Navdeep Singh

Defence spending is again in the news, and with it the common censure of the allocation being consumed mostly by pay and pensions. While we may choose to weigh in with emotional calls of soldierly pride and sacrifice et al, dispassionately seen the hazard the pay and pension bill poses is not easy to ignore. But then the solution does not lie in a maladroit approach of demonising concepts such as ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) or disability benefits.

The heavy bill and its ascension with every pay commission is indeed a cause of worry. Though the defence services have been trying to shed some of their manpower, it is unlikely that this modest curtailment would result in significant savings. So what is the solution?

The straight response would be to drastically expand the concept of Short Service Commission (SSC), making it more attractive and less exploitative, and also introduce a Short Service Engagement scheme at jawan level with contributory pension, while concomitantly reducing the permanent staff under the existing defined pension (OROP) system. This arrangement can result in maintenance of military strength at the current levels but greatly reduce the pension bill.

Currently, officers are being offered SSC of 10 to 14 years after which they are compulsorily released without any pension, except those who opt (and are selected) for permanent commission. Previously, officers were allowed to exit after 5 years. Needless to say, the current structure leaves them at a crossroads without pension or guaranteed employment almost in middle age, with peak family commitments.

The way out of the quagmire is simple. Such SSC officers must be made members of a contributory pension scheme under the National Pension System (NPS) as is now applicable to civilian employees. Officers under the Short Service Appointment scheme of Indian Coast Guard are already members of NPS, denying the same to their military counterparts is anyway incongruous. There is also a requirement to protect their status or seniority if they opt for civil government employment after release.

Similarly, there is a need to introduce a Short Service Engagement scheme for recruitment at lower ranks – individuals who will serve for ten years and then be released with NPS benefits and “ex-serviceman status”. Obviously, these Short Service schemes would be voluntary and concurrent to regular entries which shall continue to be on OROP dispensation. However, gradually the number of the former may be amplified and the latter reduced.

The establishment would have to find ingenious, albeit practical and non-exploitative ways, to reduce the bill, and demonising OROP or disability pensions is not one of them. OROP is mandated by the Cabinet and was promised by successive governments to cater to the massively curtailed tenure of defence personnel who start retiring in their 30s. The way out is to reduce future OROP beneficiaries by rationalising permanent staff.

Similarly, the recent furore over disability pensions was unpleasant. Frequent transfers, regimented lifestyle, curtailment of freedoms and inability to cater to domestic commitments result in aggravation of common medical conditions in soldiers, a reality militaries face globally. The attempt should be to introduce policies to reduce stress and strain, provide comfort and succour to soldiers to reduce the prevalence of disability and consequently disability benefits. It would be imprudent to attempt to vilify military disabilities to save pennies rather than making lives of soldiers better.

Lateral induction of soldiers to other organisations such as Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) has also been propagated by successive pay commissions but opposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Perhaps the reason might be valid to an extent. CAPFs would not want military veterans parachuting into their ranks and blocking their career progression. But then there could be a solution by simply raising a separate organisation of military veterans under the MHA and employ them for duties configuring with their past expertise, or utilise them for national reconstruction roles or executing government schemes.

What is required to tame the military pension bill is a balanced but determined and humane political executive, and it seems the current defence minister might just fit that description.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 3

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formally invite him for the opening of the Kartarpur corridor and the main event to mark the 550 years of Guru Nanak at Dera Baba Nanak on November 9.

He also sought clearance for the special delegation to visit Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and bring back Nagar Kirtan to mark the historic occasion.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 1

Ten days ahead of the planned informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, military commanders of both sides met at formal ceremonial border personnel meetings at five different locations across the Himalayas today.

The meetings were part of the “Chinese national day”. Two such meeting points are in eastern Ladakh, two in Arunachal Pradesh and one in Sikkim. Modi, Xi will meet at Mamallapuram, near Chennai, on October 11 and 12.

The tone and tenor of the militaries stationed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto boundary running all along the Himalayan ridgeline, has been given new “directions” following the Wuhan summit (April 2018).

The militaries have been tasked to maintain peace along the disputed frontiers in the Himalayas. It has been made clear that issues should be resolved at the local level and not allowed to fester.

Today’s meetings were more of cultural exchange rather than the ones to resolve issues. India will host cultural meetings on Republic Day.

Since Wuhan, the two sides have discussed additional measures for peace along the 3,488-km LAC. This includes the need to keep interacting at unit level, commander level and have a standard protocol for meetings and interacting. The meetings along the LAC address multiplicity of issues all along the disputed frontier.

