Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 1

India and Pakistan today exchanged lists of prisoners in each other’s jails, keeping with standard protocol.

Pakistan handed over a list of 537 Indian prisoners (54 civil and 483 fishermen) in its jails, while India handed over lists of 249 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 98 fishermen in its custody.

This is consistent with the provisions of the Consular Access Agreement between Pakistan and India, signed on May 21, 2008, under which both countries are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each other’s custody twice a year, on January 1 and July 1, respectively.

“The government has called for early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners, missing Indian defence personnel and fishermen, along with their boats. In this context, Pakistan was asked to expedite the release and repatriation of 17 Indian civilian prisoners and 369 fishermen whose nationality has been confirmed,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in a formal statement seeking early consular access to remaining Indian prisoners.

India informed Pakistan that 80 of its prisoners who have completed their sentences await repatriation since their nationality is yet to be confirmed by Islamabad.

“To take forward the understanding reached to address humanitarian issues, especially with respect to elderly, women and mentally unsound prisoners, India has already shared details of the reconstituted joint judicial committee and that of the Indian medical experts to visit Pakistan to meet mentally unsound prisoners and asked to expedite their visit,” added the Indian statement.

Info on nuclear installations

In accordance with Article-II of the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between Pakistan and India, signed on December 31, 1988, India and Pakistan also exchanged lists of nuclear installations and facilities with their respective missions. The practice of annually exchanging these lists started on January 1, 1992

India needs a defence board with a mix of military and civilian officials

Gen VP Malik (Retd)
former Chief of the Army staff

Major Navdeep Singh (Retd)
Advocate, Punjab & Haryana High Court

THE decision-making process of the defence establishment with its myriad complexities has always remained a vexed issue. It has been a cause of alienation for people in uniform with court cases, delays in acquisitions and procurements, lack of integration and jointness.

The Rules for Allocation and Transaction of Business, 1961, have no role or powers ascribed to the defence forces. The Defence Secretary is responsible for “Defence of India” and ancillary facets during war with the armed forces and the three Service Headquarters subordinately designated as “Attached Offices of the Department of Defence”.

The professional heads of the three services neither have been accorded a status nor granted any powers in the edifice of the Government.

The obvious reason is that for many years after independence, there was deep-rooted suspicion, fuelled by happenings in the neighbourhood, as to whether the military in India would continue to remain in barracks or would take to adventurism. Although the defence services have remained staunchly loyal to the Constitution, certain vested interests have not allowed obliteration of that suspicion. As a result, the military has been kept in a box, not allowed to participate in policy or decision-making. 

Our political establishment, hence, despite the vastly changed strategic environment and the imperative need to consult defence chiefs directly, has been deprived of this facilitation. Some Defence Ministers like Jaswant Singh and Pranab Mukherjee, and PMs like Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, met the service chiefs more often than others but an institutionalised system and decision-making processes were never resolved.

Over a period of time, cosmetic changes such as limited financial powers and minimally altered file movement system were made. Some nomenclatures changed but within the Ministry, the old terminology and processes continue. Despite ruling party manifesto calling for “greater participation of Armed Forces in the decision-making process”, not much has happened.

While the inherent suspicion towards the military waned with time, the pretext of ‘checks and balances’ gained momentum for keeping the defence services out of actual decision-making. But whether a counter-balance as at present, wherein decisions of the Chiefs of Staff Committee are allowed to be commented upon by junior non-specialist civilians should continue, or whether a collegiate system be instituted can be taken subject to the approval of the political executive.

The system currently followed, besides causing suspicion and distrust, often results in delays and sometimes imbalanced decisions. While the decisions of the military should not be allowed to prevail without question, the conclusions should be based upon collation of proper views of all stakeholders on an equal footing before they are put up to the political authority for sanction.

It is also a matter of concern that in some spheres where powers have been delegated, the system is being rendered infructuous with too much leeway being displayed by military authorities. To take an example, powers to determine disability benefits of officers have been conferred upon military authorities and appellate committees. However, such proposals, though in consonance with procedure, are abandoned by senior military authorities based upon objections by junior finance officers.

