Current Events :
New Delhi, April 19
Most of the hitches in the multi-billion Euro deal for 36 Rafale fighter planes have been addressed and the remaining ones will be cleared in the next meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said today.
The meeting of DAC, the apex body of the Defence Ministry for procurement, is likely to take place on April 21, a day after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar arrives here from his visit to China.
Hoping that the Rafale deal would be inked soon, Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha said, “It is at a very advanced stage.”
Singh told reporters here, “I can only tell you this that most of the hitches that were there, have been addressed. A few (remaining) issues will be addressed, when possibly the matter comes up before DAC. They shall be addressed in the next DAC. And thereafter I think the road shall be clear.”
He was asked as to when the deal is likely to be signed.
When the same question was put to Air Chief Marshal Raha on the sidelines of an IAF seminar, he said, “We have seen so many years go past. How can I give an assurance? But it is in a very advanced stage.”
The junior defence minister brushed aside a suggestion that at least six indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft Tejas can be bought for the price of one Rafale plane, saying both the aircraft were totally different in nature and that IAF needed both.
India and France could firm up the order for the purchase of 36 Rafale combat planes as both the countries have managed to narrow down their differences over pricing.
The development comes nearly four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande signed a memorandum of agreement to purchase 36 Rafale aircraft.
The Indian side has been negotiating hard to bring down the price with Parrikar refusing to buckle under pressure even as questions were raised about the delay in signing of the contract.
Sources said the price for 36 Rafales, as per the UPA government’s tender, keeping the cost escalation and dollar rate in mind, comes to a little over Rs 65,000 crore.
This includes the cost involved in making changes India has sought in the aircraft, including Israeli helmet-mounted display and some specific weaponry.
“The effort is to bring down the price to less than Euros 8 billion (Rs 59,000 crore),” the sources said.
The final deal may be clinched by May-end. —PTI
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, April 12
India and Pakistan today held a Battalion Commanders level flag meeting at Chakan da Bagh in Poonch district to ensure peace along the de facto border.Pakistan had violated ceasefire on the Line of Control in the Poonch sector on Saturday night.“Pakistan, which had violated the mutually brokered truce deal after a gap of six months in Poonch sector, however, remained in denial mode. On the contrary, Pakistan blamed us for violating the ceasefire agreement,” said an official source.A residential house and a car were damaged in Pakistani shelling in Shahpur village of Poonch.We asked them to maintain peace and calm along the LoC in the larger interest of the border population of both the sides, the source added.“A Battalion Commander level flag meeting was held at Chakan da Bagh at 11 today. The meeting was held to take forward the peace process initiated since the Brigade Commander level flag meeting on September 21, last year,” said SN Acharya, officiating Defence spokesperson.The meeting which lasted for nearly 30 minutes, Colonel ranked officers leading the respective delegations acknowledged each other’s efforts in maintaining peace and tranquility on the LoC in the recent past, Acharya said.“Both sides mutually agreed to the importance of exercising restraint and keeping the communication alive through established mechanisms via hot line messages and flag meetings,” he added.The flag meeting ended on a positive note and both sides reaffirmed their faith in ensuring everlasting peace and tranquility on the LoC by redressing mutual concerns on priority in the future, Acharya said.As per official data, around 405 incidents of cross-border firing took place along the Indo-Pak border in J&K in 2015, killing 16 civilians.Of the 405 incidents, 253 incidents of cross border firing were recorded along the 198-km-long international border while 152 were registered along the LoC.The ceasefire on Indo-Pak border had come into force on November 26, 2003.The fresh ceasefire violation had come three days after Pakistan suspended the dialogue process with India.
Dehradun, April 11
Reacting to a statement given by retired senior defence personnel on One Rank One Pension (OROP), Uttarakhand Ex-Services League president Brig RS Rawat (retd) said ex-servicemen had not withdrawn agitation as their five demands were still pending. He said ex-servicemen were united under the United Forum of Ex-servicemen to press their demands. He was addressing mediapersons at a press conference here today.Brig Rawat said widows of ex-servicemen were deprived of hiked pensionary benefits in the state. Lt Col US Thakur (retd), president, Dehradun Ex-Services League, Maj Gen Lalji D Singh (retd) and Brig KG Behl (retd) were present at the conference.—TNS
At the root of this policy of Pakistan, is its military and the ISI, who do not want improved relations with India. Forging good relations with India militates against the rationale for Pakistan to have such a large military. The huge army otherwise is a heavy burden on the country’s economy.
