A first: Chinese, Indian troops meet for disaster mgmt drill

The first joint Indo-China tactical exercise between border troops of both countries was conducted in the Chushul-Moldo area. Tribune Photo

Sumit Hakhoo,Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 7

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, often in news for standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers, saw the first-ever joint tactical exercise between the two armies to tackle natural disasters.The day-long humanitarian relief exercise conducted in sub-zero temperature in the remote Chushul-Moldo area of Jammu and Kashmir saw soldiers jointly conducting rescue missions, casualty evacuation and providing humanitarian aid in a situation of calamity striking areas close to the LAC.At the height of 4,360 m, Chushul is prone to cold and snow-related disasters. The exercise assumes significance in the backdrop of recent avalanche in Siachen. Soldiers guard remote outposts in the area and several small nomadic settlements are present on both sides of the LAC.The Indian team of 30 Army personnel was led by Colonel Ritesh Chandra Singh, while the Chinese team was led by Colonel Qu Yi.Chushul is one of the four officially agreed BPM (border personnel meeting) points for regular interaction between the two armies to defuse tension.“The joint exercise was based on a situation of a national disaster occurring on the border and the subsequent coordination for a rescue mission by joint teams of both countries. As previously agreed, the exercise focused on actions to be coordinated to provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief,” said a defence spokesperson.India shares 3,488-km de facto border with China and is divided into three sectors—western sector (between Ladakh and Aksai Chin plateau); central sector (between Uttarakhand and Tibet) and the eastern sector (covering Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh). Jammu and Kashmir has seen frequent transgressions over the past few years.The joint exercise, Sino-India Cooperation 2016, complements the Hand-in-Hand series of India-China joint exercises and the recently conducted border troops’ joint exercise in Sikkim.

Border bonhomie

• The day-long humanitarian relief exercise was conducted in sub-zero temperature in the Chushul-Moldo area of J&K
• Thirty soldiers each from the People’s Liberation Army and the Indian Army took part in the exercise
• The exercise was based on a situation of a national disaster and the subsequent coordination for a rescue mission, said a defence spokesperson

Indian Air Force personnel stand on the roof of a building at the Pathankot base on January 4, 2016. — AFP

New Delhi, February 3

The Indian Air Force has issued shoot-at-sight orders against anyone attempting to scale the walls of the bases under sensitive Western Air Command in the backdrop of the terror attack on the Pathankot air base in Punjab.

“All bases in the Western Air Command have been put on high alert. Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued against anyone attempting to enter the base by scaling the perimeter wall or through unauthorised access,” a senior IAF officer said.

The IAF has also asked the government to strictly impose the ban against construction within 100 metres of any air base and within 900 metres of its ammunition depot.

Replying to queries about an insider possibly having had a role in the Pathankot attack, he said that the NIA was investigating this angle but a preliminary probe by IAF has not found anything to substantiate such a suspicion.

Describing the Pathankot attack as a “learning experience”, the official said that IAF is in the process of finalising a Rs 8,000-crore comprehensive security proposal for its 54 main flying bases in the country.

That will include smart perimeter intrusion system, CCTVs, motion detectors, quadro drones, among other things. The cost will come to about Rs 100-150 crore per base, he said.

The officer said, “These proposals were already in the pipeline. Because of financial constraints, we are doing it in a phased manner. Our first focus was to protect the main assets and then move to the perimeter wall.” He said the government has told the IAF that there will be no financial constraints for these works.

“The proposal is being prepared. We hope to get it going as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the IAF is fast-tracking the process.

The IAF has completed a special audit of all its 950 flying and non-flying establishments.

He said two teams from the Directorate of Air Staff carried out the audit of the bases.

“No major weaknesses were found in the audit,” he said, adding that similar audits are conducted every six months.

The official explained that no two air bases were the same and the IAF will put in place a customised security system for each.

Asked whether the Western air bases will be given priority, he said that even the bases in the Eastern sector are under threat and modernisation would be done on the basis of threat perception.

The IAF would also be raising more Garud commandos and the perimeter wall would continue to be manned by personnel of the Defence Security Corps, he said.

The official added that another priority was to remove encroachments around the bases. — PTI

Security forces personnel inside the Pathankot Air Force base after the end of the military operation against militants on January 5, 2016. — PTI

New Delhi, January 31

The Indian Air Force has completed security audit of its almost 950 flying and non-flying bases in the aftermath of Pathankot terror attack and is likely to seek permission of the Defence Ministry to induct more Garud commandos.

Top sources in the Air Force said the audit, ordered after the attack on its air base in Pathankot earlier this month, has identified the chinks in the security and measures would be taken to plug them.

