Should India convert landing helicopter docks (LHDs) into mini aircraft carrier?

SOURCE: MAHESH SHETTI / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

India requires four Landing Helicopter Docks to upgrade the Indian Navy’s disaster response, amphibious warfare, and island protection capabilities. The Indian Navy issued an RFP for the LHDs in late 2013, but no action was taken on the proposals. The requirement was reaffirmed in May 2017 and fresh bids invited but due to sole contender qualifying for the contract it was again put into backburner.

Indian Navy had plans to equip these four warships with to carry six main battle tanks; 20 infantry combat vehicles; 40 heavy trucks; and more than 900 troops and be armed with air defense missiles and close-in weapon system for safety and also carry Sikorsky S-70B Seahawks helicopters to handle anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), naval special warfare (NSW) insertion, search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR), vertical replenishment (VERTREP), and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) roles.

Tightening budget and post-Chinese virus economy situation in the country will mean that chances of Indian Navy getting approvals for third aircraft carrier with a displacement of 65000 tonnes as planned is unlikely to happen but India’s second-hand INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier which had a life span of only 25 years is unlikely to be active also for too long and will be retired by 2040 due to which we have to either plan a second INS Vikrant class aircraft carriers or opt to convert four LHDs into mini aircraft carriers.

This 20000 tonne proposed LHDs are not decent enough to carry a full load of helicopters and prospective fighter jets so for it to be operated as a mini aircraft carrier it needs to be at least 9000 tonnes more in displacement then planned as seen in the Japanese Izumo-class helicopter destroyer which can carry at least dozen fighter jets like F-35B with Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) Capabilities.
Russians are also working on a successor to the YAK-141 supersonic vertical takeoff/landing (VTOL) fighter dubbed as ‘Yak-150’, which according to Russian media reports will be similar in performance to the F-35B and are designed to be operated from the new 20,000-35,000 tonne amphibious assault ships which have been planned for the Russian Navy.

Instead of one large aircraft carrier operating 50 jets in the Indian ocean, converting four LHDs into mini aircraft carriers will give the Indian Navy much needed strategic depth against the Chinese Navy which has been shunning out aircraft carriers at a much faster rate which India can’t compete with. Chinese have plans to operate at least 5 aircraft carriers and also developed nuclear-powered ones soon and have plans to depute at least one aircraft carrier fleet for the Indian Ocean region which will be stationed permanently in the Indian ocean in their naval base in Gwadar or Djibouti.

Indian Navy can’t defend two islands chain at the opposite side of the waters with such two aircraft carriers and will require four such LHDs to be India’s force multipliers in the region so has to not be overburden in the region by a superior navy in its own backward.

Disclaimer : Articles published under ” MY TAKE ” are articles written by Guest Writers and Opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. IDRW.ORG is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of IDRW.ORG and IDRW.ORG does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. article is for information purposes only and not intended to constitute professional advice .

Article by MAHESH SHETTI /,  cannot be republished Partially or Full without consent from Writer or idrw.org

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How Pakistan is working on Indian Muslim rebellion to secure its Kashmir Dream?

Published May 1, 2020

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By admin

SOURCE: RAJESH AHUJA / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG

Again Shah Mahmood Qureshi who is Minister of Foreign Affairs for Pakistan has written a letter to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) complaining of the hypothetical genocide which India has been committing against its Muslims citizen and Selected Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan since last August has been Tweeting every week trying to bring the attention of the World against so-called fascist Modi who till now has committed biggest genocide in the history of humanity.

Sudden love for Indian Muslims particularly after Anir-CAA protests and Delhi riots shows that selected PM and the Pakistani military establishment is now focused on the Indian Muslims to achieve its Kashmiri Goal by building up Internal rebellion within India to district India internally and also for possible military or political intervention in the Kashmir.

By raking up India’s Internal matter at International forums, Pakistan is working to build a negative counter-image of India for two reasons. One to build a recruitment source for its Terror activities in Kashmir so that it can increase its terror activities in the valley after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan to put pressure on the Indian forces but also build up financial supplies from the OIC countries for the Jihad in the Kashmir.

Part 2 of the Plan is to rebuild an organization within India for Internal Terror attacks just like it had managed to create when ” Indian Mujahideen” nearly 10 years ago with help from Indian Jihadis like Yasin Bhatkal which headed Indian operations and carried out multiple bomb blast in India and killed several. Anti-CAA protests would also be a recruitment ground for overground sleeper cells which might be used to support more terror activities in India.

Disclaimer : Articles published under ” MY TAKE ” are articles written by Guest Writers and Opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. IDRW.ORG is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of IDRW.ORG and IDRW.ORG does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. article is for information purposes only and not intended to constitute professional advice .

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India and Pakistan’s Nuclear Procurement Networks Are Larger Than Thought, Study Shows

SOURCE: REUTERS

Hundreds of foreign companies are actively procuring components for India and Pakistan’s nuclear programmes, taking advantage of gaps in the global regulation of the industry, according to a report by a US-based research group. Using open-source data, the nonprofit Centre For Advance Defense Studies (C4ADS) report provides one of the most comprehensive overviews of networks supplying the rivals, in a region regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous nuclear flashpoints.

“India and Pakistan are taking advantage of gaps in global non-proliferation regimes and export controls to get what they need,” said Jack Margolin, a C4ADS analyst and co-author of the report.

It is seldom possible to determine whether individual transactions are illegal by using publicly available data, Margolin said, and the report does not suggest that companies mentioned broke national or international laws or regulations.

But past reports by the think tank, whose financial backers include the Carnegie Corporation and the Wyss Foundation, have often led to action by law enforcement agencies.

Spokesmen from the offices of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan did not respond to requests for comment. Pakistan’s military, which plays a major role in decision-making for the nuclear weapons programme, also declined to comment.

To identify companies involved, C4ADS analysed more than 125 million records of public trade and tender data and documents, and then checked them against already-identified entities listed by export control authorities in the United States and Japan.

Pakistan, which is subject to strict international export controls on its programme, has 113 suspected foreign suppliers listed by the United States and Japan. But the C4ADS report found an additional 46, many in shipment hubs like Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

“In Pakistan’s case, they have a lot more stringent controls, and they get around these by using transnational networks… and exploiting opaque jurisdictions,” Margolin said.

The father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, AQ Khan, admitted in 2004 to selling nuclear technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya. He was pardoned a day later by Pakistani authorities, which have refused requests from international investigators to question him.

India has a waiver that allows it to buy nuclear technology from international markets. The Indian government allows inspections of some nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but not all of them.

Neither India or Pakistan have signed the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, adhered to by most nuclear powers. Consequently, they are not obliged to submit to IAEA oversight over all of their facilities.

C4ADS identified 222 companies that did business with the nuclear facilities in India that had no IAEA oversight. Of these, 86 companies did business with more than one such nuclear facility in India.

“It’s evidence that more needs to be done, and that there needs to be a more sophisticated approach taken to India,” Margolin said. “Just because the product is not explicitly bound for a military facility, that doesn’t mean that the due diligence process ends there.”

India and Pakistan have gone to war three times – twice over Kashmir – since they won independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Having for years secretly developed nuclear weapons capability, the two declared themselves nuclear powers following tit-for-tat atomic tests in 1998.

A few years later, in 2002, the two foes almost went to war for a fourth time, following an attack by Pakistan-based militants on the Parliament in New Delhi. And a year ago, a suicide attack by a Pakistan-based militant group in a part of Kashmir controlled by India sparked another flare up in tensions.

Both countries are estimated to have around 150 useable nuclear warheads apiece, according to the Federation of American Scientists, a nonprofit group tracking stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

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India Qualifies to Become Permanent Member of UNSC, Says Syed Akbaruddin

SOURCE: News18

India is qualified to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, said country’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin, according to reports. “One of India’s aspirational goals was, is and will remain permanent membership of the Security Council, because we feel by any present-day calculus, we would qualify for the status,” he told The Hindu.

Explaining further, he said the expansion and reform of the Security Council is not an India-centric issue and involves a ‘host of teams’ as many believe that India is ‘sui generic.’”India, in many ways, is a sui generis country. It’s a country of a billion-plus, it’s a country which is a democracy, perhaps the only example in history of a billion-plus people working together in a democratic framework. We will bring to it those values and strengths of being able to work cohesively among disparate entities. That’s our USP, we try and work out solutions,” he added.

The official’s comment came as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced a change of guard with veteran diplomat TS Tirumurti named as India’s next Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Tirumurti will replace Akbaruddin, who has held the position for over four and a half years. He retires on 30 April.

The change was announced as India gears up to join the UNSC in 2021 as a non-permanent member.

While Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during his visit to New Delhi, had backed India and Brazil entry into the UNSC as permanent members, China has downplayed the comments.

