The sniffer dog has in the past too saved a whole team of CoBRA commandos from a similar bomb attack by sniffing out explosives

Photo for representation.

Ranchi, July 13

Drone, a CRPF sniffer dog, died on Tuesday in an improvised explosive blast triggered by Maoists at Marwa forests in Jharkhand’s Gumla district while his handler Vishwajeet Kumbkar was injured, a top police official said.

Drone, however, did not die in vain, as the blast he triggered while searching for explosives saved the lives of the crack CoBRA commandos with whom he was serving.

The sniffer dog has in the past too saved a whole team of CoBRA commandos of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) from a similar bomb attack by sniffing out explosives, Jharkhand police spokesperson and Inspector General of Police, Operations AV Homkar said the injured jawan, Vishwajeet Kumbkar, was airlifted from the spot and admitted to Ranchi’s Medica hospital.https://18f2e09b2c78bbe25cff9e94b19a0a07.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

“In an unfortunate incident, a sniffer dog belonging to 203 CoBRA, CRPF was martyred in an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast triggered by Maoists during an operation in Gumla district,” a statement from the police headquarters said.

Aged 6 years and 9 months, Drone, a male Belgian Shepherd dog of the Malinois variety, was serving with 203 CoBRA since December 27, 2015, the statement said.

“He had participated in 83 operations in almost all parts of Jharkhand state. One of his great achievements was on April 7, 2016 in Parasnath area where he found four containers of 40 kgs explosive each. That also contained detonators, cortex, mobile phone, walkie talky, GPS which helped in avoiding any mishap and saved valuable lives,” it said.

He was part of an operation in Gumla, where with his bravery and sacrifice he saved a whole team of CoBRA commandos from a powerful IED blast around 0730 am but was himself martyred in the process, the CRPF statement said.

“His selfless sacrifice will never be forgotten and will always be remembered as an act of valour. Shaheed Drone was cremated with a guard of honour and as per laid down procedure of the force,” the police said.

Earlier the headquarters had said that extremists had laid vast traps of IEDs in the entire area and a few villagers had died while grazing cattle in similar IED blasts laid by extremists in the forests.

In May this year, security forces had neutralised an extremist in an encounter in the same forest and recovered a stolen police pistol, .303 rifle, 63 live cartridges and 24 can-bombs. PTI