Asked if the Defence Security Corps, made up of retired soldiers, would be replaced with other security personnel, the sources said Garud commandos are already present at its facilities and, if needed, more will be added.

They made it clear the security of bases will continue to be handled by the DSC personnel and Garud commandos.

Sources said identification of loopholes in security has been completed and the next step will be to test them.

The Garud (Special Forces of the IAF) was formed in 2003 for providing specific in-house role capabilities to the IAF.

Garuds are specially trained to be a Quick Reaction Force at important IAF bases, protect IAF’s high-value assets, conduct search and rescue during peace and war, and undertake counter-terrorism tasks and special missions.

Garuds have been effectively deployed as part Indian peacekeeping missions in support of the UN and for evacuation of Indian nationals from war zones.

The Defence Ministry is in the process of setting up a committee to review security at all armed forces facilities in the country based on the “risk factor”, besides the audit undertaken by the individual services themselves.

“A specific team is being made. It will visit (the bases) and look into priorities like risk factor, sensitivity and assets. It will also talk to the local commanders,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said on January 21. — PTI

Dehradun, January 27

A two-week yoga training course was organised for Army personnel, under the aegis of Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar, from January 10 to 26. As many as 250 personnel of Western Command attended the yoga camp.Specialists from Patanjali Yogpeeth, under the guidance of yoga guru Swami Ramdev, gave a comprehensive knowledge of yoga and meditation to the jawans during the training.—TNS

Our Correspondent,Sopore, January 23

In a major blow to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, the police today claimed to have busted a network of the group’s operators in militancy infested Sopore with the arrest of five militants. They were reportedly planning to carry out strikes in the run-up to Republic Day.The police said the operation, which lasted many days, led to the arrest of 32-year-old Ishfaq Ahmad Sofi, alias Umar, of Sopore and four active associates. The police said the militants were desperately preparing to revive the outfit by planning to target security forces ahead of Republic Day celebrations.One Chinese pistol, a magazine, two Chinese hand grenades and other ammunition were recovered from the possession of the captured militants.“It is a major blow to the terrorist outfit that was desperately trying to strike ahead of Republic Day. The group was planning to carry out attacks on security forces in and around Sopore and Baramulla, particularly along the national highway,” said Gareeb Das, Deputy Inspector General of Police, north Kashmir.“The captured militants are involved in lobbing grenades in downtown Srinagar and other violence-related activities in the Valley,” he said.“An advance party of the police and Army’s 52 Rashtriya Rifles initially chased and captured Umar from Model Town in Sopore and Aijaz Ahmad Gojri, alias Chhota Kalimullah, of the old town area in Baramulla from an orchard in the Sangrama area of Sopore on Friday,” he added.Das said the group had plans to carry out IED blasts and set fire in the busy markets of Baramulla and Sopore to show the presence of the outfit.Hours later, the sustained interrogation of the two militants led to the arrest three others — Danish Gaffar Gojri, alias Kalimullah, from Drangbal in Baramulla, Javid Ahmad Dar from Khanpora in Baramulla and Mohammad Sameer Kandoo, alias Sameer Baba, from Soura in Srinagar, said the police.Danish and Javid joined the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in September last year after they were ‘motivated’ by Umar. The police said Umar was handled by Sajad Shaheen, alias Sajad Afghani, from Pakistan. The police said Umar was given the task of ‘motivating’ youths to join the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in the Valley.Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to the Kashmir valley on November 5 last year, Umar and Kandoo hurled a grenade towards the CRPF camp near Khayam Chowk in Srinagar, resulting in injuries to 13 CRPF personnel.The duo hurled grenades at CRPF bunkers at Safa-Kadal, Naid-Kadal and Bilal Colony and the police station at Khanyar in Srinagar,” said the police.

First breakthrough since US-India nuclear pact; reactor sites in Gujarat

New Delhi, December 24

India expects to seal a contract with Westinghouse Electric Co LLC to build six nuclear reactors in the first half of next year, a senior government official said, in a sign its $150 billion dollar nuclear power programme is getting off the ground.

The proposed power plant in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat will accelerate India’s plans to build roughly 60 reactors, which would make it the world’s second-biggest nuclear energy market after China.

India wants to dramatically increase its nuclear capacity to 63,000 megawatts (MW) by 2032, from 5,780 MW, as part of a broader push to move away from fossil fuels, cut greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the dangerous effects of climate change.

The United States signed a pact with India in 2008, opening the way for nuclear commerce that had previously been stymied due to New Delhi’s nuclear weapons programme and shunning of the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

But hopes that reactor makers would get billions of dollars of new business evaporated after India adopted a law in 2010 giving the state-run operator Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) the right to seek damages from suppliers in the event of an accident.

