New Delhi, May 21

In a firm response, New Delhi has rejected Beijing’s suggestions that its troops had crossed the border and instead maintained Chinese troops had recently undertaken activity hindering India’s normal patrolling patterns.

“Any suggestion that Indian troops had undertaken activity across the LAC in the western sector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate. Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the LAC in the India-China border areas and abide by it scrupulously,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

Maintaining that improvement of India-China ties hinged on peace and tranquillity in border areas, he pointed to several bilateral mechanisms to resolve such situations. — TN

Tribune News Service

Mandi, May 18

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) today reopened the Manali-Leh highway to vehicular movement afte six months.

Snow-clearance work on the highway was being carried out since February.

Despite an acute shortage of labourers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the BRO, in comparison to the previous years, has cleared the road much earlier this year. Last year, the highway was restored to traffic on June 10.

The BRO used remote-controlled snow cutters and dozers for the first time in the region to speed up the snow-clearance work despite many challenges.

Brig MS Baghi, Chief Engineer, Dipak Project, also visited the Baralacha pass today to congratulate the BRO team for the early restoration of the highway.

DC, Lahaul-Spiti, KK Saroch said nine tankers of Indian Oil moved towards Leh from Lahaul side.

The cross-border firing started in Degwar sector around 8:40 am on 17 May, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army. No casualty has been reported on the Indian side thus far.

ammu: The Pakistan Army on Sunday opened fire and shelled forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.

The cross-border firing started in Degwar sector around 8:40 am, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army, the spokesman said.

He said there was no report of any casualty on the Indian side in the Pakistani firing.

The Pakistani firing ended over a week-long lull along the LoC.

Also read: Global lockdown and Covid crisis haven’t stopped Pakistan from its anti-India agenda

A gun battle broke out between security forces and terrorists in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday morning, officials said. An Army jawan laid down his life in the encounter which is still underway, officials said on Sunday.

IGP Jammu, Mukesh Singh said that one terrorist has also been killed in the ongoing encounter. The slain terrorist belongs to Hizbul Mujahideen. Another terrorist has been injured in the exchange of fire, police sources informed.

According to inputs from sources, a terrorist has been identified by the forces by the name Auqaaf – an associate of slain Haroon Abbas Wani.

“On a specific police input, an operation was launched late last night in Doda district. An encounter has started just now,” police spokesperson and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manoj Sheeri said. He said further details shall be shared later.

There has been a spurt in terror activities across J&K amid the coronavirus pandemic. Jammu’s Doda—comprising Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts which have been declared militancy free—have also witnessed terror attacks and related activities amid the lockdown.

A day after Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief Riyaz Naikoo was killed in Kashmir, security forces on May 7 arrested an overground worker of the outfit from Doda district. He was identified as Raqib Alam, 22, son of Seeraj Din of Swanda village.

Also read: In Hizbul’s Kashmir terror team, ‘military adviser’ is most brutal

Security forces on April 17 eliminated two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, who had hacked a special police officer (SPO) to death with an axe and critically injured another on April 13 in Dachhan area of Kishtwar district.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a charge sheet against six people, including three slain Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorists and three arrested overground workers of the terror group, for providing support to Pakistan-based terrorists to kill BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajeet Parihar in Jammu’s Kishtwar.

Also read: Saifullah Mir aka Ghazi Haider is Hizbul’s new face of terror in Kashmir

The charge sheet has been filed in the special NIA Court, Jammu against the six accused under Sections 302, 120B, 109 and 34 of the Jammu and Kashmir State Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), Sections 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 38, 39 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 25(1A) and 25 of the Arms Act.

The Parihar brothers were shot at point-blank range outside their house on November 1, 2018, when they were returning home after closing their shop.

Meanwhile, Pakistan also violated ceasefire in Malti and Digwar areas of Poonch district on Sunday morning prompting Indian Army to retaliate in equal measure.

Jammu, May 22

Pakistan continued violating ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) for the fifth consecutive day on Friday by using small arms and mortars in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and Rajouri districts.

For the fifth consecutive day, Pakistan army used small arms and was shelling with mortars to target the Indian positions on the LoC in the two districts.

