150 The First and Only ISO 9001:2015 Certified Defence and Security Magazine in India
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November 2017
Volume 9 issue 02
Russia & US India’s Military Relations with Polar Opposites
editor’s note
DSA is as much yours,
as it is ours!
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he rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has caused the most serious fissures within Islam than any other before in history. Both are almost physical neighbours, divided a gulf over who’s name they dispute too. But it is the theological gulf, interlaced with ethnicity, that is the severest point of separation. It is important to highlight this division because it is one that confronts India too. Home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the world, India has to deal with the fallout of this divide, because Shia-Sunni schisms run in India too. India, however, has thought it prudent to maintain relations with both the countries. Relations not as equal as they ought to be or should be. But relations nevertheless, and it bodes well for Indian diplomacy that this virtually impossible balancing act can be maintained and has been maintained rather deftly. But then India is India and there is none like it in the world. So, it can do what most others cannot even dream of. Treading a fine line between the doable and disaster.
Which is how it has maintained a fine balance between the United States of America and Russia. The origins of both relationships couldn’t have been more different. One began with much hope the USA and then fell prey to emerging military camps during the Cold War. The other began in a completely different political and ideological context – Soviet Russia, and then emerged as an enduring feature of India’s foreign and security policies. It is a forgotten footnote of history that India’s first Prime Minister Nehru had a terrific relationship with the then US President Eisenhower. But as military pacts came to appear across the world, the relationship faded on account of India not taking sides. Which is how the Indo-Soviet relationship began, normal until the camps appeared and ideological conflict became an integral part of the world game. It was not until the final split between the two communist neighbours, Soviet Union and China, that India began to be taken seriously by Moscow. By then, the disastrous 1962 war had already taken place. And advanced
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American combat aircrafts were arriving in Pakistan. Once the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, a lot else then slowly began to be erased around the world. Divisions of the past became things of the past too. Technological and political changes around the world were so rapid that those that didn›t keep pace were under threat of becoming irrelevant. On the verge of that junction, India did well to engage in course correction. And that has paid serious dividends. Even as it maintains a good relationship with Russia, India is regarded as one of the closest of America’s friends. The word ally is commonly used, once anathema to Indian sensibilities. But that is the nature of the world now, India would do well to maintain both as friends, for each has much to help and benefit too in reverse. For after all, that is what a sustainable relationship is about, benefitting both.
Manvendra Singh
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Volume 9 | Issue 02 | November 2017 Chairman Shyam Sunder Publisher and ceo Pawan Agrawal President Urvashi J Agrawal Director Shishir Bhushan Editorial Editor-in-Chief Manvendra Singh Deputy Editor Diana Mehra General Manager Kavita Karki Manager- Sales & Marketing Vishal Kishore
Diwali Spirit
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t was heart-warming to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi among soldiers guarding the very difficult Himalayan frontiers on Diwali day. He put on record the sentiments of a nation of 125 crore Indians of appreciation and total support for the men (and an increasing number of women) who lay their lives on the line to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation that has been a target of external aggression from the very moment of its creation in 1947. How many national leaders have ever done this during the entire tenure as a free nation? But PM Modi made it a point to do what he has been doing since his years as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He has stood with them for one big reason and the reason is that he being the leader of the whole nation, he was with them in the task of national defence and is very appreciative of the sacrifices the men and women of the Armed Forces have to make to defend the nation. Team DSA is delighted to see some very calculated stepping stones by the current government under the leadership of our Prime Minister Modi. Notable was the simultaneous visit of new Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to the Tri-Service Andaman and Nicobar Command based in Port Blair. At the same time, Home Minister Rajnath Singh spent time with the paramilitary forces and the Central Armed Police Forces under his jurisdiction. Diwali marks a turning point in the solstice. From now on, the Himalayas will see temperatures falling below freezing and avalanches and snowdrifts will add new dangers for the personnel guarding the frontiers. The nation is totally united on issues of national security and territorial defence. In our overview of the global scenario on the defence and security front, we see that the bullying by China has abated somewhat after the Doklam confrontation; but North Korea is becoming a nuisance for the whole humanity. Thus, India has decided to strike a balance with the US and Russia and our subject experts have shared their sophiscated views on this balancing factor in this edition. Jai Hind!
Pawan Agrawal
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Contents
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Magazine
India’s Stand Amidst Nuclear Escalations In Asia Dr Rajiv Nayan
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Pursuing Strategic Partnership With The Opposites Prof P L Dash
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Implications And Way Ahead Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retd)
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Resetting The Southeast Asian Defence Engagement Mrittika Guha Sarkar
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India’s Engagement With Myanmar Avadhi Patni
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Indian Navy Re-Balances Deployments In Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Indian Navy
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Assault By Other Means Cecil Victor
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Evolving Foreign Policy Under Modi Dr. Sudhanshu Tripathi
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Hero Of Tololing (Kargil) Onkar Abhishek Tiwari
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nuke scene TRACKING THE PROLIFERATORS
India’s Stand Amidst
Nuclear Escalations In Asia North Korea is working overtime to escalate the security situation in Asia and beyond. Pakistan is doing it regionally. Their leader and patron China, does not appear to support the escalation but it is quietly busting all the efforts to stabilise the situation in Asia
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he first and last known or declared nuclear weapons countries are located in Asia. China was the first Asian country that acquired nuclear weapons and North Korea was the last. The Chinese acquisition of nuclear weapons generated a sense of unease among its neighbours. Not only India and the democratic countries of East Asia became worried but also the then Soviet Union began a watch on the Chinese military activities and behaviour. The countries in Asia started debating about their own nuclear future. India also witnessed a big debate in its civil society and State about its nuclear weapons option.
Partners In Proliferation Presently, North Korea along with Pakistan is frequently endeavouring to escalate nuclear tension in Asia and in the world. North Korea conducted six nuclear tests over a decade starting from 2006. Two of these tests are considered or claimed to be thermonuclear devices. If these claims are true, North Korea becomes the third Asian country to acquire hydrogen bomb. More provocatively, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho threatened to do “the most powerful detonation” of a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean. The threat is to carry out the test above the ground. If it really does it, it means the treaty that prohibits over ground and atmospheric tests for more than five decades is in real danger. After
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Partial Test Ban Treaty will be given a big blow by North Korea. More significantly, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which is in coma for years, will go for a dead end.
North Korea Besides, North Korea has been testing missiles of different ranges. The development of solid motors for ballistic missile is a global trend. It is also taking a transition from the liquidfuelled system to the solid-fuelled system. North Korea was known for developing and clandestinely trading solid fuel missiles with its black and grey market partners. However, of all the missiles, it was the test of the Inter-Continental Ballistic, Hwasong-14, which is escalating the war of words
Dr Rajiv Nayan The writer is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi since 1993, where he specialises in export control, non-proliferation and arms control. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at Japan Institute of International Affairs, Tokyo, where he published his monograph Non-proliferation Issues in South Asia.
Pakistan has been conducting missile tests of different ranges. Many of these tests are to help Pakistan’s proliferation partners between the United States (US) Administration and North Korea. This escalation is going beyond Asia.
the international community because most of them do not match Pakistan’s strategic pronouncements. Actually, many of these tests are to help Pakistan’s proliferation partners.
Pakistan Pakistan, another proliferation partner of North Korea, has also been active for escalating nuclear situation in Asia for a long period. Although it has not conducted any nuclear tests after 1998, yet it has also been conducting missile tests of different ranges. These ranges have been baffling
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China Quite interestingly, in the early years of this century, many credible reports highlighted that one of the 1998 nuclear tests of Pakistan was of the plutoniumbased bomb. It is a common knowledge that Pakistan’s original plutonium route for
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nuke scene TRACKING THE PROLIFERATORS
building nuclear bomb had not taken off and it had to rely on the enrichment technology stolen by A Q Khan. The reports indicated that Pakistan had conducted plutonium-based bomb for North Korea. Pakistan may have shared data of test with China as well. It is strongly believed that the tests of the thermonuclear weapons and miniaturised nuclear bomb were basically conducted for the proliferation consortium of China, Pakistan and North Korea. North Korea is working overtime to escalate the security situation in Asia and beyond. Pakistan is doing it regionally. Their leader and patron China, does not appear supporting the escalation but it is quietly busting all the efforts to stabilise the situation in Asia. The US President has been matching the rhetoric of the North Korean leader, but other members of his administration are active in back channel diplomacy to bring down escalation pushed by North Korea.