One solution is instituting a format such as the “Defence Board”. Within that, a judicious mix of senior military and civil officers could debate proposals and then reach a consensus which can then be put up for approval of the Minister. The Defence Board is not an alien concept among democracies. The UK has a Chief of Defence Staff for its strategic and operational needs as a single point military consultant. It also follows a Board system chaired by the Defence Minister with members from civil and defence services and also non-executive board members.

Closer home, the Railway Board is headed by the Railways Minister and comprises a healthy mix of members from different cadres and technical streams.

India has a large strength of defence services involved not only in external defence but also in internal security and aid to civil authorities. In these days of rapid socio-political changes, we cannot have a system where affected parties or end-users are not consulted adequately, or where decisions are taken based on faulty inputs by non-experts through one-way file notes. The correct system would require a face-to-face real time collegiate discussion before decisions are made. “Defence of India” involves not just the military but almost all other institutions; even the citizenry.

The Constitution requires the military to work under political, not bureaucratic control. As in all democracies, it has an important role to play. Being treated as a redundant appendage militates against the basic grain of a democracy and also hampers execution of its modern day role.

The political class should find a juste milieu ensuring an equal voice for all stakeholders with the ultimate decision-making power vested with the political executive as laid down in our Constitution.

My wife is particularly fond of the ‘intellectual’ game called tambola. I presume, the affinity started during the routine weekly tambola at our Army club, which we patronised rather religiously. It was an effective way to unwind after a hectic fauji routine, and we looked forward to it  —‘memsaab’ to tickle her grey cells, and ‘saab’ to get an opportunity to indulge at the bar without getting the trademark dirty looks.

The affinity turned to addiction after the better half won a snowball (a bonanza win of accumulated money over a time — a rare achievement). In 1985, the princely sum of Rs 400 was a fourth of my take-home monthly salary. That day and today, tambola evenings are permanently reserved, notwithstanding the fact that the investment in the game has been roughly a hundred times more than the earnings. A fit case of disproportionate liabilities, one would say. Well, that much for the background.

The kids have grown up and insist to carry on with their own weekend errands and plans. That leaves us twosome and a driver who looks forward to an odd drink, unwatched, at the club, while the boss plays tambola. The party, however, turned sour when I was signalled to stop and test at the alcometer on our drive back from the club. I was politely informed by the Sub-Inspector that the alcohol content was abnormally high in my blood and that I was putting everybody’s life in jeopardy. I tried putting up a brave front of normalcy, blaming the vintage of the alcometer. But the cop assured me that the machine was a month old and a state of the art one. I was handed over a slip and the local police, in its characteristic courtesy, dropped us home in government transport!

A driving school instructor was hired post haste to impart a crash course in driving to my Himachali wife, who did not even ride a bicycle before marrying a tank man! Normally laidback, she was rather serious this time around. The driving test was passed with flying colours. Addiction can make you perform wonders, I realised that day.

Friday evenings continue to bring cheer to my better half and thoughtful apprehensions to me. The routine is undisrupted — the intellectual exercise remains patronised, with my novice wife behind the wheels and her stressed husband in the passenger seat, but a lot more sombre and sane, wondering what is safer — an intoxicated but experienced veteran, or a dedicated and committed wife! I think the latter. I am sure all you gentlemen agree!

Raj Kadyan

I stood on top of the bowling run; the fifth ball of the over. Many thoughts came crowding in rapid flashback. The wife was berating me: ‘What good are you? You could not earn in 40 years what these youngsters earn in 40 seconds? And they are the adulated heroes of the country.’ I countered that we had our own real heroes. She retorted sarcastically: ‘You will again talk of Piru Singh, Abdul Hameed, Sekhon and others who won the highest gallantry medals. And Ashok Chakra Umed Mahra of your own battalion, who died fighting insurgents.’

During her pause for breath, I underscored the point that these were the people who ensured that we as a country lived in peace and safety. Her retort was swift: ‘And who knows them in the country? Remember how our six-year-old granddaughter cried when she saw her favourite cricketer arrested on TV?’

