Kolkata, June 8

The Eastern Command today paid tributes to its former chief Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of taking over the responsibility of the Command as its GOC-C.

It stated in a message, “The #WarriorsoftheEast shall always remain indebted for the revered contributions by #Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora…” — TNS

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, June 8

Indian Army’s Kolkata-headquartered Eastern Command on Monday paid glowing tributes to its former chief Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Aurora’s taking over the responsibility of the Command as its GOC-in-C.

“The #WarriorsoftheEast shall always remain indebted for the revered contributions by #Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, PVSM and value his contributions to be ever etched down the memory lane,” the Eastern Command said in a message posted on multiple social media platforms.

Lieutenant General Aurora took over the reins of the Eastern Command on June 8, 1969 and remained in the post till February 10, 1973. During his tenure, he was instrumental in creating Bangladesh and secured surrender by a Pakistani General with over 90,000 troops.

The black and white photograph of Lt Gen AAK Niazi of Pakistan army signing the Instrument of Surrender under the gaze of Aurora on December 16, 1971 at Ramna Race Course in Dhaka encapsulates the most momentous occasion in the history of Indian Army.

In his book “The Lightning Campaign: The Indo-Pakistan War, 1971” Maj Gen DK Palit (retd) wrote that while drawing up his strategy, the Pakistani commander (Niazi) reckoned “without Eastern Army’s GOC-in-C Lt Gen J S Aurora”.

“No commander before him (Aurora) had ever attempted a war of movement such as this in a land where rivers run to five miles in width, where the going is all infantry – with no scope for fast moving

armoured thrusts, where the enemy was a formidably organised foe…,” wrote General Palit.

During the peak of the 1971 war Aurora commanded nearly half a million men, including the Mukti Bahini and the Army’s northern divisions facing Tibet.

“No Lieutenant General in military history has commanded so large an army and so heavy a strategic responsibility,” Palit added.

In an obituary published in British newspaper The Independent, Aurora was lauded for following “the novel strategy of ‘leaving the highways for the byways’, thereby obviating traditional battle engagements”.

“He formed small, highly mobile units that surrounded the Pakistanis, cutting them off from one another and from their extended supply lines,” wrote the London newspaper.

The ace Sikh soldier was born on February 13, 1916 in Kalle Gujjran in Jhelum district, now in Pakistan. He was commissioned into the 1st battalion of the 2nd Punjab Regiment in 1939, and served in all three Indo-Pak Wars fought till date.

Aurora had criticised the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for the Operation Blue Star. He also had a stint in the Rajya Sabha as an Akali Dal representative.

Aurora died on May 3, 2005 at the age of 89.

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 8

Nepal’s Parliament is slated to take up a Constitutional amendment resolution on Tuesday after the Nepali Congress came on board to give a two-thirds majority.

It has cited the India-China Army commanders’ meeting and the virtual summit between PM Narendra Modi and Scott Morrison to suggest a similar arrangement between the two Foreign Secretaries.

Sources said while the resolution should not be bandied as a threat, there are other mechanisms to discuss Nepal’s claim over territory that has an Indian military post along with 19 kms of an Indian-built road to China border.

They pointed out Nepal’s haste in taking the Constitutional amendment route, but felt the situation was retrievable. The ties could have taken a turn for the worse had Nepal approached the International Court of Justice or the UN which was the stage of a slanging match between India and Nepalese delegations over an “economic blockade” in 2015.

There were existing modalities such as the report of the Eminent Persons’ Group on resolving the outstanding issues which was convened by the Foreign Secretaries of both countries and has been pending official airing for two years.

Besides, there was also a pending proposal for a field survey to demarcate Kalapani for which a joint boundary committee was to be set up. “There are no dead-ends with Nepal. It is a question of how we handle it from here,’’ said a source.

The border dispute came to the fore last month when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh digitally inaugurated a link road to Mansarovar Yatra.

New Delhi: The Army headquarters has come up with a fresh set of rules to limit attendance in its offices and stop face-to-face meetings, even as the entire defence ministry headquarters building in South Block is being sanitised after after Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar tested positive for Covid-19 last week.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also been working from home for the past few days. While nearly 35 officials working at the ministry headquarters have been sent on home quarantine, sources in the ministry told ThePrint that Singh is likely to attend office from Monday.

