News Analysis India

Tag: Indian Army

  • Experts welcome ceasefire pact but caution cross-border terror needs to be watched

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The announcement by India and Pakistan to follow all ceasefire agreements is a welcome move as any measure that saves lives on the border and reduces violence must be given a chance, experts said on Friday, but cautioned that cross-border terrorism needs to be closely watched.

    India and Pakistan issued a joint statement on Thursday to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control(LoC) and other sectors after hotline discussions by their Director Generals of Military Operations(DGMO).

    The decision by the two countries came into effect from the midnight of February 24/25.

    Lt.Gen. (retd) Satish Dua, who was the Corps Commander of the Srinagar based XV Corps when the Indian Army undertook surgical strikes post the Uri attack in 2016, said the ceasefire is a welcome step and more importantly, a joint statement on it is “rare”.

    He said the agreement comes at the time of commencement of summer when there is a rise in infiltration bids and Ceasefire Violations (CFVs).

    “Every year in the onset of summer, the infiltration and the firing (CFVs) pick up more. As we are heading towards that summer, it is also a good thing that before the firing starts off, may be it can be capped in this manner. It will be a good thing,” he said.

    Dua also said the latest ceasefire agreement has to be seen from the context of three aspects.

    One is the situation post-August 2019 when the special provisions for the state under Article 370 were abrogated and there was a rise in CFVs.

    Second, diplomatic relations were hit after the withdrawal of the High Commissioners from both the countries.

    And third is the India’s stance that there would be no talks till Pakistan stops supporting terrorism.

    “There was almost a breakdown of communications in a meaningful way. In that regard, the DGMO (Director Generals) level talk is meant for the management of LoC so that we do not escalate where we can sort out things or sometimes there are issues related to civilians who live across the LoC so they don’t suffer,” Dua said.

    Lt.Gen. (retd) D S Hooda said one should “wait and watch” on how things pan out.

    Hooda was the Army’s Northern Commander when the surgical strikes took place.

    “A lot depends on what they (Pakistan) do at the border. If they continue to push terrorists, then obviously the ceasefire agreement will not last,” Hooda said.

    He, however, noted that the agreement is something which must have been sanctioned at the highest level from both sides.

    He added that the agreement should also be seen from the perspective of regional and global factors.

    At the global level, Pakistan’s attempts to raise the Kashmir issue at different fora have not yielded expected results and their ties with Saudi Arabia and UAE have also soured.

    To add to it, the economy is also not in good shape, Hooda said.

    At the regional level, Pakistan’s attempts to create unrest in Kashmir post-August 2019 have also not been successful.

    Even during the military stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh, the Indian forces stood strong and did not back down.

    “All these aspects probably played a role,” Hooda added.

    TCA Raghavan, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, said the ceasefire agreements in the past have had mixed outcome.

    “After 2003, till about 2009-2010, the LoC was pretty quiet and even after that while there would be flare-ups, there was always a reference made to the 2003 agreement and greater stability was restored. I won’t say that they have not lasted. Yes, like everything else, in India-Pakistan relations there have been ups and downs. I don’t think to say that this is not going to work because in the past it has not lasted would not be correct,” he said.

    Raghavan said the fact that both sides have agreed that they will respect the ceasefire agreement which was reached in the past is a very important development and it shows that forward movement is possible even after a long period when there has been a very sharp downturn in India-Pakistan relations.

    “Now next steps will depend on both governments because there are many things which can be attended to but the pace at which this has to be done will depend on the governments. It is not easy to predict what will happen,” he said.

    He hoped that some extent of cooperation will now be visible, especially in the field of public health.

    The United States has also welcomed the agreement, saying it is a positive step towards greater peace and stability in South Asia.

    Strategic affairs experts Brahma Chellaney said India’s “meandering approach” assumes its two regional foes will emulate what it does well– jettison beliefs and policies overnight.

    “What explains India’s overtures to Pakistan, from permitting Imran Khan’s flight to the joint statement? Indian press is saying “more steps” likely. India’s meandering approach assumes its two regional foes will emulate what it does well, jettison beliefs and policies overnight,” he said on Twitter.

    “While still coddling its terrorist proxies, Pakistan wants better ties with India as part of its efforts to relieve international pressure and reset ties with US. It must be pleased the state department yesterday called it “an important partner” with whom we share many interests,” Chellaney tweeted.

