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Army’s Poona Horse turns 200

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New Delhi, July 17The Poona Horse, a tank regiment of the Army, which took part in the 1948 Hyderabad operation and 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars, has turned 200, an Army official said today.Within six months of its raising on July 15, 1817, at Sirur, near Poona, the regiment proved its mettle at the Battle of Coregaum and was awarded the first battle honour.“As part of British Indian Army for 130 years, the regiment fought in 13 countries. Displaying raw and fearless courage and raising its flag at each juncture, the regiment has been conferred with 34 battle honours,” Lt. Gen. Ajai Singh (retd), who has served the regiment, said. — PTI

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NCOs during 1965 war, Hony Capts Nahar Singh, Ajaib Singh Malhi and Malkiat Singh Grewal, flanked by Hodson’s Horse soldiers in ceremonial dress at USI, …

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INS Sahyadri affiliated to Indian Army’s Poona Horse


A CAREER SPENT IN COUNTER­INSURGENCY OPERATIONS

In his long service in counter­insurgency operations, Brigadier Sanjive Kumar Singh always led his troops from the front and by example. He was the pivotal liaison with Kuka Parray, the top Ikhwani and his group of turned terrorists.

THE BATTLE OF HAIFA, IN A SENSE, WAS THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL TEST OF INDIAN MILITARY LEADERSHIP AT THE MICRO LEVEL IN MODERN TIMES

Brigadier Sanjive Kumar Singh, a third-generation infantryman and a popular figure in Chandigarh, looks back with satisfaction at a career of 36 years with extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONSMysore and Bengal Lancers with Bikanir Camel Corps in the Sinai Desert, 1915.As a young Captain, he carried out reconnaissance across the LoC (Line of Control) in Siachen, monitoring Pakistani troop movements in 1984.

Serving with the Assam Rifles in Imphal, he established an effective intelligence network which led to successful operations against NSCN (Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland) insurgents and PLA (People’s Liberation Amry of Manipur) separatists.

Commanding a company of 16th Rajputana Rifles in Kupwara in the 90s, he worked with Jallaluddin Chaudhary, a top surrendered militant whose information he developed to carry out successful operations.

This was the time when Captain Sanjay Chauhan of his battalion carried out a daring operation, disguised as a Pakistani terrorist in the Rajwar forests, killing ten terrorists before his four-man team was overwhelmed.

Posted on the staff with HQ 5 Sector, Rashtriya Rifles, Sanjive synchronised terrorist surrenders.

He was the pivotal liaison with Kuka Parray, the top Ikhwani and his group of turned terrorists.

This was the crucial time when strenuous efforts resulted in the restoration of uniformity which led to the holding of assembly elections in 1996 — a singular achievement of the security forces.

Commanding his battalion in the Mahadev Gap and in Naushera-Pir Badesar, Sanjive used unconventional methods to lay ambushes on the LoC leading to an appreciable fall in infiltration.

As many as 35 terrorists were killed with the recovery of a huge amount of weapons and ammunition.

Finally, as deputy commander of Victor Force in South Kashmir, the handsome Brigadier used his long experience of counter-insurgency to coordinate area dominance in his formation’s zone and the incidentfree organisation of two Amarnath Yatras.

I feel privileged to have been his friend for over 40 years.

LAST HURRAH OF THE OLD INDIAN HORSED CAVALRY

There was considerable excitement in the media when the Prime Minister visited the Haifa War Cemetery in Israel giving our people an education they lacked.

Haifa, a Turkish rear guard position was captured by two regiments of the States Forces — Jodhpur Lancers and Mysore Lancers (now part of 61st Cavalry).

The main lesson that emerged from World War I was the redundancy of horsed cavalry as an arm of decision because of advances in warfare.

Haifa, a fortified town was taken by a full-fledged old-style cavalry charge by the Jodhpur Lancers followed by their Mysore comrades.

In a sense, it was the last great hurrah of the old Indian horsed cavalry.

Another unique distinction that these regiments shared has eluded the media and historians.

They were led to victory by Indian officers at a time when the first Indian commissioned officers were barely making an entry into the British Indian Army.

It would take another quarter of a century before the first Indian took command of a unit.

TALK ON THE BATTLE OF TIGER HILL

Brigadier MPS Bajwa who commanded the formation that captured Tiger Hill, will talk about the Battle of Tiger Hill during the 1999 Kargil War on July 19, Wednesday, at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development, Sector 19A at 10.30am.

This is part of the Centre for Indian Military History’s War Experiences Talks.