OIC activism on Kashmir, Pakistan’s agenda of internationalizing the Kashmir issue, Gulf Arab monarchies support Pakistan, The OIC had continued its activism on Kashmir despite New Delhi’s objections
Pakistan’s agenda of internationalizing the Kashmir issue is nothing new. Islamabad has since 1948 made Kashmir a central plank in its foreign policy especially in relations with the Arab and Islamic countries. It has used both bilateral and multilateral forums to raise the issue including at the United Nations (UN) and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Traditionally, Pakistan had received support from the Gulf Arab monarchies including Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Islamic countries such as Iran and Turkey.
The OIC has especially been one of the major international platforms for Pakistan to carry out its anti-India tirade since the first Islamic Summit held in Rabat in 1969 which formed the basis for the organization. Pakistan has used the OIC platform to internationalize the Kashmir issue, rather unsuccessfully. In 1994, on Pakistan’s initiative, the OIC formed a Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Niger, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as its members. The Contact Group has ever since taken upon itself to champion the Pakistani position on the Kashmir issue disregarding the Indian position altogether.
The OIC had continued its activism on Kashmir despite New Delhi’s objections underlining that the group has no locus standi on the issue as it is internal matter and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The change in the dynamics of bilateral relations with important members of the organization, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran, over the years had not proved moderated the OIC’s position due to Pakistani influence. Although Saudi Arabia and UAE have gradually moderated their position on the issue given Indian sensitivities and the growing strategic ties.
India has, however, made some progress in improving ties with the OIC reflected in the invitation to India to attend the plenary session of the 46th OIC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Abu Dhabi in February 2019 as a “guest of honour. “Pakistan had made some noise on invitation to India but both Saudi Arabia and UAE who have in recent years emerged as India’s most important regional partners in the Gulf had refused to heed to the Pakistani objections.
After the August 2019 Indian decision to abrogate the Articles 370 and 35A revoking the special status of J&K, Pakistan has renewed attempts to internationalize the Kashmir issue. It has been raising the Kashmir issue at multiple levels including trying to convene a OIC meeting to condemn the Indian decision. Although Islamabad has not received much support from most OIC members, Turkey has clutched on the issue echoing the Pakistani stand at different multiple forums including the UN General Assembly painting India as an “occupation force” and calling for international intervention to resolve the Kashmir issue.
At the OIC too Pakistan has received overwhelming support from Turkey on the issue. The reason for Ankara’s hyper activism on the issues is related to Turkey harbouring the desire to displace Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Islamic world. While Pakistani obsession with Kashmir is old, Turkish objective is to embarrass Saudi Arabia which had refused to publicly raise the issue either bilaterally or at multilateral forums including the OIC.
In fact, the Saudi position on Indian decision has caused tensions between Riyadh and Islamabad. In August 2020, the Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had lashed out at the Kingdom’s leadership for not convening a OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting to discuss Kashmir. This had resulted in Riyadh recalling its financial loan of US$ 1 billion from Pakistan forcing it to take a loan from China.
Pakistani frustration with Saudi Arabia and UAE not allowing the OIC forum for unnecessary anti-India activism in the wake of the Indian decision to alter the status of J&K was palpable in the ensuing tensions between the traditional allies, and Erdogan, true to his foreign policy character, was trying to fish in the troubled waters.
In December 2019, for example, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had taken the lead to convene a parallel Islamic summit in Malaysia. Pakistan which had initially expressed enthusiasm at the prospect was forced to withdraw at the last minute under Saudi pressure.
Nonetheless, in the changing regional and global geopolitical circumstances, Saudi Arabia has undertaken steps to reset ties with Pakistan. Islamabad wants to mend relations with the Kingdom given the economic and political cost of the strained relations. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia remains concerned with attempts by Turkey and to some extent Iran to bring Pakistan under their spheres of influence. Therefore, Riyadh has responded positively to recent Pakistani overtures notable from Imran Khan’s May 2021 visit to the Kingdom.
The latest OIC statement on Kashmir is therefore part of the ongoing churn for leadership within the Islamic world. The OIC statement came after a meeting between its Secretary General Yousef Al-Othaimeen and Indian ambassador to Riyadh Ausaf Sayeed, which the Ministry of External Affairs later clarified came after on the request made by the OIC secretariat located in Jeddah. New Delhi expectedly rejected the OIC request for sending a delegation to Kashmir reiterating its stand that Kashmir is an integral part and an internal matter of India.
The OIC’s statement nonetheless is a reminder of the need to remain alert to the regional and geopolitical developments and not take the softening of its stance in the past for granted. The OIC is a political organization and geopolitical developments can affect its stand on issues relevant for India. The ups and downs in Pakistan’s relations with the important Islamic countries notwithstanding, Pakistan remains a part of the OIC and an irritant to India.
The OIC’s fresh attempt to reinvigorate its relevance on J&K has rightly been rejected by India, but it is a warning to avoid complacency. At the same time, it offers newer opportunities for India to engage the group through important members and underline the folly of the Pakistani position on Kashmir and the way Islamabad has sponsored militancy, radicalization and terrorism in South Asia which poses security threats not only for India but for the whole South and West Asia region.

Receives anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I from Boeing

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 13

The Indian Navy has received the 10th anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I from US-based aerospace company Boeing, according to a statement issued on Tuesday.

India had ordered 12 such planes and is now the largest operator of the fleet besides the US. The Indian Navy was the first international customer for the P-8 and today operates the largest non-US fleet, the Boeing said in statement.

The patrol aircraft is an integral part of the Indian Navy’s fleet and has surpassed 30,000 flight hours since it was inducted in 2013.

Initially, India ordered eight planes and four additional aircraft were ordered by the Ministry of Defence in 2016.

“This is the second aircraft to be delivered under the option contract for four additional aircraft,” the statement said.

“In addition to unmatched maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities, the P-8I has been deployed to assist during disaster relief and humanitarian missions,” it added.

Chinese display banners near the LAC in Demchok
The Chinese, comprising Army personnel and civilians, came in five vehicles and raised banners near the village community centre
Chinese soldiers and some civilians appeared on the other side of the Sindu river in the Demchuk region of Ladakh and displayed banners and Chinese flag in protest when Indian villagers were celebrating the birthday of the Dalai Lama. The incident occurred on July 6.
The Chinese, comprising Army personnel and civilians, came in five vehicles and raised banners near the village community centre where the Dalai Lama’s birthday was being celebrated.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the Dalai Lama on the occasion of his 86th birthday. This is the first time Narendra Modi has publicly confirmed speaking with the Dalai Lama since he took over as prime minister in 2014.
In a tweet on Tuesday morning, PM Modi said, “Spoke on phone to His Holiness the @DalaiLama to convey greetings on his 86th birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life.”
President of the Tibetan government-in-Exile Penpa Tsering told India Today TV last week that the Dalai Lama was expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Covid-19 situation stabilises.
PM Modi’s tweet shows a significant shift in India’s Tibet policy vi’s-a-vi’s China and a strong message to Beijing. The Indian government had not wished China on the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.
India and China have been in a military stand-off since April-May last year and are yet to find solutions to de-escalate tensions at the friction points, including the Hot Springs-Gogra heights.