  • Ceasefire agreement positive move, to approach situation with cautious optimism: Army

    General Officer Commanding (GoC), Kilo Force, Major General H S Sahi said when there is a semblance of peace on the LoC, other steps will follow.

  • Guns fall silent on LoC as both sides agree to strictly enforce truce

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Guns fell silent on the Line of Control and the International Border India shares with Pakistan on Wednesday-Thursday midnight in a surprising de-escalation of tensions after both sides agreed to strictly observe all bilateral ceasefire agreements and protocols.

    The truce came about two weeks after China announced disengagement of troops in the Pangong lake in Ladakh from stand-off positions and both sides pulled back their troops.

    In the space of a fortnight, both the volatile China and Pakistan frontiers have become tranquil, indicating hectic back channel diplomacy, giving peace an unexpected booster shot in the often troubled neighbourhood.

    “Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 February 2021,” both countries stated in a joint statement. Indian Army officials attributed the truce to the realisation on both sides of collateral damage as innocent civilian lives were needlessly lost in the cross-border firing.

    “One of the aims is to safeguard the lives of innocent civilians as we are bound to retaliate to ceasefire violations,” said a senior Army officer. This agreement will be a big relief for the people living on the border and their cattle.

    The Union home ministry has built community bunkers in the villages along the LoC to safeguard the lives of civilians caught in the border crossfire. As many as 70 civilians on the Indian side of the LoC were killed in the cross-border firing between 2018 and 2020 while 341 others were injured during the same period. However, there won’t be any let up in the deployment of forces. 

    The decision to strictly enforce truce was taken by the Directors General of Military Operations on both sides, who agreed to address each other’s core issues and concerns, which have the propensity to disturb peace.

    “India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. We have always maintained that we are committed to addressing issues, if any, in a peaceful bilateral manner. On key issues, our position remains unchanged,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. India has maintained that there can be no dialogue with Pakistan if cross-border terror does not end.

    No let up in taking on terrorists

    The truce will not stop the Army’s fight against infiltrating terrorists. “The operational posture won’t change and we will follow the policy of zero tolerance to any action from the other side,” an officer said

    (Inputs from Pushkar Banakar)

  • India desires normal neighbourly ties with Pakistan, committed to resolve all issues bilaterally: MEA

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: As the Indian and Pakistani armies agreed to strictly observe all their ceasefire agreements, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan and is committed to resolving all issues bilaterally in a peaceful manner.

    “On key issues, our position remains unchanged. I do not think I need to reiterate it,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said when asked about India’s core concerns, including on the issue of cross-border terrorism.

    His comments followed a joint statement issued after a hotline discussion between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, during which the two sides agreed on a strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and all other sectors with effect from Wednesday midnight.

    Asked about the development, the MEA spokesperson said, “As regards the joint statement of the DGMOs and related issues, I would refer you to the Ministry of Defence.”

    “On relations with Pakistan, as we have said earlier, India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. We have always maintained that we are committed to addressing issues, if any, in a peaceful and bilateral manner,” he added.

    India and Pakistan signed a ceasefire agreement in 2003, but it has hardly been followed in letter and spirit over the past several years with more violations than an observance of the pact.

    Army officials asserted that there would be no let-up in their fight against terrorism or in troops deployment along the borders, following the new commitment that they described as a fresh attempt at peace in the region.

  • Army probing alleged data breach in Northern Command

    By ANI
    UDHAMPUR: The Indian Army has ordered a probe into an alleged case of a data breach in the northern command after a soldier was found to be passing data to Pakistani operatives.

    The data breach took place when the soldier from Punjab and posted under the Northern Command was caught by officials dealing with the alleged issue, Army sources said here.

    After the incident came to light, a court of inquiry has been ordered to probe how the soldier could get access to the data and the extent to which it was leaked to the operatives of Pakistani agencies.

    The data breach took place when the Indian side was deeply engaged in a military stand-off with the Chinese military.

    According to the sources, ” the probe would also find out how deeply the soldier was engaged with the enemy operatives and how much was he compromised by them.”

    The Udhampur-based Northern Command is in charge of security on both China and Pakistan borders in the Ladakh sector.

    The Chinese intruded into the Indian territory in the April-May timeframe after which a whole of the nation approach helped in making the Chinese go back to the most critical Pangong lake area.

  • Army likely to start using SAI for internal communications from April 1

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: From April 1, the Indian Army is likely to start using SAI (Secure Application for Internet), a messaging platform, for internal communications, Army chief General M M Naravane said on Wednesday.

