http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131219/nation.htm#4
DGMOs’ meet: India to counter Pak with data
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News
Service
New Delhi,
December 18
At the forthcoming
meeting of Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and
Pakistan, the Indian side will be armed with facts and figures to show that the
firing from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir was a direct
proactive action by the Pakistani forces.
New Delhi will
counter Pakistan with figures of increased ceasefire violations. There will be
specifics with dates to show increased activity along the LoC and the
international boundary ahead of any major event in India, be it a sporting
event, a political development or a cultural event in Jammu and Kashmir. The
two countries had agreed on ceasefire in 2003, but it is followed more in
breach, with either side accusing the other of unprovoked firing on villages
and civilians along the 749-km-long LoC and the 198-km-long section of the
settled international border in Jammu and Kashmir.
Either country
talks about a few hundred violations by the other every year.
New Delhi alleges
Pakistani troops fire from across the border in violation of the ceasefire
whenever terrorists are to enter India. Firing is done to keep the Indian
troops engaged so that terrorists can sneak in. The LoC is actually the 1949
ceasefire line between two forces that was renamed as the LoC following the
1972 Simla Agreement. Indian DGMO Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia will meet his Pakistani
counterpart Maj Gen Amir Riaz on December 24 and both sides are expected to
present their viewpoints on the issue.
With international
forces scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan, India is apprehensive that
“jihadis” will try to enter Kashmir. “We foresee a repeat of 1989 when the
Soviet Union exited Afghanistan and trained fighters started entering Kashmir,”
the Indian side maintains.
The DGMOs are
meeting for the first time since July 11, 1999, though both talk to each other
over a special telephonic hotline every Tuesday. An understanding on DGMOs’
meeting was reached when PM Manmohan Singh met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz
Sharif in New York in September.
On agenda
The Indian side will try to show that the firing
from across the Line of Control was a direct proactive action by the Pakistani
forces
There will be specifics with dates to show
increased activity along the LoC and the international boundary ahead of any
major event in India
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131219/nation.htm#11
Remembering the
war hero
On December 16, 42
years ago, a newly commissioned officer 2nd Lt Arun Khetarpal had etched a tale
of valour in blood, blunting a Pakistani armoured assault in the Shakargarh
sector on the western frontier, for which he was decorated posthumously with
the Param Vir Chakra, the nation’s highest gallantry award.
Muhammad Nasir,
who was then a major and whose armoured column had been decimated, had stood
like an insurmountable rock, refusing to yield even an inch and was solely
responsible for the Pakistani defeat in that battle. To mark this day, a
special remembrance and wreath-laying ceremony was held at Chandimandir with
full military honours on December 16, where tributes were paid to 2/Lt Khetarpal
by his course mates, who are anointed as the ‘Born to Battle’ course,
commissioned as they were on June 13, 1971. A large gathering of his course
mates from all the three services accompanied by ladies laid wreaths at the
statue of the war hero. Officers recalled Khetarpal as a Good Samaritan who was
always at hand to help anyone in distress.
Handing over of
Sikh Regiment baton
The serving and
retired fraternity of the Sikh Regiment homed on to the lawns of the officers’
mess of 124 Infantry battalion (Sikh) Territorial Army adjacent to the India
Gate in the Capital on December 14. The occasion was special, as not only was
it time for the annual Saragarhi lunch, but it also marked the handing over of
the Regimental Baton to the new Colonel of the Sikh Regiment, Lt Gen GS
Shergill by incumbent Lt Gen Sumer Singh, amid the sounding of the regimental
war cry of “Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akal”. At a solemn ceremony, the baton was
handed over to Lt Gen GS Shergill by Lt Gen Sumer Singh. The gathering included
most of the serving senior officers of the regiment and a galaxy of veteran
officers and ladies. Among them were the indomitable 94-year-old Col KC
Manchanda, Vir Chakra recipient Brig Shamsher Singh and four former Colonels of
the Sikh Regiment, Lt Gen PS Vadehra, Lt Gen SS Chahal, Lt Gen Devraj Singh and
Lt Gen RS Sujlana. Saragarhi lunch is held in the honour of 21 soldiers from
the 36th Sikh (now 4th Sikh), who held their post in North-West Frontier
Province (now Pakistan) to the last man against an overwhelming force of 10,000
Afghan tribesmen in September 1897. All 21 soldiers were decorated posthumously
with the Indian Order or Merit, then the highest gallantry award applicable to
Indian soldiers.