The new rules drafted by the Indian Army headquarters include reduction in attendance and prohibition on face-to-face meetings to control the spread of the highly infectious viral disease. The new guidelines have come days after the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) told the three services that personnel should return to their units at the earliest from leaves.

The rules have come also after reports about increasing number of positive Covid cases in the Army.

The military headquarters and the government offices had reopened days before ‘Unlock 1.0’, or the phase-wise withdrawal of the two-month-long Covid-19 lockdown, began Monday, 1 June.

In the ministries, staff below the rank of deputy secretaries were asked to attend offices maintaining 50 per cent strength, while 100 per cent attendance was made compulsory for  officials above the rank of deputy secretary.

The number of Covid-19 positive cases in government buildings, however, has only gone up since then.

Also read: Chinese troops present in sizeable numbers at LAC, India has done what’s needed: Rajnath

Army’s new instructions 

The Army’s new Covid-19 instructions, which will come into effect from Monday, call for conduct of all meetings via phone calls or video conferences.

Branches such as Military Operations, Military Intelligence, Operational Logistics will function at 33 per cent attendance and for a minimum duration.

The Military Secretary branch, Staff Duties, Military Training and Financial Planning directorates, administration and coordination will function with only 15 per cent attendance.

In the Adjutant General’s branch, only the section dealing with coronavirus-related work will function, while the DGMS Army (the medical wing) will function with full strength to ensure adequate Covid-19 related responses.

Other directorates will work from home, except for emergencies.

The instructions also state that all other personnel, including officers and other ranks, who stay outside cantonments and government accommodations will work from home.

The command headquarters have been asked to put in place health measures according to the guidelines issued by various state governments.

Also read: From Shah to Goyal, ministers laud ‘Covid-19 hero Modi’ in media blitz on NDA anniversary

Army instructions issued after rising infections

India has been grappling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, with Sunday alone recording 9,971 new infections, taking the country’s tally to 2.46 lakh and 6,929 deaths. The military too has reported several positive cases.

Early last month, 24 people admitted to the Army Hospital (Research And Referral) at the Delhi Cantonment had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The Indian Navy’s INS Angre had reported Covid-19 cases among 26 sailors in April. And sources have now said that 12 more had tested positive since then. This week, 16 trainee sailors of the Indian Navy also tested positive in Gujarat.

Lt Gen. Anup Banerji, director general of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), had told ThePrint earlier this month that “the armed forces cannot be considered in isolation from the rest of the country” while dealing with Covid-19 cases.

Rising cases in Lutyens’ Delhi

With an increasing number of positive cases being reported from government buildings across central Delhi, the Department of Personnel and Training had, on 5 June, issued a memorandum for all ministries, asking for strict adherence to social distancing norms and other hygiene practices.

As many as 10 central government buildings were sealed in the last two months after staff and many senior ministry officials tested positive for Covid-19.

In the last one month, over 10 positive cases have been reported in government offices, most of which are located in central Delhi. Several positive cases were detected in the labour and employment ministry’s office at Shram Shakti Bhavan too.

Many officials in the finance ministry, located in North Block, as well as in Shastri Bhavan which houses several ministries have also tested positive for coronavirus. At Nirman Bhavan, which houses the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, at least half a dozen health ministry officials have been down with the virus.

Last week, a Niti Aayog official had tested positive for the virus, following which the building’s third floor was sealed. Earlier, two officials from the Ministry of External Affairs had tested positive for Covid-19.

There have been over two dozen Covid-19 positive cases across ministries in the last one month.

Also read: Indian Navy set to open up its ‘men-only’ police branch to women officers, seeks volunteers

Despite Covid-19, however, there has been an increased interest among defence officers from foreign countries to attend training courses in Indian military institutions.

New Delhi: Online lectures, in-squadron physical training and curtailing of several crucial events — these are some of the ways the Indian military has resorted to in a bid to minimise the impact of Covid-19 on the training of cadets and officers.

Training is an essential part in the officers’ career progression and is essential to keep them abreast with the changing trends in warfare.

While the cadets undergo training at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune and subsequently at the service academies, officers undergo joint training at different stages of their career at multiple institutions.

Top defence sources told ThePrint that Covid-19 poses a huge challenge that will require the entire training curriculum to be modified.

While the pre-commissioned training of cadets across the three defence services entails a focus on the physical training, as the officers grow in service, the emphasis largely shifts to the knowledge domain.