Wake up, it is already too late on China front

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

The Indian establishment has been lax in its response to the emerging challenges in Kashmir, resulting in China flexing its interventionist muscles as a big brother to resolve the issue between India and Pakistan. This is a marked change from its earlier stand that this was a bilateral issue between Delhi and Islamabad.Delhi has a reason to take Beijing’s interventionist instincts seriously, not only that China is a bigger country with almost a superpower status but also because of its known hostilities towards India — Doklam standoff being the latest — and its friendly ties with chronic India-obsessed Pakistan. China has drawn closer to Kashmir as it has virtually colonised Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and poses a serious threat to India’s strategic Siachen glacier which Pakistan has been eyeing for decades now.China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuan on Wednesday summed up intentions of his country in 90 words vis-à-vis Kashmir in response to a question that centered on the Organisation of Islamic Conference’s condemnation of the “tense situation in the Indian administered Kashmir.” His words: “China hopes relevant parties to do more to help with regional peace and stability and refrain from escalating the tension. China stands ready to play a constructive role to improve the relations between Pakistan and India,” were an obliging statement to Islamabad’s unending calls to the international community to intervene in resolving the Kashmir issue.Pakistan would definitely be emboldened by this and Kashmiri separatists have already started dreaming of their wish being fulfilled by Beijing. Prominent separatist Shabir Shah has advised India to take “China’s words seriously” implying that Delhi should prepare itself for international intervention on the Kashmir issue, while other separatists Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have elevated the status of China as one of the “stakeholders in Kashmir”. This campaign had started in early 2000s and now it has reached a point where Beijing is suggesting openly its intervention, while it itself is guilty of intrusion from across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), especially in the Ladakh sector. It is in illegal occupation of 38,000 sq km of J&K territory.The Chinese foreign ministry’s assertive suggestion, almost sounding like a threat couched in diplomatic lexicon, has come after Chinese media hinted that the Chinese army would enter Kashmir at the “request of Pakistan.” The context should be viewed against the backdrop of intrusions and standoff along the LAC, China aggressively dictating the stoppage of development works in Ladakh as also forcibly chasing away Indian shepherds and their livestock from pastures on the Indian side of the LAC. The Indian foreign ministry has adopted a squeamish approach and never asked China to demarcate border in clear terms. This has its own pitfalls.As of now the situation is very serious because China is now openly supporting the idea of intervention, which is a nectar to the separatist sentiment in Kashmir. And, it needs to be admitted that rhetoric of “integral part” is unable to hide the grim situation in the Valley, where every symbol of India is under attack.


India, US, Japan begin Malabar naval drill

India, US, Japan begin Malabar naval drill
File photo of the US Ship Nimitz. Reuters

Chennai, July 10

The Indian, US and Japanese navies on Monday began the Malabar Naval Exercise-2017 aimed at achieving deeper military ties between the three nations.

Taking part in the trilateral naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal would be US Ship Nimitz (CVN68), guided missile cruise USS Princeton (CG59), guided missile destroyers USS Howard (DDG83), USS Shoup (DDG86) and USS Kidd (DDG100), a Poseidon P-8A aircraft as well as a Los Angeles fast-attack submarine.

Besides, Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force ships JS Izumo (DDH 183), JS Sazanami (DD1 13) along with Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa and INS Vikramaditya would participate in the joint Naval exercise, an official press release said.

The 21st edition of the exercise, conducted ashore and at sea, would include professional exchanges on carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare.

Medical operations, damage control, explosive ordinance disposal, helicopter operations and anti-submarine warfare would also take place.

The at-sea exercise includes events such as submarine familiarisation, air defence exercises, medical evacuation drills, surface ware fare exercises, communication exercise and search and rescue operations.

Indian, Japanese and US maritime forces have an understanding and knowledge of shared working environment at sea. As members of Indo-Asia Pacific operations, the three maritime forces would look forward to continuing to strengthen the bonds and personal relationships, a press release said.

The Malabar exercise is taking place amid the military standoff between armies of the India and China in the Sikkim section and Beijing ramping up its naval presence in the South China Sea. PTI


TA jawan, wife killed in Poonch as Pak shell lands at their house

TA jawan, wife killed in Poonch as Pak shell lands at their house
There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violation in June. — Tribune file photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 8

A Territorial Army jawan who was on leave and his wife died and a few others were injured on Saturday as Pakistan Army violated ceasefire in Poonch sector.A shell landed on the house of jawan Muhammad Showkat, killing the couple.The Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector from 0630 hours, a defence spokesman said.