Torch rally in
martyr’s memory
A torch rally to
mark the martyrdom of Maj Amiy Kumar Tripathi of 19 Sikh has now become an
annual feature. This year, the rally was flagged off in Lucknow on December 18
by Lt Gen GS Shergill, Chief of the Staff Central Command and Colonel of the
Sikh Regiment. It will cover a distance of 400 km and culminate at Kushinagar,
the officer’s native village on December 21. Maj Tripathi had died fighting
terrorists in 2004 at Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir and was decorated with the
Shaurya Chakra. He was then serving with the Rashtriya Rifles. Son of a former
MLA in Uttar Pradesh, he was commissioned into the army in 1990. After his
death, his family and well-wishers formed “SMAT” an acronym for Shaheed Major
Amiy Tripathi, which organises a host of outdoor and cultural events, ensuring
participation of maximum youth, with an ultimate aim of drawing inspiration
from Maj Tripathi. The rally was flagged off from Sainik School, Lucknow, of
which the slain officer is an alumnus.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131219/edit.htm#5
China flexes its
muscles
Its claims beyond
its borders violate a UN convention
G Parthasarathy
The symbolism of
Emperor Akihito’s visit to Delhi and India's extraordinary gesture of the
Monarch being personally received on arrival by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
could not have passed unnoticed in Beijing and other Asian capitals. The visit
coincided with Beijing taking unprecedented steps to declare large areas beyond
its land borders as an “Air Defence Identification Zone” (ADIZ), challenging
the sovereign rights of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan over islands and reefs
controlled by them. Under its new notification, China required all foreign
powers to give prior notification of their aircraft — civilian and military —
flying over the ADIZ, reinforced by the threat to scramble fighter aircraft to
challenge any violations. These extraordinary measures by China, which are
known to have followed years of internal discussions, were undertaken almost
immediately after the Third Plenum of the Communist Party’s 18th Congress.
The Communist
Party Plenum put the seal of President Xi Jinping’s virtually unchallenged
leadership. Apart from populist measures like doing away with the one-child
policy, eliminating repressive labour camps and providing relief to migrant
labour, strong anti-corruption measures were promised together with removing
government control over the allocation of resources. But perhaps the most
significant announcement was the establishment of an apex national security
committee under President Xi, which gives him powers on national security
issues akin to those exercised by Deng Xiao Ping. Deng wielded these powers
when China was relatively weak economically and militarily and had to follow
his wise advice: “Hide your strength and bide you time”.
The Deng era has
been followed by an economically vibrant and militarily robust China flexing
its muscles across its entire neighbourhood. Having added an aircraft carrier
to its fleet to project power, China clearly intends to expand its reach across
the Pacific and Indian oceans, defining its maritime frontiers unilaterally in
the South China Sea under its “Nine Dotted Line”. It has militarily seized the
Paracel islands from Vietnam and asserted claims of sovereignty on the Spratly islands,
overriding objections from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and
Vietnam. It has used force to seize the Mischief Reef, located barely 51 km
from the Philippines and 590 km from its Hainan island. China’s extraordinary
claims on its maritime borders do not conform to the provisions of the UN
Convention of the Laws of the Seas.
China’s assertion
of its ADIZ has been challenged by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The US has
challenged the legality of the ADIZ by sending unarmed B 52 bombers into the
zone. But US commercial aircraft have been advised to observe China’s
requirements. Japan and South Korea have, however, refused to comply with the
Chinese demands. The Chinese threats of overflying the disputed Senkaku islands
have been have been met by Japan scrambling F15 fighters. The South Koreans
proclaimed: “We expressed deep regret and reaffirmed our jurisdictional rights
to the waters surrounding the (submerged rock) Leodo, which would not be
affected by the neighbouring State’s air defence zones”. The Chinese
announcement of its ADIZ has exacerbated the existing dispute with South Korea
over fishing rights in the Yellow Sea.
Vice President
Biden expressed his solidarity with allies Japan and South Korea over China’s
border claims during his visits to Tokyo and Seoul. The US has also sent P 8
Poseidon Maritime Patrol aircraft to Japan. China’s aim is clearly to get Japan
to accept that the Senkaku islands are disputed territories. According to the
well-informed Hong Kong-based Asia Weekly, China sees its maritime boundary in
the East China Sea as stretching from the southernmost Japanese island towards
the East Coast of Taiwan and joining the South China Sea. China is now clearly
seeking unchallenged access to the Pacific Ocean. In 2009 the Commander of the
US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Timothy Keating, told Indian interlocutors that one
of his Chinese counterparts had suggested to him that when China acquired
aircraft carriers, the US should leave maritime security responsibilities in
the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans to be handled by the Chinese navy, with
the US confining itself to security of the Eastern Pacific.