Our Correspondent

Palampur, September 29

The mortal remains of Lt Col Rajneesh Parmar, who died in a chopper crash in Bhutan, were consigned to flames this evening with full state honours at Akshana temple, Nanao, in the presence of a large number of people, who had come from far-flung areas to pay tributes to the officer.

A pall of gloom descended on the village, 15 km from here, this afternoon when the body of 42-year-old martyr was brought to his native village. Rajneesh had lost his life when an Army chopper crashed near Yongphulla in Bhutan on Friday. Parmar was posted in the Northeast to train the officers of Bhutanese army.

Earlier in the morning, his body was airlifted to the Army helipad at Holta Cantonment, 3 km from here, in an Army helicopter where it was received by senior Army and civil officers.

During a brief halt at Holta Cantonment, Major General AK Samantra of the DAH Division of the 9th Core laid wreath on the body on behalf of the Army and paid condolences to his family. Later, his body was taken to his house at Maranda.

His body was received by local residents, family members, relatives and officials of the district and police administration.

Vipin Singh Parmar, state Health Minister, laid a wreath on behalf of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. Earlier, he called on the family of the martyr at his residence.

Our Correspondent

Jammu, September 27

The North Tech Symposium-2019, an annual event organised under the aegis of the Northern Command Headquarters, was inaugurated by Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, on Friday.

The event based on the theme, “Empowering northern theatre with contemporary technologies to meet dynamic operational challenges” had active participation from nearly 100 defence companies, including MSMEs, DPSU and Simulator Development Division.

The symposium served to showcase cutting-edge technologies and innovative products providing solutions to complex challenges faced by the security forces in the Northern Command and also acted as an ideal platform for mutual exchange of ideas between the defence industry and the Army.

The technologies and products on display covered a wide canvas, prominent being surveillance and situational awareness, tactical mobility, firepower, soldier, force protection, communications, combat medical, robotics, simulators, training aids and many others.

The symposium achieved great success in building an Army and industry relationship with the common objective of developing customised and effective solutions for the Army and progress towards self-reliance in the defence industry to align with the government initiative of Make in India.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 26

The Punjab Government has approved the Centre’s plan to set up a base of the National Security Guards in Amritsar. The base to be developed on 120 acres would help in swift counter-terror operations in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had pushed for setting up of such a base in Pathankot in 2017 during a meeting with then Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The development hold significance in view of attempts to revive militancy in Punjab and fresh threats from across the border.

Home Secretary Satish Chandra told The Tribune that the government had started the process to identify land for setting up a base for the NSG. “We will acquire land for the NSG base. The setting up of such a base has become quite imperative in the state,” he said.

Already, the state Special Operations Group (SOG) is fully functional. The need for SOG arose after the attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016. The NSG teams from New Delhi were called in to eliminate the terrorists hiding in the base.

Sources in the Police Department said the NSG base in Amritsar would be ideally located so that commando teams can be swiftly moved in the state besides Jammu and Kashmir.

The entire consignment, using the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) network, was supported by Pakistan’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence and orchestrated through Germany and Lahore; the ultimate aim — to fuel terror attacks in Jammu & Kashmir.

At least eight drone sorties, carrying a total of 80 kg of weapons (arms and ammunition), were sent across the border into Punjab by Pakistan-based Khalistani terror groups between September 9 and 16, officials in security agencies and the Punjab Police have confirmed on condition of anonymity.

The entire consignment, using the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) network, was supported by Pakistan’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence and orchestrated through Germany and Lahore; the ultimate aim — to fuel terror attacks in Jammu & Kashmir.

The details of these drops have emerged following investigations that led to and following the September 22 weapons seizure at Tarn Taran district; the eight payloads were dropped in Amritsar and Tarn Taran.

Five people have so far been arrested by Punjab Police in connection with the drone drops, with one 22-year-old Subhdeep held on Tuesday. Investigators said he was from Amritsar district and was radicalised by the prime accused in the case, Mann Singh, and another accused, Akashdeep, in Amritsar jail. The other four people, suspected to belong to a terror module, were arrested from the outskirts of village Chohla Sahib in Tarn Taran on Sunday. They were using a white Maruti Swift with a Punjab registration number.

The investigation involved multiple agencies – the Punjab Police, central security agencies, the Border Security Force, the Indian Air Force – and prima facie found that multiple Chinese commercial drones with 10 kg payloads have been used in the weapons drop operations across the border. The drones, the investigation reveals, may have been launched from locations 2 km inside Pakistan and made to travel the distance of five kilometres at a height of 2,000 feet, and then dropped off the weapons after descending to 1200 ft. The payload was slung from the platform using Chinese mountaineering ropes.

