News Analysis India

Tag: Indian Army

  • J&K encounters: Search op continues in Poonch-Rajouri forest areas to track down terrorists 

    By PTI

    JAMMU: A massive search operation in the forest areas of Jammu and Kashmir’s twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri to track down terrorists involved in the killing of seven Army soldiers entered its sixth day on Saturday, officials said.

    They said gunshots were heard as the joint search parties of the Army and the police resumed the operation in Poonch’s Mendhar area.

    However, it was not immediately clear whether it was speculative firing by the search parties or fresh contact was established with the terrorists, they said.

    The area is mountainous and the forest is dense, which makes the operation difficult and dangerous, according to the officials.

    ALSO READ | Militants involved in Srinagar cop’s killing gunned down in joined operation

    A vast forest area of Mendhar has been under tight security cordon since Thursday, when riflemen Vikram Singh Negi and Yogambar Singh, both from Uttarakhand, were killed in an encounter with terrorists in the Nar Khas forest.

    Earlier on October 11, five Army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were killed when terrorists attacked a search party in Poonch’s Surankote forest.

    There was an exchange of fire between the Army search parties and the fleeing terrorists in the adjoining Thanamandi forest in Rajouri the same day.

    The officials said that the entire forest area from Mendhar to Thanamandi remains under a strict cordon and a massive search operation is on to neutralise the terrorists who are moving from one place to another in an attempt to escape the dragnet.

    The traffic between Mendhar and Thanamandi along the Jammu-Rajouri highway remained suspended for the second day in view of the ongoing operation, they said.

    ALSO READ | Families of Poonch martyrs united in grief

    On Tuesday, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Rajouri-Poonch range, Vivek Gupta had said that the terrorists involved in the attack on security forces in Poonch had been present in the area for the last two to three months.

    Rajouri and Poonch in the Jammu region have witnessed a rise in infiltration attempts since June this year, resulting in the killing of nine terrorists in separate encounters.

    Meanwhile, a defence spokesperson said that the mortal remains of riflemen Negi and Singh were flown to Uttarakhand in a service aircraft this morning after a wreath-laying ceremony.

    The aircraft will reach the Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun by 11.30 am, he said.

    From the airport, the mortal remains of the soldiers will be taken to their home towns by road and their last rites will be conducted with full military honours, he said.

  • Pulwama: Militants involved in Srinagar cop’s killing gunned down in joined operation

    Express News Service

    SRINAGAR:  Two militants, who were involved in killing of a civilian and a sub inspector in Srinagar, were killed in twin gunfights in Pulwama and Srinagar on Friday. In Wahibugh area of Pulwama, police, CRPF and army launched a joint cordon and search operation to trace militants in the afternoon. 

    When the militants fired on the search party, a gunfight took place in which militant was killed and an AK rifle along with magazine and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site. The slain militant was identified as Shahid Basir Sheikh from downtown Srinagar. 

    Another gunfight erupted between militants and security forces in Bemina area of Srinagar in the evening. The gunfight ended with the neutralisation of a militant of The Resistance Front. Sources identified the militant as Tanzeel from Habba Kadal area of downtown Srinagar.

    Sheikh was involved in recent killing of Mohammad Shafi Dar, a Power Development Department (PDD) employee, on October 2, IG, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said adding that Tanzeel was involved in the killing of Sub Inspector Arshid Ahmed near Khanyar in downtown Srinagar on September 12.

    Seven civilians including three minority community members and a street vendor from Bihar were shot dead by militants in Kashmir last week. Six of the civilian killings have taken place in Srinagar alone.

    After the spate of civilian killings, security arrangements across the Srinagar and other parts of the Valley was increased. At least 10 militants, including a top Jaish commander,  have been killed in seven gunfights in Kashmir this week. 

  • Families of Poonch martyrs united in grief

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN:  As the news of martyrdom of Army soldiers Vikram Singh Negi and Yogambar Singh reached their home in Uttarakhand, family members still are in shock and disbelief. Both the jawans were killed in Nar Khas forest area during the counter-terrorism operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district. While Negi, 26, was a resident of Village Viman Gaon, Singh, 27, hailed from Saankri village.