Even as Japan and
others facing security challenges from China are upgrading their defence,
India’s defence spending this year has reached an estimated all-time low of
1.79 per cent of the GDP. Even as the Chinese build their communication
networks across their borders with India and across Gilgit-Baltistan and
Pakistan, our armed forces take days to reach the outer periphery of our borders.
Our Army is woefully short of mountain artillery, the under-strength Air Force
desperately needs Multi Role Combat Aircraft and the Navy is equipped with an
aging and obsolescent submarine fleet. Essential reforms to our archaic defence
structures recommended by the Naresh Chandra Task Force around 18 months ago
remain unimplemented. Sadly, South Block has no dearth of apologists for
China's policies who have even sought to downplay Chinese transgressions in
Chumar in the Ladakh sector. These continuing intrusions have crossed the
Karakoram Range, the great watershed that separates China from the
subcontinent. They have been accompanied by Chinese claims to the whole of
Arunachal Pradesh, reiterated recently to protest the visit of President Pranab
Mukherjee to the state.
P Stopdan, who
hails from Ladakh, recently voiced serious concerns about the Chinese ingress
into the region. After explaining how the Ladakh-Tibetan border was defined in
the Ladakh-Tibet Treaty of Tingmosgang in 1684, Stopdan has dwelt on how
Chinese territorial claims have grown in Ladakh ever since 1956. He has drawn
attention to how China dealt with its borders with its Central Asian
neighbours. He notes that China purports to give “concessions” without actually
giving an inch of territory. He adds: “The Chinese will have a maximum claim
and then they will settle for (what purports to be) the minimum territory. They
will present it as a win-win situation to all parties, but in essence usurp
what is far more than their legitimate claim”. Referring to negotiations with
Kazakhstan Stopden notes: “After the Soviet Union collapsed, China settled for
a third of the territories it claimed, the claim itself being maximalist with
little basis”. Overawed by the Chinese, the Kazakhs were forced to give
assurances of non-interference from their soil and part with 60 per cent of
their vast oil resources to the Chinese. China follows the advice of its
Chanakya, Sun Tzu, who proclaimed: “To subdue the enemy without fighting is the
supreme excellence”. Our brilliant negotiators, forever apologetic about
Chinese intrusions and claims, would be well advised to study Chanakya’s
Arthashastra on statecraft.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131219/main5.htm
India, Pak hold
flag meet in Poonch
Battalion
commanders discuss ceasefire violations along LoC
Tribune News
Service
Jammu, December 18
Ahead of the
Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) meeting scheduled for December
24, India and Pakistan today held a flag meeting at battalion commanders’ level
at Chakkan-Da-Bagh crossing in Poonch district and discussed ceasefire
violations along the Line of Control (LoC).
Officiating Public
Relations Officer, Defence, Jammu, SN Acharya said the flag meeting was held at
11.30 am and the delegations of both sides were led by colonel-level officers.
“The meeting discussed
ceasefire violations and the need to abide by the tenets of existing ceasefire
agreement between the two countries. The talks were held in a cordial
atmosphere and both sides agreed to give due consideration to the issues raised
by the other side,” the Defence PRO said in a statement.
He claimed the meeting was
proposed by the Indian side with an aim to restore peace along the LoC.
The DGMOs of both countries
would meet on December 24 to scale down tension along the LoC. The meeting will
be held at Wagah after a gap of 14 years.
Although the DGMOs of both
countries talk almost every week on hotline, the last meeting between them took
place in 1999 after the Kargil war. The upcoming meeting is expected to discuss
ways in which the ceasefire agreement can be upheld.
Nawaz Sharif, China welcome
move
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif on Wednesday welcomed the scheduled meeting between DGMOs of the two
countries. “Pakistan’s intentions towards its neighbours are positive and it
expects similar reciprocity from them,” he said. Welcoming the recent
developments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: “We
welcome the efforts made by Pakistan and India for ceasefire in the area around
Kashmir.