Defence ministry spokesman, Colonel Devender Anand told IANS, “On May 22, 2020, at about 3.30 a.m., Pakistan initiated the unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along Line of Control in Krishna Ghati Sector, District Poonch (J&K).

“Indian army is retaliating befittingly,” he said.

The force said that again at about 7.20 a.m., Pakistan initiated the unprovoked ceasefire violation in the Nowshera Sector in Rajouri District in Jammu. The Indian Army was giving the befitting reply to this also, said the army.

Pakistan has been frequently violating the bilateral ceasefire agreement signed between the two countries in October 2003.

Senior army officers believe these ceasefire violations are a deliberate attempt by the Pakistan army to give fire cover to terrorists so that they can sneak into the Indian side of the LoC.

The Pakistani Army has been continuously targeting the Keran Valley, Poonch, Uri Sector, Krishna Ghati and Akhnoor sectors in the Union Territory.

In 2019, a total 3,200 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan across the LoC were reported as compared to 1,629 incidents in 2018, the Ministry of Defence had stated.

IANS

Officers Management in the Army is demanding recognition as a controversial issue that has reached cul de sac.  This clarion call comes with five rationales. One, say within the next two/three years, the armed forces will be prepared for Integrated Theatre Commands.  This will have deep repercussions on the Officer Cadre promotional structure, as the three services follow a dissimilar path in entirety, and inter-se seniority is a bugbear currently. Two, the Hon’ble Supreme Court decision on Women Officers has significantly opened the field for their taking over Command of units, which will also have a material effect. Three, the promotion opportunities for commissioned officers from all arms and services, should largely be similar, to be motivating enough to new inductee Young Officers to retain a modicum of ambition. That does not exist presently for the Services officers. Four, warfare is dramatically changing, the foci is shifting to modern, information age conflicts.  There would be a transition to newer units and to the new cutting edge in warfare.   And, five, cases are yet subjudice in the Hon’ble Supreme Court for allocation of additional vacancies at higher ranks to combat arms, the decision to which will have a more far-reaching effect.

The Army has to resolve the internal officer’s career management policies, which have been under considerable strain for the last nearly twenty years.   It is necessary to first address the Army’s imbroglio, with a short backgrounder, though majorly, it will be known to all readers.  Consequent to the lessons learnt of the 1999 Kargil War, it was considered necessary to manage the reduction of ages of officers commanding infantry battalions and brigades. With that term of reference, AV Singh Committee (AVSC) was formed, which came up with a mathematical model (colloquially later called Command Exit Model – CEM). The chronology that followed needs recounting with certain specifics:

• The CEM was based upon two variables – the Command assignments allocated to an arm or service, and the tenure in command. The first variable, the numbers of Command assignments, was left open-ended by the AVSC and has consequently witnessed large increments.  The second variable, the command tenures was fixed, with a wide span from Infantry Commanding Officers (COs) having 30 months to Services COs of 60 months. AVSC having been approved by the Union Cabinet, made the Report as if etched in stone for times immemorial, except in 2016, when in a judgment, the Hon’ble Supreme down-scaled the command tenures for the Corps of Engineers, Signals and Air Defence.
• AVSC rested on many basic premises, the most important of which was to make Short Service Commission (SSC) attractive, to ensure the ratio of Permanent Commission (PC) to SSC to be as near to 1:1 as possible. This would have enabled batch construction at intake in a manner that would have retained equivalence in promotability at the level of Lt Col to Colonel (for taking over Command). The second important premise was lateral absorption of Army Officers in other Governmental Ministries. Despite the two pay commissions – 6^th and 7^th, and countless representations, these two have not fructified. The SSC has remained singularly unattractive as an intake option, and PC: SSC ratio has largely remained in favour of PC, up to the extent of 1:4.7, with an immensely adverse effect on promotional structures.  With the finite number of promotion avenues to Colonel, say 500 a year, and with say 1600 under consideration, the promotability ratio reduces to a little over 30%.  However, cumulated with command tenures variation, the promotability can vary between 20 to 60%, between various arms and services causing great consternation. Number of Command assignments at Colonel rank also have a commensurate effect on balance colonel vacancies – for example, if the total command assignments were 1500, and total Colonels authorised on establishment were 5500, then balance 4000 vacancies were allocated on the pro-rata of the ratios of the command assignments held by that arm or service. Hence, the race commenced on designating more and more command assignments by each arm and service.
• Since 2011 to 2019, there have been a number of Army-internal and MoD study groups that have delved into the issue. The first broad based study group in 2011-2013 was headed by an esteemed Army Commander, had made important recommendations. Subsequently, seven or eight (one looses count) studies were undertaken, even by the College of Defence Management, though none met success on the altar of unanimity, or reached fruition by dedicated decision making.
• In the interregnum, the CEM reached the stage of litigation at the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) initially and Hon’ble Supreme Court later. Being subjudice, the issue was denied the requisite opportunity to be addressed internally as an Army-Government policy. While in 2015, the AFT had stuck down the CEM, the Hon’ble Supreme Court upheld it in 2016.  The Hon’ble Supreme Court also allocated additional vacancies at Colonel Rank to the Corps of Signals, Engineers and Air Defence, which still did not benefit the Services.  The case is yet subjudice, for the same arms seeking commensurate vacancies at even higher ranks.