PAKISTAN has been following a policy of a”thousand cuts,” against India. Though for Pakistan it has been a cheap option, it has created a sort of siege mentality within India. Unfortunately, India’s response to counter this, “cheap option” has been increased deployment on the borders etc. To secure the bases of the Indian Air Force would cost Rs 8,000 crore and those of the Indian Navy Rs 7,000 crore. A committee under a former Vice-Chief of Army Staff has been constituted to review security arrangements at military establishment. Its recommendations may result in substantial financial outlays. While these measures will impose heavy financial cost, yet a large number of other civilian targets (including schools) will remain vulnerable to terrorist strikes. Given the extent of involvement and the covert support of the Pakistan State to what they call non-state actors, these cross-border terrorist strikes are not going to end anytime soon. India has not been able to work out a viable and effective response to this, policy of a “thousand cuts,” by Pakistan. Operation Parakaram, where the Indian Army was mobilised, consequent to attack on the Indian Parliament, ended in a fiasco. This mobilisation cost the country Rs 1,000 crore and lives of 800 soldiers in various accidents. Though after the recent attack at Pathankot, the Indian Defence Minister has talked of causing pain to Pakistan in response to these attacks, he would have no clue as to how to cause this pain! Pakistan itself has been a target of some terrorist attacks, which is a fallout from the policy of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. There is no such thing as good terrorist and a bad terrorist. As Hillary Clinton, pointed out to Pakistan, that “if you rear snakes in your backyard, don’t think that they will bite only your neighbours”. At the root of this policy of Pakistan, is its military and the ISI, who do not want improved relations with India. Good relations with India militates against any rationale for Pakistan to have such a large military, which otherwise is a heavy burden on the country’s economy. Pakistan’s National Security Adviser played a masterstroke by informing his counterpart in India that a group of 10 terrorists had gone across the Gujarat border to carry out a major strike during the Maha Shivratri festival. That put the security agencies in a spin and an alert was sounded all across India. Perhaps no such group actually crossed into India, but Pakistan has decidedly delivered a, “googly.” If this, “group of 10”, did cross over into India then how come we have not been able to track it down thus far? For Pakistan to carry credibility in its changed policy towards export of terrorism to this country, it has to dismantle terrorist training camps and bring to book those involved in terrorist attacks in Mumbai and now at Pathankot. The Pakistan prime minister and a large number in civil society may want friendly relations with India, enhance trade and commerce and build cultural ties. On the other end, majority of the population has been completely radicalised and would be averse to closing ranks with India. These elements, along with the military, will continue to negate Pak government’s efforts to improve relations with India. At the same time, India’s own intelligence-gathering capabilities, guarding of the border, policing of areas close to the border and the link between drug trade and political class and state administration needs looking into. The investigations into the Pathankot terrorist attack, as also the manner of tackling terrorists group within the air base have been ham handed. The visit of the Pakistan SIT to Pathankot has been another sham by that country. In the best interests of the two countries, it is better to leave the Kashmir issue aside for a decade or so and look at other areas where cooperation and understanding can be reached. It will be of greater advantage for Pakistan to develop trade and commerce relations with India and possibly inter-link the two economies. The China factor, in any breakdown of relations between India and Pakistan, works entirely to that country’s advantage in which Pakistan stands to gain nothing.If Pakistan persists with this policy of, a “thousand cuts,” against India, then Pak must be made to suffer much pain. It is time for India to make it clear to Pakistan that terrorism and treaties cannot go hand in hand. While India will certainly retaliate to cross-border terrorist attacks, Pakistan and the World Bank need to be put on notice that the Indus Water Treaty and terrorist strikes cannot cohabit. If Pakistan persists in these attacks, then this Treaty will be severely impacted. Hopefully, better sense will prevail and Pakistan will put an end to this dangerous game of nurturing terrorists. It needs to shed the belief that India will continue to dither in its response.
The writer is a defence analyst.
Patiala: Maj Gen Sanjiv Varma (retd) took over as the principal of Yadavindra Public School here on Wednesday after the retirement of principal Stanley Vinod Kumar (60). Though Kumar had completed his nine-year term on June 30, 2015, he had to continue till the end of the academic year.Chairman of the Board of Governors of the school Malvinder Singh said: “Kumar had expressed his desire to move on the completion of his tenure and we have reluctantly agreed to relieve him. Of all candidates, the board has finally shortlisted Maj Gen Varma”. Kumar said he had served the school for a long duration and it had been one of his best assignments. During his tenure, the school had performed consistently well in board results, delivering 100 per cent pass results in both Class X ICSE and Class XII, ISC examinations. In ISC examination results, school students have figured in the top 1% scoring candidates across the country among council schools and earned scholarships sponsored by the Government of India. The participation of students in co-curricular activities has extensively grown during the years of Stanley Vinod Kumar’s tenure. In the same line, the school hosted its first MUN conference, arguably, the biggest in the region, last year. The IPSC IT Fest has been hosted by the school for the past two years in a row. Another recent achievement has been the selection of YPS, Patiala, for COP21, a global summit on climate change in Paris in November-December, last year. — TNS
During the Indo-Pak War of 1965, a battle took place, which the Indian army had already lost, on paper. Although, what happened on the battlefield proved yet again that the bravery and courage of the Indian army soldiers is beyond measure. This was the Battle Of Asal Uttar or ‘The Real Answer’.