India to counter Pak with
facts
At the forthcoming meeting of
DGMOs of India and Pakistan, the Indian side will be armed with facts and
figures to show that the firing from across the Line of Control in Jammu and
Kashmir was a direct proactive action by the Pakistani forces. There will be
specifics with dates to show increased activity along the LoC and the
international boundary ahead of any major event in India, be it a sporting
event, a political development or a cultural event in J-K. P8
http://minivannews.com/politics/defense-minister-returns-from-india-with-gifts-and-reassurances-73542
Defense minister
returns from India with gifts and reassurances
Minister of
Defence and National Security Mohamed Nazim has returned from his five day
official visit to India bearing gifts and reassurances of better defense
cooperation and hope for improved bilateral relations.
A major highlight
of the trip was India’s gift to Maldives military, a locally manufactured
‘Dhruv’ Advanced Lightweight Helicopter (ALH). The Helicopter the second India
has gifted – will reach Maldives in two months.
India also assured
the delivery of a landing craft within this period – promised during Nazim’s
previous visit to India as President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Defence minister.
During that visit, nine months ago, India promised seven new radar systems, in
addition to three radar systems India had already gifted to the Maldives.
Nazim also
addressed specific issues of concern that had emerged during the previous
administration’s period of weakened ties with India.
The shortage of
construction material imported from India following a special quota for
Maldives being revoked in February 2013, and the difficulties in acquiring
medical Visa for Maldivians traveling to India were discussed.
Both issues will
be discussed further during President Yameen’s official visit to India early
next year.
Nazim’s visit –
from 11-15 December – was prompted by an invitation from his counterpart AK
Anthony. During the visit, Nazim met many senior government officials, amongst
them Minister of Home Affairs Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of External Affairs
Salman Khurshid, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, Chief of Army
Staff General Bikram Singh, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral DK Joshi and Chief of
Air Staff Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne.
Nazim requested
Indian assistance to acquire equipment and training for disaster management and
fire and rescue services – a coast guard vessel for patrolling the Maldives’
EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) and an auxiliary vessel to improve logistical
support across the country.
Training
opportunities were also sought in other areas such as aviation security, pilot
training, air traffic control training, MBBS and specialist medical training.
During the visit,
the Maldives defense minister informed Indian officials of the progress of the
Composite Training Center being constructed at Maafilaafushi (Lhaviyani Atoll)
with Indian financial assistance. A
ten-story building for the Coast Guard and the Ministry of Defense and National
Security also is all set to be built at the current Coast Guard Building’s
location with Indian grant aid.
Apart from
improving the military, Nazim’s main focus during the visit was on health
security, especially regarding the development of MNDF’s ‘Senahiya’ military
hospital – officially inaugurated by Indian Defense minister in September 2012.
Nazim sought
Indian assistance in getting medical equipment such as CT scan and MRI machines
for the hospital. India also agreed to deputise Indian Armed Forces medical
specialists to Senahiya and other regions of Maldives in a near future.
Training of MNDF
medical specialists was also discussed, while the Indian defense minister
announced the opportunity for MNDF personnel to be treated for major surgeries
and serious illnesses at India’s armed forces medical institutions
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-13/india/45160720_1_defence-ministry-indian-army-gen-bikram-singh
Why did you accept
US award without clearance? Govt asks Army chief
NEW DELHI: The
acceptance of a US military award by Army chief Gen Bikram Singh has not gone
down well with the defence ministry which has sent a poser to him asking why he
received it without government clearance.
The Army chief was
conferred with the 'Legion of Merit', the sixth highest American military
honour, during his visit to the US from December 2 to 5.
The defence
ministry has claimed that it came to know about it only through media reports
after the conferment as it was not part of Gen Singh's itinerary provided prior
to the visit, sources said.
Unhappy over it,
the defence ministry has sought to know from the Army chief why he accepted the
award without clearance from the government, the sources said.
The defence
ministry has argued that services chiefs have to have clearance from the
government to receive foreign honours.
When contacted for
a reaction, Army headquarters here said they were not aware of the issue.
By receiving the
honour, Gen Bikram Singh joined the ranks of legendary figures of the Indian
Army including Field Marshal KM Kariappa.
The award is given
to services chiefs and officers for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the
performance of outstanding services and achievements.
Gen Singh is the
fifth Indian armed forces officer to have received the award after Field
Marshal Kariappa and first Indian Chief of Army Staff Gen Rajendra Singhji.
The 'Legion of
Merit' decoration is issued both to United States military personnel and to
military and political figures of foreign governments.
The Army chief
visited the US at a time when the force is planning to procure M-777 ultra
light howitzers and Javelin anti-tank missiles from there and the issues are
expected to have come up for discussion there.
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