India wants complete disengagement and de-escalation along 823 km of the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

More than three months after senior military commanders of India and China met to defuse posturing along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), dates for a fresh round of talks are being firmed up while the agenda for the talks has been exchanged.

Respective stance

• China doesn’t want to bring up the issue of Depsang buildup at the forthcoming dialogue
• India wants complete disengagement and de-escalation along 823 km of the LAC in eastern Ladakh

At present, the two sides are not unanimous on the dates, but the matter is expected to be sorted soon, sources say. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has posted a new commander on its side. The Indian side would be led by Lt Gen PGK Menon, Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps.

Both sides aim to complete the unfinished agenda of disengagement and de-escalation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. Since June last year, both sides have conducted 11 rounds of talks at the Lieutenant General-level, the last being on April 9 this year.

The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs met on June 25. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) coordinates this meeting on the Indian side. It was discussed to hold talks on “disengagement and de-escalation” of troops, weapons and equipment from Gogra and Hot Springs.

Sources said as an immediate measure, achieving a breakthrough at these two spots was possible.

For most Indians China is an adversary, a source of cheap products or the home of chow mien. China has risen on the foundations of its human capabilities and Indians ought to have a better appreciation of that
by Sanjaya Baru
This is a historic month for China. The Communist Party of China (CPC) came into being 100 years ago, in July 1921. Communist China entered the international mainstream a half century ago, in July 1971, when the United States decided to come to terms with the reality of its existence. China’s spectacular rise over the past quarter century, as a global trading superpower, the “factory of the world”, and as Asia’s most powerful nation, ready to challenge America’s global dominance, is the stuff of legend.
Yet, even as China celebrates these landmark events, large parts of the world have become increasingly concerned about its assertion of newly acquired hard power — economic and military. In looking back at China’s rise a large part of the public discourse in India has been dominated by commentators on foreign policy, security and defence. Regrettably, very little has appeared in print on the social, cultural and human dimensions of China’s transformation and rise.
In his recently published pithy narration of the events at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in the summer of 1989 (Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest, A Diplomat Looks Back), former foreign secretary and a former Indian ambassador to China Vijay Gokhale observes in passing: “Indians can no longer afford to have a superficial understanding of events involving their largest neighbour and to-be-hegemon, other than at their own peril”.
Mr Gokhale is spot on. Yet so much about what appears in print in India about China is about foreign affairs and the economy, written mostly by Westerners or Indians living in the West, and so little from Indians with a first-hand knowledge and experience of life and people in China. For most Indians China is an adversary, a source of cheap products or the home of chow mien.
At one level this is not surprising. The fact is that the interaction between the neighbours has been limited through most history. More important, people-to-people interaction between the two republics over the past three quarters of a century has been even more limited. Little wonder then that even today we depend so much on retired diplomats to educate us about contemporary China. Only a couple of bright Indian journalists and a handful of scholars have been able to bridge the public awareness gap between the two.
This worryingly low level of social and cultural interaction between China and India has dipped further thanks to renewed tensions between the two and the post-Galwan and post-Covid freeze in bilateral interactions. The China-India relationship has moved from the honeymoon days of “Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai”, and the post-Cold War phase of increased economic and business interaction – “India-China buy-buy”, as someone put it — to the current “Cold War” phase of “India-China bye-bye”. This is not a satisfactory state of affairs.
Whatever the differences between the two countries, and there are many, there ought to be both a better understanding of each other within both societies and increased people-to-people interaction. For over a century Indians fought Western imperialism and colonialism and yet not only acquired an intimate knowledge of Western culture, science, literature, music and so on, but also benefitted from such knowledge.
India’s attitude towards China today should not be very different from the view that Mahatma Gandhi famously expressed of the kind of relationship that he sought with Britain and its people in the midst of the national movement for Independence. When asked by a Briton in that period “How far would you cut India off from the Empire?”, Gandhiji replied: “From the Empire, completely; from the British nation, not at all, if I want India to gain and not to grieve. The British Empire must go and I should love to be an equal partner with Britain, sharing her joys and sorrows. But it must be a partnership on equal terms.”
Even as India rejects China’s hegemonic ambitions, as it did the hegemony of the West, and disapproves of its authoritarian political system, Indians must acquire a better understanding and appreciation of Chinese society, culture and its knowledge-creating institutions. China is not merely an authoritarian, militarised Communist regime, which it is, but it is also a highly creative and productive knowledge-based society and economy. China has risen on the foundations of its human capabilities. Indians ought to have a better appreciation of that. The Xi Jinping regime is itself to blame for the acute focus in Indian public discourse on China’s negative attributes. However, it is in India’s interest to balance that with a better understanding of life in China. The Chinese too should realise that Indians are a proud people with their own memory of their civilizational inheritance and can be nobody’s cat’s paw.
The history of Indian nationalism is in many ways greater than the history of Chinese nationalism. Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress did not fight for India’s liberation alone. They fought for the liberation of all colonised people and against imperialism and colonialism in all its manifestations. Whatever strategic and foreign policy compromises India might make in the short run cannot be a deviation from its “tryst with destiny”.
In July 1971, when then US national security adviser Henry Kissinger met Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing and proposed a US-China condominium against the Soviet Union, China did not give up its civilizational inheritance of being an independent-minded nation. It walked a path that gave it the strategic space for its own rise. India too seeks that space for its own development. Over the past 50 years the people-to-people contact between the United States and China has been intense and extensive. It has created the foundation for a durable relationship even when the two seek today greater strategic space for themselves.
It is in the interests of both China and India that there is similar engagement between their people, even as the two states jostle with each other for strategic space within Asia and the world. People-to-people relationships must stand on their own footing and not always be subject to state-to-state relations.