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Collusive Intent Regarding Pakistan, the US government, including the Trump Administration has been playing a different kind of game. The US government and the non-proliferation community have never been aggressive against the escalation policy or tactic of Pakistan. After the famous speech of Rex Tillerson, some Indians are showing optimism that Pakistan will come down on terror groups. Actually, Pakistan tries to escalate the regional nuclear situation to shield terrorism actively sponsored by it. Nasr or Hatf-9 is its key instrument for nuclear escalation. Strangely, a section of the Western non-proliferation community still follows the strategy of pinning India down for Pakistan’s induced escalation.
solution to the issue will fall flat. Yet, India has been taking unique approach and stand to nuclear escalation in Asia. The India stand, predominantly, has been either country or phenomenonspecific on developments taking place in Asia. India has hardly articulated any coherent Asian nuclear escalation policy.
Indian Position
Regarding the current escalation in East Asia, India has been very critical of North Korea. It has been deploring its nuclear and missile tests for a long period. It maintains that the very nuclearisation of North Korea is a violation of international commitment of denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. India has been asking North Korea to desist from taking any action which may bedestabilising and detrimental to peace in the ‘region and beyond’.
India has been maintaining that nuclear weapons have global reach; so, any attempt to find a regional or even continental
The Indian External Affairs Minister in a very important meeting of Asian countries
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stated: “The action and rhetoric of North Korea has been a source of growing global concern”. Even at the Summit or prime-ministerial level, India has been maintaining this stand. In fact, the Indian Prime Minister, in a number of joint statements whether signed with the Spanish Prime Minister or the Japanese Prime Minister reiterated India’s stand for peace and stability in Asia in general and East Asia in particular. India’s implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions like 2375 is highlighted in various statements and documents.
Perceived Indian Shift However, the most significant emphasis or a shift in the Indian policy is witnessed in terms of investigation of ‘backward linkages’ of the proliferation network that feeds the North Korean nuclear and missile programmes. India is now repeating in relevant multilateral and bilateral forums the ‘importance of holding
accountable all parties that have supported North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes’.
The most significant emphasis or a shift in the Indian policy is in terms of investigation of ‘backward linkages’ of the proliferation network No doubt, India was concerned about the proliferation network and joined the international community in condemning North Korean proliferation but it had looked reluctant to highlight the role of the proliferation network in adversely affecting its national security. Now it has covered some lost ground. It is pushing
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other countries to cooperate and work together in different bodies to fight proliferation network that feeds not only North Korea but also China and Pakistan. India has refused to fall in the trap of Pakistan induced nuclear escalation. It has not taken the approach of Indian tactical weapons countering Pakistani tactical weapons. It rightly maintains that the use of nuclear weapon in any conflict will receive massive retaliation from it. It has successfully called the Pakistani bluff. The next two years are extremely crucial for Asia’s nuclear future. There is little likelihood of either North Korea and the US or any other group of countries fighting a nuclear war. India’s time tested stand needs some innovative modification. It needs to review its nuclear doctrine and make needed changes to stem any nuclear escalation designed by its adversary.
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poles apart INDIA NAVIGATES THE SHOALS
Pursuing Strategic Partnership
with The Opposites US Secretary of States, Rex Tillerson’s statement unveiled Trump’s geopolitical plans for the future. Three geopolitical axes for the future emerge from Tillerson’s assertion: India and the US, Russia and India, both to counter China and China and Pakistan to counter rest of the forces. Only future will unfold the shape of things to come
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eldom had anyone objected to the benign intentions of Indo-Russian ties in India’s post-independence years. The foundation of these relations were laid by Jawaharlal Nehru bequeathed through Tashkent agreement to Indira era. The relations blossomed on 9 August 1971, when both countries signed the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation. War clouds were hovering over the then East Pakistan. It was those years when both superpowers, the Soviet Union and the USA, were polar opposites vis-à-vis their support to India. India was in the Soviet camp, while Pakistan was in the US camp. With these diametrically opposite supports, an Indo-Pak war was fought in December 1971, leading to the
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amputation of eastern flanks of Pakistan – territory where Bangladesh was born. However, the Indo-Pakistan tussle did not end. A wounded Pakistan
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nurtured animosity despite signing the Shimla Accord, embodying resolution of all mutual issues through bilateral negotiations.
Soviet Union Dissolves But that was never to happen. The US continued its patronage to Pakistan and the Soviet Union helped India thus pitting India and Pakistan on the Cold War matrix. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then. The Soviet Union is no more and Cold War collapsed when the Berlin Wall fell and ensued the Soviet sunset in December 1991. Thereafter, it was an uphill challenge for India to navigate bilateral ties between the US and Russia. The changing contours of post-Cold War geopolitics and the challenges facing the world in general and South Asia in particular required resetting of ties between and among nations. India’s nonalignment needed recast and in the process, without losing gravitas, India sought friends and allies to better serve its interest.
Why The shift? India’s military overdependence on the Soviet Union taught it a bitter lesson in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse. When India ran across more than 135 production centres in the former Soviet and East European space to procure arms and spare supplies, it understood the gravity of the situation and became determined to diversify the supply sources of its military spares. The shift thus began with the quest for and the need to meet the defence requirements. Secondly, the outdated MiG-21 was frequently crashing and spares were unavailable. Spare production centres in the postSoviet space lay dysfunctional from Tbilisi in Georgia to Nizhnyi Novgorod in Russia. India did
not know where exactly to go and whom to approach. Thirdly, the Soviet weapons systems were proving costly in the long run. There are two types of cost of a fighter plane or ship: upfront cost and life cycle cost. The upfront cost of Soviet made fighter planes and ships were cheaper compared to weapons systems made in western countries but the life cycle cost, including maintenance, was far higher. That necessitated a shift. Fourthly, the Russian bureaucracy, brought up in the Yeltsin and post-Yeltsin years, was not as sympathetic to India as its Soviet counterpart in the past. The situation had changed. New Russia weighed every deal in competitive parlance, compelling India to undertake a cost-benefit analysis of whatever it bought from whichever sources. Finally, Indo-Russian trade relations were not picking up, staggering at US$ 5 billion through many postSoviet years and stretching up to maxim US$ 7 billion. It never then reached the promised target of US$ 10 billion. There was a fecund ground for diversification of ties. However, a drastic shift from Russia was well-nigh impossible due to age old intrinsic links.
Strategic Partnership India is a major arms importer in the world, where only five countries are major producers and exporters – all of them Permanent Members of the UN Security Council. The second layer of arms producers and exporters are Israel, South Africa, Brazil and India. India is tied up with Brazil and South Africa in the BRICS
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Prof P L DASH The writer is a former Professor and Director at Centre for Central Eurasian Studies University of Mumbai and ICCR Chair Professor in International Relations, University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent.
End of the Cold War, fall of the Berlin Wall, demise of the Soviet Union, disappearance of the Warsaw Pact and the world turning up to be global village paved way for rapprochement of world’s two largest democracies
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poles apart INDIA NAVIGATES THE SHOALS
Former US President George W Bush (R) with the then PM of India, Manmohan Singh
and with Russia and China in its predecessor RIC. With Israel, it has lately developed considerable military cooperation. The choice before India in the post-Cold war years was a challenge how to balance out relations between the US and Russia, and with the emerging arms market. With Russia, it has had age old military cooperation that cannot be severed overnight. Therefore, India treaded a cautious path of balancing out relations between Russia and the US in an effort to diversify sources of its military procurement as well as expand relations in other areas. Shorn of the Cold War baggage, India decided to befriend both, Russia and the US through deals of strategic partnership. A strategic partnership deal was signed with Russia on 3 October 2000 during Putin’s maiden official visit to New Delhi, based largely on the principles of non-
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alignment. It aimed at deepening and mutually expanding the already existing cooperation in five major areas: political, trade and economic, defence, science and technology and culture. Noteworthy that Indo-Russian nuclear cooperation was visible in various nuclear reactors built with Russian help in India. Changing times demanded close cooperation with the US along similar lines. However, there were innumerable impediments.
American World View From the very inception, Indo-US ties were polar opposite to IndoSoviet relations. This happened primarily because of the Cold War. Secondarily because no Post War US president has had matching elan of Jawaharlal Nehru, who headed India’s foreign ministry and tertiary because the US kept India at a distance and embraced Pakistan as its South Asian ally. The outcomes
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were as weird as the contour of its subsequent development. Any partnership in that milieu was unimaginable and a strategic partnership impossible. End of the Cold War, fall of the Berlin Wall, demise of the Soviet Union, disappearance of the Warsaw Pact and the world turning up to be global village in the wake of proliferation of information technology paved way for rapprochement of world’s two largest democracies, and the rest is history.