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

The Indian troops retaliated effectively, he said.The Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing targeting civilian villages as well, a police officer said.“Very heavy shelling is going on. So far two civilians have died in Pakistani shelling at Khadi Karmara village along the LoC,” he said, adding that some other people suffered injuries. With PTI


Military standoff, civil distance China fires another salvo, high-level group to sort out

Military standoff, civil distance

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 5

China today again asked India to pull back troops from Doklam in the Sikkim sector to “avoid worsening of the situation” as it accused New Delhi of “trampling on” the Panchsheel pact by “illegally entering” its territory.It was weighing options on a travel alert for citizens visiting India, China added, charging India with “misleading” the public by saying that the Chinese had built a road near the Siliguri corridor.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Amid the military standoff, on-ground postures of the forces are, for now, “non-aggressive” as a high-level dedicated group set up in 2012 is mandated to discuss such flare-ups.  The military standoff is being conducted from a “civil distance” even as both sides have dug in heels at a spot on the Doklam plateau (10,000 feet) at the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China. Both sides have pitched in tents and maintain a line for supplies, indicating readiness for a long haul. The area is disputed between Bhutan and China. India is there to help a friend.In January 2012, the two countries established a “Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs”. It has representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs as also the Ministry of Defence of either side.Its mandate under Article VI of the agreement says: “The working mechanism will address issues and situations that may arise in the border areas that affect the maintenance of peace and tranquility and will work actively towards maintaining the friendly atmosphere between the two countries.”It is tasked with meeting at fixed intervals and “emergency consultations” can be convened mutually.In the past, similar standoffs have been resolved through diplomacy. The two countries do not have a demarcated border and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the de facto boundary all along the 3,488-km frontier.The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement inked in 2013 says: “If the forces come face to face… both sides shall exercise maximum self-restraint, refrain from provocative action, not use force or threaten to use force, and prevent exchange of fire.”

With agency inputs

 

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Telephonic encounter with Hizb chief, via Chandigarh

RAMESH VINAYAK I WORKED THE PHONE LINES FOR TWO DAYS IN VAIN. ON THE THIRD DAY, THE CALL GOT THROUGH. MY PRODDING FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH SALAHUDDIN WAS MET WITH A SLEW OF QUESTIONS ABOUT MY ANTECEDENTS. I WAS TOLD TO CALL AGAIN NEXT DAY.

One of the thrills of journalism is to experience twists and turns of history and being up, close and personal with the makers or breakers of such events.

The Trump administration’s surprise but hugely symbolic tagging of Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist unlocked memories of a telephonic encounter I had with this longest-surviving top gun of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

For reporters on the Kashmir beat – as I was with India Today in the 1990s – there was, and still is, never a dearth of adrenaline rush.

But the August of 2000 was packed with more than its share of suspense, hope and despair. Post-Kargil, terror had acquired a new and deadlier edge of “fidayeen” (suicide) attacks. Gloom was the dominant mood across the Kashmir Valley.

On July 24 came the dramatic announcement of a ceasefire by a local Hizb commander, Majid Dar, who also offered talks. For New Delhi, it was an unexpected window of opportunity to end the Kashmir logjam.

A series of behind-the-scenes fast-paced parleys set the stage for the first – and the last since – direct contact between the dominant and deadly indigenous militant outfit and the Centre. The violence-weary Kashmiris sensed a tantalising augury of a new autumn.

But the optimism was shortlived. Hours after the icebreaker, Salahuddin called off the ceasefire, demanding Pakistan be included in the talks. The high-stake initiative lay in ruins, while militant depredations were back, with a vengeance.

THE TURNING POINT

For once, Salahuddin was the man of the moment. The shadowy figure with a flat cap and a cascading jet-black dyed beard seemed like the lynchpin of the Kashmir gambit. Indeed, he was a strategic asset for his permanent but ever-in-denial host across the border.

During my numerous reporting forays in Kashmir – it was like a second home since the first outing in 1993 – I heard fascinating stories, some apocryphal but most real, of how the cataclysmic circumstances had morphed ordinary mortals into fearsome figures. In the pantheons of home-grown militants, Salahuddin stood out for his sheer longevity and larger-than-life image.

The tale of his tryst with the gun was no less intriguing. A small-time preacher from a village near Srinagar airport, he was born Yusuf Shah. He was a polling agent for the Muslim United Front, a conglomerate of Kashmiri outfits known for disputing Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India, in the 1987 assembly election that was marred by rigging by the pro-India National Conference (NC).

When Shah protested, a senior NC candidate slapped him publicly. The slap, as the story goes, was the turning point. He crossed over to Pakistan, floated Hizb and cast himself as its commander in a new avatar as Syed Salahuddin.