    He said the application, developed by Colonel Sai Shankar, is undergoing the process of getting cyber and security clearance and data testing.

    “One of our officers has developed a software application, which is the equivalent of WhatsApp.”

    “We plan to introduce that throughout the Indian Army. It is undergoing cyber clearance, security clearance and data testing. And maybe from April 1, we will only use that for our internal communications,” Naravane said at a webinar organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation.

    The application supports end-to-end secure voice, text and video-calling services for Android platforms over the internet.

    The model is similar to commercially available messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, SAMVAD and GIMS, and utilises the end-to-end encryption messaging protocol.

    SAI scores over these platforms in terms of security features with local in-house servers and coding, which can be tweaked as per requirements.

  • Army in process of acquiring 556 Augmented Reality Head Mounted Display systems

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Army is in the process of acquiring 556 Augmented Reality Head Mounted Display (ARHMD) systems, the defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

    ARHMD is conceived as capability enhancement to Land Based Air Defence Weapon Systems such as the IGLA shoulder-fired Infrared Homing Air Defence Missile System and the ZU 23mm 2B AD Gun System, which will provide the operator with radar and thermal imaging (TI) sight outputs as overlays.

    The proposed system intends to enhance the engagement capability during night and conditions of inclement weather and day-time engagements are also intended to be enhanced through increased reaction times, data computation for decision support and integration of the output of TI sight.

    “Indian Army is in the process of acquiring niche technology by procuring quantity 556 Augmented Reality Head Mounted Display (ARHMD) systems under Make-II category,” the statement said.

    After a successful evaluation of vendor responses, a project sanction order (PSO) was issued to six vendors on February 22 to start developing the prototype.

    The contract will be placed with one of the firms after a successful development of the prototype in accordance with the provisions of the “buy” (Indian-IDDM) category of DAP 2020.

    In another statement, the ministry said a contract for the construction of eight Missile-cum-Ammunition (MCA) barges has been concluded with M/s SECON, Visakhapatnam on February 19.

    The delivery of the barges is scheduled to commence from July 2022.

    The MCA barges will be inducted in the Indian Navy to undertake the mission needs for embarking or disembarking missile, gunnery and ASW ammunition, the statement added.

  • China’s strategy of creeping forward won’t work with India: Army chief

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Army Chief General MM Naravane has sent a strong message to China on Wednesday saying that the Chinese strategy of nibbling territory slowly will not work with India. 

    The Army chief pointed out that the strategy of China succeeded in the South China Sea without firing a bullet or a loss of life. General MM Naravane said, “I think more than anything else what we have achieved is to show that this strategy (nibbling territory) will not work with us. And every move will be met resolutely.” 

    He said while referring to the disengagement effected after a prolonged standoff of more than nine months. General MM Naravane was delivering a lecture on “Role of the Indian Army in dealing with the contemporary national security challenges” at New Delhi-based think tank Vivekananda International Foundation.

    Speaking on the Chinese strategy of making changes slowly, the Army chief said, “China has been in the habit of creeping forward making very small incremental changes where each change by itself was not very big or worthy of a very strong reaction.”

    ALSO READ | Disengagement win-win situation for India and China: Army chief Gen MM Naravane

    And because of the very small incremental moves which were never contested, China has been able to achieve his aims without firing a shot or any loss of life. And what has happened in the South China sea is a very glaring example of that, he said.

    China moved back its troops and equipment, including tanks and artillery from the north and south banks of Pangong Tso where PLA had entrenched its troops since May 2020. The standoff is still continuing at Depsang, Gogra, Hotspring in the North of Pangong Tso and Demchok.

    “We still have a long way to go. We are now at the de-escalation stage and after that, the troops, which went higher reaches, will move back followed by their de-induction,” said General Naravane.

    Talking about the disengagement, the Army chief credited it to the ‘whole of government approach’ but cautioned that there is a long way to go as there is a trust deficit between India and China.

    “Unless that trust deficit is removed, we will of course continue to be very wary and watching whatever movement happens on either side. But I think at the end of the day we have achieved a lot.”

    For future issues, India has its strategies in place, the General said. “Going forward, some issues remain in the areas of Depsang. Defence Minister himself mentioned this in the Parliament. There are pending issues in the areas of Eastern Ladakh and other areas along the Line of Actual Control. But we have our strategies in place for that.”