123 Agreement Otherwise called Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the 123 Agreement was the culmination of many years of protracted negotiations at apex level. The deal implied for the first time that nuclear apartheid relative to India would cease and India would be allowed to trade in nuclear material, nuclear reactors and nuclear raw
material. For the first time, the US amended its domestic law, ‘The Hyde Act’ to accommodate India into the nuclear club that recognised India as a nuclear power. For the first time, the US reversed its policy to embrace a country that had not signed the NPT. For the first time, the fissures in Indo-US relations seemingly disappeared but differences and opposition to the deal continued. From the time when Indo-US strategic partnership agreement was announced in July 2004 through 18 July 2005 when the 123 deal was first initiated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Bush to the 10 October 2008 when the deal was inked by Pranab Mukherjee and Condoleezza Rice, there was mounting political opposition within India from the communist allies of the UPA, leading to a trust vote in Parliament that ended with 275 against 256 and with defection of some parties from the alliance.
New Contours The government survived, the deal done and Indo-US relations put on different rails in consonance with changing times. In its efforts to balance out relations with both Russia and the US, India took many measures of which annual joint military exercises with Russia called Indra and with the US called Malabar stand out. For the first time this year, since it began in 2009, both countries have adopted a tri-services exercise format to be conducted from 19-29 October 2017 in Vladivostok for which some 880 Indian military personnel have headed for Russia to take part in the joint exercises. Despite Russia sending ambiguous messages by holding Druzhba military exercises with Pakistan since 2016, Indra holds sway. India conducts similar exercises with the US and Japan too. The trilateral military training exercise called Yudh Abhyas is conducted between Japan, US and India
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and a bilateral naval exercise called Malabar is also conducted with the US. Such exercises have become necessary with a view to fighting newer menaces emerging from international cross-border terrorism, narcotic trafficking, Islamic extremism and illegal human and arms trafficking. In the configuration of bilateral and trilateral ties, India pursues its own national interests. However, the concern remains China. While President Xi was laying out his ‘vision for a new era’ in Beijing in a three and half hour speech on 18 October, 2017, US Secretary of States, Rex Tillerson’s statement unveiled Trump’s geopolitical plans for the future. Three geopolitical axes for the future emerge from Tillerson’s assertion: India and the US, Russia and India, both to counter China and China and Pakistan to counter rest of the forces. Only future will unfold the shape of things to come.
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Implications And Way Ahead
The IAF should be prepared for contingencies where in aircraft may develop technical snags that require repair teams that may be moved by C-130 aircraft. A good beginning has been made and we have to now build on it further 12
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Air Marshal Anil Chopra PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM (Retd) The writer was a pioneer of the Mirage 2000 fleet and commanded a Mirage Squadron, two operational airbases and the IAF’s Flight Test Centre ASTE. He was the Team Leader of an aircraft upgrade project in Russia.
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he Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a major activation exercise on the LucknowAgra Expressway by landing the Lockheed C-130J-30 Super Hercules and 15 fighters on 24 October 2017. This was in continuation of the ‘Highway Strip’ landing capability building that began with ‘Touch-and-Go’ by Mirage 2000s on the Yamuna Expressway on 21 May 2015, near Raya village, Mathura.
This was followed by a similar exercise by Su-30 MKI aircraft from Bareilly in November 2016. The specially designed road-strips had evolved as early as the WW II and many countries have had such strips. Air Marshal AS Butola, the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) Central Air Command, who supervised the exercise said “It has been very successful. There have been no problems, no hitches. It’s not the amount, nor the scale of
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aircraft. It is the improvement of our operational capabilities. In future, whenever there is a requirement, we can use this stretch to do whatever we have to do”. While the IAF has been talking about this ability during various papers and presentations since 1980s, but physically long straight Expressways evolved only in recent years. This small but operationally important beginning has a great potential to grow.
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Drill Mechanism
Bangarmau Strip
This two hour exercise involved stoppage of all vehicle traffic between 0900 to 1400 hr and removal of the plastic centre road dividers. Cleaning of the road for possible Foreign Objects.Guarding the stretch for any trespassers. All facilities – such as a makeshift Air Traffic Control with controllers, safety services, rescue vehicles, bird clearance parties and various communications equipment – were set up by the IAF. The C-130 was the first and it executed a short-landing as would be the case in operations. While still on the move, its rear ramp door was opened and on stopping rolled out a camouflaged combat personnel vehicle. Personnel of a unit of the IAF’s Garud Commandos meant to secure the landing assault zone from any external threat charged out of the plane. The C-130 then took off to clear the landing strip for the fighters. Three Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft (DPSA) Sepecat Jaguar, six multirole Dassault Mirage-2000 and six air-superiority Sukhoi SU-30 MKI fighters in two formations each then came in and made touch-and-go landings. The drill was to practice simulating an emergency condition where the home bases of these aircraft may have been bombed and runways unusable. At the end of the exercise, the C-130 landed once again to extricate the Garud Commandos. Thousands of villagers and onlookers gathered to witness the rare event, as fighter jets whizzed past.
Bangarmau is a small town in UP’s Unnao District at around 65 km from state capital Lucknow. The 3.3 km stretch on the 302 km long six-lane LucknowAgra Expressway, which is
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In each area of responsibility of each Command, we have identified existing road stretches which can be converted into alternative airfields currently India’s longest, was a specially chosen place to create the air-strip after due deliberations with the civil aviation and the IAF authorities. Engineering and construction of the road runway portion is different from the rest of the expressway. The IAF had earlier supervised the runway
section of the expressway’s construction for technical specifications. The stretch is made of RCC construction and suitably reinforced and meets the Pavement Classification Number (PCN) requirements for hardness and durability for air operations as specified by aviation authorities. The road strip should be generally flat, with no objects nearby more than 45 metres above the ground, no intersections, a low risk of flooding and no-cattle grids. The strip is suitably marked with standard runway paint markings. There is space on the side to create small support facilities. It is at crow-fly distance of 400 km from China border, 70 km from Bakshi-kaTalab IAF airbase, 200 km from Bareilly and 250 km from Agra airbase. As on date, the strip does not have lighting facilities for night landing.
Evolution Of Highway Strips The highway strips or roadrunway sections were initially built for military aircraft to land or even to serve as military airbases during WW II. In any war the main military airbases will be
Air Force plane lands in the heart of Calcutta during World War II
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primary targets of the enemy and are highly vulnerable and could be destroyed or severely damaged. The first highway strips were constructed near the end of WW II by Nazi Germany. The Reich autobahn system allowed aircraft to use the motorways. In the Cold War highway strips were built on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Other than the two Germanys; North Korea, Taiwan, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, Pakistan, China, Czechoslovakia and Australia also have highway strips. These strips were usually of 2 to 3.5 km long straight sections of the highway and had removable central partings to allow airplanes to use full width of the road. Some places parking aprons and short taxiways were also built. The specialised equipment of a typical airfield were often stored somewhere nearby. The highway strips would be operationalised typically 24 to 48 hours in advance. The road would need to be swept to remove all debris before any aircraft movement could take place.
In 1939-1940, the Finnish Air Force re-deployed its aircraft to makeshift airfields including on frozen lakes to preserve them against Soviet air attack. Finnish Air Force maintained a network of secondary airfields including civilian airports and road-bases to improve survivability and effectiveness in the event of war. All aircraft in the Finnish Air Force are designed to operate from road-bases even today, and they exercise every year. Even Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen have been landing on roads for some years. Similarly, even today Germany has a number of highway strips. North Korea has established a large number of highway strips for use in case of war. Poland had many lit ‘road airfield sections’ during the Cold War. Singapore Air Force periodically conducts ‘alternate runway exercises’. In 1986, they landed F-5 and A-4 aircraft. In 2016, Singapore temporarily installed landing equipment which included mobile arresting gear and F-15; and F-16s landed
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on road strips. Sri Lanka used highways for operations against the LTTE. Switzerland uses many of the highways for training and some of these are connected to nearby airbases with taxiways. Some countries have modified aircraft as well as road-strips to use arrestor wires that can hook onto fighters bringing them to a halt in just 300 metres as on aircraft carriers.
