Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 29

India and Myanmar today signed a Memorandum of Understanding on defence co-operation.

This was preceded by talks between the two sides. The talks were aimed at enhancing defence cooperation, reviewing joint exercises and training provided to Myanmar Defence Services, strengthening maritime security by joint surveillance and capacity building, medical co-operation, pollution response and for developing new infrastructure.

Minister of State for Defence Shripad Yesso Naik held talks with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services (CDS) Myanmar.

The visiting military commander is on an eight-day visit to India (July 25-August 2). Earlier, he paid homage at the National War Memorial.

Myanmar is a key pillar of India’s Act East Policy towards prioritising relations with its East Asian neighbours. India has steadily increased defence cooperation with Myanmar in recent years.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 28

In a serious professional lapse, the Director-General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor, on Sunday tweeted a doctored video of Air Marshal Denzil Keelor (retd) and termed it as an ‘admission of Indian failure and losses on February 27, 2019’.

Hours later, on being called out over Twitter that the video was not post-Balakot (February 26, 2019) but a programme made in 2015 about India’s wars in the 1960s, Major General Ghafoor accepted his error saying “the clip of Air Marshal is revealed to be doctored….Unintentional omission is acknowledged, especially to Indians”.

Air Marshal Keelor is an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot, who was awarded Vir Chakra for his role in 1965 Indo-Pak War.

In the video, originally shot in 2015, the IAF ace is speaking about the 1962 war with China and the 1965 war with Pakistan. Air Marshal Keelor is heard saying: “Some of the things that happen are losses, for instance. During war, you win and you lose. Some of the losses were not right. They were due to tactical errors, due to inexperience and you can’t go to war with this type of inexperience.”

The video ends with him saying: “Firstly, it should have been made public. Because it gave a detailed account of the political failures, military leadership failures, tactical failures, strategic failures…which led to this debacle. We all know it. I don’t see any reason why people should be ashamed to show it.”

Major General Ghafoor used this video and claimed that the IAF veteran was admitting to failure of Balakot strikes on February 27.

The original video was posted on YouTube in August, 2015, three years before the Balakot airstrike, by a channel called Wild Films India. In the video titled ‘Nehru lost India the war’, the Air Marshal speaks about India’s battle losses.

In this, he said of the 1965 war that Pakistan had a radar system, interception system with ability to detect, identify, intercept and destroy, we did not have it”.

Major General Ghafoor in his first tweet assumed that Air Marshal Keelor was talking of the present scenario. The IAF veteran, now 85-year-old, lives a retired life in Lucknow and has not reacted so far.

Civilians and army veterans paying tributes to the war heroes at Kargil Park in Mandi on Friday.

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 25

Twenty years after the Kargil conflict, the 168-km wide ‘Kargil’ frontage along the Line of Control (LoC) now has the heaviest deployment of artillery guns anywhere in India, sources in the Army said.

India’s war-time lessons have resulted in the addition of an array of artillery guns. This is backed by layered surveillance systems meshed in with the huge increase in manpower and fire capability.India has the ability to station a division of artillery guns. Some are permanently stationed, others can be sent within a few hours, a functionary said, narrating what has changed in 20 years.

Artillery guns played a major role in the Kargil war. Lt Gen VK Narula (retd), former Director General Artillery, says: “Artillery guns can neutralise the enemy positions allowing the ground forces much easier access. This is what exactly happened in Kargil. The guns had pulverised the enemy at all Pakistani positions other than those behind the mountains.”Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan had fought the war in May-July 1999 along the 168-km Himalayan ridgeline that forms the Mushkoh-Drass-Kargil-Batalik-Turtuk axis of the LoC. An internal study within the Army points to how future wars could be different, asymmetric and dominated by the use of cyber and space assets.

At a national seminar in Mid-July “20 years after Kargil conflict”, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat spoke of two issues — changing character of warfare and transformation of forces. “In these 20 years, character of warfare and its conduct has changed. Cyber and space have changed the dynamics and both will be fiercely contested,” he said.

Another change for India is the ability of surveillance. The existing layers include UAVs, long range sights that look as far as 25 km, and thermal imagers. During winter, aerial sorties are carried out with high resolution cameras that provide live feed into control rooms. Twenty years ago, the IAF had just Mirage-2000 jets that filmed things in black and white. The tape had to be carried back to the operations room to be studied.