For his daring act of bravery in leading the charge despite being gravely wounded, Capt Umaid Singh Mahra was awarded Ashok Chakra in 1972

Lt Gen Raj Kadyan (Retd)

Our battalion 19 Rajputana Rifles moved to Nagaland in late 1970. Insurgency was active. We occupied a string of posts. As Adjutant, I was located at the battalion headquarters in Jessami. Our 2IC having been wounded and evacuated, I was also doing that job, being next in seniority. By a strange coincidence, on the day of the operation, the Commanding Officer too was away on short leave and I was officiating CO.

On July 5, 1971, Capt Umaid Singh Mahra called me on radio from his Kizare post in the Sema area. While attending Sunday church service the previous evening, Capt Mahra had noticed an unfamiliar face and had brought him to the post. During overnight interrogation, the man had confessed that he was an active underground (UG) soldier posted to a self-styled brigade HQ. He was then ‘persuaded’ into leading us to the camp.

The indicated camp location fell in the area of our neighbouring battalion. It was rare to get such a vital lead. Any sharing of this information outside the strict need-to-know loop could jeopardise success. I, therefore, did not inform our brigade headquarters or the battalion concerned (my elder brother was their 2IC). Any risk of a friendly patrol clash was worth taking.

I asked Mahra to move immediately. The indicated location was nearly 14 hours of walking distance from Kizare. It also culminated into climbing a steep hill. The plan was to raid at dawn so that any escapees could be easily apprehended in daylight; this was the standard Army tactic.

A rivulet had to be crossed before starting the climb. Because of monsoon, it was in spate. The party kept moving upstream to find a shallow crossable site. This caused delay.

Having reached the top, the party of Company less a platoon, moved along the thickly wooded crest, taking all precautions against a possible ambush. The guide had his hands tied at the back and was secured with a rope. It was nearly 6:30 am and the party was still moving. Luckily, because of rain and thick fog, visibility was limited to a few metres, creating near-darkness conditions. Since it was well past the planned raiding time, there was palpable disenchantment among the men, who were out practically every third night searching for the elusive UGs.

At one point, the guide became visibly restive and sat down. It was clear the camp was close by. On being prodded, he vaguely waived a hand towards one of the slopes. Capt Mahra, with a small party of four, started descending in the indicated direction for confirmatory reconnaissance. It was very steep and they had to literally sit on their rumps and glide down. The undergrowth was waist high.

Suddenly, they came upon the well camouflaged camp barely 15 feet away, hidden in a depression. The sentry spotted the raiding party, raised an alarm and opened fire. Capt Mahra was hit in the abdomen. Undaunted, and despite being wounded, he charged into the camp firing from his hip and exhorting his party. He shot the sentry through the head, killing him instantly. Some UGs were injured and fled down into the thick jungle, leaving a blood trail. They were rounded up subsequently.