Strips In China And Pakistan In 1989, China conducted its first highway-strip drills and ever since have been conducting in different areas of the country. In 2014, Chinese forces landed warplanes on a highway strip in Henan province in a major exercise. Pakistan has two Motorways, M-1 (PeshawarIslamabad) and M-2 (IslamabadLahore). Each has two emergency runway sections. These have removable concrete medians requiring forklifts. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) used the M2 first time in 2000 when it landed one
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expressway landings GUARANTEEING RETALIATORY STRIKES
The 165 km long Yamuna Expressway cutting across from the Noida-Greater Noida region
F-7P fighter, a Super Mushak trainer and a C-130. During exercise ‘Highmark’ in 2010, the PAF landed, refueled and took-off two jet fighters, a Mirage III and an F-7P.
the possibility of greater civil use. Many lessons would have been drawn to improve subsequent drills. Aircrew will now have greater options in case of emergencies in war or peace.
Lessons From This Drill
Evolving Indian Expressways
Such highway strips are created for use in emergencies and war—like situation which may render air force bases inaccessible due to bombing or other calamities like earthquake as happened in Bhuj in January 2001. This highway landing drill has been a capability building and demonstrating exercise. The entire civil-military coordination has got tested. The government has also realised the operational importance of these strips and are now accelerating the process to build many more such strips. Various government departments could now explore
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As on date, nearly 30 expressways of various lengths are already operational in the country. Construction of expressways is a priority area for the Government of India. Nearly 22 new expressways are under construction. Only two expressways are operational with aircraft landing strips as yet. About a dozen highways that are wide enough and have a smooth road surface for the fighter jets have been identified for similar landing operations. Notable of interest for operational usage are Jaipur-Kisahngarh, 1,047
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Once in next two-three years, night operations may be attempted km Ganga Expressway, Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, Purvanchal expressway, 700 km Delhi-Katra Expressway covering J&K, Punjab and Haryana, and Delhi-Jaipur expressway. For disaster relief management highway-strips, expressways of interest could be are Ahmedabad-Vadodara, Durgapur Expressway, Hyderabad Outer Ring Road, 700 km Nagpur-Mumbai super communication expressway, Amaravati-Anantapur, 650 km Biju Expressway, BangaloreChennai, Delhi-Meerut, MumbaiVadodara, 1,300 km Narmada
expressway and Chambal expressway. We need to plan more such strips in Assam and Rajasthan sector.
Civil Use In rural Australia several sections of highway are maintained as potential runways not for military but for use by the royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. The airstrip can be used 24/7 in all conditions and means residents who had previously travelled up to two and a half hours to get to a hospital can reach help faster. India’s Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari says that the highway strips could be a boon to the civilian air travel. “We can close road traffic when a plane lands and open once the plane has taken off like we do at railway crossings. Airport investment costs would come down,” he said. Such strips
could be very handy during natural calamities and disaster management. Human and material aid could be moved quickly. Even an airliner can be landed on these strips in special conditions.
Way Ahead “In each area of responsibility of each Command, we have identified existing road stretches which can be converted into alternative airfields,” an IAF representative has been quoted as saying in the latest report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. The IAF is also collaborating with the Ministry of Road Transport to construct roads, which will be shared with each Command. The next logical step for IAF would be to activate each highway stretch once every half year. In the next exercise, the aircraft should be
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physically landed, switched-off, refueled and then started for take-off. During exercises in future, we should convert the highway stretch as a miniairfield with security, radio or satellite communications, TACAN, mobile Precision Approach Radar, cross-servicing, a fire brigade, a mobile weather station and mobile runway lighting for night operations. Large car parks or Truck lay-bys may be constructed to use as aircraft aprons. Once in next two-three years, night operations may be attempted, even it is for initial capability building. The IAF should be prepared for contingencies where in aircraft may develop technical snags that require repair teams that may be moved by C-130 aircraft. A good beginning has been made and we have to now build on it further.
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India-Vietnam outreach STRENGTHENED TIES
Resetting
The Southeast Asian Defence Engagement While Vietnam is emerging as an important part of India’s ‘Act East Policy’ balancing China’s belligerent actions in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, a trilateral relationship could also be considered between the USA, India and Vietnam. Japan could also be a part of this multilateral connection where ‘trilateral’ contacts can be enhanced through a ‘quadrilateral’ initiative
T
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he India-Vietnam defence engagement has been in an upswing in the recent past. If the current trend of India-Vietnam defence engagement must be taken as a reference point, this fast growing defence relationship is not only solidifying the bilateral relations between India and Vietnam but also setting a benchmark for India’s overall defence and strategic engagement with the Southeast Asian region.
India and Vietnam signed a Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation in 2015
India and Vietnam have long enjoyed good defence and strategic ties. They have cooperatively engaged in the development of their nuclear sectors, trained Vietnamese military officers, engaged in defence trade and undertook frequent visits, yet they have seldom got the required coverage, especially by the Indian
media. India’s ties with Vietnam have grown considerably in the past few decades especially since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1972. The formal framework of India-Vietnam defence cooperation is based on the agreement signed in 2000 during the visit of India’s then Defence Minister, George Fernandes
November 2017 dsalert.org
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which was strengthened in 2007 with the Strategic Partnership Agreement. While new strategic equations in the South East Asian region have brought India and Vietnam closer with their shared interests in the security field, Vietnam has successfully become an important component in India’s Act East Policy.
Mrittika Guha Sarkar
Former Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung (R) shakes hands with the then Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam
Coalescing Ties A rich defence history between both cannot be ignored where India had backed Vietnam in its anti-colonial nation building struggle and the nationalistic war against the United States. While being in the Non-Aligned camp during the cold war, India chose to tilt its support towards Russia and Vietnam during the struggle of Vietnamese unification and its policies in Cambodia, much to the dismay of many Southeast Asian countries and China. With India’s Act East policy considering the Southeast Asian region as its extended neighborhood and joining ASEAN post the Cold War, strengthened India-Vietnam strategic relations to a great level. Moreover, common security concerns compelled both the nations to work together in
the defence and strategy arena to contain China’s assertive influence in the South China Sea region. Incidents like the one in May 2012 when the Indian warship Airavat was confronted by the PLA Navy on the way back from Vietnam re-emphasised the need to strengthen both the nations’ maritime cooperation.
Chinese Hurdles Both India and Vietnam share common views on the South China Sea which remains a principal waterway for the naval ships to access the Pacific. But China’s growing assertiveness and rapid constructions has turned the South China Sea claiming it into one of its own sovereign maritime domain. The Chinese by constructing fortified buildings,
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The writer is currently pursuing Masters in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. She is also an intern at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) working for the East Asia Centre and previously has interned with the think tank India Policy Foundation (IPF). She wishes to advance her career in research with the primary area of focus being International Politics specially in the East Asia region.
Though the upward trajectory of India-Vietnam relations has been highly impressive, the potential of the relationship seems underexplored
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India-Vietnam outreach STRENGTHENED TIES
The Ex Union Minister for Defence, Shri Manohar Parrikar and the Defence Minister of Vietnam, General Ngo Xuan Lich, at a delegation-level talks, in New Delhi
runways, placing radars and other defense mechanisms on its islands has made it impossible for other States to evict it from the region without any military action. Yet, a shared view on supporting freedom of navigation according to the principles of international law, both Vietnam and India believe in resolving disputes through peaceful means and refrain from activities which might threaten one’s amity and stability. This was very much applicable in India’s continued oil exploration in China’s Exclusive Economic Zone despite China’s objections. From India’s point of view, China’s aggressive claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea could impact India and its Act East Policy. Moreover China, which already has plans to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean region, could bring India to a very dangerous and disadvantageous position potentially letting Chinese navy and air force come very close to hamper its security. Hence, the 1982 United Nations
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Convention on the Law of the Sea was quickly cited to question China’s sovereignty over the region. Therefore, the South China Sea remains very important for Vietnam, India and the entire South East Asian region as an important geo-strategic location giving imperatives to further work collectively to protect their maritime and shipping routes.
Reiterative Agreements Thereafter, the India-Vietnam strengthened ties have been visible in the fields of regional security, counter terrorism, drug trafficking etc especially with the Modi government coming into power. Moreover, in August 2014, former President Pranab Mukherjee visited Vietnam and signed several agreements with his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang focusing mainly on deepening strategic partnership, defence and security cooperation, regional and multi-regional security. This was re-iterated during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s
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visit to India in October 2014 where they agreed that defence and security cooperation is an important aspect of India-Vietnam bilateral relations. Prime Minister Modi during the meeting stated that “Our defence cooperation with Vietnam is among our most important ones. India remains committed to the modernisation of Vietnam’s defence and security forces. This will include expansion of our training programme, which is already very substantial, jointexercises and cooperation in defence equipment.”
