Air Vice Marshal Sarvjit Hothi (retd)

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 30

As there are reports of India set to deploy the recently bought Rafale combat jets for warfare in the next year or so, a retired Air Vice Marshal from Jalandhar today shared his 1971 wartime experiences as part of the 10-member pilot crew selected in the then considered elite light fighter aircraft Gnat.Air Vice Marshal Sarvjit Hothi (retd) was inducted in the Indian Air Force (IAF) in December 1969. He recounts, “We were still training at Jamnagar and increasing our flying hours to be fully operational when the war came. I was among the select pilots who got picked up for flying Gnats. We were inducted in the 2 Squadron that was then based at Ambala. Amritsar was our forward base, just 25 km from the border.”Discussing Gnats, he said these had a very special feature. “Like the way there have been orders of being operation-ready now wherein two pilots have to be seated in aircraft in their overhauls and properly strapped, we too were then expected of being airborne in five minutes. In Gnats, we could take off in two minutes as there were no ladders required and we could jump in straight. A bigger advantage was that their engine got started in less than 40 seconds compared to 2-minute time taken in an MiG 21. This gave us a big advantage because aircraft from the Pakistan side came flying low and could not even be detected by radars. They used to be quite close when we got orders to start off from here,” he said about the thrilling experience as a new flying officer.“Since there was no night vision in the Gnat compared to much sophisticated jets now, only blind bombing could be possible.” He drew another comparison, “IAF had MiG 21s and Sukhoi 7s then too,” he recalled.Having taken 14 missions during the war, Hothi has enough points to spice up the conversation. “Believe me, one day when I had just taken off, I saw a Mirage just pass by on the gunside. My commander gave orders to me to shoot him off. But since my speed was just 180 mph, which was far too less and there was another Gnat following me, I could neither turn back nor was capable of overtaking it. By the time I was in attack mode, I was already over Lahore. Some split-second decisions with much precision were then required. Had I been able to attack the Mirage, I would have come as a hero, as so far no Mirage had ever been bombed,” he claimed.He also recounted his conversations with PVC awardee Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Sekhon. “A simple man, we used to call him ‘brother’. There were some nerve-chilling times too, but we overcame these, saying it to ourselves that even if we die, it will be others and not ourselves who would be crying,” said the IAF officer as he adds up another story, “Since we did not go on mission everyday, I once sat on a bike in an overhaul and came down to my home in Jalandhar. With war raging, there were roadside chhabeels. As people saw me in the IAF uniform, they saluted me and even took out cameras to take a photograph with me.”Hothi, who has VM and VSM to his credit, has had various postings in striking airforce bases at Halwara and Adampur. “I was commanding three squadrons at Halwara when the Kargil war came. As many as 30 per cent bombings were done by MiG 23 and 27 pilots there.”He adds on, “I have also been flying to Siachen for a year and have a Siachen medal too that I proudly hang in my room.”The first batch alumnus from Sainik School Kapurthala also remembers his number 052. “I was in the first batch of 200 students and have very fond memories of the school. I go there for functions often,” he said.Hothi said unlike other officers, he flew sorties even around the time of his retirement. “I never wanted the feeling of old age creep in me. Besides, this helped in enthusing motivation in the Squadron pilots.”After getting relieved in October 2007, he joined the Air India as a pilot as their retirement age was increased to 65. “At 58, I undertook training in Mumbai and sat in the class of pilots aged between 20 and 22. I competed with them in Monday tests for 10 months. Having no knowledge of computers, I was made to sit before simulators which had the most sophisticated computers. But it all was a new challenge wherein I had to defy age bar,” he laughed.“Another experience came when Air India bought new Boeing 737 aircraft which we were to fly to Singapore, Dubai or Japan. It was during a flight to Dubai that I saw a memorable view of a lit-up LoC, which was not the scene during the days we flew fighter jets during our IAF tenure,” he summed up.

A file photo of security forces chasing away protesters during a clash in Srinagar. —PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Sept 9

The restive south Kashmir will see an additional deployment of the Army. This comes in view of the government’s worry as street protests in south Kashmir–Kulgam, Pulwama, Anantnag and  Shopian–have been vociferous.A decision to this affect has been taken and the Army has been told to tie-up its last minute deployment patterns. The Army will not be tasked with mob control, but with tracking down armed terrorists who have been fanning trouble.