Earlier in the year, China said all parties have “major differences” in the matter and instead advocated for a “package solution.”

Reacting to Lavrov’s statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang had said member countries of the UN have differences over reforms in the world body.

China, which has veto power in the UNSC, is one of its five permanent members and has been stonewalling India’s efforts to become a permanent member of the powerful UN body for years. Beijing has pointed out lack of consensus even though the other four countries, US, UK, France and Russia, have backed New Delhi’s membership.

Meanwhile, the MEA also appointed two envoys to Gulf countries. Deepak Mittal, who was the Joint Secretary in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran has been appointed as the next Ambassador to Qatar. While another senior diplomat Piyush Srivastava, who has served as the Joint Secretary (North) in MEA, has been appointed as India’s next Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The ministry has transferred Ambassador to Philippines Jaideep Mazumdar to head the embassy in Austria. Joint Secretary in MEA Namrata Kumar has been appointed as the next India Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia.

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Govt to make payments to foreign vendors, tells defence PSUs to restart work

Published May 1, 2020

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By admin

SOURCE: ET

India will honour payments for ongoing defence procurements to be made to foreign vendors but new acquisitions could get slightly delayed as the government has put in place several expense limitations, even as plans are being put in place to resume operations by defence public sector units (PSU).

The lockdown and its economic toll will not impact committed liabilities that have been budgeted for the armed forces for programs like the Rafale fighter jet deal and the S400 air defence systems, sources told ET. India is also looking at quickly ramping up local defence production, with defence minister Rajnath Singh directing all PSUs to prepare contingency plans for resumption of operations and make up for lost working time at the earliest.

While there is a fear that PSUs and government-owned shipyards that have ongoing programs could see delayed payments because of the restrictions, the minister has said tPSUs and the private defence industry could `play a major role in the economic revival’ of the nation.

On future procurements that have been in the pipeline and were expected to be signed in the coming weeks, sources said, there could be some delays but there are no indications yet that the overall budget would be curtailed for necessary purchases. Among the programs that were expected to be inked in the coming months was the Rs 38,000 crore project to build 83 Tejas Mk1A aircraft by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. This program has been cleared by the defence ministry but still awaits a nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security.

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Indian Airforce Dornier aircraft suffers tyre burst post take-off; all safe

SOURCE: IBTIMES

A Dornier aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) suffered a tyre burst on Thursday, April 30, while taking off from the Palam Air Base. However, the aircraft and crew on board are safe, the IAF has confirmed. The captain of the aircraft aborted take-off. The crew members are said to be safe.The Air Force issues a statement saying, “On April 30, 2020, a Dornier aircraft was planned to undertake routine flight from Palam Air Base. During the take-off roll, aircraft experienced a tyre deflation.”

The captain of the aircraft took “prompt and correct action” of aborting the take-off, the statement read.

“The aircraft and crew on board are safe and there has been no damage to any property. The aircraft was towed off the runway by the technical crew of the IAF promptly,” mentioned the statement.

IAF chief inducts Dornier aircraft

Back in 2015, the Air Force had signed a contract to buy 14 Dornier aircraft, which are flight inspection system planes, for Rs 1,090 crore from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The light utility Dornier aircraft were formally inducted into the No. 41 ‘Otters’ Squadron by IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria.

The central government had issued a statement then saying, “While the first aircraft was delivered on November 19, the second is expected to be delivered in early 2020.”

The Dornier-228 aircraft is a multi-purpose, fuel-efficient, rugged, lightweight twin-turboprop aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear.

The aircraft’s cockpit is designed to house two crew members and is fitted with duplicate controls. The cabin can take in around 19 passengers in the commuter configuration. The aircraft has been exported to Seychelles and Mauritius.

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Return of the Taliban: Pashtunistan holds key to India’s Afghan strategy

SOURCE: WION

A dramatic change in Afghanistan is on the horizon. India should quickly and positively respond to the evolving political reality and play a role that goes with its standing as a civilizational power. It would be wiser for New Delhi now to move beyond the Pakistan-centric thinking and stop falling into the trap of complacency in the US handling of Afghanistan.

Washington’s inability to foresee the Afghan endgame has proved glaringly. When the 18 years of war became unwinnable, the US has chosen to escape the status quo by reconciling with the Taliban. India has to fend for itself. India found it expedient to support Karzai and Ghani and spent a fortune during the last 17 years. However, the situation and level of uncertainty is back to square one. The Doha deal does not take of India’s interests and it has to fend for itself.

As we move ahead, the Americans are not likely to either stop depending on Pakistan or will give priority to tackling India-specific terrorism. Kashmir is an ‘Indian problem’ and Washington’s concerns are limited to averting a war between India and Pakistan.

Equally, some of India’s old diplomatic applications and security engagements with traditional partners like Iran and Russia may not work now. They have proved their agilities in dealing with Pakistan depending on their interests.

Therefore, Delhi needs to forsworn all its old recipe of tagging with the US or leveraging ties with Russia, Iran and others. In fact, some of the old-style clichés such as inclusive, broad-based government, no external interference, Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, moderate, nationalists and secular etc appear essential but not viable anymore.

The notion of good-bad Taliban, moderate-hardliner distinctions also proved misleading that obscured the reality.

The following critical points are essential for India:

First, Afghanistan’s unity and territorial integrity is considered vital to India since the British period. Any disintegration prospect or falling a part of it into Pakistan or fragmentation within would severely undermine Indian state.

Second, history guides that there are no winners in the Afghan end-game. Those fallen into the Afghan trap only ended up draining their resources.

Third, a core principle underpins India Afghan’s policy is to avoid any Af-Pak proximity from a zero-sum calculation. Pakistan by virtue of culture, tribal and spatial reasons will always enjoy an edge over India.

Fourth, politics suggests that Afghanistan’s irredentist claim over the Pushtun areas of Pakistan versus Pakistan’s revanchist ambitions in Afghanistan create mutual suspicion if not inherent animosity between the two.

Fifth, the Afghans always loathed being run by a puppet master, detested Pakistanis. Irrespective of frequent power-shifts, Kabul looked towards Delhi for the requisite political legitimacy and for quintessential protection against Pakistani hegemonic threat.

Sixth, whether they are Sufis, Wahabis, Deobandis or secular scholars, the Afghan craving for tracing roots and ancestry or even the severe pangs of nostalgia for Hindustan, eventually turned them to Delhi. This hurt the Pakistanis the most. The fear of Afghan protégés escaping from their cage still causes nightmares in Rawalpindi.

Seventh, the law of attraction in the case of India always worked in a reverse way. The people, societies and nations across the world always found their own ways to connect with India. India can again become the centre, instead of it constantly chasing for an influence outside.

What is required for India is remain invested in rebuilding its lost traditional links.

While India may have moved away from practising its idealistic middle-path principle, its long-cherished realist wisdom and adaptability strategy can still become the hallmark of its diplomacy.

That’s a lot easier said than done! But for sure, no one can control Afghanistan, but no one can understand the undulated layers of Afghan history better than the Indians.

Alas, Indians are uprooted from the treasure trove of their ancient wisdom and knowledge, which means lacking in self-confidence to read human diversity and cultural complexity that needs urgent reviving to deal with looming new challenges.

Yet, the challenge is to draw on India’s own historical strength which has been missing. One reason India lags behind China is the non-ownership of its historical resources.

India’s links with the land and people of Afghanistan go back to the time of Rigveda. Gandhara (fragrance) as a western kingdom finds mention in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. It was among the sixteen Mahajanapadas of ancient India.

Peshawar (Puru?apura), Taxila (Tak?a?il?), Charsadda (Pushkalavati), Swat (Udayana), Prang (Prayag) etc were important Buddhist and Hindu learning centres. Acharaya P??ini referred to the area around Kabul as the Kingdom of Kapisi (Kapi?i) or Kapi?ayana equivalent to Sanskrit Kamboja.

India cannot have a Pentagon-style security paradigm to deal with its Asian neighbours. For any sound and proactive Afghan policy needs to seriously underpin these historical backdrops.

As Afghanistan is nearing a turning point, New Delhi needs to deploy its diplomatic astuteness or at least revert back to the long-adhered principled policy of working with the governments in Kabul, regardless of ideology.

Things could turn around to India’s advantage if it decides to play the quiet game with the wisdom of patience and subtlety in its conduct, not necessarily amounting to playing the emotional diplomacy that Gujral had displayed.

For a cleverer geopolitical ploy, the core driver of India’s Afghanistan policy needs to centre on rekindling the Pashtun nationalist spirit that Pakistan for decades has been hell-bent on undermining in favour of spreading pan-Islamism as an antithesis to Afghan nationalism.

The problem isn’t the Taliban, but Pakistan’s devilry and its manipulation with the Pashtun sense of identity that has traditionally been a thorn in the flesh of Pakistan.