Regional Network Several dialogues have been planned to implement this defence cooperation such as regular Annual Security Dialogues, strategic meetings and Joint Commission meetings at different levels with frequent exchange visits by the ministers of both the States. The year 2015 also saw several MOUs signed between both the countries, one major being the Declaration of common vision on defence ties
Indian warship Airavat
Vietnam – India period 2015-2020 to uplift the defence and security relationship not just between India and Vietnam but ASEAN too. Additionally, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval while on his visit to Vietnam in the same year stated that India would do everything it can to assist Vietnam in the field of defence and security, specifically defence industry, military technology, intelligence, personnel training, cybercrimes and cyber security. Hence, Indian Army has been engaged with its Vietnamese counterpart for capacity building, focusing in the areas of training, repairs and maintenance support, exchanges between think tanks, study tours and ship visits.
Military Spareparts These cooperative exercises between both the countries have been extremely important specially to balance China in the region. Besides, India has been providing Vietnam spare equipment for Russian – origin ones like the Petya class warships and OSA-II
class missile boats and training Vietnamese Navy for submarine warfare and underwater combat. Further, September 2016 witnessed the growth of India-Vietnam relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership while Modi’s visit to Vietnam gave new impetus to the bilateral relation between the two countries. Apart from the agreement to cooperatively contribute to stability, security and prosperity in the region, India provided the largest defence line credit to Vietnam of US$ 500 million apart from the US$ 100 million utilised for offshore patrol boats for Coast Guard construction contracted to the Indian firm Larsen and Toubro. An MOU also has been signed between the two for English Language and Information Technology Training to train the school teachers, armed forces and institutes for higher education in proficient English language at the Ministry of Defence, Vietnam. Yet, common security concerns and economic developments remain
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a major imperative for further cooperation and communication for peace, stability and development. Both the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence of India need to coordinate together to increasingly reach out to not just Vietnam but other ASEAN countries to enable the ‘Act East’ Policy to be implemented with full potential. Vietnam currently is the strongest country out of all the other South East Asian countries that could confront China in a military engagement. This, hence, gives India more reasons to strengthen its strategic relations with Vietnam where India seeks stronger relationships to balance China given its frequent disputes with it.
ASEAN Contacts Lately, on multilateral grounds, India has become a part of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meet – Plus Eight (ADMM-Plus), to bring about cooperative security, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, maritime security, counter-terrorism and peace
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India-Vietnam outreach STRENGTHENED TIES
Vietnam’s Former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (C) shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi (R) as Dung’s wife Tran Thanh Kiem looks on during Dung’s ceremonial reception at the forecourt of India’s presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi
keeping operations. India and Vietnam both being a part of it have further taken initiative to share expertise among the member states, cooperate and coordinate multilaterally on issues of threats, natural disasters and joint military exercises. Though the upward trajectory of India-Vietnam relations has been highly impressive, the potential of the relationship seems underexplored in comparison to China’s widespread defence and security ties in the region. However, a few Indian defense companies of the public sector have entered into the market to export defense equipment like Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Akash missile systems to reportedly supply major important equipment like surface missiles, light combat aircraft (LCA), BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, sonars, airborne early warning systems, battlefield
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radars etc expanding ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Modi’s
New Multilateral Forum While Vietnam is emerging as an important part of India’s “Act East Policy” balancing China’s belligerent actions in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, a trilateral relationship could also be
A strengthened India-Vietnam relation would enhance the multipolar politics in Asia considered between the USA, India, and Vietnam. Japan could also be a part of this multilateral connection where a ‘trilateral’ contacts can be enhanced through a ‘quadrilateral’ initiative. With common security threats from Chinese influence, a coalition of
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political, economic and military powers might help. This should also encourage India to play a greater role in South East Asia as even affirmed by Vietnam during the Delhi Dialogue IX in July 2017 where talks took place between ASEAN and India for strategic security and freedom of navigation. The dialogue threw light upon India’s very important role in the South East Asian Region. While the involvement of India and the budding relationship with Vietnam would lead to balance of power in the region will give much needed strategic and psychological support in the face of open Chinese threats. India’s Vietnam outreach would also significantly augment India’s ‘Act East Policy’ which has been robustly expanding its spheres. Moreover, a strengthened IndiaVietnam relation would enhance the multipolar politics in Asia and help build a platform for attaining growth, prosperity, stability, and security in the region.
near neighbourhood THRESHOLD TO THE EAST
India’s Engagement With Myanmar Looking at the outline of projects, India and Myanmar are involved in the various bilateral projects, more involvement and faster implementation seem to be the need of the hour. All these projects highlight the importance India holds for Myanmar. Apart from these projects, Myanmar is also a proximate source of energy and a factor that has the potential to define stability in the Indian Ocean through the decisions they take internally as well as externally. Taking into account India and ancient Burma’s historical and cultural ties, Myanmar becomes an absolutely apt arena for India to exercise its soft power
Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar which underlined the importance of Myanmar to India
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Avadhi Patni The writer is currently pursuing her Masters in International Studies from Symbiosis School of International Studies, Pune. She was a part of the organising and report drafting committee for International Relations Conference (IRC): India and the Indian Ocean 2016 and also part of the organising and communication committee for China Symposium. Recently, she completed her internship as a research intern at Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), Delhi and Institute for Chinese Studies (ICS), Delhi. Her current project focuses on India, China and Myanmar in context to Belt and Road Initiative and Social Credit System in China.
The China factor came as the biggest realisation for India as the relationship between China and Myanmar strengthened with robust economic, business and diplomatic ties Defence AND security alert
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near neighbourhood THRESHOLD TO THE EAST
S
eptember, 2017 marked the first bilateral visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar which underlined the importance of Myanmar to India. This visit came at a time when Myanmar’s State Councill or Aung San Suu Kyi faced criticism for failing to speak up in the context of Rohingya crisis. Against this backdrop, India signaled support to Myanmar during the visit. This reflected how crucial Myanmar is for India.
Cargo port Kalewa
Multifaceted Relationship This visit came as a realisation for India on several counts. First, the China factor came as the biggest realisation for India as the relationship between China and Myanmar strengthened with robust economic, business and diplomatic ties. Secondly, India also realised the need to address security concerns and strengthen security cooperation with Myanmar (former Burma) as the two of them share 1,643 km land boundary along with a maritime border. Thirdly, the realisation came along the line of India’s Act East Policy in which Myanmar became the strategically important region for India and the need to actively involve itself with Myanmar under this policy came into play. India and Myanmar are also members of the regional groupings like the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) which
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makes it clear why India should focus more on strengthening its relationship with Myanmar. Against the backdrop, this article lists out various projects related to India’s development cooperation in Myanmar that are completed or are in the phase of near completion. It specifically
focuses on connectivity and capacity building projects that have been crucial for both India and Myanmar, thereby highlighting the importance of Myanmar for India. Finally, the article suggests what kind of approach is needed to make up for the time and opportunities that India had lost in the past.
Indian minister of state for external affairs of India, VK Singh and U Wunna Maung Lwin, former minister for foreign affairs, Myanmar during a bilateral discourse
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Sectoral Approach India is reaching out to Myanmar by focusing on development cooperation between the two countries. India is giving importance to certain sectors that need more attention. Looking at India-Myanmar development cooperation, the sectoral allocation for directly assisted initiatives account for approximately US$ 1 billion that is divided across sectors like connectivity infrastructure, IT projects, health, vocational training, agriculture, border development, capacity building and others. India has also encouraged new Lines of Credit that account for approximately US$ 500 million distributed across sectors like agriculture, telecom, railways and road projects. The used Lines of Credit nearing completion account for US$ 250 million covering areas related to railways, refineries, telecom, transmission lines and truck assembly plant.