I knew I was on feeble footing but I did not give up. ‘When she grows up, she will learn.’ She went on: ‘Go to any school or college, name your war heroes and see the blank faces.’

I was fumbling for words when she asked: ‘Didn’t you read about the son of Albert Ekka, the 1971 Param Vir Chakra awardee, pulling a rickshaw to eke out a living?’ And then driving the final nail of irony she asked: ‘And who brought even this to light; a journalist from Bangladesh?’

I had lost my speech.

Transferring the ball to my right, I bent forward in a stretch motion to signal that I was honouring the agreement. Wiping my brow from left to right was my way of telling the batsman that I would be balling to the right. He repositioned himself accordingly, exposing the stumps; though in rival teams we had rehearsed all this minutely. The fielding captain moved a player away from where he could have taken a catch in case the ball lofted. All this while the umpire had held up his extended arm signalling me to wait and thus allow time for bets to be placed. His packet, like everyone else’s, would be delivered before the next sunset. The whole thing was working like a well-oiled machine. I felt a kind of thrilling triumph that we could fool millions who watched. Though there was always that small lurking apprehension, if not fear, that the authorities may come calling; curse the modern technology in tracking every blessed thing.

I started on my 16-step run. I could picture every eye glued to my action. Thick wads of greenbacks fleetingly flashed before my eyes.

When halfway I heard the dreaded knock. My heart stopped as I froze in midair, almost levitating. A shake came next. ‘Wake up,’ the wife said. As I opened my eyes I hazily saw the maid standing with the tea tray. ‘Are you ok?’ the wife asked with genuine concern. After all, it is not healthy for a septuagenarian to wake up drenched in sweat.

In 2000, armyman Gurcharan Singh came close to becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. The leaders of sport in the Army decided that it was time to do something — Mission Olympics was launched in 2001. Three years later, Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore climbed the podium at Athens, having won a silver in shooting.

Rohit Mahajan
Sports editor

A little woman, who usually does her best work in a shiny leotard, her face dazzling with bright makeup, has become an inspiration to several personnel of the Indian Army.

The little woman is Dipa Karmakar, who missed an Olympics medal in gymnastics by a hair’s breadth, and the men she’s inspiring are gymnasts on the rolls of the Indian Army. Two weeks ago, at the Inter-Services Gymnastic Championship, a senior officer said: “Dipa’s excellent performance at the Olympics has given a great confidence to budding players, which is a very positive thing for us.”

The soldier-sportsmen

From a professional point of view, the interest of the Indian Army has been most significant and natural in sports such as shooting, mountaineering and sailing, and the reasons are obvious. The Army operates its Marksmanship Unit in Mhow and High Altitude Warfare School, Gulmarg. Famous alumni from these institutions are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Kumar and Jitu Rai, and Narendra ‘Bull’ Kumar, who is credited with securing Siachen for India. The first Indians to climb Mount Everest were all armymen, and the first among them was Avtar Singh Cheema. As for sailing, the sport has been primarily propped up by the Indian Army, with sailors getting training at the Army Rowing Node in the College of Military Engineering, Pune.

The Army’s engagement with sport, however, goes much beyond warfare-oriented sports. From Dhyan Chand to Milkha Singh to Jinson Johnson and Neeraj Chopra, tens of sportspersons have a very strong bond that’s impossible to break — the one created by the Army. At this year’s Asian Games, 11 out of the 69 medals were won by men affiliated with the Indian Army, including gold by athlete Neeraj Chopra and boxer Amit Panghal.

Modern sports were introduced to India by the British, and the Indian Army in British India played a leading role in sport — the Army Sports Control Board (ASCB) was set up in March 1919, on the lines of the British body with the same name.

In 1945, the ASCB was merged with all sports organisations of the three Services, and the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) came into being. The SSCB focuses on 18 sports in inter-services events, which have contributed international medallists such as shooter Vijay Kumar, boxers Suranjoy Singh, Dingko Singh and Kaur Singh, race-walker Chand Ram, and hockey stars such as Manohar Topno, Ignace Tirkey and Sylvanus Dung Dung, among others.