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The government is seeing this as a major challenge to restore law and order that has broken down completely in the absence of any presence of the Jammu and Kashmir Police or the paramilitary forces, in the rural hinterland.Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag is in Kashmir today to review the security situation, especially in the backdrop of rather long-winded street protests in the Valley. The protests had gone out of hand since terror-outfit Hizbul Mujahideen’s self-styled commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces. More than 70 people lost their lives in various protests.General Suhag was briefed this morning at Srinagar and he was told about the new military methods planned to curb Pak-sponsored infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.Gen Suhag will also visit the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan during his visit to the Kashmir Valley. General Suhag will visit the Army establishment at Kupwara located along the 749-km long LoC.General Suhag shall also visit Awantipora during his day-long visit to review the security situation in the Valley.

Army jawans patrol near the Line of Control. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Dinesh Manhotra & Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Jammu/Srinagar, Sept 30

The Army is on high alert along the Line of Control (LoC) amid apprehension that Pakistan may retaliate in the wake of surgical strikes or choose to push more infiltrators into Kashmir.Similarly, the Border Security Force (BSF) is on high alert on the international border. Additional forces had been deployed on the border after the Uri terror attack on September 18.The Army has already strengthened its positions along the LoC to deal with any eventuality. “Soldiers on the LoC are vigilant and prepared to handle any eventuality,” said an Army officer.“After the surgical strikes on terror launch pads, preparations are in place and every unit and sub-unit along the LoC is maintaining high vigil,” he said.“Pakistan is hit and wounded and it will retaliate. It may send more terrorists to Kashmir to carry out another Uri-like attack as it is a low-cost option,” he added.With such apprehensions in mind, the Army had deployed men along the LoC to pluck possible infiltration routes through surveillance, patrolling and ambushes.Another Army officer said personnel were on high alert across Kashmir. The artillery had been put in ready condition at strategic locations to effectively respond to Pakistan if it fired artillery shells.“Pakistan can play any mischief and we are ready to handle it,” the officer said. Every measure was in place along the LoC, he added.The Army was in touch with the local population in border areas to ensure good liaison at a time when tension between India and Pakistan was high.Residents of border areas had been asked to take precautions, especially during night hours. The Army was keeping a vigil on all activities across the LoC.

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has issued a contempt notice to the secretary, revenue and rehabilitation, Punjab, on a petition filed by a 1971 war widow alleging allotment of “useless land” to her across the fence on the international border with Pakistan instead of a cultivable land.

The high court bench of justice Rakesh Kumar Jain has sought a reply by October 21 on the petition moved by Jasbir Kaur, wife of Major Kanwaljit Singh, a Delhi resident.

The petition says Kanwaljit was taken into custody by the Pakistan army during 1971 war but was later declared martyred and was awarded Shaurya Chakra.

he high court had in 2015 directed Punjab to allot 10 acres of cultivable land to the petitioner, as per policy of the Punjab government, or in the alternative, to make her payment for the price of the land. The court was told that the revenue department allotted her 10 acres of “useless land”, which could not be cultivated, as it situated across the fence, beyond the BSF check-post, at zero point on the International border between India and Pakistan in Amritsar.

“There is no source of irrigation. Moreover, the authorities don’t permit installation of tubewell. There are many restrictions in approaching the land even during the day. Even a temporary hut for labourers cannot be permitted,” the petitioner had submitted adding that state’s act was in violation of court orders.