Indian officials have been trying to assuage suppliers’ concerns, including by setting up an insurance pool with a liability cap of 15 billion Indian rupees ($226.16 million).

A final hurdle – ratification of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) – is expected within weeks, the Indian government official said.

The CSC requires signatories to shift liability to the operator and offers access to relief funds.

In a statement, Westinghouse said it expected India would move towards a framework that satisfies the CSC and channels accident liability exclusively to the operator. The statement made no reference to ongoing negotiations.

Shares of Westinghouse’s parent, Toshiba Corp, jumped as much as 3.3 per cent on Thursday after the news, before slipping back. A Toshiba spokesman declined to comment on the report, but noted that Westinghouse has been confident of winning orders from India.

A deal with Westinghouse could also put pressure on General Electric Co, whose nuclear energy venture with Hitachi was offered a site six years ago to build reactors.

GE has still not decided whether it would move ahead with the plan, the official said, adding that India was keen for a decision from the company soon.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said it had strong interest in India, and that the CSC would be “a sustainable solution to concerns about India’s existing domestic nuclear liability law”.

India’s plans for ramping up nuclear capacity have in the past fallen far short of targets and industry officials say that the aim to lift the share of nuclear power to a quarter of its energy mix, from barely 3 per cent now, is very ambitious.

No more technical hurdles

Later this week, India is expected to offer Russia a site in its southern state of Andhra Pradesh to build six reactors, on top of the six it is already expected to build in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Indian and Russian officials have said.

Separately, India expects Japan, which supplies components used in most reactors, to ratify an agreement sometime in the second quarter of 2016 to support its nuclear programme, another senior Indian government source said.

“There are no more technical hurdles in the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” the source said.

French nuclear company Areva, which uses Japanese components, also has a deal to build six reactors in India, although restructuring within that company was likely to delay construction until 2017, the first official said.

French utility EDF agreed earlier this year to buy a majority stake in Areva’s reactor business. Areva has been in price negotiations with NPCIL for several months now, officials at the Indian operator told Reuters in November.

Areva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Westinghouse deal

Negotiators from Westinghouse and Indian operator NPCIL have held several rounds of talks on the nuclear plant in Mithi Virdi, the government official said.

NPCIL declined to comment on the negotiations. Federal minister for Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh told parliament this month that talks were going on with French and US firms to arrive at project proposals. He offered no details.

But the government source said Westinghouse and NPCIL were negotiating all six reactors in one go, instead of an earlier plan to strike deals for two at a time.

Construction of the roughly 1,100 MW reactors could begin later in 2016, the official, who is close to the negotiations, added.

The idea was to allow the Americans and the French, India’s two close partners, to catch up with the Russians in its nuclear sector, the official said.

“This is a train that is moving soon,” the official said. —Reuters

NEW DELHI — Indian Army dogs, who have saved the lives of numerous soldiers in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations, will march down the Rajpath for Republic Day Parade on January 26 after a gap of 26 years.

The Army, which has about 1,200 Labradors and German Shepherds, have selected 36 canines to march down the Rajpath with their handlers.

Mansi, a four-year-old Labrador, and her Kashmiri master Bashir Ahmed War from the Territorial Army (TA) had made the country proud when they made the supreme sacrifice while gallantly fighting a group of heavily-armed infiltrators in the high altitude area along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar sector in August last year.

A war dog training school was raised on March 1, 1960 at Meerut. Basic and advance training to dogs and their trainers on specialised jobs like explosive detection, mine detection, tracking, guarding and assaulting is imparted at the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre and College.

The Army dogs and their trainers of this Corps have won one Shourya Chakra, six Sena Medals, 142 COAS Commendation Cards, six VCOAS Commendation Cards and 448 GOC-in-C Commendation Cards.

The motto of the Corps is ‘Pashu Seva Asmakam Dharm’.

The Army had come under severe criticism from the common people and dog lovers across the world after it was revealed in an RTI reply last year that dogs, horses and mules are put to sleep after their retirement.

Following a PIL, the government had in September informed the Delhi High Court that it would come out with a policy on the issue within six months.

Though a final policy is yet to be adopted, the Army has stopped further killing of ageing animals, except for those suffering incurable, terminal diseases and injuries.

The development came at a time when many countries, including the US and France, have special rehabilitation schemes for military dogs. The gallantry medal was awarded to a police dog killed after the Paris attacks last year.

The Indian Army dogs are trained in sniffing bombs, hunting down enemies, locating secret places and fetching evidence. The Army generally uses Labradors, German Shepherds and Belgian Shepherds, depending on the altitude and weather, besides the nature of assignment which may include routine patrol to explosives detection.