News Analysis India

Tag: Indian Army

  • DAC approves defence procurement worth Rs 13,700 crore, including 118 Arjun Mk-1A tanks for Army

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Tuesday approved buying of defence equipment worth Rs 13,700 crore for the three armed forces, including 118 Arjun Mk-1A tanks for the Army.

    The DAC also accorded three Acceptance of Necessities (AoNs) for an overall cost of Rs 13,700 crore, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

    All these AoNs are in the highest priority category of defence acquisition — ‘Buy [Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)].

    The DAC, headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is the highest decision-making body for defence procurement.

    “The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has approved capital acquisition proposals of various weapons/ platforms/ equipment/ systems required by the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, in New Delhi on February 23, 2021,” the statement added.

    Sources said of the 13,700 crore, Rs 8,300 crore will be for procuring 118 Arjun (Mk-1A).

    Earlier this month Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over to the Army the home-made Arjun Main Battle Tank (MK-1A) in Chennai.

    The state-of-the-art tank, has been indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)’s Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment The tank is infused with 71 new features and would ensure effortless mobility in all terrains, besides precise target engagement during day and night.

    All these acquisition proposals approved by the DAC will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured, the statement added.

    These will include inter-alia platforms and systems designed and developed by DRDO.

    The DAC also approved that all capital acquisition contracts (delegated and non-delegated) other than D&D (design and development) cases shall be concluded in two years.

    The ministry, in consultation with the services and all stakeholders, will come up with a detailed plan of action for achieving the same, it added.

  • Army jawan killed in accidental firing in Jammu

    By PTI
    JAMMU: An Army jawan was killed in an accidental firing during training here on Tuesday, a defence spokesman said.

    “Gunner Sayan Ghosh of Artillery Regiment suffered fatal injury due to a firing accident while carrying out live firing training at the field firing range (in Akhnoor sector),” the spokesman said.

    The incident occurred around 10.30 am.

    The spokesman said further details are being ascertained.

  • Disengagement in Pangong Lake step forward for resolution of other issues: Sino-India joint statement

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The disengagement of troops in Pangong Lake area in Eastern Ladakh is a significant step forward for resolution of other remaining issues along the LAC in the western sector, India and China said in a joint statement on Sunday after their 10th round of military talks.

    The two sides also agreed to follow the important consensus of their state leaders, continue their communication and dialogue, stabilise and control the situation on the ground and push for a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues in a steady and orderly manner so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.

    The statement came after the nearly 16-hour-long Corps Commander-level talks at the Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control that began at around 10 AM on Saturday and ended at 2 AM on Sunday.

    “The two sides positively appraised the smooth completion of disengagement of frontline troops in the Pangong Lake area noting that it was a significant step forward that provided a good basis for resolution of other remaining issues along the LAC in the western sector,” the joint statement said.

    “They had candid and in-depth exchange of views on other issues along the LAC in the western sector,” it added.

    The talks took place two days after both the militaries concluded the withdrawal of troops and weapons from North and South banks of Pangong Tso in the high-altitude region.

    In the talks, India is learnt to have insisted on a faster disengagement process in areas like Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang to bring down tension in the region.

    On Saturday evening, sources had said that bringing down the tension in the region was the broad priority of the talks.

    India has all along been maintaining that disengagement at all the friction points was necessary to de-escalate the situation in the region.

    The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry even as the two sides continued military and diplomatic talks.

  • Lt Gen DP Pandey to be the new head of Srinagar based Chinar Corps

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Lieutenant General Devendra Pratap Pandey will be the new Chinar Corps (XV Corps) of the Indian Army. The officer is detailed to assume charge soon from Lt Gen BS Raju due for his headquarter posting at New Delhi.

    Confirming the development sources told that the posting was confirmed on Friday night and the officer will be taking charge in the mid of March month.

    Lt Gen BS Raju will be joining the Army headquarters as the Director General Military Operations as the previous incumbent Lt Gen Paramjit Singh Sangha took over as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) last week.

    Lt General DP Pandey is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in December 1985 from Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He belongs to Amahiya near Gorakhpur District of Uttar Pradesh where his father was a Professor in Gorakhpur University. The son of the officer is also serving in Army as an officer.  

    Lt General Pandey attended the prestigious strategic leadership institution — National Defence College (NDC). The General also has completed the National Security Strategy course from National War College, National Defence University.

    He Qualified in Mountain Warfare courses and had multiple tenures in High Altitude Areas and has commanded his Battalion in Siachen Glacier and Chushul Sector. The officer is well verse with counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations as he commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Sector and a Counter Insurgency Force in the Kashmir Valley. 

    He has been an Instructor and Assistant Adjutant of The National Defence Academy and Brigade Major of a Brigade in High Altitude Area during Operation Vijay (Kargil). He has held numerous prestigious staff appointments which includes Director in Infantry Directorate and Director, Foreign Division in MI Directorate, IHQ of MoD Army, BGS (Ops) at HQ Western Command, Chandimandir and BGS at Chetak Corps and Additional Director General of Public Information.