Having broadly chronologised the last sixteen years of CEM, it is apparent that the issue has far-reaching ramifications. The Army has yet to define command, whether it is designated on the basis of the strength of personnel in a unit, equipment held or based upon the functionality of operational or administrative tasking and financial outlay. Indeed in retrospective, many command assignments may not measure up to the original rationale.  In trying to adjust to meeting some satisfaction, allocation of vacancies has witnessed many a tweak and a number of loan vacancies, all of which have further muddled the issue.  With the passage of time the positions of arms and services have hardened, with all silo-ed in individualistic concerns and believing in their indispensability and meritocracy!

The Army has large officer corps with over 42500 officers, all of the high calibre and near incessantly employed in operations.  Career management of the officer corps is a sacred responsibility. The issue has procrastinated for a very long time and cannot be allowed to fester on the doorsteps of the Courts and be decided through a litigative process.  Inability to create a policy bespeaks of avoidance of an all-important measure of cohesiveness of the organisation. Also, individual Court decisions on petitions provide solace to a number of litigants within finite numbers of promotional assignments, but it would have a corresponding negative effect on the satisfaction of many others.

The issues that need addressal at this juncture are holistic in nature. Two of these must be considered before making recommendations. First, the CEM was approved by the Union Cabinet and second, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has upheld the CEM. Any significant change hence cannot be initiated internally; it will be challengeable with the Government or litigable in the Courts.  Some views are proffered below:

• Short service commission is not much sought after, as it causes a mid-life crisis for the officers who do not achieve permanence in the Army. Making of Short Service Commission attractive, is absolutely mandatory, for which detailed proposals exist, like for a ten year SSC, allow an officer last year of study in a professional change-of-career institute, like IIMs and IITs ( for E-MBA or M Tech), and then placement. A gratuity had been recommended that provides for each year of service rendered in the Army. This must be pushed in with vigour. This will assist in constructing a balanced PC-SSC batch for each arm and service, and assure better than 50% promotability for all from Lt Col to Colonel.
• The Hon’ble Supreme Court has given a decision on Women Officers being granted permanent commission and command of units. This will also mandate a share of vacancies at Colonel rank.  A proposal on the methodology of implementation was recommended earlier.[1]
• Tri-service organisations are a reality, and the difference in service profile of equivalent ranks is irksome in managing command and control. With Theatre Commands this will be even more problematic.  The joint-service experienced officer will be obligatory, prior to reaching higher rungs in the three or joint Services organisation.
• New realms of warfare– like cyber, information, precision and hypersonic projectiles, space and drones, are in themselves wholesome in nature, and maybe deciders of future wars. There will be requirement of reconfiguring specialist multi-domain warfare units in future, with differing command expertise, equipment profiles and manpower. For career management, these will have to put inside the CEM.
• Command has to be redefined. The logic of deciding command was that a unit ought to be operational in nature (which includes arms and services units so committed), manpower or platform (equipment) oriented. The quantum of equipment that a unit ought to be authorised with, has to be credible enough for the operational task.