    Singh, who returned to his posting in July after a month’s leave, has a one- year-old son. His wife Kusum Devi fell unconscious while his parents are in a state of shock. Janki Devi has been inconsolable after she lost her son in the line of duty. “This is like snatching away a family’s life. I don’t know how I will console my family members,” said Vasudev Singh, a kin at Saankri in Chamoli district. 

     Anand Singh Bhandari, gram pradhan of Sankari village,  said Singh joined the Army in year 2015.  “We all attended his marriage in 2018 and danced our hearts out. We were proud of him and now all that remains are memories,” the pradhan said. The body of the martyr reached Rishikesh and would arrive till late night or on Saturday morning. 

    Surendra Singh Negi, the uncle of rifleman Virendra Singh Negi, said Vikram joined the Army five years back.  “The information (of martyrdom) was received by his wife Parvati. It’s devastating. He had his whole life to live… It’s unfair how terrorism has cut such promising life short,” said the grieving uncle. Negi’s 18-month son is unaware that he will never get to know his father or meet him.  The Negi household, especially the  martyr’s wife, mother Birja Devi and 95-year-old grandmother Rukma Devi, are speechless as they struggle to come  terms with their loss.

    Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dham condoled the loss of the two families.  “Our soldiers have made the  supreme sacrifice in the service of Mother India. Their sacrifice will never ever be forgotten. I pray to God to grant courage and patience to the families and all of us to bear the loss,” he said.

  • Rajnath Singh hails Indira Gandhi for leading India ‘during times of war’

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Former prime minister Indira Gandhi not only led the country for a number of years, but she also did so during the times of war, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, in an apparent reference to her role in the 1971 war with Pakistan.

    In an address at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) seminar on the role of women in the armed forces, the defence minister also talked about Rani Laxmi Bai and former president Pratibha Patil, and said India has a positive experience in harnessing women’s power in national development.

    Singh said though it is justifiable to discuss the role of women in the armed forces, their wider contribution in all spheres of security and nation-building must also be recognised and reinforced.

    “There are a number of examples of women taking up arms to protect their country and the rights of the  people through history. Rani Laxmi Bai is amongst the most revered and respected amongst them,” he said.

    “India’s former prime minister Indira Gandhi not only led the country for a number of years, she also did so during the times of war. And more recently, Pratibha Patil was the president of India and the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces,” the defence minister added.

    Under Indira Gandhi’s prime ministership, India won the 1971 war against Pakistan that resulted in the birth of Bangladesh.

    Singh said the tradition of women as both caregivers and protectors has continued over the centuries and remains deeply embedded in the customs and traditions of the region.

    “If Saraswati is our goddess of knowledge, wisdom and learning, mother Durga remains associated with protection, strength, destruction and war,” he said.

    Singh said India is amongst a very few countries that took an early initiative in terms of women’s participation in the armed forces and that women are now being accepted for permanent commissioning and shall be commanding Army units and battalions in the near future.

    “Women have been serving with pride in the Indian Military Nursing Service for over 100 years now. The Indian Army had commenced commissioning women officers in 1992. It has now moved to inducting women officers in most of the branches of the Army,” he said.

    “Women are now being accepted for permanent commission and shall be commanding Army units and battalions in the near future,” he added.

    Singh said women will be able to join the premier tri-service pre-commissioning training institute, the National Defence Academy, from next year.

    Describing the induction of women in the military police in the Army as a major milestone, he said India’s approach to their induction in the police, central police, paramilitary and armed forces has been progressive.

    “We have taken the evolutionary path of moving from support to combat support and thereafter, to combat arms within the armed forces,” he said.

    “We have found that the process of induction, given its broad-based and progressive path, has also simultaneously prepared the society and the armed forces for this change.

    This is an important aspect to ensure a smooth and successful transition,” the defence minister added.

    Referring to women’s role in the Navy, he said from humble beginnings in the Air Traffic Control in 1993, the women officers graduated to being pilots of maritime reconnaissance aircraft in 2016 and are now being appointed onboard warships since last year.

    “The Indian Coast Guard has been employing women officers in combat roles, which include pilots, observers and aviation support services. In the Indian Air Force, women are inducted in all roles, including combat and support roles,” Singh said.

  • Top JeM commander Sham Sofi killed in encounter with security forces in Pulwama

    By PTI

    SRINAGAR: Top terrorist commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Sham Sofi was killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, police said.