The challenge before Delhi is to deflect every sign of fundamentalism and promote the shared features and values of Pashtunwali or Pashtun way of life, their honour (namuz), solidarity (nang) and other cultural etiquettes which are older than Islam, and is still prevalent amongst the Pashtun tribes.

India needs to start thinking how over 50 million Pushtuns living on both sides of the Durand Line—35 million on the Pakistani and 15 million in Afghanistan can be reunited.

Once the Afghan infightings end, India should establish deeper and overt contact with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa based Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) and also reignite the lingering Durand Line dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Obviously, there is ethnic and sectarian dimension—the Hazaras, Shi’ites, Tajiks, Uzbek, Turkmen and others have been at odds with each other throughout Afghanistan’s turbulent history, but India enjoyed strong credibility with all these societies.

Only Pashtunistan question can unlock all the regional contradictions that should ultimately snowball into Pakistan’s disintegration of Pakistan, thereby reintegrating NWFP into Afghanistan, liberating Baluchistan and reverting PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan into India. This is a much-awaited policy focus that PM Narendra Modi can bring about.

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How Would Indians Feel if I Say Hindus Should Not be Allowed in UAE, Asks Princess Hend Al Qassimi

Published May 1, 2020

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By admin

SOURCE: CNN-News18

Over the last few weeks Princess Hend Al Qassimi, who belongs to the royal family of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been flagging hateful and Islamophobic comments on her social media timeline. Many of these were by Indian citizens working in the UAE. Responding to the worrisome trend, Ambassador Pavan Kapoor told Indian citizens that “discrimination is against our moral fabric and rule of law” and Indians in the Emirates must remember this.

News 18 spoke exclusively to Princess Hend (which means India) and she sounded both anguished and angry over the remarks she has been reading from some individuals. She said Emirati-India relationship is over centuries-old “but this is new, we have never experienced hatred from the Indians.”

“I have never heard an Indian attack an Arab or a Muslim before but now I have reported just one person but you can see my timeline is full of people insulting the Arabs, Muslims. This is so un-Indian.”

Princess Hend though realizes that the comments of a few individuals were not representative of the vast majority of Indians working and residing in the UAE but she did subtly put a message across when she said, “Is India trying to force us to pick and choose, who to allow in the Emirates – only the Muslim and the Christian? This isn’t how we were raised. To us, they are all Indians we don’t put them in any category – like we will work with them only because they are Indian Muslim.”

There are around three and a half million Indians in the UAE which is approximately 30 per cent of the population according to the embassy website. This makes Indians the largest ethnic community there.

“How would the Indians feel if I say publicly that that Indian Hindus should not be allowed in Emirates? Close to 14 billion dollars are being remitted back from the Emirates to India every year – in the past year. Imagine if that were to be cut off? The Indians work very hard in this country and I don’t think they deserve people who misrepresent them like that,” Princess Hend added.

She said she is not a political person and hence has not contacted the Indian government over her concerns. But she revealed that she has been in touch with the former Indian ambassador to UAE Navdeep Suri who expressed concern and told her that her message has gone out “loud and clear”. She said hate speech is illegal in her country and she will continue to raise her voice to put a stop to hate, because “she is just a friend of India.”

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‘It is Propaganda’: India on Social Media Posts Alleging Harassment of Muslims

SOURCE: PTI

India on Thursday called as “propaganda” its criticism by certain Twitter handles from the Arab world alleging that Muslims are being targeted in several parts of the country in the name of containing spread of coronavirus. Strongly rebutting the charges, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the Gulf countries are deeply committed to friendly relations with India and they do not support any interference in its internal affairs.

Talking about India’s close and traditional ties with the region, he said New Delhi is ensuring uninterrupted supply of food and essential commodities to it during Ramzan as part of its deep-rooted friendship. He said several Gulf countries are even seeking discussions with India on post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

“Much of what you see is propaganda by interested parties. Stray tweets can not be used to characterise our bilateral ties with these countries. The real picture of these relations is very much different,” he said during an online media briefing.

There has been a wave of angry reactions on Twitter by leading citizens and rights activists from various Arab countries following allegations that Muslims are being blamed for spreading COVID-19 in several parts of India.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a powerful bloc of 57 countries, recently accused India of “Islamophobia”. India rejected the charges as regrettable.

“We have been making special efforts to ensure uninterrupted supply of food and essential commodities which are required during the Ramzan period in these countries, and this is something which has been greatly appreciated. These countries also want a priority discussion with India on the post COVID-19 economic recovery,” Srivastava said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have been in regular touch with their counterparts from the region in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In these discussions, there have been requests for sending medicines and medical teams to these countries. We already deployed a Rapid Response Team in Kuwait. There is also a request to send doctors and nurses from India,” said Srivastava.

“What comes out clearly is that these countries are deeply committed to friendly relations with India. They also do not support any interference in internal matters of India. It is, therefore, important that the friendly and cooperative nature of our relations is accurately recognised and the misuse of social media is not given credence,” he added.

Asked about reports of an order issued by Oman’s Finance Ministry asking all state-owned companies to replace foreign workers with qualified local Omanis, Srivastava said it is not aimed at Indians working in the Gulf nation.

“The policy is a decades-old one and not specific to India. It does not target the Indians in any way,” he said.

There have been apprehensions that the order will render thousands of Indians working in state-run firms in Oman jobless.

“They greatly value relationship with India. Government of Oman is taking special care of Indians which included free testing for coronavirus, its treatment, providing food,” the MEA spokesperson said.

Oman government is also extending certain categories of visas of Indians.

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Snubbing Chinese Huawei Airtel signs ?7,636 crore deal with Nokia to get ready for 5G era

SOURCE: IANS

In a bid to strengthen its 4G network and enhance 5G capabilities in India, Bharti Airtel has inked a $1 billion (nearly ?7,636 crore), multi-year deal with Nokia to deploy the Finnish majors 5G-ready solutions across nine circles in the country. Nokia, which is the largest 4G vendor in Airtel network, will help lay the foundation for providing 5G connectivity in the future by deploying 300,000 radio units across several spectrum bands in those circles expected to be completed by 2022.

Reliable industry sources told IANS on Tuesday that the deal size is approximately $1 billion.”We have been working with Nokia for more than a decade now and are delighted to use Nokia’s SRAN products in further improving the capacity and coverage of our network as we prepare for the 5G era,” Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India and South Asia) at Bharti Airtel, said in a statement.

Nokia’s SRAN solution helps operators manage their 2G, 3G and 4G networks from one platform reducing network complexity, increasing cost efficiencies and future-proofing investment. The Finnish company will be the sole provider of SRAN in the nine circles in the country.

The Nokia supplied networks with their low latency and faster speeds will provide Airtel the best possible platform for when 5G networks launch across the country.

“We have worked closely with Bharti Airtel for many years and are delighted to extend this long-standing partnership further. This project will enhance their current networks and deliver best-in-class connectivity to Airtel customers but also lay the foundations for 5G services in the future,” explained Rajeev Suri, President and Chief Executive Officer at Nokia.

India currently is the second-largest telecom market in the world and is expected to reach 920 million unique mobile customers by 2025, which will also include 88 million 5G connections according to the GSMA.

The country is experiencing a massive increase in demand for data services with traffic increasing by 47 per cent in 2019 alone, according to Nokia’s MBiT Index 2020.

Nokia’s SRAN solution will help Airtel to address this growing demand by adding network capacity and ensuring a superior quality of experience to its customers.

The deal will also include Nokia’s RAN equipment, including its AirScale Radio Access, AirScale BaseBand and NetAct OSS solution, which will help Airtel to monitor and manage its network effectively

 

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ACM Idris Hassan Latif — WWII veteran who chose India over Pakistan and went on to head IAF

SOURCE: THE PRINT

The Indian Air Force (IAF) Thursday observed the second death anniversary of Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Idris Hassan Latif, the man who chose India over Pakistan and went on to become the 10th chief of the IAF. A highly-respected officer in the military circles, Latif was the pilot who led India’s first fly-past over New Delhi after India turned republic on 26 January 1950.

A World War II veteran, he also went on to become the governor of a state and a diplomat after retirement. He even played a key role in the procurement of the Jaguar strike aircraft, still in use with the IAF, and the fleet of the now-retired MiG-23 and MiG-25.

‘He was very clear that his future lay with India’

Born on 9 June 1923 in Hyderabad in the erstwhile Deccan, Latif joined the Royal Indian Air Force in 1941 at the age of 18 and was commissioned in 1942.

During 1943-44, the officer was one of the few Indian pilots to be seconded to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom where he underwent training with modern aircraft like the Hurricane and Spitfire.On his return to India in 1944, the young officer took part in the Burma campaign, flying the Hawker Hurricane for Number 3 Squadron.