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 28

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s keenness to turn India’s land boundary with Pakistan watertight to block any future infiltration bid, NITI Aayog is working on a blueprint to give border policing a “technological edge” consisting of laser precision weapons and fencing.The Aayog, which has been asked to prepare a long-term Vision document for 15 years replacing the five-year plan, has assigned the task of working out a complete chapter on “internal and external” security to its member VK Sarswat, who, in turn, sources said, has been working on “future options” in the light of heightened hostilities between India and Pakistan post the Uri terror attack.Sources also confirmed that NITI Aayog is looking at weapons, which have abilities to launch “no-contact counter offensives”. Such weapons will be based on latest technologies like laser, which is high among the options. Saraswat, who was earlier secretary in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is working on identifying laser-based disruptive technologies.Listing out advantages of laser technology for military applications, sources in the NITI Aayog, who are in the know of the development, said such weapons have high precision and rapid on-target. These weapons also have scalable effect, which make sure avoidance of collateral damage caused by fragmenting ammunition, low logistics overhead and minimum costs per firing, they added.Laser weapon systems operate on the basic principle that laser beams are impossible to avoid or detect. They can target both enemy personnel and enemy communications and installations. The US army and navy are most advanced in laser weapons or directed energy weapons research.Experts in NITI Aayog, however, admit that currently a few challenges confront the scientific community in developing such systems, which could be mobile, rugged, cost-effective and functional under a variety of weather conditions. But still they feel, “once developed and put to use” particularly along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, will prove to be a game changer.

Security personnel stand guard next to a barricade outside the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab on January 2, 2016. — Reuters

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 29

India will “confront” Pakistan with new evidence it has received from the US pointing to its “involvement” in the Pathankot terrorist strike, sources in the National Investigation Agency said on Monday.

Sources claimed the NIA was compiling a detailed report based on information it received from the US on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request that it sent.

The information received three months ago has provided new evidence of Pakistan’s “involvement” in the attack, the sources said.

NIA will send a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The report will then be sent to Pakistan, sources said.

The development comes within months of NIA Chief Sharad Kumar’s reported statement that the agency had no evidence to point to Pakistan establishment’s involvement in the attack.

The statement, reportedly made in an interview in June, quickly escalated into a controversy between the two rival neighbours, even as the agency claimed Kumar had been “misquoted”.

Some gunmen attacked the airbase in a pre-dawn strike on January 2.  Four gunmen of the Jaish-e-Mohammed — a militant organisation based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir — and seven security personnel were killed in the standoff that followed.

A five-member Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT), comprising Additional Inspector General of Police (IGP), a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), two Lt Colonels and one inspector, from Pakistan had visited India in March to collect, review and document physical evidences and to interview key witnesses and victims through the NIA in connection with the Pathankot attack.

India has been demanding that Pakistan should allow a team to visit the country for investigations.

Pakistan has denied its involvement in the attack.

The relationship between the two nations has cooled in the past few months over an ongoing unrest in Kashmir. — (With inputs from agencies)

ixteen years after the proposal for a replacement fighter jet was first mooted by the Indian Air Force (IAF), and 17 months after Prime Minister Narendra Modiannounced acquisition of 36 fighter jets in Paris, India inked the approximately Rs 59,000-crore Rafale deal with France on Friday.

The inter-government agreement, signed between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean-
Yves Le Drian, specifies that the first aircraft will be inducted into the IAF within 36 months, and the full complement will be in service within 67 months.

“Rafale is a potent aircraft for deep strike capabilities. It can move at high altitudes and has potential weapons with the most modern technology. It will add to the capability of the IAF,” Parrikar said.

The induction of these 36 fighters — 28 single-seaters and eight twin-seaters — is expected to bridge the shortfall in the depleting number of fighter squadrons in the IAF.

The IAF currently has 32 fighter squadrons against an authorisation of 42, and this number is expected to come down to 25 by 2022. These 36 aircraft, however, make for only two squadrons. As reported by The Indian Express on September 18, the clinching factor for buying the two squadrons is their use for delivery of nuclear weapons after the French-built Mirage-2000s retire from service.

Top defence sources said the French fighters, equipped with Meteor air-to-air and Mica air-to-land missiles, will be delivered in flyaway condition by Dassault. Moreover, offsets of half the value of the deal will be executed by France in India within seven years. Although Dassault is yet to submit the full details of its Indian offset partners, 74 per cent of the offsets are mandated to be exported from India. Another 6 per cent of the offsets are for technological sharing, which is currently being negotiated by the DRDO.

“We expect export worth Euro 3 billion to happen from India due to offsets as part of the deal. This will take a couple of years to start but it will create jobs and opportunities in India,” sources said.