The actual shootout lasted barely a few seconds, with the UGs running away confusedly. A total of 13 weapons, including a light machine gun, a large quantity of ammunition and important documents were captured.

The brigade headquarters was now informed and I asked for air evacuation of Capt Mahra. Poor visibility precluded helicopter flying. He had to be brought down on an improvised stretcher slowly along a trackless precipitous slope. Unfortunately, before he could reach the waiting ambulance on the road, Capt Mahra succumbed to his injury at 2:30 pm; his liver had been ruptured.

The GOC flew in the next morning to congratulate the battalion. He termed the success of the raid and the haul unprecedented.

The timing of the raid, the actual number involved at the point of contact, non-deployment of the usual support and cut-off groups, etc, made the raid totally unconventional. The UGs, who were well aware of our modus operandi, were taken totally by surprise.

For his daring act of bravery in leading the charge despite being gravely wounded, Capt Umaid Singh Mahra was deservedly awarded the Ashok Chakra. His young widow received it from the President on the Republic Day, 1972.

This was the first Ashok Chakra in our regiment, the Rajputana Rifles.

Sources in the security establishment said that “the Chinese have been creating permanent structures, including those required for defences and habitation of the troops”
NEW DELHI: The apprehensions of a long haul along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh have started manifesting on the ground as the Chinese forces have been creating permanent structures in areas wherever the Peoples’ Liberation Army troops are deployed. This comes after the Indian Air Force Chief confirmed that the Chinese are improving their air infrastructure.
Sources in the security establishment said that “the Chinese have been creating permanent structures, including those required for defences and habitation of the troops”. In view of the Chinese move, India has also been building permanent defences and structures for habitation but these will take some time, added the source.
Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria had said in the first week of July that China had strengthened its infrastructure and improved the efficiency of its air operations. Since May 2020, the PLA has moved its soldiers along the LAC at several points, forcing the Indian army to counter the Chinese move with its own deployments. Although there has been disengagement of troops and equipment from the north and south banks of Pangong Tso since then, the standoff continuing in areas like Hot Spring, Gogra Post and Depsang.
Defence Analyst Maj-Gen SB Asthana (Retd) calls it a furtherance of the Chinese ‘incremental encroachment strategy’. “China, in the overall design under incremental encroachment strategy, is trying to enforce the infra development and its claim along its perception of LAC and in that context, is trying to settle down villages and make permanent structures so that over a period, its claim gets strengthened.”
“We should also improve our infrastructure along our perception of LAC and also make permanent structures and settle down villages so that the Chinese don’t succeed in their game plan,” he suggested as a counter move. India has ramped up road-building along the LAC and has also mobilised the troops with more than 50,000 personnel stationed in eastern Ladakh to thwart any move by the PLA men.

India-China Standoff: Sources, quoted by news agency ANI, have said that China is trying to create a new special forces unit similar to India’s SFF that will have several Tibetans
New Delhi: After failing to cope with the soldiers of the Indian Army in the extreme weather condition of eastern Ladakh, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China is now training its Tibetan troops for special operations in high altitude areas of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Sources, quoted by news agency ANI, have said that China is trying to create a new special forces unit similar to India’s Special Frontier Force (SFF) that will have several Tibetans, who have specialisation in mountain warfare.
The sources said that China’s PLA recently also held an exercise for its Tibetan troops after going through a number of ‘loyalty tests’ including learning the mainland Chinese language and following their practices.
“The Tibetan troops of the Chinese Army are being trained for special operations and recently held drills in their rear areas,” ANI quoted the sources as saying.
India and China were engaged in standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh after the deadly Galwan Valley clash that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel-rank officer.
Though the two sides have withdrawn troops from several friction points, they are yet to find solutions for de-escalating the tensions at several areas including the Hot Springs-Gogra heights.
The two sides, however, have held multiple rounds of talks at both military and diplomatic levels but without much yield except for the limited mutual withdrawal of men by both sides on both northern and southern banks of the Pangong Tso.
Last month, Army Chief General MM Naravane had said that there can be no de-escalation without complete disengagement at all friction points in eastern Ladakh and that the Indian Army is prepared for all contingencies in the region.
He had also said that India is dealing with China in a “firm” and “non-escalatory” manner to ensure the sanctity of its claims in eastern Ladakh and that it was even open to initiating confidence-building measures.