Though later posted to Madras, Latif joined the Number 9 Squadron in Burma, again flying the Hawker Hurricane.He was good friends with his Commanding Officer Squadron Leader Asghar Khan and another flamboyant pilot, Flight Lieutenant Noor Khan.

Both the Khans later went on to become chiefs of the Pakistan Air Force.“When Partition bought with it the division of the armed forces, Latif as a Muslim officer was faced with the choice of joining both India or Pakistan, but there was no making up of minds for him,” the IAF wrote in his official profile.

“He was very clear that his future lay with India. Even though both Asghar as well as Noor Khan called him up to persuade Latif to join them in the fledgling Pakistan Air Force, Latif made it clear that for him, religion and country were not interlinked. It was no surprise that Latif made his way to become the first Muslim chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force,” it added.

Awarded Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 1971

In 1961, Latif was sent as the Air Attache to the United States and he returned in 1965 just before the India-Pakistan war broke out.Latif eventually moved to the Air headquarters as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans), a newly created post, in the rank of Air Vice Marshal in-charge of modernisation plans.

He was awarded with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) in 1971 for his work as the ACAS (Plans).During the 1971 war, Latif was still the ACAS (Plans) and was involved with the monitoring of the air assets and their best utilisation.He later became the vice chief of Air Staff, a post he held until 1978, when he took over as chief of Air Staff.

“As the first Muslim chief of Air Staff of the IAF, Latif was involved fully in the re-equipment and modernisation plans of the air force. He convinced the government to approve the procurement of the Jaguar strike aircraft, a proposal which was lying dormant for over 8 years,” according to Latif’s official profile.

As the IAF chief, he also held negotiations with the Russians, and inducted MiG-23 and later, the MiG-25 aircraft into the IAF.

After his retirement in 1981, Latif held posts of the governor of Maharashtra and Indian ambassador to France.

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Indian Army issues warning as Pakistani spies use AarogyaSetu app to target personnel

Published May 1, 2020

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By admin

SOURCE: ANI

The Indian Army has issued a warning to its personnel against Pakistani agencies’ designs to hack the phones of Indian military personnel through a malicious application similar to the AarogyaSetu app. “Inimical intelligence agencies have developed a malicious app by the name Aarogya Setu.apk. Such apps were found to be sent by Pakistan-based Pakistani Intelligence Operatives to WhatsApp groups of Indian Army personnel,” the Army has stated in its warning.

Senior Army sources told ANI that Pakistani agencies are using social media accounts with Indian names to target the Indian personnel. “Known Pakistani Intelligence Operative account under the fake name of one ‘Anoshka Chopra’ also found sending the malicious application to Indian Army personnel,” the sources said.

The Army in its warning has asked personnel about the need to be sensitised about the Pakistani spy agencies’ designs while downloading the application.

The Army has also told its men and women that the Aarogya Setu application must be downloaded only from the Indian government website (mygov.in) or Android Play Store or IOS Apple Play Store.

All forces personnel have been asked to download the AarogyaSetu application to help in the detection and checking the spread of COVID-19. The application has been developed by government agencies and is being used by almost all government employees.

Recently, Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane had stated that while India is busy fighting coronavirus both internally and globally, Pakistan is busy in exporting terrorism in India and other places.

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Youth killed, another injured in Pak shelling in J-K’s Poonch

Published May 1, 2020

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By admin

SOURCE: PTI

A youth was killed and another injured when the Pakistan Army violated ceasefire and resorted to mortar shelling in forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Thursday, an official said. “About 7 pm today, the Pakistan Army initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along the LoC in Mankote sector,” he said.

He said Indian troops retaliated to the shelling, which led to an exchange of fire. Eighteen-year-old Gulfraz Ahmed was killed and another youth was injured when shells hit their Tain hamlet in Mankote sector, the police official told PTI.

The injured youth was rushed to a nearby hospital, he added.

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India’s UN envoy and lessons in diplomacy

SOURCE: ET

Diplomats like bankers must always increase deposits of goodwill so they can spend in hard times. Nowhere is the dictum truer than at the United Nations — a massive field of 193 members constantly trading favours.

Fortunes can fluctuate but small investments can yield large dividends. India’s permanent representative Syed Akbaruddin has proven it time and again – invest diplomatic capital, spend wisely and get max bang for the buck. He retires today after an exceptional stint in New York that even rivals agree was remarkable and full of “firsts.”

It’s not easy to stand out in a parade of preening permanent reps and be the envy of peers. Multilateral diplomacy is a different beast and often more challenging than its bilateral cousin. Not everyone excels. You need to juggle, strike in multiple directions and have the capacity to encircle small and large nations in one big hug to support your causes. Akbar did it with deceptive ease. Even those interminable turgid speeches Indian envoys make became short and punchy – a trace of Greek classics here, a little Alice in Wonderland there. His Twitter feed was always fun.

But he leaves behind real achievements. Look at the “Akbarnama”: the Gandhi Solar Park atop the UN headquarters which literally lights up the Security Council office, designation of Masood Azhar as a terrorist after a 10-year tussle, forcing a British “withdrawal” to get India’s Dalveer Bhandari on the International Court of Justice, approval of Hindi as a UN outreach language, pushing back China-Pakistan “incursions” on Kashmir.

The list is long and Akbar would be the first to admit that luck played a role. The solar park was a “one in a million shot” but interest in climate change, showcasing India’s commitment to renewables and Gandhi’s 150thbirth anniversary blended nicely into a huge diplomatic victory last September. Then the time he got the UN building lit up with a “Happy Diwali” message, packaging it as a “multicultural” event because many countries celebrate the festival.

Akbar used the fact a year later to get the UN to issue a Diwali stamp. Still not done, he managed to get an India-themed UN stamp for four years straight, including on Gandhi, M.S. Subbulakshmi and yoga. Amjad Ali Khan and A.R. Rahman performed gratis to mark big Indian anniversaries. Lesson: Cultural diplomacy can keep your country’s profile buzzing.

But the most far-sighted has to be the India-UN Development Partnership Fund to finance small projects in 70 countries where India has no diplomatic presence. Think Dominica, Palau, St. Lucia. With a modest $150 million fund over 10 years, India is now “present” — India pays, the UN agencies implement. Early warning systems for countries in the Pacific Islands, improving sanitation in Chad and now the Fund is sending medical supplies to Nauru, Antigua and Barbuda and three other tiny nations to fight the Corona virus. The countries are grateful. And they have a vote. Lesson: Give economic content to ties for real influence.

Akbar is fond of saying the UN is “a numbers game.” If you want to win an election, Nauru’s vote can weigh as heavy as Norway’s. Many don’t get it or are lazy. Barely a year into the job, his mandate was to get Justice Bhandari to the ICJ against the British candidate.

There were too many fault lines – north vs. south, east vs. west, permanent members vs. all others and finally, good practitioners of law vs. revisionists. Incidentally, dear friend Japan didn’t vote for India.

It was a stress test but hard work in the UN General Assembly paid off. After seven rounds of voting, the UK withdrew its candidate – a satisfying result at multiple levels. Lesson: You can beat down a permanent member with the right alliance.

Akbar’s linguistic slam, dunks against Pakistan are legend – it was death by a thousand words. His verbal arrows (“dark arts,” “upstream terrorism,” “downstream hate speech”) were often delivered late at night by young first secretaries in the silly India-Pak games during the UN General Assembly. Lesson: All games must be won.

One of the best interventions against Pakistan has to be Akbar’s impromptu press conference last August after the UNSC held an “informal” meeting on Article 370 at China’s behest. The Chinese and Pakistani envoys tried to spin the non-meeting into a mountain but didn’t have the courage to face journalists. Akbar took an on-the-spot decision to go to the podium and turned the whole thing around. He kept his cool, answered questions and shook hands with Pakistani journalists, offering friendship. It was a PR coup. Islamabad went into deep shock. Lesson: Contrast India’s openness to Chinese opaqueness every chance you get.

A final observation from your weather beaten observer: It’s a rumour universally acknowledged by MEA beatniks that Akbar has a fan club from his days as the ministry’s spokesman. The presidency of the club is keenly fought over chai in the IIC lawns. Rarely has an Indian diplomat been so appreciated by the lowliest beat reporter to the mavens who are on first-name basis with foreign secretaries. Akbar is unfailingly responsive to all. I think he thinks journalists deserve respect. Imagine.

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Kashmir a Bilateral Issue, Should Not Divide Communities in UK: Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer

SOURCE: PTI

Keir Starmer, the UK’s newly-elected Leader of the Opposition Labour Party, on Thursday said Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully and stressed that such divisive issues from the subcontinent should not be allowed to divide communities in Britain.