Majors, lieutenant colonels and officers of equivalent ranks in other services undergo training at the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington, but the officers of colonel and equivalent ranks are trained at the College of Defence Management (CDM) in Secunderabad and parallel service institutions.

Other tri-services officers at the same level also train at the Military Institute of Technology (MILIT), Pune, which conducts technical courses.

At the brigadier and service equivalent levels, the officers undergo another training course at the National Defence College (NDC) in Delhi.

ThePrint had earlier reported that the Army has drawn up a fresh plan to reorganise all its training courses, a number of which have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Also read: Ladakh standoff continues, India ‘prepared for long haul if needed’

In-squadron training of cadets in NDA

A top defence official told ThePrint that the NDA is conducting its academic courses mostly online, through intranet connections.

The official said lectures and even the exams have been taking place through the campus intranet at present.

However, for the physical training, the respective squadron parade grounds and battalion areas were being used as against the central PT grounds and drill square.

“The training schedule has been modified and some games and drill competitions have been put on hold, even as non-contact sports activities, such as horse riding, volleyball and hockey will be started in the next term,” the official said.

“Other trainings such as weapon handling and visits to the ranges for firing are being carried out in a staggered manner,” the official added.

In fact, this is why the passing out ceremony — a landmark event in a cadet’s life — was a quiet affair without the traditional parade and guests on 30 May.

The cadets are also not being granted their term break and would be moved directly to the next term. NDA has a strength of 2,000 cadets at a time, of whom 20-25 are foreign cadets per term. Nearly 300-350 cadets graduate every six months from the institute.

Sources said other social distancing norms are being followed strictly within the NDA campus and the entry of outsiders has been restricted.

Also read: ‘April status quo’ discussed as India, China generals hold 7-hour meeting over Ladakh

The new officers’ training module

For officers, different training institutions are following different ways to continue the training amid Covid-19. For instance, much of the academic part of the training for officers at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington is being carried out online.

Mid-career officers across the services with around 10-12 years of service undergo training at the DSSC in Wellington. Usually, 480 such officers pursue the course every year. About 40 vacancies are there for student officers from foreign countries.

“Here too, the officers have been provided with a campus area network on which training material is shared for the officers to go through in seclusion. The intranet is being used since it is a secure network as the training material shared is confidential,” the second official said.

Officials said personal interactions have been minimised and all guest lectures are held through video conferencing.

However, some inter-services trips, which are part of the 10-month long course, are a challenge that needs to be worked on, the official said.

“We are looking at changing the dates and making them towards the latter half of the year, but if the situation does not improve by then, there would be selective trips organised in small batches,” the official said. “The focus would remain on cross-services training, where Army officers would go to IAF and Naval establishments and vice versa.”

The reporting of officers, when the course starts, will also be in a staggered manner, in groups of 40-50. “They will also be going for self quarantine for 10 days in their allotted accommodation, during which they will go through online packages of training material provided to them by the institution,” the official said.

Sources say being an open cantonment, there are, however, administrative challenges to keep the officers attending the training and their families secure from Covid-19.

A similar problem is faced by the CDM in Secunderabad, where housing of officers remains a challenge, given that the usual norm was that at least 40 per cent of officers would rent accommodation within the local civilian population.

“Given the social distancing norms in place, this is going to be a challenge. As a result, the intranet would be a major problem,” the officer said, adding that they will also report in small batches of 15-20 people and follow the same protocols at DSSC.

“All the housing for training would be allotted syndicate wise as against the earlier practice of allotting seniority wise to contain any spread in case there is an instance,” the officer said. Other institutions would be following similar protocols according to their peculiarities, the officers said.

‘Plans afoot to increase foreign officers’ vacancies for training’

Sources in the defence establishment say that despite Covid-19, there is an increased interest among defence officers from foreign countries to attend the training courses at the various institutions.

“In fact, that is a reason why a month’s extension has been given to foreign officers to join the courses given that they could be delayed because of the Covid-19 lockdown with an ongoing ban on international travel,” the first officer quoted  above said.

“Over a period of time, the defence academies have carved a niche for themselves and are also comparable to some of the best in the world,” the officer added. “Some courses offer value addition and exposure to our counter-insurgency operations to the foreign officers. Hence, there has been a constant demand for these courses from among foreign courses.”