Status quo is not the answer.  To ameliorate it, there are many ways and time is ripe to take the bull by the horns!  It is clear, that this cannot be done internally – for there are too many vested, parochial interests. Even at the very higher rungs, individual corps/ regimental parochialism will mar effective visionary decision making, and subsume broader organisational interests.  Any significant change will require obtaining Union Cabinet approval, superceding the previous cabinet approval and issue of a formal policy.

There can be three options. One, a well conceptualised Intra-Arm/Service Track 2, (that can involve retired seniors officers too) that will bring about a rapprochement, a balance and a via-media within the parameters of laid down CEM. At this juncture such an option seems a non-starter, due to sharp cleavages. Two, under the powers of the Union Government, a Blue Ribbon Committee be nominated, to study the gamut of the issue and make recommendations, for a Cabinet approval. Three, an HR Management Consultancy to be engaged through the Government, to study, obtain approvals, facilitate implementation and undertake a couple of years of hand-holding!  There are also Research Organisations that specialise in Human Resource issues, like XLRI, Jamshedpur and TISS, Mumbai which can be requested to study the same. Though there may be resistance to an outsider agency, for lack of in depth knowledge, for HR Professionals, adjusting policies may be a minor impediment. It is opined that obtaining professional expertise from outside the realm of Army-Government should be the best.  This will also require Government sanction/ approvals. The Courts can be informed that the issue has been taken up at the Governmental policy levels for decision-making, and details can be submitted on finalisation.

In sum, there has been undue procrastination, that has caused ill-will and it needs to put behind.  Sooner the better!

End Notes

[1] Rakesh Sharma, Supreme Court Decision on Women Officers: Need for Holistic Policy Planning, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), 20 Feb 2020, accessed at https://www.claws.in/supreme-court-decision-on-women-officers-need-for-holistic-policy-planning/

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 18.

An influential Chinese newspaper on Monday indicated the opening of another flashpoint on the Sino-India border but played down the possibility of serious tensions as had happened at Doklam in 2017

Global Times, that advocates a hardheaded foreign policy approach, quoted unnamed military sources as saying that Chinese border defence troops have made necessary moves in response to “India’s recent, illegal construction of defence facilities across the border into Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley region.”

The media outlet put its own spin for discounting the build-up of tensions in a sector that was last in the news during the 1962 conflict. “India is merely seeking to divert its domestic attention due to unsuccessful handling of Covid pandemic, and China has a military advantage there. So, the Indian military won’t escalate the incident,” it said quoting Chinese analysts.

The paper accused India of crossing the boundary line in Galwan Valley region of Ladakh and entering Chinese territory. “The Indian side built defence fortifications and obstacles to disrupt Chinese border defence troops’ normal patrol activities, purposefully instigated conflicts and attempted to unilaterally change the current border control situation.”

Indian media too has been reporting tensions in this sector for the past one week.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has not commented on this flare-up but it reacted to troop face-offs last week in two sectors by expressing confidence in the ability of the existing mechanisms to resolve the issue.

The MEA also suggested that the face-offs were not part of a grand strategy by explaining that they occasionally occur due to difference in perception of the alignment of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). “Situations have arisen on the ground that could have been avoided if we had a common perception of the LAC,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Shrivastav had then said.

The spokesperson also noted that the India-China border has largely been peaceful because PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have “directed their militaries to earnestly implement various confidence building measures agreed upon between the two sides”.

Pensions account for about 30 per cent of India’s defence budget. A proposal to raise the retirement age of troops of the three armed forces is aimed not only at reducing the burgeoning post-retiral bill, but also to ensure that trained manpower stays in service for a much longer duration. The move, which could benefit about 15 lakh personnel, makes sense in both military and economic terms. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, has rightly argued in favour of getting a jawan to serve for 30 years rather than only 15-17 years. In February, General Rawat had dubbed the rise in the budget outlay for pensions of armed forces personnel as ‘unsustainable’ and stated that the three services were exploring the feasibility of extending the retirement age of jawans till 58 years. The whole idea is to pay pension for about two decades instead of the current 30-32 years. For the record, the pension budget for 2020-21 is

Rs 1.33 lakh crore, up from Rs 1.1 lakh crore in 2019-20.