  • Improvement in J-K security situation but Pakistan-sponsored terror remains threat: Army chief

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Army chief Gen M M Naravane Wednesday said that there is “definitely a great improvement” in the internal security situation in Jammu and Kashmir but Pakistan-promoted terror still remains a threat.

    He said Pakistan is committed to the strategy of supporting terrorism in all its forms as terrorist launchpads continue to be operated and terrorists continue to be there on the other side of the Line of Control looking for an opportunity to cross over.

    Naravane exuded confidence that with continued engagement with Pakistan, there could be some sort of an understanding because “unsettled borders and violence on the borders help no one”.

    “We are always wanting peace and tranquillity in our border areas, whether it be the western front or the northern front and the LAC (Line of Actual Control). Or whether it is on the Indo-Myanmar border, we are always looking for peace and tranquillity and our role is to ensure that so as to the rest of the nation can develop,” Naravane said.

    The Army chief was speaking at a webinar organised by Vivekananda International Foundation.

    ALSO READ | Disengagement win-win situation for India and China: Army chief Gen MM Naravane

    Talking about terrorism in the Valley, Naravane said the winter months are always a little bit of a lull period when the passes are closed and snowfall is heavy.

    He said with the waning of winter, as the passes open and the onset of summer, the Army is always prepared for a fresh influx from across the border.

    “But having said all that, there is definitely a great improvement in the internal security situation in the union territory of J&K. When I say that, I don’t say that just based on the emotion but on various parameters you can judge the figures,” Naravane said.

    He said the number of terrorist-initiated incidents has gone down so have the incidents of infiltration bids across the LoC.

    He added that there were no instance of stone pelting, no incidents of IED attacks.

    “These are facts and figures which speak for themselves that there has been an improvement on the ground in the J&K. However, that threat still remains a threat in being.”

    “The Pakistan angle and the terror angle still remain a threat in being,” he said.

  • Cannot modify verdict granting permanent commission to women in army on individual pleas: SC

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday made clear that it cannot modify its verdict directing the Centre to consider granting permanent commission to women officers in the Army by entertaining individual grievances, that too almost a year after its pronouncement.

    The top court, in its landmark verdict delivered on February 17, 2020, had asked the Centre to consider all serving Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers for permanent commission irrespective of them having crossed 14 years or, as the case may be, 20 years of service.

    “We will not tinker with our judgement on the basis of such miscellaneous applications that too after one year. We cannot be looking into individual cases and start modifying our judgement. There is something called judicial discipline,” a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said.

    The bench, however, granted the counsel for Lt.Col. (Retd.) Priamvada A Mardikar, to approach the Armed Forces Tribunal with her grievances.

    It also asked senior advocate R Balasubramanian, appearing for the Defence Ministry, to use his “good office” in trying to get the grievances of the former Army officer resolved.

    “I will certainly use my good office to ensure that her issue is considered,” the lawyer assured the bench during the hearing conducted through video conferencing.

    The court noted the arguments of lawyer S S Pandey, appearing for the former woman officer, that there were two similarly-placed officers and one of them was granted the permanent commission and the second was denied and she later retired.

    The lawyer said it was held by the top court in the verdict that the women officers, who retired during the pendency of the case, will be getting the retirement benefits as commissioned officers.

    Permanent commission has been granted to Short Service Commissioned officers in all the ten streams of the Indian Army including Army Air Defense (AAD), Signals, Engineers and Army Aviation.

    Justice Chandrachud had authored the last year verdict which had said that as a one-time measure, the benefit of continuing in service until the attainment of 20 years pensionable service shall also apply to all the existing SSC officers with more than fourteen years of services.

    It had held that the option of grant of permanent commission shall be given to all women SSC officers and if those with more than 14 years of service do not opt for it then they will be entitled to continue in service until they attain 20 years of pensionable services.

    While granting permanent commission to women officers in Army, it had rejected the Centre’s stand of their physiological limitations as being based on “sex stereotypes” and “gender discrimination against women”.

    The top court had accepted the Centre’s policy of February 25, 2019 to grant permanent commission to SSC women officers in all the 10 streams in the Army.

    The top court had said SSC women officers with over 20 years of service who are not granted permanent commission shall retire on pension in terms of policy decision.

    It had noted that Indian Army has sanctioned 50,266 posts for officers, while the posts currently occupied are 40,825 including 1,653 by women officers.

    It had noted that there is a shortage of 9,441 officers in the Indian Army.