    Acting on specific inputs about the presence of terrorists in Tilwani Mohalla Waggad in the Tral area of Awantipora, in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, security forces launched a cordon and search operation there, a police official said.

    He said an encounter broke out after the militants opened fire at the security personnel, who retaliated.

    In the exchange of fire, a militant was killed, the official said.

    Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said the slain terrorist has been identified as Sham Sofi who was a top JeM commander.

    “Top JeM Commander #terrorist Sham Sofi killed in Tral #Encounter,” the IGP said on Kashmir Zone Police’s Twitter handle.

  • Homecoming promise by soldiers dies premature death in J&K’s Poonch district

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: A pall of gloom descended on the houses of Naib Subedar Jaswinder Singh and Sepoy Gajjan Singh soon after the news of their death reached their families. The two were martyred in an encounter in Jammu & Kashmir on Monday. Both had spoken to their families two days back and Jaswinder had told his near ones that he would be coming home in November. Gajjan had said he would home after just three days.

    Jaswinder SinghThe 39-year-old Jaswinder of Kapurthala was the youngest in the family. His father Harbhajan Singh had retired from Indian Army as a Captain. His brother Rajinder was also in the army. Jaswinder had come home in May after his father died.

    “My brother called us two days back. He said he would take leave in November for rituals to be conducted a few months after the death of a person. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that we would never him again and perform his last rights,” said Rajinder. 

    Jaswinder is survived by wife Sukhpreet, 13-year-old son Vikramjeet and 11-year-old daughter Harnoor. His mother is Manjit Kaur. The family does farming, while his elder brother works as a private security guard. Gajjan, 27, was from Ropar district. He is survived by his parents, three elder brothers and wife. “He got married in February. Today we get this heartbreaking news,” said a relative, adding that the news of his death has not been shared with his family because his mother is unwell.

    He was the youngest of four brothers. They have two acres of land and his brothers are farmers.  The third solider who died was Naik Mandeep Singh of Chalha village in Gurdaspur district. The Punjab CM announced ex-gratia grant of Rs. 50 lakh and a government job to one member of the families of the slain armymen from the state. Shiromani Akali Dal  president Sukhbir Singh Badal mourned the demise of the soldiers. 

  • China not agreeable to resolve remaining areas along LAC, no results in 13th round talks: Indian Army

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The Chinese Army has not agreed to the constructive suggestions given by the Indian Army to resolve the remaining friction points or areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and that is why the 13th round of talks concluded without any results, the Indian Army said in a statement on Monday.

    During the meeting, the Indian side made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals.

    “The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas,” the Army said, in its statement on the 13th round of corps commander level talks held in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC on Sunday.

    The Army said that during the meeting, the discussions between the two sides focussed on the resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

    The 13th Corps Commanders meeting “did not result in resolution of the remaining areas” as “Chinese side was not agreeable & also could not provide any forward-looking proposals to “constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas”.#Ladakh@NewIndianXpress
    — Mayank

  • India, China fail to break the ice over the standoff in Eastern Ladakh

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: India and China failed to break the ice over the standoff in the remaining areas of the Eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). While India pointed to Chinese disagreement to its “constructive suggestions” for resolution, the Chinese side blamed India for “persisting in its unreasonable and unrealistic demands.”

    The Chinese Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesperson for the Western Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), on Monday said “(T)he Chinese side made great efforts to promote easing and cooling of the border situation and fully demonstrated China’s sincerity of maintaining overall interests of bilateral military relations. However, the Indian side still persisted in its unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which added difficulties to the negotiations.”

    Responding to the Chinese statement the Indian Army said, “The Indian side pointed out that the situation along the LAC had been caused by unilateral attempts of the Chinese side to alter the status quo and in violation of the bilateral agreements. It was, therefore, necessary that the Chinese side take appropriate steps in the remaining areas so as to restore peace and tranquillity along the LAC in the Western Sector.”

    “During the meeting, the Indian side, therefore, made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals. The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas,” said Indian Army. 

    The 13th India-China Corps Commanders meet was held on October 10 at the Moldo-Chushul border meeting point on the Chinese side. During the meeting, the discussions between the two sides focussed on the resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

    As per the Ministry, the two sides have agreed to maintain communications and also to maintain stability on the ground. “It is our expectation that the Chinese side will take into account the overall perspective of bilateral relations and will work towards early resolution of the remaining issues while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols,” Army said.