Chinese batteries recovered from the drone that crashed in Tarn Taran, Punjab. ( Sourced )

With drone activity also being seen in Punjab’s Ferozepur district, the IAF and BSF have been asked by the Punjab police to intercept these unmanned aerial vehicles through low-level radars and destroy them. Officials fear that they could also be used to carry and drop off bombs.

The interrogation of those arrested has revealed that KZF’s Germany-based operative Gurmeet Singh Bagga in coordination with his Pakistan-based chief Ranjeet Singh aka Neeta have made deliveries of at least four weapons, grenades, electronics, and fake currency through drones. The deliveries were made on the intervening nights of September 6/7, 9/10 and the last one on 15/16. The last drone crashed at Rajoke Village, Khalra police station, in Tarn Taran, near a border drain which is 2km from the fencing on the international border with Pakistan. The entire operation came to light after the discovery of the burnt drone, whose eight Chinese batteries were stripped off by the accused on instructions from across the border. “ It has also been revealed that such deliveries took place on four different dates, mostly between 9.30 pm and 10.30 pm with the drone making two sorties within an hour,” said a senior Punjab Police official. As many as five AK-47 rifles, which weigh about four kilograms with magazine, four Chinese pistols , nine HE grenades, Rs 10 lakh fake currency, 1000 rounds of ammunition and two electronic receivers were recovered by the police from the accused.

The main concern of Indian security agencies is the revelation that entire consignment was meant for Islamist groups in Kashmir. “ We are not very clear as to how many other consignment has made their way into Kashmir using similar modus operandi and with the help of Pakistan based Sikh terrorists,” said a senior security official.

A Pakistani jeep captured by the 3 Grenadier Regiment in the 1971 war, stationed in the unit”s camp, 40 km from Leh. PTI

Leh, September 8

All of 48 years and maybe more, the ‘Jarpal Queen’, a symbol of India’s triumph against Pakistan, travels through the length and breadth of India as a ‘war trophy’ of the Indian Army.

The ‘Queen’, named after Jarpal in Pakistan, is actually royalty on four wheels, a Willys jeep, sleek, shiny and in shipshape condition, the object of lavish attention at the 3 Grenadier Regiment’s camp, 40 km from Leh.

The vehicle, with Urdu script on its sides, is a “war trophy” captured from Pakistan during the 1971 conflict.

Once fitted with a recoilless gun, this US-origin jeep now travels across India as a prized possession of the Regiment, which has ensured the almost 50-year-old vehicle moves like a well-oiled machine.

“We captured it during the Jarpal war and it was used by the Pakistani army as a part of their attack plan at Shakargarh border, in Jarpal area of Pakistan. So, it was named Jarpal Queen. From that war, India has two Param Vir Chakra medals,” said Colonel (retd) J S Dhillon.

The two Param Vir Chakra awardees were Colonel Hoshiar Singh from the Grenadier Regiment and Second Lieutenant Arun Khetrapal from the Armoured Regiment.

“It is a ‘war trophy’ and was shown to VIP guests and was also used during guard of honour for senior officers. It is in great condition and runs very smoothly,” said Dhillon, a Sena Medal recipient who was commissioned in the 3 Grenadier Regiment in 1982 and now heads the Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering, Gulmarg, under the Ministry of Tourism.

He said the ‘Jarpal Queen’ had gone wherever the Regiment has been stationed. Jaipur, Kupwara, Shimla, Poonch, Meerut, Ferozepur… the list is long.

In 1988, when the Regiment was in Ferozpur in Punjab, the jeep was registered with the Punjab transport department for it to be driven on the road.

“We took a number, insured and registered it. As far as I can recall, except the regiment’s UN mission to Eithopia, the jeep has gone everywhere with them,” said Dhillon.

The jeep has also been witness to numerous border skirmishes with the neighbouring country, particularly during the regiment’s stints in Jammu and Kashmir.

A full-scale war broke out between India and Pakistan over East Pakistan in 1971. It ended with surrender of 90,000 Pakistani troops and led to the creation of Bangladesh. — PTI

The general perception in the Indian public’s mind is that the abrogation of Articles 35A and 370 had led to a situation where the J&K issue is done and dusted. That is furthest from the truth although I believe it is currently advantage India, at least temporarily. While India has for the first time after 25 years aggressively opted to change the existing status quo, the triggers that it has caused have given rise to a series of fresh threats which it needs to take stock of. It was last on February 22, 1994, India messaged the world that all territories of J&K including those not under its direct control belonged to India and it would aspire to regain them. That was a unique case of political consensus when all parties came together in a Joint Parliamentary Resolution to stake India’s claims in the wake of aggressive diplomacy by US Assistant Secretary of State Robin Raphael against India. Pakistan took advantage of that situation to press allegations of human rights violations and attempted to internationally take India to the cleaners; something which never ceased since then.