In an attempt to reach out to the Indian diaspora and distance the party from a perceived hostile stance under the previous leadership, Starmer pledged to build stronger business links with India during his first dialogue with the Labour Friends of India (LFIN) group in London on Thursday.

“We must not allow issues of the sub-continent to divide communities here. Any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian Parliament and Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully,” said Starmer, in a statement following the meeting.

“A Labour government under my leadership will be determined to build even stronger business links with India and to cooperate on the global stage on issues such as climate change,” he said.

It marks a strategic step to draw a line under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and move Labour away from some of the controversial actions widely perceived as anti-India by the diaspora population. The most glaring was a resolution passed at the annual party conference in September last year that purported to seek international intervention in Kashmir.

The resolution was widely seen as influencing much of the 1.5-million diaspora vote in the December 2019 General election, which resulted in a disastrous defeat for the Labour Party.

“Britons of Indian origin contribute so much to the UK and to the Labour Party. I’m committed to working closely with Labour Friends of India to rebuild trust with the community,” Starmer said, adding that he would encourage more British Indians into elected posts in Westminster as well as at local government level.

He also indicated plans to hold discussions with the Indian High Commissioner in the UK, Ruchi Ghanashyam, in due course to open a “renewed dialogue” between the Labour Party and people of India.

“I really welcome his commitment to rebuilding strong links between the Labour Party and the Indian community,” said Rajesh Agrawal, LFIN Co-Chair and the Deputy Mayor of London for Business.

“This has been a great start and Keir has achieved a lot in the short span of couple of weeks. Labour Friends of India will work closely with him and will continue to promote UK-India ties as well as continuing to raise any issues from the community to the leadership,” he said.

LFIN had called for a “healing process” under the new Labour leadership soon after Starmer’s election earlier this month.

“The Labour Party is the natural party for British Indians but the last few years have seen the relations strained. I hope the change in leadership is the beginning of a healing process and the party will be able to regain the trust of the British Indian community,” Agrawal said at the time.

Starmer’s interaction with LFIN follows Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, Indian-origin Lisa Nandy, dialling in earlier this week for a “constructive” virtual interaction with Ghanshyam on India-UK relations and collaborations in combating the coronavirus pandemic.

The moves indicate a repositioning within the party on its approach to India and controversial issues in the sub-continent.

“Labour is an internationalist party and stands for the defence of human rights everywhere,” said Starmer in his statement this week.

Under Corbyn’s leadership, diaspora groups in the UK had repeatedly spoken out against a perceived anti-India sentiment within the Labour Party ranks.

Most recently, there was some consternation at a debate on Kashmir being included on the order paper for parliamentary business by a group of Pakistani-origin backbench Labour MPs, which did not go ahead due to the stripped-down model being followed by the House of Commons during the lockdown.

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Afghan peace and India’s elbow room

SOURCE: THE HINDU

Earlier this month, the United Nations Secretariat held a meeting of what it calls the “6+2+1” group on regional efforts to support peace in Afghanistan, a group that includes six neighbouring countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; global players the United States and Russia, and Afghanistan itself. India was conspicuous by its absence from the meeting on April 16, given its historical and strategic ties with Afghanistan, but not for the first time.

Left out, but some recovery

In December 2001, for example, the Indian team led by special envoy Satinder Lambah arrived in Germany’s Petersberg hotel near Bonn, where the famous Bonn agreement was negotiated, to find no reservations had been made for them at the official venue. In January 2010, India was invited to attend the “London Conference” on Afghanistan, but left out of the room during a crucial meeting that decided on opening talks with the Taliban.

In 2020, the reason given for keeping India out of regional discussions on Afghanistan was ostensibly that it holds no “boundary” with Afghanistan; but in fact it is because New Delhi has never announced its support for the U.S.-Taliban peace process. In both 2001 and 2010, however, India fought back its exclusion successfully. At the Bonn agreement, Ambassador Lambah was widely credited for ensuring that Northern Alliance leaders came to a consensus to accept Hamid Karzai as the Chairman of the interim arrangement that replaced the Taliban regime. After the 2010 conference, New Delhi redoubled its efforts with Kabul, and in 2011, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghanistan President Karzai signed the historic Strategic Partnership Agreement, which was Afghanistan’s first such agreement with any country.

New Delhi’s decision to put all its eggs in the Ghani basket has had a two-fold effect: its voice in the reconciliation process has been limited, and it has weakened India’s position with other leaders of the deeply divided democratic setup in Kabul such as the former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah. Meanwhile, India’s presence inside Afghanistan, which has been painstakingly built up since 2001, is being threatened anew by terror groups such as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), believed to be backed by Pakistan’s establishment. Intercepts showed that the brutal attack, in March, that killed 25 at a gurudwara in Kabul was meant for the embassy in Kabul, and intelligence agencies had warned of suicide car bomb threats to the consulates in Jalalabad and Herat last December.

While the government has said that the novel coronavirus pandemic prompted its decision to clear out both consulates this month, the truth is that a full security reassessment is under way for them. Either way, India’s diplomatic strength in Afghanistan should not appear to be in retreat just when it is needed the most.

What dents India’s goodwill

The government must also consider the damage done to the vast reservoir of goodwill India enjoys in Afghanistan because of recent events in the country, especially the controversy over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The building blocks of that goodwill are India’s assistance in infrastructure projects, health care, education, trade and food security, and also in the liberal access to Afghans to study, train and work in India. Above all, it is India’s example as a pluralistic, inclusive democracy that inspires many. Afghanistan’s majority-Muslim citizens, many of whom have treated India as a second home, have felt cut out of the move to offer fast track citizenship to only Afghan minorities, as much as they have by reports of anti-Muslim rhetoric and incidents of violence in India.

While many of these are problems of perception, New Delhi must move swiftly to regain the upper hand in the narrative in Afghanistan. India’s assistance of more than $3 billion in projects, trade of about $1 billion, a $20 billion projected development expenditure of an alternate route through Chabahar, as well as its support to the Afghan National Army, bureaucrats, doctors and other professionals for training in India should assure it a leading position in Afghanistan’s regional formulation.

Three major projects: the Afghan Parliament, the Zaranj-Delaram Highway, and the Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam (Salma dam), along with hundreds of small development projects (of schools, hospitals and water projects) have cemented that position in Afghan hearts nationwide, regardless of Pakistan’s attempts to undermine that position, particularly in the South. As a result, it would be a mistake, at this point, to tie all India’s support in only to Kabul or the Ghani government; the government must strive to endure that its aid and assistance is broad-based, particularly during the novel coronavirus pandemic to centres outside the capital, even if some lie in areas held by the Taliban.

Making a leap

India must also pursue opportunities to fulfil its role in the peace efforts in Afghanistan, starting with efforts to bridge the Ghani-Abdullah divide, and bringing together other major leaders with whom India has built ties for decades. It would be an utter tragedy if the Taliban were to enter the government in Kabul as the U.S. deal envisages, to find the opposing front collapse as it did in 1996.

The conversation India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had with the U.S.’s Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad last week, where they discussed India’s “engagement” in the peace process, appears to open a window in that direction.

An understanding between Iran and the U.S. on Afghanistan is necessary for lasting peace as well, and India could play a mediatory part, as it did in order for the Chabahar project.

Finally, New Delhi should use the United Nations’s call for a pause in conflicts during the novel coronavirus pandemic, to ensure a hold on hostilities with Pakistan. This will be even more difficult than it sounds, given the abyss that bilateral relations have fallen into in the past year over Kashmir and the rise in firepower exchanged at the Line of Control.

However, if there is one lesson that the the U.S.-Taliban talks have imparted, it is that both have found it necessary to come to the table for talks on Afghanistan’s future. For India, given its abiding interest in Afghanistan’s success and traditional warmth for its people, making that leap should be a bit easier.

Above all, the government must consider the appointment of a special envoy, as it has been done in the past, to deal with its efforts in Afghanistan, which need both diplomatic agility and a firmness of purpose at a watershed moment in that country’s history.

New Delhi’s stand

As planners in South Block now consider their next steps in Afghanistan, they must fight back against the idea that any lasting solution in Afghanistan can be discussed without India in the room, while also studying the reasons for such exclusions. To begin with, India’s resistance to publicly talking to the Taliban has made it an awkward interlocutor at any table. Its position that only an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, and Afghan-controlled process can be allowed is a principled one, but has no takers. Kabul, or the Ashraf Ghani government does not lead, own or control the reconciliation process today, comprising the U.S.-Taliban negotiation for an American troops withdrawal, and intra-Afghan talks on power sharing. The U.S.-Taliban peace deal means that the Taliban, which has not let up on violent attacks on the Afghan Army, will become more potent as the U.S. withdraws soldiers from the country, and will hold more sway in the inter-Afghan process as well, as the U.S. withdraws funding for the government in Kabul.