Under these heads, there are various projects that are completed or are in the phase of near completion. Some of the capacity building projects that the Government of India undertook in Myanmar are: •
Language Laboratories and E-Resource Centre which amounts to approximately US$ 0.3 million
•
India-Myanmar Centre for Establishment of Information Technology Skills (IMCEITS) that was worth US$ 0.3 million
•
Industrial Training Centre in Pakokku and Myingyan which amounted to US$ 6 million
•
Myanmar-India Entrepreneurial Development Centre (MIEDC) that accounted for US$ 0.3 million
•
Myanmar-India Centre for English Language Training
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(MICELT) that accounted for US$ 0.1 million
Connectivity The connectivity project named Tamu Kale Kalewa (TKK) Road that became a road of vital friendship between India and Myanmar is also being upgraded by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) where a stretch of 28 km of the KyigoneKalewa stretch is being assessed for execution. Earlier in 1997, an upgradation of the 160 km road took place in Myanmar which was completed in 2001. This road connects Moreh in Manipur to Tamu and on to Kalemyo and Kalewa in Sagaing Region of Myanmar and is the main artery for cross-border trade and commerce. Other sectors also involved projects assisted by India that are completed or are near completion. Some of the connectivity projects that are under implementation account for approximately US$ 928 million. Specifically,
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near neighbourhood THRESHOLD TO THE EAST
Map not to scale
Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves with other heads of state and government during a photo opportunity at the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit in India’s Goa in 2016
Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project aims to connect the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe port in Myanmar by sea; it will then link Sittwe to Mizoram via river and road transport
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The scope of the projects that connect India directly with Myanmar is immense and should be encouraged
the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project, when completed aims at encouraging investment, trade and connectivity in the remote region. Then, there is another project Trilateral Highway Project which is estimated to be a US$ 150 million project that involves constructing a 1,360 km highway jointly by India, Myanmar and Thailand connecting Moreh in India to Mae Sot in Thailand through Myanmar. For this project, feasibility studies are being completed. One more such connectivity project named Rhi-Tiddim Road Project is
currently in the phase of conducting surveys on site. With connectivity being the centre of focus for India, the two countries are also investing in more and more capacity building initiatives, health sector initiatives and border development projects.
Faster Implementation Looking above at the outline of projects, India and Myanmar are involved in various bilateral projects; however, more involvement and faster implementation seem to be the need of the hour. All these projects highlight the importance India holds for Myanmar. Apart
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from these projects, Myanmar is also a proximate source of energy and a factor that has the potential to define stability in the Indian Ocean through the decisions they take internally as well as externally. Taking into account India and ancient Burma’s historical and cultural ties, Myanmar becomes an absolutely apt arena for India to exercise its soft power. Along with development and infrastructure projects, the scope of the projects that connect India directly with Myanmar is immense and should be encouraged. Lastly, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Myanmar made India realise the actual position that it holds with Myanmar. There lies an immense opportunity for India to fine-tune their policies related to Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries and create an all-new forward-looking approach towards them. This is the time that calls for India to take active measures in redesigning its policies and adopting a fast-paced implementation mechanism if they want to catch up with the time it had lost.
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Indian navy Naval Commander’s Conference
Indian Navy Re-Balances Deployments
In Indian Ocean Region (IOR)
P
rime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR) is being pursued in full earnest by the Indian Navy.
Mission-based Deployments The new Mission-based deployment concept was unveiled in the last Naval Commander’s Conference and was ratified for incremental implementation. Supported by the MoD, the plan involves deploying mission-ready ships and aircraft along critical sea lanes of communications and choke points. These ships are deployed always ready to meet any eventuality across the spectrum of operationsranging from acts of maritime terrorism and piracy to HADR missions. These deployments are aimed to be maintained 24/7 and round the year with ships being sustained and turned around on station. The concept is already showing dividends with the Navy being the first responder to many crisis situations around the IOR. The Navy was the quick to respond to the heavy rains and flooding in Sri Lanka as also to the HADR requirements post Cyclone Mora in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Navy was also there to secure the release of the Indian Dhow Al-Kausar and the crew from Somali pirates. The rescue of three persons including a woman from a sinking tug
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off Maldives was another instance where a missiondeployed ship was available to respond immediately to a request for help. The change in the deployment concept has necessitated a change in the methods used to sustain and support ships within the Navy. Accordingly, the Chief of the Naval Staff has approved a new Transition cycle for ships from Maintenance periods to Operational Deployments that allows for a focused and gradual transition of ships from periods of maintenance layoffs to full scale operations. The new Transition cycle focuses efforts of Operational Commanders on ‘Training and Safety Inspections of ships’ prior to their deployment for operations.
Security And Growth Along with these deployments, the Navy has, in tandem with the MEA, focused efforts on the Capacity and Capability development of navies in the region. The Indian approach of providing equipment and training is finding increasing favour amongst the IOR nations. The Indian Navy has a time-tested model of Joint operations with regional navies. The idea that there can be no growth without security is well understood. With the Indian Navy emerging as the Net Security Provider in the region, engagements through Coordinated patrols (CORPATs) of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), Bi-lateral exercises, Training exchanges and cross-visits of trainees and others have seen an increase.
Whole of Government Approach The initiatives to improve the security environment in the region and provide opportunities for growth to all have seen an unprecedented ‘Whole of Government’ approach. Synergy between initiatives of the MoD, MEA and
the Navy has resulted in more effective and efficient engagements in the region. The Navy’s ability to deploy and sustain in tandem with the new Missionbased deployment concept has resulted in greater presence and visibility.
Naval Commander’s Conference The ongoing Naval Commander’s Conference would, among other issues, review the new Mission-based deployment concept and seek to ascertain it’s effectiveness. The top naval commanders would also deliberate upon ways to improve it’s efficiency and functioning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR is being unfolded in an effective and deliberate manner through security cooperation and capacity or capability building initiatives to protect and preserve maritime security, peace and stability in the region. Courtesy: Indian Navy
evolution of terrorism NEW SURPRISES
Murder By Other Means
Indian security forces will have to create cyber cells to find, read, analyse and act on indoctrination material released by terrorist organisations to check ‘lone wolf’ operations. It is now apparent that several groups of Indians have fallen to the virus and have visited Iraq and Syria. They have received arms and explosives training in camps in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria. Their return could prove problematic for the Indian security forces particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, UP and Kerala Albanian separatism and the bloodbath it engendered was seen in America and Europe as the perfect model for the removal of inconvenient governments from the face of the earth. Never mind the mindless destruction it unleashed.
Policy Of Balkanisation
America and its allies in Europe are currently beset by acts of terrorism perpetrated by deadly chickens that have come home to roost from nations across North Africa, West Asia, East Asia and Europe itself where regime
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change was effected over decades using artificial insemination of religious and ethnic catalysts. The demolition of multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious Non-aligned Yugoslavia through NATO-inspired Croatian and
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Indians with long memories will recall that about the same time as Yugoslavia was being shredded in the late 80s and early 90s there were voices in America and Europe (led by an arch priestess of destabilisation named Jeanne Kirkpatrick, US ambassador to the United Nations) that were calling for the application of the same methodology for the Balkanisation of India. Luckily for us, America became stuck in the quagmire of its own creation after the Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan. But it needs to be noted that India somehow or the other has to manage
the fallout of policies of regime change and religious polarisation happening on its horizon. So what is currently happening in America and Europe at the hands of both suicide jihadists, and increasingly by homegrown ‘lone wolf’ radicalised terrorists, has lessons for India.
Collateral Damage Geopolitically, India suffered when the America-led coalition decided to effect a regime change in traditionally friendly Iraq by replacing the Sunni-Baathist minority political entity led by Saddam Hussein with a Shia-majority conglomeration. President Barack Obama during his two terms in office encouraged the restructuring of the Iraqi polity by displacing the Sunnis and replacing them with Shia groups. The mass sacking of Sunni security personnel contributed to the creation of the nucleus of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or Daesh. With the decimation of the ISIS in Iraq within sight, his successor President Donald Trump has sown new seeds of discord involving Saudi Arabia-led Sunni extrelmists pitted against Iranled Shia regimes (like Syrian President Bashar Al Assad) and Shia extremist groups. President Trump’s animosity towards Iran could cost India dearly in geopolitical terms and encourage hostility among the large numbers of Sunnis and Shias of Indian origin. Between Obama and Trump there appears to be a competition to see who left the world a worse place since they came to power.
In this background of cause and effect, India will have to develop adequate counter-measures to deal with the many new methods that terrorists of every shade are developing at a rapid pace to dispense terror at a time and place of their choice. One has to admit that the methods developed by the jihadi terrorists to hit Europe and America have been ghoulish in the extreme. Many of them cannot be prevented from being replicated in “copy cat” attacks. The suicide bomber nurtured in the jungles of Sri Lanka by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has spawned generations of killers who sincerely believe in an after-life ministered by angels.
Cecil Victor The writer has covered all the wars with Pakistan as War Correspondent and reported from the conflict zones in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in South East Asia as well as from Afghanistan. He is the author of “India: The Security Dilemma”.