As per another proposal, the Army is considering the ‘Tour of Duty’ (ToD) model to take in officers for only three years of service. With at least 90 per cent of the officers opting for permanent commission after doing 14 years’ service, the Short Service Commission (SSC) scheme’s purpose of keeping the Army lean is getting defeated. The cost incurred on an SSC officer — right from pre-commission training to the payment of gratuity — is as high as Rs 5-7 crore.

Unlike Israel’s mandatory conscription model, which dates back to 1948, ToD would be voluntary. Fighting-fit Israelis have been making the most of military service, lasting about three years, to subsequently excel in other professions. It’s a moot point to what extent unemployment and a ‘resurgence of nationalism and patriotism’, as cited by the Indian Army, can spur the youth to have a feel of military professionalism and then move on. Again, the focus is largely on reducing the payouts. The intended reforms would be worthwhile if they result in considerable savings that can facilitate much-needed modernisation of the forces.

Jammu, May 17

The Pakistani Army on Sunday opened fire and shelled forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.

The cross-border firing started in Degwar sector around 8:40 am, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army, the spokesman said.

He said there was no report of any casualty on the Indian side in the Pakistani firing.

“They started with small arms firing and later fired mortars around 9:30 am,” the spokesman said, adding the cross-border firing between the two sides was going on when last reports came in.

The Pakistani firing ended over a week-long lull along the LoC.

Pakistan last violated the ceasefire in Degwar sector on May 9 and Kirni, Qasba and Shahpur sectors of Poonch two days earlier. PTI

New Delhi, May 16

The CRPF had ordered an immediate withdrawal of scores of its personnel working as domestic help and orderlies with its retired or repatriated officials fearing they might contract COVID-19 in the absence of proper healthcare facilities, officials said on Saturday.

The step had been taken in the country’s largest paramilitary force, they said, after reports emerged recently that four jawans posted with a retired Additional Director General-rank officer of another paramilitary force had been infected with COVID-19.

The force has directed its northern sector based in Delhi to “immediately withdraw” all orderlies, security personnel, drivers and cooks provided from its regular strength of 3.25 lakh personnel.

It has also begun a manpower audit to ascertain the number of men used for extending such privileges, the duration of these attachments and the order under which these postings were authorised.

“After a full manpower audit post May 17, only the most essential ones will be allowed to continue once the COVID-19 infection is contained. Action will be taken against unauthorised approvals and the names of officials enjoying these perks illegally will be notified to the Home Ministry,” a top officer, who requested anonymity, said.

The official said other Central paramilitary forces such as the Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Central Industrial Security Force and the Sashastra Seema Bal were expected to issue such directions soon.

They said the withdrawal of personnel would also help the force to supplement its already depleted manpower as over 300 personnel from the CRPF units, based in the national capital, had either been infected by the pandemic, quarantined or were on leave.

Also, they said, that withdrawal of this jawan-rank personnel was also to make sure that they did not get infected with COVID-19 as they might not be able to take proper care of their health while rendering these duties.

Recently, another paramilitary force had admitted four such staffers and a state police personnel to an isolation facility at its camp in Chhawla in south-west Delhi.

This five personnel were posted at the residence of a senior officer in Delhi since he retired from service in February.

“We do not want a repeat of such an incident. These personnel working as domestic help and orderlies are as vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease as anyone else,” a top paramilitary officer said.

A back-of-the-envelope estimate by senior officials of these forces has found that over 100 vehicles and more than 400 orderlies and cooks of these Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are deputed with various ranks of retired and repatriated officials across the country for varied periods of time.

The unofficial estimate put the expenditure of extending these perks at a few lakh rupees every year.

The Union Home Ministry had taken note of this abuse of manpower in 2016 and had said such practices ‘create a wrong impression in the public mind and are also against the basic decorum and discipline of the government service, more so of the uniformed forces.”

A directive issued on September 21, 2016, on the subject of ‘retention of manpower, vehicle etc by police officers at their residence even after their retirement’ had asked Central and state governments that such facilities should be withdrawn “within a period of one month of the retirement of any police official.”

It had said those retired police officials, who did not follow these instructions and enjoy these services by regular paramilitary personnel, “should be made to pay”.

“Similarly, action should be taken against the serving officials who do not take timely action to withdraw these privileges from the retired officials,” the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order had said seeking its strict compliance. PTI