While some of the courses are funded by the MEA, others are self financed.

According to top sources, there is also a proposal to increase the number of vacancies available for foreign officers across the institutions.

“There are plans to increase the 25 seats in NDC available for foreign officers to 40. Even the number of vacancies in CDM could be increased to 18 from 12 and to 50 from 40 at the DSSC, to cater to the increasing demand  from foreign countries,” a third official said.

“However, that would first require building of adequate infrastructure in the institutions,” the source said, adding that all 40 vacancies are likely to be filled soon.

Similarly, the earlier guidelines of stopping all foreign training for Indian officers till September will also be advanced.

Also read: Ladakh standoff shows ‘unwritten’ LAC will continue to be a thorn between India and China

In a piece that appeared Monday, Chinese paper, however, says that the military commanders’ meeting Saturday may have prevented a Doklam-like situation.

New Delhi: The border tensions between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh region could “continue for a little longer”, according to the Global Times, a leading English daily backed by the Chinese government.

In an article that appeared Monday, the newspaper, citing experts, said that although talks between Indian and Chinese military commanders on Saturday “resulted in positive agreements”, the situation remains complex.

“The ongoing border issues between China and India will not likely escalate into another Doklam standoff after military commanders from both sides held talks on Saturday that resulted in positive agreements on peacefully resolving the situation … However, due to the complexity of the situation, the military standoff could continue for a little longer,” the article said citing an expert.

According to the expert — Qian Feng, a senior fellow at the Taihe Institute and director of the research department of the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University in Beijing — cited in the article, “the recent talks involved high-ranking officers from both militaries, indicating that both sides are paying great attention to the situation and do not want to escalate it”.

Both India and China, the article noted, showed “strategic wisdom to see through the US’ ulterior motive” in its effort to mediate between New Delhi and Beijing, especially when tensions between the US and China are rising.

The article also highlighted that the present standoff will not turn into another Doklam, where both sides were engaged in a 73-day face-off at a trijunction between India, Bhutan and China.

“Both sides have gained a great deal of experience from the Doklam incident in 2017, and since then, all kinds of bilateral mechanisms including on military, diplomatic and local issues have been established, which has eliminated the possibility of an incident escalating into a crisis,” the newspaper added.

However, it also added that “concrete issues” between India and China are still remaining to be resolved.

“That being said, the ongoing standoff is not likely to end immediately, as concrete issues must still be resolved,” the paper quoted Qian as having said. “The trigger of the event, India’s construction of infrastructure on Chinese territory, must be stopped, or China will not accept the situation.”

India and China have held two rounds of talks since Friday at a diplomatic as well as military levels to mitigate the tensions that have erupted in the border areas, especially in the Ladakh region.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, both sides will “continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas”.

Also read: Ladakh standoff continues, India ‘prepared for long haul if needed’

New Delhi: Nine terrorists have been killed in south Kashmir’s Shopian district in the last 24 hours in two back-to-back operations, taking the total number of slain terrorists in the union territory this year to 93.

The security forces have not identified or officially given details of the killed terrorists in the last two encounters.

“The foreign terrorists are very much in the Valley but they are not coming out to prevent Financial Action Task Force scrutiny,” a source in the security establishment said.

Nearly 30 security personnel have also lost their lives in encounters with terrorists or in attacks by terror groups this year. These deaths include that of personnel from the Army, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Sources said a total of 14 security personnel were killed in anti-terrorism and counter-infiltration operations.

Major terrorists who have been killed include Hizbul Mujahideen chief Riyaz Naikoo, who had evaded security forces for long.

His death on 6 May was a big success for the security forces. In subsequent encounter on 19 May, the newly appointed deputy chief of the terror group, Junaid Sehrai, son of Tehreek-Hurriyat chairman Ashraf Sehrai, was shot de

Monthly figures

According to the data, January witnessed 18 killings of terrorists. The number dropped to seven each in February and March. In April, 28 terrorists were killed while the figure stood at 18 in May.

As of Monday, a total of 15 terrorists have been killed in June, including the nine killed in the last 24 hours.

An analysis of data revealed that maximum number of terrorists killed was from Hizbul Mujahideen, followed by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad — all Pakistan-sponsored terror groups.

The security forces data does not mention the group The Resistant Front (TRF), which has claimed responsibility for many attacks and even claimed bodies of killed terrorists as its own cadres.