New Methods And Variations Terror is evolving and the suicide bomber has enlarged his destructive capability by the very easy expedient of finding a truck, packing it with explosives and driving it into a crowded market, place of worship or a popular landmark. The highlight of this methodology was the multiple attacks using aircraft as flying firebombs on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. In a culture where hiring or chartering of vehicles and aircraft is a way of life, it is necessary for US Homeland Security to put in place standard operating procedures that will alert the police authorities of the possibility of an impending attack. Immediate reporting of such a transaction to the
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Dependence on Intelligence about the whereabouts of rivals supplied by disgruntled terrorists is fraught with the possibility of creating another Bhindranwale.
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evolution of terrorism NEW SURPRISES
police could set in motion counter-measures that could include interrogation of the person concerned, an analysis of his background and whether there are tell-tale signs of indoctrination, radicalisation into religious or ethnic mindsets. The phrase ‘religious or ethnic’ is being used advisedly given the near combustible nature of American civil society and the emerging cleavage between the Blacks and the whites especially in the southern states of the American Union. It would be more difficult to detect if the vehicle has been bought in one State and used as a weapon of mass destruction in some other State. The car-bomb which is common in the Afghanistan or Iraq salient has not as yet been used in Europe and America possibly because of the surveillance on precursor ingredients in these countries. The ‘new thing’ in Europe is the use of cars and trucks to crash into crowds. Now that it has been used to deadly effect in Europe, effective counter-measures can be set in place by barricading and creating ‘walk space’ for pedestrians in crowded localities and during national holidays. In the attack in France on a national holiday a truck was used to ram through crowds of revellers and tourists in Nice and that seems to have caught the fancy of other prospective terrorists.
Internet Connection Very early terrorist groups had assessed that the best way to undermine the US-led Coalition
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A US special forces soldier demonstrates how to detain a suspect
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managed to prevent any attempt to roll back the liberation forces by being able to act immediately on Intelligence about hostile elements trying to show presence among the villagers who have been liberated. It will remain a touch and go affair for some months till the Iraqi government is able to retain a permanent presence in the liberated zones. The weapon of choice for the terrorists will revert to the improvised explosive device (IED) planted within damaged buildings to be able to cause casualties when reconstruction and redevelopment of destroyed towns and cities is undertaken. In Europe, the lone wolf will take centre-stage using handguns and vehicles if police do not take steps to restrict and control vehicular movement in crowded localities. Roadblocks and barricades can take the sting out of the use of the car as a means of destruction. in the War Against Terror was to indoctrinate vulnerable persons from member-nations through brainwashing techniques over the Internet. The effect of this intensive campaign is beginning to show in the rising number of naturalised, migrant or citizens by ancestry taking ‘lone wolf’ actions both in America and in Europe. In gun-crazy, America there have been dozens of attacks by individuals with handguns; but there have also been attempts to instill terror through the use of shoe-bombs in aircraft (one failed to ignite, one fizzled
out), anthrax laced letters and at least one known ‘ultimate scare’ attempt to explode a ‘dirty bomb’ using fissile materials. With the defeat of the ISIS in Iraq and Syria it is unlikely that peace will descend quickly in the liberated areas. The ISIS sympathisers still occupy the hinterland though they are not fighting in set-piece urban warfare. They are the classic ‘sleeper cells’ who will be activated when and where an opportunity presents itself. Currently, the Iraqi special forces have
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Kashmir Scenario In India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir the terrorists have decided to target the departments of government that are involved in Intelligence gathering. Villagers are still resorting to stone-pelting to help terrorists make a getaway during cordon and search operations by the security forces. There have been a string of successful neutralizations of several top commanders of the Hizbul Mujahideen, the Laskar-e-Toiba and the Jaishe Muhammad. This is the fallout of internecine
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evolution of terrorism NEW SURPRISES
warfare among these groups and the possibility of disgruntled elements providing the security forces information about rivals which has obviously contributed to the spate of killing of high-level terrorists and their supporters. Dependence on Intelligence about the whereabouts of rivals supplied by disgruntled terrorists is fraught with the possibility of creating another Bhindranwale kind of phenomenon which turned out to be worse than the other Khalistani terrorists. Indian security forces will have to create cyber cells to find, read, analyse and act on indoctrination material released by terrorist organisations to check ‘lone wolf’ operations. It is now apparent that several groups of Indians have fallen to the virus and have
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What is currently happening in America and Europe at the hands of both suicide jihadists, and increasingly by homegrown ‘lone wolf’ radicalised terrorists, has lessons for India visited Iraq and Syria and have received arms and explosives training in camps in Pakistan,
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Iraq and Syria. Their return could prove problematic for the Indian security forces particularly in UP and Kerala.
WMDs Hitherto, the weapons of choice for both the security forces arrayed within the Coalition Forces operating in the War Against Terror format as well as the terrorists of all hues have been conventional weapons and conventional explosives. The Syrian government has been accused of using chemical weapons. The possibility that terrorist groups are aspiring to acquire nuclear weapons technology has been confirmed by the material captured from Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Afghanistan after he was bombed out of Kabul by the US post 9/11.
neighbourhood watch RECLAIMING THE EXTERNAL AMBIANCE
Evolving Foreign Policy Under Modi
Dr. Sudhanshu Tripathi The writer is Professor, Political Science at UP Rajarshi Tandon Open University Allahabad (UP).
Any evaluation of India’s advancement of its national and international interests will require a clearer assessment of its objectives, the available capacity to meet them and the consequent progress made besides the continuing limitations of the country
India’s Singapore Story, during PM Modi’s visit to the country
November 2017
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neighbourhood watch RECLAIMING THE EXTERNAL AMBIANCE
Brics summit 2017
I
ndia’s foreign policy under PM Narendra Modi has now attained a level of maturity wherein it looks to have reinvigorated itself to assert in an effective manner. This is so with a view to protect the country’s national interests in a sustained way. In fact, the foreign policy of a country happens to be the sum total of the entire national interests manifesting within and outside the boundary of the country which need to be procured by the leadership and policy makers through internal and external means. Evaluating the country’s foreign policy upon this yardstick
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after more than three years of its practice by Prime Minister Modi, one can easily conclude that Modi has demonstrated his firm political will for India’s global engagements through continuous, frequent and sustained interactions with almost all countries of the world. Carrying forward his agenda, PM Modi has vigorously been pursuing his programme of action in an unhampered way because, after a long period, there is a one party majority rule in the country. So, he is not working under the compulsions of coalition pressure politics. Obviously his pro-active leadership continuing since 2014
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Modi is moving towards acquiring a consolidated domestic political support for an effective pursuit of India’s external relations
Former Director General Military Operations (DGMO), Ranbir Singh speaks to the media in the Press Conferences along with Former External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, in New Delhi after India conducted Surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Kashmir
has significantly transformed India’s image in external affairs.
Clarity Of Intent Delivering the 37th Singapore Lecture on 23 November 2015, captioned as ‘India’s Singapore Story’, during his visit to the country, PM Modi remarked: “The wheels of change are moving; confidence is growing; resolve is stronger and the direction is clearer.” This clearly manifests a shift in broader ideas and approach to India’s external affairs and undoubtedly, a departure from the past. And that may be substantiated by some of the recent
events in the past two years under PM Modi’s dispensation.
eliminate all monsters and such evils on earth.
Indira Gandhi Template
Against this backdrop, a broader overview of the Indian government’s foreign policy, particularly over the past two years, clearly shows not just a strategic vision of PM Modi but growth and progress along every one of India’s major objectives ultimately to culminate into serving the entire humanity and also establishing peace and security in the whole world.
Considering the recent surgical strikes in Pakistan’s territory, bold and firm stand on Doklam issue, effective dealings with China and Pakistan in the recent BRICS summit or earlier in the annual session of General Assembly of the United Nations and also earlier in the Asia-Pacific over South China Sea and elsewhere all around the world, it can be reasonably argued that the country’s foreign policy has once again assumed the form and content of the foreign policy of an earlier illustrious Indian Prime Minister late Mrs Indira Gandhi as obtained during the early seventies of the previous century. The activism of the foreign policy was so impressive that yet another illustrious PM, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee had to rechristen late Mrs Indira Gandhi as durga – mother goddess to
November 2017
Challenges It also reveals some of the failures and structural challenges that confront the Indian government and are likely to continue in the near future. They include the prevailing multiple challenges including jingoistic nationalism; Pakistan supported cross-border terrorism and religious fundamentalism and political resistance to engagement with Pakistan; Beijing’s fast rising inroads into India’s neighbourhood;
Defence AND security alert
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neighbourhood watch RECLAIMING THE EXTERNAL AMBIANCE
French delegates during a meeting in New Delhi
insufficient commercial integration with Southeast and East Asia like evolving common currency system or such common regional security; mounting gaps between diplomatic efforts and agents of domestic implementation; and relative inexperience as regards managing and leading on matters of international relations and global governance. Evidently, India needs to adopt a pro-active approach towards its own neighbourhood, managing or sincerely addressing the domestic political fallout of its Pakistan policy and better coordinating external outcomes with internal development, all the while raising its ambitions and improving its ability to follow in a sustained way.