The Pune-based Army Sports Institute trains national and international level archers, athletes, boxers, divers, fencers, weightlifters and wrestlers. Nine sportspersons who train there had qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, including three marathoners.

Also in Pune, several sportspersons train at the Army Institute of Physical Training (AIPT), which initially focussed only on athletics and boxing but now also includes sports such as basketball, volleyball and karate. A gymnastics node was established in 2004 there, and in recent times, as this sport became more popular in India (courtesy Dipa Karmakar), armymen in greater numbers are taking to gymnastics. The AIPT’s focus is also on training instructors who can then go on to impart training and coaching at various units of the Army.

Mission Olympics

Starting in 1984, India had come back empty-handed from three consecutive Olympic Games. At the next two Olympics, India won a bronze medal —Leander Paes in 1996, Karnam Malleswari in 2000. In 2000, an Army boxer, Gurcharan Singh, came close to becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal — some say he had won his quarterfinal bout, some said he lost in the final seconds of the fight.

The leaders of sport at the Indian Army decided that it was time to do something — programme Mission Olympics was launched in 2001, the idea, obviously, being to win medals at the Olympic Games. Three years later, an armyman, Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, climbed the podium at Athens, having won a silver medal in shooting. Eight years later, in London, Havildar Vijay Kumar emulated him, winning a silver in shooting.

The Indian Army’s athletes could not get a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, but it has long-term plans and hopes.

Felicitating the Army athletes who won medals at this year’s Asian Games, Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, said: “The Asian Games was just a trailer and you will get to watch the full movie during the Olympics. That’s our endeavour for Mission Olympics.”

That might seem very optimistic, but the Army is serious about nurturing and producing international medallists — it provides equipment, support staff, coaching, accommodation and proper diet to its athletes. In other words, everything is taken care of, and then there’s job security as well. Another factor, which the Army’s athletes swear by, is discipline.

Subedar Rajiv Arokia won two silver medals at the Asian Games. Coming from a modest background, he says he could not have imagined being able to afford each aspect of his life and training, if he were not in the Army. “If I was a civilian, I would have to worry for everything: food, water, stay. But not in the Army. For any problem, the army is there to solve it,” Rajiv Arokia said after his return from the Bangkok-Palembang Asian Games.

India’s brightest prospect for an Olympics medal in athletics, Neeraj Chopra, got a sense of self-reliance after joining the Army. “My father is a farmer, mother a housewife and I live in a joint family… For me, it is a sort of a relief because now I am able to help my family financially, besides continuing with my training,” Chopra said after joining the Army as a JCO last year.

Since then, he’s won two gold in multi-sport events this year, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. Chopra is likely to win unprecedented success for India in international sport, and even the Olympic Games — with a bit of help from Indian Army.

rohitmahajan@tribunemail.com

Pakistan in collaboration with China will manufacture eight submarines for its maritime force. “The production will start in one to one-and-a-half-year time,” said Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Project Director Commodore M Jahanzeb Ahsan at the IDEAS 2018, a four-day long event held at the Karachi Expo Centre.

“Half of the eight submarines of advanced version will be developed in China while the other half in Pakistan,” said Commodore Ahsan.

Pakistan and China developed understanding for the manufacturing of the submarines sometime in 2011, he said.

The top three countries with the highest number of submarines in the world are; North Korea with 86, China 73 and US 66, according to www.globalfirepower.com.

Pakistan has developed indigenous drone technology – BURRAQ Surveillance UAV – which was unveiled for exports at IDEAS 2018.

The drone was launched for export purposes after Pakistan’s armed forces successfully used it in different operations during the last three years.

“All the parts, including autopilot system, navigation and communication systems and camera, in the drone are developed indigenously, except for the engine which was not developed here due to the cost factor,” Global Industrial and Defence Solutions Pakistan Director Sales and Marketing Asad Kamal told.

Some Middle Eastern countries have shown interest to acquire the drone. “We are in talks for the potential export,” he said.