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

SOURCE: THE PRINT

India’s security and defence agencies are keeping a close watch on Pakistan amid the coronavirus pandemic as the neighbouring country continues to target Indian assets, both technologically and militaristically. The latest such attempt was the creation of a fake mobile app replicating Aarogya Setu, the healthcare application released by the central government that lets a user know if a Covid-19 patient is in the vicinity.

The fake app by Pakistani intelligence agencies was apparently sent to Indian defence personnel through WhatsApp from the UK to “steal info”.The Pakistani establishment even launched several fake handles to create a wedge between gulf countries and India. A Pakistani ID @pak_fauj changed its name to Omani royalty Mona bint Fahd al Said @SayyidaMona to spread the propaganda, which drew a statement from the Princess herself against the impersonation.

Meanwhile, ceasefire violations by Pakistan have continued at the Line of Control (LoC) despite a global lockdown due to Covid-19. Several LoC violations have included targetting of civilian locations.

Terror infiltration attempts have also begun, while soft targets, like security personnel at checkpoints, have come under attack in Kashmir.

A new outfit, The Resistance Front, has also emerged in the Valley, which security agencies believe is another proxy terror group launched by Pakistan that will try to pass off as an indigenous outfit.

Defence sources told ThePrint that terror training centres across the LoC are running in full steam, with an estimated 300-350 terrorists present at these launchpads.

Pakistan’s agenda

The first signs of Pakistan’s intention emerged on 15 March when Prime Minister Imran Khan skipped the SAARC leaders’ video conference on coronavirus. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for that meeting when he urged SAARC nations to come together to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

Khan was represented by his special assistant on national health services, Zafar Mirza, who raised the Kashmir issue at the discussion.

Later, on 10 April, India took a swipe at Pakistan after the country insisted on bringing the Covid-19 initiatives under the SAARC framework.

Five days before that, five terrorists were killed in an operation along the LoC in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district after they infiltrated from Pakistan. Five Indian Army commandos were also killed in action that day.

At the time, Lt Gen B.S. Raju, the general officer commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, said the incident clearly showed the complicity of Pakistan in aiding and abetting infiltration and, as a consequence, terrorism in the Valley.

“This act of Pakistan is especially reprehensible because when the whole world is fighting Covid-19 and its aftermath, here is Pakistan aiding and abetting infiltration,” he said.

Speaking to ThePrint, former Indian envoy to Pakistan T.C.A. Raghavan said one should not be surprised by Pakistan’s behaviour.

He said there are institutions in Pakistan whose job is only to target India no matter what.

“They are doing the job. There is nothing to be surprised about,” he said.

A former special secretary in the cabinet secretariat, who did not wish to be identified, said Pakistan is only trying to hide its internal affairs.

“They have never let up on their agenda and why would they do that now? This is more important to them to hide their failures on the economic front, and also corona,” he said.

LoC draws fire

Ceasefire violations have only increased in times of the pandemic.

There have been at least 1,197 ceasefire violations by the Pakistani Army this year. In  March alone, there were 411 violations. This was much higher than the 267 violations last March, which was immediately after the Balakot strike.

Such has been the enormity of tensions at the LoC that Army chief Gen M.M. Naravane travelled to Kashmir and the forward locations to take stock of the situation on 17 April.

While there are no official estimates of casualties on the Pakistani side, sources in the Army said there have been several fatal and non-fatal casualties.

“If you go by average figures, I would say that there is at least one fatal casualty every week on the Pakistani side and three-five non fatal casualties because of our response,” a senior Army officer said.

These numbers are based on the intercepts and human intelligence on the ground.

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Special Forces meant to do ops like surgical strikes. They’re called ‘special’ for a reason

SOURCE: THE PRINT

Two incidents in recent days caught my imagination, both related to Para SF, the elite forces of the Indian army. The first was an encounter along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, where, in a close quarter fight, five fully-armed terrorists were eliminated. We also lost five Para SF soldiers — all belonging to the 4 Para Special Forces, which had undertaken the famed surgical strikes.

Second was the demise of a braveheart, Col Navjot Singh Bal, Shaurya Chakra, former commanding officer (CO) of 2 Para SF, who even in the ultimate test, stoically faced his fate, smiling, like the Warriors of Yore. Many thoughts traversed my mind. What is that special ethos that motivates these men of the SF to make the ultimate sacrifice? I also ended up enquiring to a few SF Officers if the operation in J&K had proved rather costly? Shouldn’t we minimise our casualties?

Col Saurabh Shekhawat, KC, SC, SM, VSM, India’s highest decorated serving soldier replied cryptically: “Sir we do our best to minimise casualties through intense training and planning, but once the battle is joined, it’s Vijay Ya Veergati (victory or martyrdom).”

Having had the good fortune to have some of the finest SF units under my command, including the Para Centre at Bangalore, I do have an idea what goes into the selection and making of a Para SF leader and soldier.

Raison d’être for Special Forces

Every nation needs to decide what its special forces are meant for. According to Stephen Cohen, “The task of special forces is the proxy application of force at low and precisely calculated levels, the objective being to achieve some political effect, not a battlefield victory”.

But, as Lt Gen P. C. Katoch, a war veteran of the SF, states: “In sharp contrast, in India, we have been simply looking at battlefield victory. SF units are deployed more on tactical missions rather than the broader, strategic and unconventional missions that should be their charter’’. Rahul Bedi also echoes the same in an article in The Citizen that the SF have often ended up as substitutes for conventional forces in counter-insurgency operations, for tasks that should be undertaken by regular infantry.

India’s Para SF are equipped reasonably, but not with the latest technology. It is time we provided them with the latest and the best that today’s revolution in military affairs offers: drones of all types, space and cyber-based applications among others.

Unconditional ownership of the SF

Combat has always been and continues to be most brutal, challenging, unforgiving and the ultimate test of the human spirit. This is also the raison d’être of the special forces, for they exist only for special missions and combat. Facing special challenges requires a very high level of individual proficiency in the skills peculiar to SF. But more than that, it’s the combined combat capabilities of the squad/team that matters more. And this calls for very high levels of trust and unconditional ownership of the plan and the follow-up action. Anything less would not do. This involves trusting your life with your buddy/squad and ownership of both success and failures, for no plan survives the first contact. In fact, there are more lessons to be learnt in failures.

The Indian Para SF holds the ethos of unconditional and extreme ownership. Trust, of course, is the glue that binds the SF together. Trust that has been earned and created through living and training together under most severe conditions for prolonged periods. Innovation, ingenuity, boldness and risk-taking ability are key facets of it.

Leadership is the ultimate force multiplier

Superlative leadership, especially at the officer’s level is the acknowledged hallmark of the Indian Army. Same is the case with the Para SF. But because of the decentralised nature of their operations, leadership at the JCO and NCO level becomes equally important. And these leaders have to deliver, for they are conscious of the fact that in the ultimate analysis what matters is the success of their mission. The SF junior leaders have to not only be masters of their trade, but also have the sharpness of intellect and battlefield intuition to put their finger on the right course of action, under severely stressful and time-constrained operational situations.

The SF officers are a breed apart, single-minded in their devotion to their profession, almost to an extreme. A large number of them have risen to high ranks, but some have also paid the price of not being able to adjust to life outside the uniform when they call it quits. And this is not peculiar to the Indian Para SF, but a phenomenon seen across the special forces in many nations. Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, a para officer of repute and erstwhile DGMO, sums it up well: “A bunch of misfits who fit well together. For the hazardous tasks they are called upon to undertake, they have to be special in all respects’’.

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Saab’s new spy plane has a powerful piece of hardware on top

Published April 30, 2020

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By admin

SOURCE: POPSCI

If you ever see a plane that looks as though someone has stuck a large handle, or a giant push-button on the top, then what you’re seeing is an AWACS: a military aircraft that provides countries with an eye in the sky to take a sneak peek from far away at other nations’ aircraft, missiles, ships, and vehicles.

Of course drones or satellites can also accomplish those tasks. But satellites especially can be much pricier than a plane, and they are just eyes: they cannot jam enemy radars, for example. Meanwhile, an AWACS—that stands for “airborne warning and control system”—can do that, thanks to the host of electronic warfare equipment it carries.

The newest AWACS is called the GlobalEye. The plane itself is a Bombardier Global business jet, but Swedish defense company Saab has equipped it with an Erieye ER radar. That’s the 26-foot-long, 1.1-ton “handle” on the top of the plane.

Americans will recognize Saab as a car-maker, but the company actually launched in 1937 as the manufacturer of aircraft for the Swedish Air Force (hence its name, which is an acronym of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, or Swedish Aircraft Company). They started making cars 10 years later. Saab sold its vehicle business to General Motors in 2000, and since then has concentrated on the defense sector. Amongst its most notable products are the Gripen combat fighter, the Gotland Class submarine, and the Carl-Gustaf rifle.