ThePrint had reported in April that TRF first surfaced in October 2019, when it claimed responsibility for a grenade attack on CRPF personnel. In March this year, the Jammu and Kashmir Police busted a module of TRF, also known as the JK Fighters.

While initially it was suspected to be an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, security forces believe it to be yet another proxy of Pakistan to claim attacks done by other organisations.

“The TRF is yet another attempt by Pakistan to give an indigenous spin to what happens in Kashmir. Pakistan wants to escape the scrutiny of the Financial Action Task Force. TRF is claiming attacks done by others. They are also being used to attract local recruits,” said a second source.

Also read: India says will hold more diplomatic-level talks with China to resolve border standoff

Modi and Xi have reiterated several times including during their second informal summit in Chennai last October that New Delhi and Beijing should not allow differences to escalate into disputes; differences can be managed, they reiterated.

If Kim disappeared from the public for three weeks, his Ambassador in India, Choe Hui Chol, was not to be left behind. North Korea’s apparatchiks survive by being more loyal to their Supreme Leader than the Supreme Leader himself. So, if Kim decided to go off the public stage for 21 days, Choe preceded him. He also disappeared for longer.

KP Nayar

Strategic Analyst

When Pyongyang sneezes, New Delhi catches a cold. Not all of New Delhi, but just the posh enclave of Greater Kailash II in the capital where the Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — popularly known as North Korea — is located. That is not all in the latest saga of the Hermit Kingdom’s curious twists in its long-standing, but oft-ignored, connections with India.

In April, the coronavirus pandemic, which has been dominating news cycles worldwide, briefly made way for news from North Korea. The prolonged absence from public view of its ‘Supreme Leader’ Kim Jong-un led to frantic speculation in television newsrooms from America to Australia that the third-generation Kim, who rules this unorthodox country, was sick.

If Kim disappeared from the public for three weeks, his loyal Ambassador in India, Choe Hui Chol, was not to be left behind. North Korea’s apparatchiks survive by being more loyal to their Supreme Leader than the Supreme Leader himself. So, if Kim decided to go off the public stage for 21 days, Choe preceded him. He also disappeared for longer.

There was only one problem. The vanishing trick by the envoy put protocol officials at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan, the spanking new headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, in a quandary. Here was an ambassador from a controversial and unpredictable nation which is under the lense of intelligence agencies of every major country in the world.

He had been appointed after due process in March last year after India cleared his Agrément — consent in foreign policy parlance to receive the head of a diplomatic mission — as soon as his name was proposed by Pyongyang. Choe arrived shortly thereafter, but would not seek an appointment with President Ram Nath Kovind to present his credentials as ambassador. Erratic behaviour that North Koreans are, of course, notorious for.

Recently, a high commissioner from South Africa had arrived at the country’s mission in New Delhi, but without a letter of credence and could not, therefore, go to Rashtrapati Bhavan to present it. Eventually, South Africa’s President changed his mind about the appointment and the High Commissioner-designate went back home without being accredited. But this diplomat was in limbo for a much shorter period than the new North Korean envoy.

Choe has now become the longest Ambassador-designate in India’s diplomatic history. He may have chosen to wear this unusual honour on his sleeve, but the problem for Indian protocol officials was that without presenting his credentials, the Ambassador-designate was on diplomatic no-man’s land.

Convention dictates that until an envoy has presented his credentials to the Head of the State of the receiving country, he cannot personally conduct any official business with his hosts. That meant Choe could not meet any Indian officials. Nor could he meet other envoys resident in the Capital or attend functions like National Days of other countries.

A bigger worry was what if — a big if — Choe got into any mischief in India. That possibility could not be ruled out, given the history of North Korea’s nefarious activities, hand in glove with Pakistan in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, notably missiles and nuclear components. Pyongyang is also an ally of Beijing.

Without credentials, the Ambassador-designate would have no diplomatic immunity and for Indian protocol, Choe could cause not just headaches, but severe migraines, if something went wrong while he was in limbo at his mission.

When I asked for a meeting with Choe some months after his nomination was announced, the North Korean Embassy in Greater Kailash II enthusiastically agreed. But the meeting never took place because officials kept postponing the appointment.

