectations of presidential gravitas. And, he rose to the occasion. The President’s address was remarkably free of tired and failed shibboleths that the nation has been subjected to these last four years. While enormous progress has, indeed, been made since the birth of our Republic, there is no getting away from the fact that much still remains to be accomplished. And, the President did just that — reminding the nation and all its stakeholders of the abiding importance of republican values and egalitarian promises. In particular, the President was at his sensitive best when he noted that while “we need to craft a modern India that is both a land of talent — and, a land of unlimited opportunities for that talent,” we also need to pay special attention to those weaker communities that “still live at the edge of poverty.”   There was a particularly remarkable note in President Kovind’s address: the importance of “disciplined and morally upright institutions.” In this age of personality cult, the President did well to reiterate that “institutions are always more important than the individuals located there”, and, that those who preside over public institutions ought to perform as “trustees of the people”. And, at a time when the State is arrogating to itself the right to interfere in every sphere of the citizens’ lives, it was reassuring to hear the Head of the Republic suggest respect for an individual’s “space, privacy and rights.” Amen.