So why put a radar on top of a plane when there are powerful ground radars? Because however powerful a ground radar, it cannot cope with the fact that the Earth is curved— and so a missile flying low will not be seen until a few minutes before it hits its target. If the radar is up high, it will have a higher angle of view, and so can detect a low-flying missile or aircraft 20 minutes before it hits the target.

“Most radars detect and measure objects by emitting a very short impulse of an electromagnetic wave that is reflected back by the objects in question,” explains Odile Adrian, who develops radars for French company Thales. “They can ‘see’ in all weather conditions, day or night, several hundred miles away and can distinguish between something that is moving and something that is still,” she adds. They can also measure the object’s distance, the azimuth (the compass direction), elevation (height above ground or sea level), the speed of movement, and what the military call its “signature,” or its shape.

But radar waves can be detected and jammed by adversaries. To combat this, the Erieye ER (the ER stands for “extended range”) on GlobalEye uses a narrow, tough-to-jam radar frequency called the S band.

Erik Weinberg, senior director radar solutions at Saab, explains that the wave must also not lose too much intensity absorbed by water vapor as it travels through the atmosphere, a phenomenon known as atmospheric attenuation. “The choice of radar frequency depends on what you need it for,” Weinberg says. “For long range surveillance, which requires low atmospheric attenuation, the L or S bands are best if you can have a large antenna such as the Erieye.”

Between the two types, the S band is harder to jam thanks to its “small beam and ultra low side lobes,” Weinberg says.

To picture what “side lobes” are in radar, imagine a flashlight. In that case, the side lobes would be like the light spilling out on either side of the main beam. If there’s a lot of spilled light, then your beam is easier to spot by the enemy. “But,” adds Weinberg, “the S-band is more complex to use.”

Petter Bedoire, head of electronic warfare at Saab, explains that they’ve developed GlobalEye because “there has been a dramatic change over the past 10 years,” with the growth of sophisticated jamming equipment. Jamming turns a clear picture into a useless, heavily pixelated one. In order to make it difficult to jam, the beam being emitted by the radar must be as narrow as possible.

In addition to the main radar on top of the plane, the GlobalEye can heft a maritime surveillance radar under its belly, as well as a third radar system designed to spot a moving target on the land, such as a pick-up truck, and then precisely indicate its position to a combat jet or ground troops— which could then attack it.

Saab is creating these planes with a specific user in mind: the United Arab Emirates, which will fly three of them once they’re ready. Future customers buying the jet will be able to decide which combination of radars they’d like, although it always comes with that key Erieye “handle” on top.

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Pakistan approves $18.6 million to fence border with Iran

Published April 30, 2020

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By admin

SOURCE: ARAB NEWS

Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Monday approved 3 billion rupees ($18.6 million) in additional funds for the fencing of its border with Iran. The funds were in the form of a supplementary technical grant. Pakistan started fencing certain areas of the border in May last year, which Iran is against. The Senate of Pakistan was informed about the move by the Frontier Constabulary of Balochistan on May 10, 2019.

The 900 km border begins at the Koh-i-Malik Salih mountain and ends at Gwadar Bay in the Gulf of Oman. It passes through a diverse landscape of mountain ridges, seasonal streams and rivers, and is notorious for human trafficking, smuggling and cross-border militancy. Meanwhile, Pakistan has opened five crossings on the border to allow cargo trucks to cross over to Balochistan, Foreign Office spokeswoman, Aisha Farooqui, confirmed on Tuesday, adding that no individual movement was permitted.

“All five border points are open for cargo only. Pedestrians can come only through Taftan,” Farooqui told Arab News, referring to another crossing on the 900 km Pakistani-Iranian border in Balochistan province. Pakistan sealed the border on Feb. 24 after Tehran confirmed coronavirus-related deaths.

At Taftan, however, Pakistanis who were in Iran for pilgrimage continued to cross into Balochistan as Iranian authorities stamped them out. Other crossing points, namely Gabd, Mand, Katagar and Chedgi, remained closed until the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) decided to open them for transport of dates and other essential commodities. According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior on April 21, the crossing points will remain open three days a week to facilitate trade. Three entry points — Gabd, Mand and Taftan — were reopened on April 21 for up to 50 trucks and 110 pickup vehicles a day. From Monday, entry of 40 trucks and up to 100 pickup vehicles a day — also three times a week — is allowed at Katagar and Chedgi. According to the ministry’s notification, the trucks can enter between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. The vehicles and cargo have to be disinfected after customs clearance. Protective measures are in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

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Borders sealed, stopping infiltration of Covid-19 carriers our aim now: BSF chief

SOURCE: HT

India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh haven’t witnessed any major illegal activities such as infiltration of terrorists, human trafficking, fake currency or drug smuggling for the past five weeks, according to the head of the BSF and ITBP. There were only a few negligible incidents as the frontiers are sealed, according to Surjeet Singh Deswal, who heads the world’s two largest border guarding forces – Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibet Border Force (ITBP).

In an exclusive interaction with HT, the IPS officer of the 1984 batch said: “We have maintained high level of alertness at the borders, which are completely sealed with no movement of any kind. “Our priority during the lockdown has been to stop infiltration of Coronavirus carriers from across the border, while maintaining tight vigil on other activities.”

Last week, Jammu and Kashmir director general of police Dilbagh Singh had said Pakistan is pushing militants infected with Covid-19 to spread the disease in the Kashmir Valley. Intelligence agencies have pointed out that more than 300 Pakistani terrorists are waiting across the border to sneak into India.

Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) for more than a week this month.

Without going into specific incidents over the past month, Deswal said: “All the mischievous acts of Pakistan, be it on the international border or LoC, have been responded to with double impact.”

Similarly, the Bangladesh border has witnessed very few incidents of smuggling or people sneaking across in the past month.

According to the data compiled by BSF, 97 kg of heroin was seized along the Pakistan border in Punjab between January 1 and March 24, while only 17 kg of heroin was seized between March 25 and April 12.

Another BSF officer, who didn’t want to be named, said: “There has been no infiltration of terrorists. A couple of incidents had taken places in Punjab, including when a Pakistani national was stopped from crossing over at Pulmoran in Amritsar on March 25, while another Pakistani was apprehended from Bamer in Ferozepur on March 26. Otherwise, the border is quiet.”

BSF is posted along the 2,289-km international border with Pakistan from Gujarat to Jammu, and it manages 237 km of the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir with the army having operational control over its personnel. It guards the entire 4,092-km border with Bangladesh.

Data on the Bangladesh border compiled by BSF showed that more than 20,000 heads of cattle were smuggled into the neighbouring country from January 1 to March 24. After the Covid-19 lockdown, the number dropped to 300.

The smuggling of heroin, Yaba drugs, gold and silver too has drastically declined since March 25.

Deswal said vigil is maintained along 100% of the India-China border as well.

Referring to Covid-19 infections in BSF and ITBP, Deswal said both forces are now “corona free”, and the few BSF personnel who were infected have recovered.

“We have told all troops and their families to indulge in extra physical exercise, as having a healthy body is the best medicine against Coronavirus,” Deswal said.

He has also partially started calling personnel, who were on extended leave due to the lockdown, back to duty, especially from areas with no cases of Covid-19.

The ITBP is making masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) in bulk for the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which may resume services at the Delhi Metro and airport soon.

Deswal has also directed all his troops deployed at Indian missions in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka to follow safety measures.

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CRPF helps tribals in Maoist bastion of Abujmarh fight Covid-19

SOURCE: IANS

 

 

Known as a Maoist bastion in the hills of south Chhattisgarh, Abujmarh, where two state security personnel were killed in a face-off with guerrillas on Wednesday, the people are being taught by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to follow the lockdown norms to beat the Covid-19 pandemic.

The credit goes to the CRPF’s 195 Battalion that has broken the local languages barrier to teach social distancing, hand sanitising and home stay to tribals, living in hamlets deep in hilly, forested Abujmarh, which is larger than Goa in terms of area. Spread over 1,500 sq miles (3,900 sq km), covering Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada districts, Abujmarh is home to indigenous tribes — Gond, Muria, Abuj Maria and Halbaas.

It was only in 2009 the Chhattisgarh government lifted restrictions, imposed in the early 1980s, on the entry of common people to the area.

Geographically isolated and largely inaccessible, the area continues to look bereft of the civil administration, and is also known as ‘liberated-zone’. It’s an alleged hub of Maoists, the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its military wing, People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), which runs a parallel administration there.

Strengthening fight against the coronavirus, the CRPF’s 195 Battalion took upon itself the task of protecting tribals from Covid-19 by making them aware of precautions. The CRPF has succeeded in teaching lockdown norms and Covid-19 precautions to people in over 60 villages.