More recently, the request was renewed, but at that time, an official mysteriously contradicted his colleagues on earlier occasions and said Choe was yet to arrive. Obviously, the Hermit Kingdom’s diplomatic outposts are no less hermetic than its main seat of power where Kim sits. But from my experience, stretching back to the 1990s, a visit to the North Korean Mission can be an intimidating experience.

But all is well that ends well. Three weeks after Kim reappeared in public, putting an end, howsoever temporarily, to rumours of his sickness, the Supreme Leader’s trusted envoy also reappeared. As mysteriously as he went underground for 15 months since his appointment, Choe resurfaced.

This time, he asked Rashtrapati Bhavan to arrange his credentials ceremony. But by then, coronavirus had already changed everything. The President’s office decided to dispense with the formal ceremonies associated with accreditation in person until the Covid-19 threat abated.

A fortnight ago, Choe became the first Ambassador in India’s history to deliver his credentials to the Head of State ‘through the digital medium’, according to Ajay Kumar Singh, Press Secretary to the President.

The mystery that has surrounded Choe since his appointment has meant time lost after the then Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh’s visit to Pyongyang in May 2018 appeared to be a harbinger of elevated relations between New Delhi and Pyongyang. Prior to Singh’s visit, India signalled a desire to strengthen bilateral ties by sending an Indian Foreign Service officer as Ambassador to Pyongyang after a long gap.

This step was a significant departure from the practice of sending interpreters, and on one occasion, even posting a stenographer as Ambassador to North Korea. The upgrade in diplomatic representation was not lost on the Kim regime. Atul Gotsurve was invited to present his credentials as Ambassador immediately after his arrival in Pyongyang. Usually, arriving envoys wait for months before they are called to the Foreign Office to be formally accredited to start work in the world’s most reclusive state.

Choe is the seniormost Communist apparatchik from Pyongyang to be sent as envoy to India. He was North Korea’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs before being posted to India, with critical experience of European affairs during a period when Pyongyang’s outlets to the West were through the UK and France.

Having demonstrated his total fealty to Kim by even showing a propensity to disappear in tandem with the Supreme Leader, this very senior official, handpicked for the job in New Delhi, may yet do more than what any of his predecessors did for North Korea-India relations.

MK Bhadrakumar

Former Ambassador

A report of the UN’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning the Taliban was released in New York on June 1. Based on highly sensitive intelligence inputs from several countries, it holds a penetrating searchlight on the core issue of Taliban’s nexus with the al-Qaeda. Its conclusion: the Taliban al-Qaeda symbiosis is an enduring reality.

One would have thought that the UN report opens a Pandora’s box. But on the contrary, aside the dust it raised in Delhi momentarily, life moves on. No other world capital seems unduly perturbed. President Trump tweeted , ‘We are acting as a police force, not the fighting force that we are, in Afghanistan. After 19 years, it is time for them to police their own country. Bring our soldiers back home, but closely watch what is going on and strike with a thunder like never before, if necessary!’ Russia insists the Taliban have ‘changed’ and have a ‘strategic vision’.

The world chancelleries are accustomed to regarding the al-Qaeda as a geopolitical tool in regional conflicts. Therefore, the MEA spokesman wisely focused on the ‘operative part’ of the report concerning the presence of nearly 6,500 Pakistani terrorist fighters in Afghanistan, comprising largely of LeT and JeM cadres. The MEA said, ‘This vindicates India’s long-standing position that Pakistan remains the epicentre of international terrorism… The international community should hold Pakistan accountable.’

The salience of the UN report lies on the following templates. One, nothing will deter Washington from heading for the exit door in Afghanistan. Two, Pakistan has manoeuvred itself into a strong position from where it cannot be dislodged. Three, Pakistan’s control of the Taliban is not in doubt, but in the game of smoke and mirrors, the international community has acquiesced. Four, the Taliban are determined to regain power in Kabul, and, with Pakistani support, this goal is achievable. Five, when the crunch time comes, the Haqqanis will do what is necessary for the ISI. Six, foreign powers — with the exception of India, perhaps — are resigned to the Taliban’s return to power.

The virulently anti-India Haqqani group is in a commanding position within the Taliban. Pakistan has a game plan, having drawn lessons from the Mujahideen era — no meaningful rapprochement between the Taliban and Indians should be allowed in a near term. The Haqqanis will ensure it. Put differently, Pakistan couldn’t care less if the Indians open lines to some inconsequential Taliban elements, as it is the Haqqanis who call the shots. All this, plus the large concentration of battle-hardened JeM and LeT fighters in the eastern provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan, carries dark forebodings for India’s security.