    There are around 60,000 troops each from the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA deployed near the LAC in Eastern Ladakh with tense standoffs at Hot Spring, Depsang, and Demchok. There were standoffs also at Galwan, Gogra, and the North and South banks of the Pangong Lake and the troops have mutually disengaged after the resolutions achieved during a series of 12 previous Corps Commanders’ talks. 

  • French defence major Thales looking at providing cyber security solutions for Indian armed forces

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Leading French defence major Thales Group is planning to focus significantly on addressing requirements of the Indian armed forces for new-age cyber security solutions, artificial intelligence and advanced capabilities in big data analytics.

    Chairman and CEO of Thales Group Patrice Caine said the company has been looking at expanding its overall footprint in India, particularly in the areas of emerging technologies that will be crucial for the armed forces.

    The Indian Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force have been focusing on acquiring futuristic technologies like nanotechnology, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, swarm drones and robotic technologies to deal with future security challenges.

    Caine said Thales Group is aiming at expanding its overall footprint in India in a number of segments, including in areas of cyber security, artificial intelligence and digital solutions.

    “We are also looking at bringing some key pieces of equipment and systems to contribute to raise our level of involvement in sharing defence technologies with India’s defence sector in the field of sonar, radars and other platforms,” he told PTI.

    However, he refused to share the details.

    Caine said that India’s defence manufacturing sector is moving in the right direction riding on a series of policy initiatives by the government and Thales would like to be a key partner of the country in its quest to become a key producer of military platforms and solutions.

    “We are totally committed to help India expand its defence production under the ‘Make in India Initiative’ by producing equipment either on our own or with our partners.

    India has a good talent pool to develop cyber-security solutions, AI applications and big data analytics,” he said.

    India is expected to spend close to USD 300 billion in the next five years in procuring defence equipment and almost all major global defence firms are eyeing a slice of it.

    The Thales Chairman and CEO also indicated that the company is looking at having joint ventures with a number of Indian companies for a range of prodicts and military solutions but refused to share details.

    He said India is now considered as a key country for sourcing various raw materials for the company’s global production line and it is going to double procurement from the country in the next five years.

    “India is now a key and reliable country in our global supply chain,” he said.

    Thales is part of the French firms that provided key components for the Rafale jets procured by India.

    As part of Thales’ offsets commitments under the Rafale deal, the company helped Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) in producing modules for the RBE2 radar.

    Thales has been providing avionics and other equipment to the state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for over four decades and is involved in supplying equipment for various other key military projects.

    Present in India since 1953, Thales has offices in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai, among others.

    Over 600 employees are working with Thales and its joint ventures in India.

    Caine also complimented India’s reform measures aimed at boosting defence manufacturing.

    The government has initiated a series of measures in the last couple of years to encourage the domestic defence industry.

    In August last year, it was announced that India will stop the import of 101 weapons and military platforms like transport aircraft, light combat helicopters, conventional submarines, cruise missiles and sonar systems by 2024.

    A second negative list, putting import restrictions on 108 military weapons and systems such as next-generation corvettes, airborne early warning systems, tank engines and radars, was issued recently.

    In May last year, the government announced increasing the FDI limit from 49 per cent to 74 per cent under the automatic route in the defence sector.

    The government has been focusing on reducing dependence on imported military platforms and has decided to support domestic defence manufacturing.

    The Defence Ministry has set a goal of a turnover of USD 25 billion (Rs 1.75 lakh crore) in defence manufacturing by 2025 that included an export target of USD 5 billion (Rs 35,000 crore) worth of military hardware.

  • Video claiming Punjab regiment jawans protesting with farmers is fake: Indian Army

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Army on Sunday clarified that the video circulating on social media showing army personnel standing with civilians under a tent saying that Punjab regiment soldiers are protesting with farmers was fake.

    The Army officials further clarified that the ex-servicemen of the unit had arranged tea for the serving personnel while they were moving from one location to another.

    “A video is circulating on social media showing Indian Army jawans standing with civilians under a tent saying that Punjab regiment soldiers are protesting with some farmers. This is fake news,” an army official said.

    “Ex-servicemen of the unit had arranged tea for the serving personnel while they were moving from one location to another,” he added.

    Farmers have been protesting at different sites since November 26 last year against the enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    Farmer leaders and the Centre have held several rounds of talks but the impasse remains.