Commandant Rakesh Kumar Singh told IANS, the 195 Battalion was not only providing security but also teaching people with the help of Bastariya units, comprising local Scheduled Tribes (ST) men, ways to fight coronavirus.

‘Around 10-12 members of the Bastariya units are on the job with different companies of 195 Battalion. Like Maoists, we teach tribals through Natya Mandali shows,’ Singh told IANS. Setting up of Bastariya units was approved in 2018 to bolster the fight against Maoists.

According to the commandant, residents of two-three villages are gathered with the help of village head at a place and given lessons in social distancing and other Covid-19 precautionary measures.

Singh said people were, surprisingly, aware and themselves followed social distancing norms. ‘They have blocked entry points of villages by felling trees to prevent outsiders and curb the spread of infection.’

Puspal, Malewahi, Erpund, Pichikodar, Harrakodar, Koya, Bengaluru, Bodli, Gotia and Gufa were among the villages where the CRPF had been able to teach Covid-19 precautions, Singh said.

The officer said the 195 Battalion was honoured as the best anti-Maoist operation Battalion in 2019 as it had persuaded 35 Maoists to surrender. This year too, it had been able to cause surrender of 10-12 Maoists, Singh said.

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Army wants spouses to learn history, global affairs & ability to avail social schemes for troops

SOURCE:  Tribune News Service

In an attempt to give Army wives welfare association (AWWA) a wider role, the Indian Army has moved a concept note of having a deeper ‘spouse support system’.

This looks to train the spouses of young officers on reading up on the history of the Army and how to handle social media. As the officer rises in ranks, the spouse is briefed on global issues. Most importantly, the Army wants the AWWA to effectively link to Government of India (GoI) schemes for women like Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme, Mudra Loan, Awas Yojana, Ujwala scheme, which will help the wives and daughter of troops.

The note has not yet been approved for implementation.

The need has been felt that as the husband rises in service, the spouse is asked to shoulder wider responsibilities.

These may be associated with managing Army-run schools in remote areas, skilling centres, medical outfits, enabling vocational pursuits, hostels for children, shopping arcades within military stations, issues related to social maladjustment or marital discord among troops.

“These responsibilities which were once merely ‘ex – officio’, have to be dealt with in a far more engaged manner today, because they have become more complex and have acquired financial and legal overtones,” says the 37-page concept note which has been circulated.

Rising aspirations means there is a need to transit to a more modern framework of engagement.

The note observes that Army spouses are presently employing ‘empathy’ to redress myriad issues such as alcoholism, discord, stress, self-harm, anxiety or depression.

The spouse, unless being a trained professional in the field, does not have the competence to discern patterns of suicidal tendencies, anxiety or clinical depression, at any such voluntary counselling of the wives of troops.

In the Army, the wives of the troops can lodge a complaint to the AWWA in case of a marital discord.

The AWWA, headed by the wife of Army Chief is an NGO.

The Army prefers it that way to keep matters within and prevent any long-winded legal wrangling the troops may face.

Based on an internal analysis, the Army’s idea of ‘spouse training’ including upgrading the skills to manage change and ensure feedback on family matters.

The Army spouses will be trained to have basic working knowledge of law to be able to appreciate legal advice on litigations in family courts.

The spouses of senior generals should have developed a high level of security consciousness aligned to the prevailing geo-political situation in the country as also the security outlook of the Indian Army.

This is needed as spouses are present at major international functions.

“To know what not to say at these events is vital,” said an official adding that the concept is followed by the US forces.

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In a First Since Article 370 Move, Kashmir Woman Shot as Police Battle Mob Seeking to Snatch Top Militant’s Body

SOURCE: News18

Police in Kashmir opened fire on a violent mob attempting to seize the body of a slain jihadist killed in a shootout with security forces, government sources have told News18. Local resident Shahnawaza Koka, sustained gunshot injuries to both legs, becoming the first civilian injured in the use of live ammunition by police since Article 370 was rolled back in August.

The stone-throwing mob was seeking to prevent the body of Burhan Majeed Koka, the commander of Ansar Ghazwat’ul Hind, al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate in Kashmir, from being moved from the site of the shootout in his native village of Melhora, near Shopian in southern Kashmir.

Earlier this month, as first reported by New18, the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir initiated a policy of conducting the last rites of bodies of terrorists killed in combat, rather than handing them over families, a move intended to prevent pro-jihadist rallies that have erupted in parts of southern Kashmir in recent weeks.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, police sources said, about 1,500 people gathered to stage a Ghaibana Namaz-e-Janaza or funeral rites held without the presence of the body of the deceased, in Mailhora.

The sources said smaller mobs also attacked traffic near a railway crossing in Naina Batpora near Shopian.

Another local resident, identified by hospital authorities as Mohammad Asif, received injuries from birdshot — pellets fired from a riot-control shotgun — on his upper body, government sources said.

Koka, police said, was buried with full religious rites at a graveyard elsewhere in south Kashmir.

The 56th jihadist killed in a series of exceptionally successful counter-terrorism operations since January, Koka was appointed head of the Ansar Ghazwat’ul Hind in October, after the killing of his predecessor Abdul Hamid Lone, also known as Abdul Hameed Lelhari.

Both men were close associates of the Ansar Ghazwat’ul Hind’s founder, Zakir Bhat, also known as Zakir Musa, who was killed in May, 2019.

A one-time bachelor of sciences student, intelligence sources said, the 23-year-old Koka had dropped out of college in May, 2018, to join Zakir Bhat in the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Police records show Koka’s father, Abdul Majeed Koka, served in the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in the 1990s, before surrendering to police.

Although details are sketchy, police believe Koka trained with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Pakistan for some months in 2018 before he returned and joined the Ansar Ghazwa’tul Hind.

Formed by dissident jihadists angered by what they saw as the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s excessive dependence on Pakistan and its intelligence services, the Ansar Ghazwat’ul Hind was initially criticised by secessionist leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

In one statement, Mirwaiz asserted that the secessionist movement in Kashmir “had nothing to do with these world-level groups and they are practically non-existent in the state.”

In response, Zakir Bhat threatened to behead the secessionist political leaders “and hang their heads in Lal Chowk”. He broke ranks with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, and joined al-Qaeda in 2017.

Large-scale clashes between pro-jihadist mobs and police were cited as among the reasons central government rule was imposed in Kashmir last year, along with sweeping restrictions on movement and internet access.

However, clashes, often centred around the killings and burials of jihadists, have again become a feature of Kashmir’s fraught landscape, government sources said.

Earlier this week, Kulgam residents Sameer Ahmad Beigh, Mehran Ahmed and Khurshid Ahmed Padder received birdshot injuries after police used shotguns against a mob at an encounter site near Lower Munda, in Kulgam district.

In mid-March, three people in Srinagar also received birdshot injuries, after protests against the demolition of illegal construction by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation turned violent.

“There’s no doubt that clashes with mobs have declined,” a senior police officer said, adding, “But there are worrying signs that the process could be reversing”.

“In the absence of any competition from pro-India politicians, the jihadists are becoming the focal points for resentments against the local administration and the quality of governance,” he added.

Earlier this month, several hundred people gathered for the burial rites of slain Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist Sajjad Nawab Dar in Sopore, defying restrictions on gatherings.

The burial of Hizbul Mujahideen’s Mohammed Ashraf Malik in Kulgam’s Arwani also drew large crowds.

Large-scale attendance at jihadist funerals, which later escalated into clashes with police at encounter sites, had started in 2015, when large crowds had begun assembling in Kashmir with the funeral Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadist Abdul Rehman, also known as Abu Qasim.

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Aero India 2021 is on at the same time and place

Published April 30, 2020

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By admin

SOURCE: THE HINDU

The 13th edition of Aero India will be held from February 3 to 7, 2021. The venue remains unchanged again — Air Force Station Yelahanka, according to the event site of the Ministry of Defence. The dates of the two-yearly international military and civil air show are normally announced in October. There was no immediate information why the announcement was made more than five months ahead.

Also virtually, the entire world is in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has shut down or indefinitely deferred many international events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Yelahanka air base, about 30 km from the city centre, has been hosting the air show in February every odd-numbered year since it was started in Bengaluru in 1996.

However, Bengaluru came close to losing the last two events — of 2019 and 2017 — to perhaps Lucknow though the Ministry never said so openly. The then Defence Minister had also said Uttar Pradesh was keen on holding the air show: UP (as also Tamil Nadu) has also started developing a defence industrial corridor.

Aero India is a premier international event that draws international and Indian military and civil aircraft makers, their support industries, besides military brass and government dignitaries, and over two lakh public and business visitors.

Its long-time organiser, the Defence Exhibition Organisation returns to organise the 2021 event. Last year’s show was organised by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

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