Although the base version of Rafale remains the same as the one being used by the French Air Force, the Indian version of the fighter jet will have 14 India-specific enhancements. Sources said these include the helmet mounted display, Doppler beam radar, IR search and track, and towed decoy. It is because of these enhancements that the delivery time of the first aircraft cannot be less than 36 months.

In addition, the French are also guaranteeing performance-based logistics support, which means that 75 per cent of the fleet will be airworthy at any given time. According to sources, the airworthiness of the Russian Sukhoi Su-30, the mainstay of the IAF, has reached 55 per cent with great difficulty from 46 per cent two years ago.

As reported by The Indian Express on Wednesday, the deal provides for free training of 10 IAF personnel, including three pilots, estimated to be worth Euro 100 million. The IAF will also get a guarantee for an additional 60 hours for the trainer version of Rafale fighters, and a concession to keep the weapons storage in France for an additional six months without any charge. The French have also agreed to supply spares for a period of seven years at initial cost.

After Prime Minister Modi made the announcement on purchase of 36 Rafale fighters in Paris in April last year, the French had made an offer of Euro 11.8 billion. By January this year, when French President Francois Hollande was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations, the French offer had come down to Euro 8.6 billion. The negotiations, however, could not be concluded between the two sides then. In May, the two sides agreed to a price of Euro 7.878 billion, and the deal was formally cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security in August.

As per the agreement, 15 per cent of the total amount will be paid as advance, 25 per cent in 12-18 months, and the rest on schedule as per delivery, with 5 per cent of the amount being retained till the deal is completed. On questions about the high price of the French fighter, sources said the base price of a single-seat fighter is only Euro 91.07 billion, while for a two-seater it is Euro 94 billion.

“By negotiating the inflation at actual indices, but limited to 3.5 per cent, in comparison to 4 per cent or more in earlier deals, we will save Rs 4,000-14,000 crore over the deal. In addition, the annual maintenance for spares and performance-based logistics is 20-25 per cent of the cost. Besides the initial five years, an additional two years of performance-based logistics is included in the deal,” sources said.

Many experts have compared it with the benchmarked price in the original Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal. But Defence Ministry sources said the two prices cannot be compared.

“The price of 18 Rafale flyaway aircraft was different from the 108 which were to be made by HAL in India. Dassault had used a factor of 2.7 for labour cost in India over France, which had raised questions about it being the lowest bidder itself. It also meant that each aircraft would cost Rs 68 crore more due to manpower costs itself. The then defence minister, A K Antony, had noted on the file that he will take a decision after price has been negotiated. That never happened and we don’t even know what their final price would have been,” sources explained.

Shaurya Karanbir Gurung

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

The National Investigation Agency with the help of security forces have found that that the current unrest in Kashmir as well as several other incidents in the last few months can be connected to suspicious transfers to bank accounts of local residents. The NIA explained that these incidents were believed to be fuelled by money placed and siphoned off from bank accounts of Kashmiris in the region. “The NIA’s intelligence wing has found that before and after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s killing, there are six to seven instances where money was distributed just to fuel the unrest. In some cases, the money was transferred just a few days before a stone-throwing incident took place,” said a top NIA officer.Sources in the security forces based in Kashmir have also confirmed that there is an inflow of money which can be linked to the rising agitations. From July 9, a day after Wani’s killing by the security forces, to date in Kashmir there have been 439 non-violent protests and 463 stone-throwing incidents. There are 81 locations where properties of the state and security forces have been destroyed in arson or damaged. “All these incidents cannot take place without money. Money has been pumped into the state to fuel such unrest,” said an official.In relation to the current scenario, the NIA said so far Rs 35 crore had been pumped into at least 25 bank accounts of two banks, including Jammu and Kashmir Bank.“Out of this, a few lakhs have been distributed to fuel incidents of stone-throwing and other such activities of unrest, as per our analysis,” said an NIA officer.These accounts belong to small trading firms and certain individuals whose income as per their professions doesn’t warrant such transactions. For example, two people under the NIA’s scrutiny are a carpenter based in Kupwara and a “small time” businessman of south Kashmir.An NIA team in Kashmir is ascertaining whether the money is linked to militants based in Kashmir or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. “The possible sources of the funds could be narco terrorism or hawala transactions,” said another NIA officer, adding that individuals under the agency’s scrutiny are being questioned to find out about the procurement of the funds and their disbursal. Another NIA officer explained that the flow of funds in J&K to fuel unrest has been happening since 2009. “From 2009 until Wani’s death, crores of rupees have been pumped into the state to fuel agitations,” said the officer.