    He has been the first Director General of Territorial Army. In his long 35 years career till now the officer the officer has been decorated with Ati Vishist Seva Medal and Vishist Seva Medal besides numerous other awards.

    The XV Corps is strategically located at Srinagar and is entrusted with the responsibility of handling vigilance along 343 km of the Line of Control and hinterland operation in the hinterland of the valley of Kashmir thus covering span from North of Pir Panjal to Zoji La Pass.

  • Uphill task for India in other Ladakh sectors

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  At a time when disengagement of PLA and Indian Army along the Pangong Tso is complete,  former army officers advised caution instead of trusting blindly agreements with China.

    These officers believe China has pushed in a lot of force and equipment to convey a message and the trickier phase begins now, as India has to handle negotiations with maturity and pragmatism.

    Lt Gen HS Panag (Retd), a former Northern Army Commander, said China is forcing others to accept it is the domineering power in Asia. Also, because they felt threatened by the development of infrastructure on the Indian side, India may plan action from the Aksai Chin side.

    ALSO READ: After months of denial, China accepts its four soldiers were killed in Galwan Valley clash; releases video

    “By developing the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DSDBO) highway, we were building lateral routes towards the LAC,” said Lt Gen Panag.

    Adding that the Chinese were farsighted in persisting with the 1959 claim line, as it keeps them in an advantageous position, Lt Gen Panag said: “They chose the LAC in such a way that their positions are at the points of advantage and can dominate in future.”

    ALSO READ: Artillery Guns moved back, bunkers brought down by PLA

    The PLA has denied India access to the patrolling points in Y Junction in Depsang. It has also blocked additional movement towards Hot Spring. Lt Gen DS Hooda (Retd), another former Northern Army Commander, identifies Depsang as the trickiest point.

    “Both sides have their claims in this area and this will take a lot of negotiations.”

    Sub Sector North, of which Depsang is a part, is strategically most important. The terrain is such that large-scale armour operations is possible. China has multiple roads feeding this area while India has only the DSDBO road. By sitting at the Y Junction, China can obstruct India’s movement.

    ALSO READ: Relationship with China cannot be normal without peace in border areas, says Harsh Vardhan Shringla

    Depsang is also a link towards Siachen and the DBO airfield. Indian Army occupying the Kailash Range has been an important turning point, feels Lt gen Hooda and Lt Gen KJS Pannu, a former 14 Corps Commander.

    They say China did not expect India to do that. Calling the disengagement Pangong Tso-centric,  Lt Gen Pannu feels China cannot be trusted.

    “What guarantee can we have when China breached all five agreements signed since 1993. They may go back, re-strategize, replan, retrain, reequip, lull us into complacency and surprise us.”

    ALSO READ: China says disengagement of Chinese, Indian troops in eastern Ladakh going on smoothly

    By all estimates, this is going to be a long affair. It’s time to be ready and arm, train and equip our soldiers to deal with surprises in the future. 

    Power points of  East Ladakh

    PPs are patrolling points identified and marked on the LAC where regular patrolling is done to assert the physical claim about the LAC

    As per general estimates, G 219 (Tibet- Xinjiang Highway) is at a distance of less than 4 hours from Depsang 

    The average altitude ranges from 14,000 ft to 18,000ft. There are valleys and plains which allow fast movement of vehicles

    Y Junction

    About 20kms from strategic airfield Daulat Beg Oldi. PLA blocking around 100 sq kms in this area as India is unable to patrol points 10, 11, 11A, 12 & 13 (avg distance between points 10-15 kms)

    Galwan

    Indian Army went around 80 kms inside in 1962. This time, PLA is blocking Indian Army on LAC, going by the 1959 claim line. Disengagement took place after the June 15 clashes

    Hot spring & Gogra

    Occupied by PLA to create pressure on Indian Army and have an edge during negotiations

    Finger 4

    Strategically important. Movement towards rest of the Fingers & another route to Galwan blocked by PLA at this point

  • Army provides food, medical help to stranded tourists in Sikkim

    By PTI
    GANGTOK: The Indian Army provided food, medical help and warm clothes to over 400 tourists who were stranded in East Sikkim district due to sudden heavy snowfall, an official said on Friday.

    Around 447 tourists in 150 vehicles were stuck at JN Road Axis about 40 km from the state capital on Thursday afternoon due to heavy snowfall while returning from tourist destinations like Tsomgo lake, Nathula, Baba Mandir, Memencho Lake and Kupup, the official said.

    Many tourists with medical problems were provided medical help at the 317 FD hospital by an Army medical team.

    The other tourists were given hot food, warm clothes and shelter by the Army and were sent back to Gangtok after the weather improved and the blocked roads were cleared by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the official added.

     

  • Indian army briefs foreign envoys visiting J-K on role of Pakistan in running terror factories across LoC 

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: Senior Indian army officials on Thursday briefed envoys from 24 countries visiting Jammu and Kashmir about the role of the Pakistani army in running terror factories across the Line of Control by organising training camps, officials said.

    The envoys, including from member states of the European Union (EU), Brazil, Malaysia, were also briefed about the role of the Pakistani army in helping terrorist infiltrate into India, infiltration patterns and use of drones by Pakistan to airdrop weapons meant for terrorists, they said.