In 25 years since 1994, India has attempted to change the strategy of dealing with J&K in any domain only twice. First was in 1996 with the return to democracy. The second was the secret backroom dialogue on the ‘four point formula’, from 2004 to 2007, with intent to territorially resolve J&K; it failed. Since 2008, there have been ups and downs but a policy resolve towards the adoption of fresh strategy has been elusive, until now.  The decision to adopt proactive military response without a Pakistani military initiative was taken in 2002; it did then and has continued to keep Pakistan under pressure. Why the status quo ruled the roost was due to there being governments in New Delhi and Srinagar which remained happy at that as long as the security situation remained under control. The Separatist leadership led their lives with full government support. The government had the fond hope that it could one day do a ‘Mizoram’ with them; militants coming over ground, fighting elections and forming the government. To be frank, the one time both Article 370 and 35A could have been done away with and the people of J&K brought on board towards full integration was after the victory of 1971. Kashmir may have reacted with turbulence for some time but with Pakistan cut to size and 93,000 prisoners of war in India, there could have been nothing better.

The Government of India is hopefully aware of the fact that the major issue due to which an impasse has existed this long in J&K, has been the absence of strategic policy which has forced the security forces too to follow a policy of summer and winter strategies without ever looking at the larger picture and having a strategic aim. The recent statements by the Raksha Mantri, Shri Rajnath Singh, on PoK and No First Use in the nuclear domain may not be policy statements but do indicate a change in mindset towards a clearer strategy. However, for the short term, India has to cater to increased Pakistani efforts towards internationalisation and upping the ante through high-profile terror acts. The feasibility of street turbulence at high pitch appears comparatively low. The efforts to control the latter many times compromise the pace and effectiveness of counter-terrorist operations.

As the government readies itself for what could be a temporary phase of violence through enhanced attempted infiltration and street turbulence, it needs to continue to build a long-term strategy.  This should aim at emasculating Pakistani capability of calibration and neutralise the efforts at internationalisation through high levels of diplomatic and intellectual engagement. Second, it must equally focus on PoK, Gilgit and Baltistan taking a cue from the Raksha Mantri; these cannot remain one-off personal utterances. Third, of which the first portents seem to be emerging, remains the necessity of getting the civil administration to have a self-belief that this proxy war is not just the business of the Army, JK Police and CAPFs; it’s a hybrid proxy war which needs to be addressed comprehensively. Seeing the J&K Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary Home giving media briefs appears to spell for me a change in tack. That is the way forward.

There are four other things which fall in the strategic domain. First is human rights (HR). Peaceful protest is very much a right but vicious stone-throwing does not fall in that category. There is going to be a manipulated assault on India in the domain of HR internationally. I sense it and can only recall the strategy of political consensus as the best response; who can forget the face of Atal Bihari Vajpayee leading the Indian delegation to the first ever UNHRC conference at Geneva in Jun 1994.

The second is the dire necessity to continue with even greater vigour  the targeting of the ecosystem or nexus which has come to dictate terms in Kashmir. Especially finances, media, separatist rabble-rousers and radical members of the clergy require a separate campaign under the aegis of people who understand the nuances.

Third is intense information warfare with ‘fake news’ becomes the core of the Pakistan strategy. Countering this with existing machinery is a losing battle because Pakistan has developed its propaganda machinery rather well. Ours must not be an incremental approach towards developing the counter machinery; it cannot be ad hoc anymore and needs structures more than ever before.

Fourth and last is the need for a strategic ‘hearts and minds’ campaign but not the Operation Sadbhavana variety of the Indian Army, which incidentally delivered hugely where it needed to deliver, at the tactical level. Now is the time for involvement of the state in entirety, every department and every element of the administration has to join the effort towards engagement with the populace. Town hall types of meetings to resolve pending issues, youth engagement schemes, women empowerment, intra-state contacts with Jammu division, mutual adoption of towns of the Valley with those of Jammu, seminars and meetings between like-minded professionals. The scope is only limited by our imagination and inability to inspire commitment.

A broad strategy must be evolved and tweaked as we progress because without it crisis time may loom ahead and arrive faster than we can imagine.