THE CONVERSATION

The collapse of peace talks only whetted my curiosity about the Hizb commander. But how does one reach a man safely ensconced with his masters in Pakistan? He had remained elusive for the Indian media. A glimmer of hope came during a chance meeting in Srinagar with a French woman journalist, who had a brief stint in Islamabad. She shared the satellite phone number of a Hizb spokesman, Hashmi.

Back in Chandigarh, I worked the phone lines for two days in vain. On the third day, the call got through. My prodding for an interview with Salahuddin was met with a slew of questions about my antecedents. I was told to call again the next day.

At the appointed hour, the call linked up with Hashmi, who handed over the phone to the man I desperately wanted to speak to on his next move on Kashmir. “As salam ale kum, Ramesh bhai. Main Salahuddin bol raha hoon (Greetings, I’m Salahuddin speaking),” said the gruff voice.

For the next 20 minutes, he answered a string of questions. “Our gun struggle is a quest for peace,” he said.

I had got what a journalist always craves for – an exclusive. But, before it appeared in the weekly magazine I worked for, there was an unintended consequence of cross-border phone calls. Now, it was the turn of intelligence sleuths to knock on my door to cross-check my antecedents.

THE FACES OF TERROR


Chinese troops transgress Sikkim sector, jostle with Indian forces, destroy Indian bunkers

In another transgression, Chinese troops entered India in the Sikkim sector and jostled with Indian army personnel guarding the Sino-India frontier, besides destroying two bunkers.

The face-off has been going on in Doka La general area in Sikkim for the past ten days and the Chinese troops have also stopped the batch of pilgrims that was proceeding for Kailash Mansovar yatra, official sources said today.

The Indian troops had to struggle hard to stop the Chinese personnel from advancing further into Indian territory. They formed a human wall along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to stop the PLA personnel, some of whom also videographed and clicked pictures of the incident.

The bunkers have been destroyed in Lalten area of the Doka La area. A flag meeting was also held between senior army officers of both the sides on June 20, but the tension still continues.

It is not the first time that such a transgression has happened at the Doka La, a place at the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction.


HEADLINES “”23 JUN 2017

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OPEN LINK TO KNOW GST AND IGST ACTS .

SHAMEFUL BEHAVIOR OF ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES : RUCKUS IN PB ASEMBLY :PROVOKED BY SAD

VIEWS OF COL CJS KHERA UPLOADED

3 LASHKAR MILITANTS GUNNED DOWN, ARMY OFFICER INJURED IN PULWAMA PROTESTER KILLED IN CLASHES FOLLOWING THE ENCOUNTER IN SOUTH KASHMIR

INDO-PAK MATTERS HAVE TO BE RESOLVED BILATERALLY: MEA ON UN CHIEF’S SUGGESTION

FIGHTING A FLAWED ARMY PROMOTION POLICY BY LT GEN OP KAUSHIK (RETD)

 

2 SOLDIERS DIE IN PAK BAT ATTACK

WIFE’S EFFORTS YIELD RESULT AS J&K COP IS HOME FROM PAK JAIL

NGT ALLOWS 100 MORE VEHICLES TO ROHTANG

CENTRE TO LOOK INTO ‘LACK’ OF BULLETPROOF VEHICLES

ARMY TO DEPLOY 2 MORE BATTALIONS IN SOUTH KASHMIR

MILITANT KILLED AS ARMY FOILS INFILTRATION BID AT LOC

PAK CLAIMS JADHAV HAS FILED MERCY PETITION, RELEASES ‘CONFESSIONAL VIDEO’

CHINA SAYS NO CHANGE IN STAND ON MASOOD

KILLING OF JAWANS AT SUKMA NOT RIGHTS VIOLATION: CRPF

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Centre to look into ‘lack’ of bulletproof vehicles

New Delhi, June 21The Union Home Ministry will look into reports of an insufficient number of bulletproof vehicles available for police officers in Jammu and Kashmir.The reports had said that police officer Feroz Ahmed Dar, who was killed in a terror attack last week, had requested for such a vehicle several times.Dar, the 32-year-old Station House Officer of Achabal, and five other policemen were killed on June 16 in a gruesome ambush in Anantnag district by Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists. The militants also tried to disfigure the faces of the six policemen before walking away with their weapons.Official sources said today the Centre was finding out whether J&K police officers were getting adequate bulletproof vehicles. They said the responsibility of purchasing bulletproof vehicles rested with the state government concerned. The Centre reimbursed such expenditure under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme. — PTI