A Disconnect Thus, the broad direction of India’s international relations and
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its consequent implementation is often at odds with the prevailing public discourse. It views development in complete isolation and grabs over facts to fit preconceived notions. For example, Pakistan bashing in particular has become a fulltime preoccupation in India over different channels of television media. In the same way, the unnecessary polarisation of much of the foreign policy discourse within the country has led to distraction from the core areas of projected national concerns. Unfortunately, the last decade in India has witnessed more fractious and self-serving discourse on many areas in which there has in fact been remarkable continuity with and also sometimes national consensus too. This is perhaps due to inconsistent and rapid changing media environment
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and due to the behaviour of the opposition parties in the country – both past and present. Obviously, any evaluation of India’s advancement of its national and international interests will require a clearer assessment of its objectives, the available capacity to meet them and the consequent progress made besides the continuing limitations of the country. Taking all these facts into account, one can easily conclude that PM Modi has successfully demonstrated himself to be a very energetic and active leader moving towards acquiring a consolidated domestic political support for an effective pursuit of India’s external relations through his exemplary courage and profound communication skills meant to connect with all countrymen in India.
decorated warriors Captain Vijayant Thapar
Onkar Abhishek Tiwari The author is an IT student at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology. He is a close observer of defence dynamics in the world.
Hero Of
Tololing (Kargil) Tololing was the first victory for Indian Army on 13 June 1999 and is often referred in history as the turning point of the war. It was nearly an impossible position to capture. The troops of Pakistan’s 6 Northern Light Infantry had all the advantages. Strongly prepared positions on narrow knife edge ridge, with precipitous slopes on both side, ravines thousands of feet deep, devoid of cover and almost vertical climbs at places
November 2017
Defence AND security alert
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decorated warriors Captain Vijayant Thapar
I
ndia is a country of bravehearts. Its rich history is filled with endless tales of men who have displayed impeccable gallantry and have never shied away from martyrdom. Amongst many such bravehearts is our Late Captain Vijayant Thapar.
However, he was very happy to be an infantryman like his father. He was commissioned on 12 December 1998 and went on to join 2nd Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles at Gwalior. The unit was posted to Kupwara (an infamous hotspot for terrorist infiltration and attacks) where it was involved in counter terrorist operations. Vijayant was involved in two fierce encounters. While talking to his mother on telephone, he described how he lived through a live encounter in which about thirty bullets were fired at him.
A Hero’s Beginning Vijayant was born in a family of military lineage. Vijayant’s great-grandfather Dr Captain Karta Ram Thapar, Mr J.S. Thapar (Vijayant’s grandfather) and his father Colonel V.N. Thapar had all served the Indian Army. It was as if he was fated to join the army too. The army background of his family had a major influence on Vijayant’s way of life. Be it discipline, being selfless and being considerate. He had these values instilled in him since his childhood. During his childhood, he used to play around with a gun marching around wearing his father’s peak cap like an officer.
Entry Into Army Vijayant was a hard-working student, his hard work opened the doors for his entry into Indian Army when he cracked Combined Defence Services Exam and was selected for Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. During his training, he did very well and got the silver medal for standing second in the order of merit in the first term. Also, he won a Gold Medal in Water Polo. Thapar’s first love was to become a fighter pilot like his uncle.
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A Father Figure
Thapar’s last letter to his family
Vijayant came in contact with a girl 6-year-old, Ruksana. In the aftermath of a very gruesome incident where her father was murdered by militants right in front of her, she had lost her speech @dsalert
Vijayant’s interaction with school principal in Kupwara district brought him in contact with a girl six years old, with a very tragic past. The girl was Ruksana. In the aftermath of a very gruesome incident where her father was murdered by militants right in front of her, she had lost her speech. Vijayant was in love with the innocence of the child. He and his ‘sahayak’ Sepoy Jagmal Singh Shekhawat, who also died next to his ‘saheb’ in the battle to capture the “Knoll” feature in Drass subsector, used to steal away from the unit and visit Ruksana each evening and take sweets and toffees for her, soldiers in the battalion say. It was perhaps the fruits of Vijayant’s compassion and his pure fatherly love that a miracle happened and the girl started to speak. It wasn’t just the edibles, Vijayant used to support her financially too, by giving some amount to her family every month. A day before he was
Thapar with Ruksana
to head into the battlegrounds of Kargil, he wrote a letter to his father, asking to take care of the girl, sending `50 to her every month. The Day Of Reckoning Battle of Tololing Knoll and Three Pimples The unit was later ordered to move to Drass to evict the enemy which had occupied Tololing, Tiger Hill and the adjoining heights during the Kargil war of 1999. The 2nd Battalion of Rajputana Rifles was given the task of capturing Toiling Knoll and Three Pimples. These forbidding heights were usurped by enemy Northern Light Infantry (NLI). They had fortified positions and were well stocked. Being placed in high altitude positions gave them excessive military advantage, dominating the narrow ridge line on which 2 Rajasthan Rifles had to attack. During this Battle, Vijayant captured a Pakistani position called Barbad Bunker Pt.4590. Tololing was the first victory for
Indian Army on 13 June 1999 and is often referred in history as the turning point of the war. After the successful capture of Tololing, he spoke to his mother on V-Sat telephone and proudly said, “Mama we have captured Tololing”. Later, on 28 June, 2 Raj.Rif. was given the task of capturing Three Pimples, Knoll and Lone Hill area. The attack started with Vijayant’s platoon leading on a full moon night along a razor-sharp ridge with no cover to offer. There was
November 2017
intense and accurate artillery shelling and heavy enemy fire. He lost some of his dear men and some more were injured causing the attack to be disrupted. However, with his indominable spirit and tremendous urge to capture Knoll, he got together the remainder of his men and moved through a ravine to face the enemy. It was a full moon night. Moreover, this was nearly an impossible position to capture. The troops of Pakistan’s 6 Northern Light Infantry had all the advantages. Strongly prepared positions on narrow knife edge ridge, with precipitous slopes on both side, ravines thousands of feet deep, devoid of cover and almost vertical climbs at places. At 8 pm the attack commenced with a thunderous shatter as 120 guns opened fire and rockets hit up the sky. Shellsof the enemy covered the whole area mixed with lethal machine gun fire. In this inferno, 2 Raj Rif moved with Capt. Vijayant Thapar led the attack. Among the first to fall in this rain of death was sepoy Jagmal Singh, Vijayant’s very dear sahayak.
Defence AND security alert
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decorated warriors Captain Vijayant Thapar
While the exchange of fire was going on, Vijayant was pumped up with adrenaline and went to his company which had already secured a foothold on Knoll. Sadly, his company commander Major P. Acharya had been killed in the gunfire. Hearing this news, Vijayant’s anger was explosive. He charged ahead with his colleague Naik Tilak Singh. Both of them started engaging the enemy merely 15 meters away. There were two enemy machine guns firing towards them. After about an hour and a half of blistering exchange of bullets and abuses, Vijayant decided that he had to end the enemy. As he moved up to do so, a burst of fire struck him on his head. He fell in the arms of his comrade Naik Tilak Singh. A brave son of India had fallen. His fall triggered a rampant charge from the men of his company and fully captured Knoll. The victory at Knoll on 29 June 1999,
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is a saga of bravery unmatched and unbounded moxie. Courage alone and unflinching faith in
a little compassion can go a long way. How being compassionate can change someone’s life in
Thapar has left us behind with a beautiful legacy- Ruksana. It was due to this man’s compassion that the girl could study and graduate from a school the Almighty God alone turned a tactically impossible situation into a victory. In recognition of his gallantry, he was posthumously awarded with the Vir Chakra.
Thapar’s Legacy Thapar has left behind a beautiful legacy — Ruksana. It was due to his selfless love and support that she felt safe enough to dream, secured enough to achieve something. Although, his interaction with her was for a short time, it goes on to show how even
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the long run. It was due to this man’s compassion that the girl could study and graduate from a school. I have no doubt in the fact that it was Thapar’s will, his unflinching tenacity that had polarised Ruksana to march ahead in her life.
Thapar with Ruksana He will always be remembered. His compassion and gallantry will inspire the generations to come…Jai Hind! **Credits : www.captainvijyantthapar.com
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