© indiadefencereview
At the peak of the war of 1965, Pakistan’s General Ayub Khan devised a strategy to capture Amritsar and block the supplies of the Indian Armed Forces stationed in Jammu & Kashmir. The task was handed over to the ‘1st Armoured Division’ aka the ‘Pride Of Pakistan’. Pakistan’s motive, in a nutshell, was to defeat India in the worst way, inflicting as much collateral damage as possible.
© indiadefencereview
Backed by America, the Pakistani army back then, was armed with the world’s best Patton Tanks. The Indian army was still recovering from the loss it had suffered against China in 1962 and the military modernization was still underway. On 8th September 1965, Pakistan army launched its first arm of offensive in the Khem Karan area of Punjab with over 220 Patton tanks ready to turn everything in that came their way to dust. Lt. General Harbaksh Singh was commanding the Indian battalion that was to face this massive attack. The Pakistani offensive outnumbered the Indian defensive by the number of soldiers and tanks. It was up to Lt. Singh to either withdraw or defend his position. Instead of withdrawing, he rearranged his forces in a U-shaped formation around the town of Asal Uttar. The idea was to assault as many tanks as possible from all three sides.
© indiadefencereview
Thinking that Indian troops had withdrawn, the Pakistani tanks got lured into the U-shaped area. The Indian army had already flooded the sugarcane fields with water that led the thick armored Pakistani Patton tanks to sink and get stuck into the mushy soil. The entire Pakistani cavalry of 200 plus tanks was now immobilized. At this time, the soldiers and tanks of Indian army commenced a massive fire assault. The tall sugarcane grass allowed the Indian forces in the U-formation to remain hidden but yet, stay very close to the Paki tanks. The result was that out of 220 Patton tanks, 170 were destroyed or abandoned and 11 captured. Only 32 Indian tanks were damaged. The sight of the destroyed tanks was such that the town was named Patton Nagar aka The Graveyard of Pattons. The story of Lt. Singh’s brilliant strategy is still told at military schools all over the world. This battle went down in history as the largest tank battle after World War 2.
Beijing, April 5
China today dismissed as “groundless” allegations that eight of its ruling Communist Party officials, including President Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law Deng Jiagui, used off-shore tax heavens while the official media here alleged that “powerful” western forces were behind the ‘Panama Papers’.“For such groundless allegations I have no comments to make,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told mediapersons. He declined to answer another question about whether China, which embarked on new tax reforms, will investigate the offshore accounts. “As for the Panama papers, I have no comment,” Hong said. — PTI
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Pathankot, April 3
The Pathankot civil hospital authorities can heave a sigh of relief as the Punjab Police will now have to dispose of the bodies of the four militants currently lying in the hospital mortuary.For the past more than two months, the cadavers had become a problem for the hospital forcing civil surgeon Dr Ajay Bagga to send an SOS to his seniors asking for instructions on how to dispose them of.The civil surgeon had even floated an option to shift them to the mortuary of any one of the three state-owed medical colleges in the state — Patiala, Amritsar or Faridkot.Confabulations were still going on when the Pakistan government decided to dispatch a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to the Pathankot Airbase to have first hand information of the January 2 attack.Following this development, the NIA asked the civil surgeon not to shift the corpses because the JIT “may decide to have a look at them during their March 29 visit to the city.”However, the JIT, during its trip, refused to take cognisance of the bodies and even decided against visiting the hospital.This, officials say, means that the Punjab Police will have to dispose of the bodies.Sources say the bodies will be taken out from the mortuary in the night. “This is what happened to the Dinanagar terrorist bodies. Gurdaspur SSP Gurpreet Singh Toor was instructed by his Chandigarh-based seniors to keep the shifting a secret affair following which the SSP refused to share any information with the media. The final destination where the burial took place also remains a secret,” said an officer.Days after the shifting took place, security remained deployed at the mortuary and this acted as a subterfuge.Although Pathankot SSP RK Kaushal denied that there was any move to dispose of the bodies, senior officers disclosed that the burial might take any time now.“We were just waiting for the JIT to have a look. Now that is over, we will initiate the procedure as soon as the NIA asks us,” he said.The civil surgeon had many a time said he was facing space constraints. “We have space for just four bodies in the mortuary. In this case we have kept five. One of the bodies has been placed in a refrigerator in the mortuary. We have to keep the interests of the common people in mind who want to keep their dead in the mortuary,” averred a doctor.