    Use of tunnels for pushing terrorists into India, especially in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir, was highlighted by the army, which also gave a detailed presentation about the weapons, bearing markings of the Pakistani army, seized from various militants.

    Tunnels were being used following a drop in the number of terrorists sneaking into India from across the Line of Control (LoC) due to heightened vigil and changed tactics in the army’s counter-infiltration grid, the officials said.

    On the situation in the Kashmir Valley, the army officials highlighted Wednesday evening’s incident when a son of a prominent eatery owner was shot and critically wounded by terrorists at his shop in a high-security area of the city.

    This was a part of the terrorists’ game plan to silence either moderate voices in Kashmir or those who refused to follow their diktat, they said.

    The army also gave a detailed briefing on how internet-warfare was used by Pakistani establishments to brainwash youngsters through social media platforms.

    Coming to the situation post the abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, the army officials said there has been no loss of life due to the action of security forces.

    There has been a marked decrease in law and order problems and incidents of stone pelting have seen a sharp decline, the army officials told the visiting envoys, and also shared their experience during the recent District Development Council (DDC) elections, which were conducted successfully.

    Besides terrorism and the situation along the LoC, the officials informed the envoys about the assistance being provided to people living in far-flung areas.

    They were also informed about the tourism sector in the Kashmir Valley and achievements of the Kashmiri people in various fields.

    The envoys from the EU, France, Malaysia, Brazil, Italy, Finland, Bangladesh, Cuba, Chile, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Senegal, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ireland, Ghana, Estonia, Bolivia, Malawi, Eritrea and Ivory Coast arrived here on Wednesday amid heightened security arrangements in the city and elsewhere in the Valley.

  • Pangong Tso disengagement: Artillery Guns moved back, bunkers brought down by PLA

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has moved back the Artillery Guns and has brought down structures from the North Bank of the Pangong Tso. Indian  Army officers are optimistic that the disengagement process is expected to get completed by June 20. 

    “The structures like the bunkers and shades have been dismantled and the Artillery Guns have been moved east of Finger 8. Also, the posts created on the South Bank have been removed and the armoured vehicles (Tanks and the Infantry Combat Vehicle) have been moved back”, told a senior Army officer. It is a phased disengagement beginning with the armoured vehicles, artillery and Infantry soldiers to be moved in the last phase.

    Evincing hopes the officer said that the process is continuing from both sides and we are expecting that the process will get completed by February 20.

    The major announcement of an agreement on disengagement of the forces from standoff position at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh came on February 11 as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the development in the Rajya Sabha.

    Indian and Chinese military began disengagement at Pangong on February 10 and it is being done in a “phased, coordinated and verified manner” restoring the situation that was before the commencement of standoff last year, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Upper House.

    Addressing the members Rajnath Singh said, “The Chinese side will keep its troop presence in the North Bank area to the east of Finger 8. Reciprocally, the Indian troops will be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3.” A similar action would be taken in the South Bank area by both sides, he said. Landforms have to be restored to April 2020 position.

    Talking about the details of the agreements with China Defence Minister said, “It has also been agreed to have a temporary moratorium on military activities by both sides in the North Bank, including patrolling to the traditional areas. Patrolling will be resumed only when both sides reach an agreement in diplomatic and military talks that would be held subsequently.”

    Deployment and patrolling at other standoff points will be discussed subsequently.

    The standoff in the Eastern Ladakh started in the first week of May month last year from Finger 4 as the Chinese and Indian troops had clashed. Subsequently it had spread to several standoff points along the LAC ahead of the LAC in the North and South banks of the Pangong Tso.

    Apart from the Finger Areas in the North Bank, Gogra-Hot Spring, Galwan, Depsang have been the other sites of standoff and Chushul Sector in the South Bank side of the Pangong lake.

    As per the agreement the next meeting of the Senior Commanders will be convened within 48 hours after the complete disengagement in the Pangong Lake area so as to address and resolve all other remaining issues.

  • PM Modi hands over indigenous Arjun tank designed by DRDO in Chennai to Army

    By PTI
    CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday handed over to the Army the home made Arjun Main Battle Tank (MK-1A) here.

    At a function, he also accepted a salute by the state- of-the-art tank, indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured by DRDO’s Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment here.

    Fifteen academic institutions, eight labs and several MSMEs were also involved in the project.

  • Army shoots dead ‘intruder’ near LoC in J&K’s Baramulla

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: The Army shot dead an “intruder” near the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said on Wednesday.

    Army troopers killed an intruder near the LoC at Dulanja in Uri in north Kashmir on Tuesday night, a police official said.

    He identified the “intruder” as Sarfraz Mir, 56, a resident of Kundibarjala Kamalkote, Uri.

    “Mir had crossed the LoC in 1990 and then returned in 1992. He surrendered (before the security forces) in 1995 and then went back to Pakistan in 2005,” the official said.

    An identity card issued by authorities in the Muzaffarabad area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and a rifle was recovered by the Army, he said.