To aspire to influence the Afghan peace process is beyond India’s capability now. Pakistan regards India as a ‘spoiler’, and stakeholders will be loathe to risk annoying Pakistan by advocating India’s case. Even ‘time-tested friends’ will fight shy of holding India’s hand. Our options have shrunk.

While political and diplomatic work should continue to endeavour to sustain government-to-government interaction and people-to-people goodwill, India cannot afford to be a provider of security or excessively identify with any single Afghan faction. Geography and resource constraints dictate that until the present churning assumes some clarity, a low-key approach and strategic restraint is advisable.

Meanwhile, the strengthening of the permanent mission in New York with the appointment of an experienced senior diplomat as the new PR, coinciding with India’s membership of the UNSC for the next two-year period, could provide Delhi with some degree of diplomatic leverage in the Afghan peace process leading to any settlement.

The present situation brings to mind an exemplar from the annals of history 40 years ago when the Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving Najibullah to grapple with multiple challenges — pushing back the Mujahideen from approaching the gates of Kabul while coping with internal dissensions in own camp and also making overtures for national reconciliation. Of course, the roof eventually came down under the sheer weight of contradictions.

Going by the experience of that tumultuous period leading to the Mujahideen takeover in 1992, arguably, a calibrated retrenchment on our part at this juncture may once again serve a key purpose. A drawdown can only enhance the prospects of a constructive engagement when the new dawn breaks.

The point is, in this gloomy scenario, India is only as nebulously placed as any other stakeholder today, since imponderables and variables are galore in the Afghan situation. If the matrix today is particularly unfavourable in comparison with the early nineties, it is largely due to our tense relations with both Pakistan and China. A significant improvement on this template can dramatically change the calculus.

The bottom line is that the Kashmir issue and the animated suspension in J&K coalesce and amplify the complexity of the regional security climate. The gloomy Afghan prognosis lends urgency to adopt new thinking. The time has come for the Indian leadership to make a determined effort to cut the Gordian knot of tense relations with China and Pakistan.

This roller-coaster ride in the Himalayas, Kashmir valley and the Hindu Kush concurrently will sap our energies and turn into a quagmire. Nothing serves our ill-wishers better.

Rhetoric should not be the stuff of policy; nor is crisis management the acme of diplomacy. For a start, we can do far better simply by reining in our ‘hawks’. We shouldn’t lose our innate sense of realism and pragmatism. For India to realise its potentials of growth and development, a peaceful external environment is vital. A fresh start becomes imperative.

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 8

China has responded with a positive spirit to end the stand-off in Ladakh in the spirit of bilateralism insisting on the stability of the situation and its resolution through consensus as it announced that the “two sides are ready to engage in consultations to properly solve the relevant issues”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, while referring to the Saturday talks in Chusul Moldo between the Indian and Chinese commanders, on Monday, said: “One consensus (of the talks) is that the two sides need to implement the two leaders’ (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinxing) consensus and make sure that the differences do not escalate into disputes.”

Modi and Jinping during their meetings had reached a consensus that the issues between the two countries should resolve the issue through consensus and dialogue.

The Foreign Ministry had spelt out a template of mutual cooperation after the Wuhan talks between two leaders in 2019, that said the two leaders had “forged a common understanding of the future direction of India-China relations built upon mutual respect for each other’s developmental aspirations and prudent management of differences with mutual sensitivity”.

This statement that came a day after the Indian Foreign Ministry’s statement focusing on the cordial atmosphere, in which the military commanders of the two countries had met to resolve more than a month-long stand-off in Ladakh, appeared to be coming from the same echo chamber, and the one which should soar the spirits of the Ladakhis.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson continued in the spirit of the mutual understanding and that the two sides will work to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border and create a good atmosphere.

She also referred to the recent communications “through diplomatic and military channels, the two sides have maintained close communication on the situation along the border”.

This is considered a good sign and good news for the talks to bring curtains down on the stand-off in Ladakh, in which strategically important areas of the Galwan Valley, the Pangong Tso (lake) and Demchok at the Line of Actual Control ( LAC) are involved with the Chinese troops having taken their position in the areas and so have the Indian troops since the beginning of May.