The next addition in this surveillance layer will be ‘quad-copters’ (small drones) and tactical UAVs. Since 1999, the Army has not vacated any posts in those icy heights. Its manpower for the 196-km frontage was a mere ‘3,000’ troops, but now it stands at 12,000 with the ability to airlift acclimatised troops within hours.

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Leh, July 24

After covering nearly 1,000 km from Delhi, the ‘Victory Flame’ today reached Leh before reaching the final stop at Drass in Kargil district.

At Leh, the ‘Victory Flame’ was received by Lt Gen YK Joshi, GOC, Fire and Fury Corps, from Col Sonam Wangchuk, Kargil war hero and Mahavir Chakra awardee. The flame was kindled at the National War Memorial in New Delhi on July 14 and was lit by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The flame was carried by relay in all major cities and towns in North India before reaching Leh. It will reach Drass on Friday to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in the Kargil conflict. It will be merged with the eternal flame at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass.

During the relay, flame-bears crossed major passes, including Rohtang La, Bara-lacha La, Namki La, Lachulung La and Tanglang La. — TNS

Our Correspondent

Rajouri, July 20

Amid heavy shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district on Saturday, a man died of heart attack as mortar shells landed near his house, while in another village the deputy sarpanch received splinter injuries and was rushed to the district hospital at Poonch.

The firing and shelling came close to the day-long visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistan army targeted forward locations/posts of the Indian Army and many stray mortar shells landed in the villages situated between LoC and the fence.

“Around 9 am, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation with firing of small arms and shelling with mortars along the LoC in the Mendhar sector. The Indian Army retaliated befittingly,” said Lt Col Davender Anand, PRO Defence.

Dr Parvaiz Khan, Block Medical Officer, Mendhar, said Manzoor Hussain (60) of Dheri Dabsi village died due to heart attack when a few shells landed near his house.

Deputy sarpanch of the Kisti Balnoi panchayat Zaffar-Ullah-Khan received splinter injuries in the right hand and was taken to the Poonch district hospital, he added.

Lahore, July 13

The foundation stone of Baba Guru Nanak International University has been laid in Nankana Sahib, the birth place of founder of Sikhism Baba Guru Nanak Dev, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, more that a decade after its construction proposal first surfaced.

The foundation stone of the university was laid by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Friday and would be completed with an amount of over Rs 258 crore spread over 10 acres.

The government, however, has not yet declared about the tentative period the varsity would be built. 

“The construction of the BGNU will begin once the legal formalities in this regard are met,” an official of the Punjab government told PTI on Saturday.

He said the work on this project will begin soon since Nankana Sahib falls in the constituency of Federal Interior Minister Brig Ijaz Shah (retd). 

“Brig Shah is a powerful minister in PM Imran Khan’s cabinet and on his invitation Punjab CM Buzdar came to Nankana Sahib and laid the foundation stone of the BGNIU,” he said.

Brig Shah recently took over as the interior minister.

During the occasion, Buzdar said various neglected districts like Nankana Sahib will be brought at par with the developed cities.

“Establishment of Baba Guru Nanak University in Nankana Sahib is the part of prime minister’s vision to facilitate students in Nankana Sahib and other adjoining districts,” he said.

The decision to construct the university came after the Sikhs living in Pakistan demanded a university after the name of  the founder of their religion Baba Guru Nanak at his birthplace in Nankana Sahib.

The proposal of the university was first surfaced in the Punjab government of Pervaiz Elahi in 2003.

Two years ago in the government of PML-N, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) gave a final approval to the project.

Then ETPB chairman Siddiqul Farooq said this varsity would help promote religious tourism in Pakistan and also portray country’s good image at international level.

Earlier this year, for the first time a Pakistani university had created the Baba Guru Nanak research chair to promote the message of peace that the Sikh spiritual leader preached.

A motel of the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) was also inaugurated in Nankana Sahib by the Punjab CM to promote religious tourism.

Buzdar also laid the foundation stone of a road repair project in  Nankana Sahib district that will be completed with Rs 150 million.

“A dual road will also be laid from Gurdawara Tanboo Sahib to Gurdwara Janam Asthaan. The road connecting the Guru Nanak University to Nankana-Warburton Road will also be constructed,” a senior official said. — PTI