Pak involved in funding, Hizb in disbursal

• Discoveries of funds being distributed to fuel “secessionist” and terrorist activities in J&K has come to light in the NIA’s investigation of two particular cases. One of them was registered in September 2011, wherein from 2008 to January 2011, J&K-based Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists had allegedly disbursed Rs 4.57 crore, received from Pakistan through hawala channels in Delhi, to separatist leaders, Hizb cadre and other terrorist organisations for unlawful activities in J&K.
• In the second case related to the Hizb frontal organisation, Jammu Kashmir Affecters Relief Trust (JKART), registered in October, 2011, the NIA said the Hizbul Mujahideen is allegedly involved in funding about Rs 80 crore from Pakistan for terrorist activities in J&K and Delhi from 2005 to 2012. The case’s main accused, Shafi Shah, had allegedly spent Rs 10.46 crore, received from Pakistan, on Hizb militants and their families, for marriages of locals.

Under scanner

• The 25 bank accounts under the NIA scrutiny belong to small trading firms and certain individuals whose income as per their professions doesn’t warrant such transactions.
• An NIA team in Kashmir is ascertaining whether the money is linked to militants based in Kashmir or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The possible sources of the funds could be narco terrorism or hawala transactions.
• Individuals under the agency’s scrutiny are being questioned to find out about the procurement of the funds and their disbursal.
• The flow of funds in J&K to fuel unrest has been happening since 2009. From 2009 until Wani’s death, crores of rupees have been pumped into the state to fuel agitations and stone-throwing

Pakistan wants peace with India. I have gone the extra mile to achieve this… Burhan Wani, the young leader murdered by Indian forces, has emerged as the symbol of the latest Kashmiri intifada… PAK PM NAWAZ SHARIF, addressing the UN general assembly on Wednesday

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar dismissed on Wednesday a nuclear threat from Pakistan, describing the neighbour’s provocative statements after the Uri strike as a case of “empty vessels make more noise”.

His statement came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his top ministers and military commanders to weigh an effective response to the deadly weekend terrorist attack at the north Kashmir army base that killed 18 soldiers.

“The stronger man doesn’ t make too many arguments,” Parrikar said, responding to a question on Pakistan’s nuclear saber-rattling amid calls for a swift retaliation.

“How to punish, that is for us to work out. We are serious about it.”

It wasn’t immediately known what the Modi-headed cabinet committee on security decided, but he has been under pressure to keep his election promise two years ago to deal firmly with attacks on India from Pakistan. The army has said it will retaliate at a time and place of its choosing.

Something obviously went wrong in Uri, Parrikar said, stressing the government will take steps to prevent such attacks from happening again. He said he believed in the “principle of zero error” and India needed to ensure “wrongs” are not repeated.

What next? Parrikar said he preferred to “execute things” rather than talk. “India is a responsible power but that doesn’t mean I will sleep over this kind of terrorism that is being pushed from across the border,” he said.

Politicians and army veterans have called for a muscular response, including air strikes on training camps in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir.

Despite growing clamour for punishing Pakistan, India is unlikely to act rashly and its moves will be well-calculated, senior military officers said.

Parrikar said: “If required I can have a knee-jerk reaction. Sometimes knee-jerk reaction is required.” He was quick to add he was talking in general terms and not specifically about the Uri attack.

There are expectations that the NDA government will respond strongly, given that its top leaders consistently accused the previous UPA regime of being soft on terrorism. Former army chief General (retd) Bikram Singh believes the political and strategic climate has changed and the government has clearly spelt out a more robust policy on Pakistan.

“The cautious and too idealistic approach of the past has been replaced by more realistic policy,” Singh said. “Pakistan will be paid back in its own coin and spoken to only in the language it understands.”