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NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2016, VOL 9 ISSUE 3 www.salute.co.in I www.saluteindia.org

`100

DEMONITISATION: A COUNTER FOR

TERROR FINANCING?ALSO IN

THIS ISSUE:THE NFU DEBATE

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in this issue

Authors aspiring to publish their articles in Salute may send by email to [email protected] along with pictures, if any

04ON THE CUSP OF CHANGE I Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch

05ACCESS CONTROL I Lt Gen Sudhir Sharma

06THE HELICOPTER – THE ENIGMA I Air Mshl Sumit Mukerji

07THE INDIAN NAVY IN 2016 – NEED FOR INTROSPECTION ICommodore C Uday Bhaskar

08CHOKING TERRORIST FINANCING: A MUCH NEEDED STEP IBrig. Narender Kumar

11WEAPONS, NARCOTICS, AND FAKE CURRENCY IDr Amit Kumar

13COUNTERING RADICALISATION AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM ISultan Shahin

15INDIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY I Lt Gen Anand M Verma

18SHAPING OF INDIA’S SECURITY DISCOURSE: THE IMPACT OFREGIONAL CONFLICTS I Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch

22DON’T NUKE THE DEBATE I Gurmeet Kanwal

24THE WISDOM OF NFU IN INDIA’S NUCLEAR DOCTRINE IDr Manpreet Sethi

26DETERRENCE AGAINST A ROGUE STATE I Prof. Rajiv Gupte

27YOUR VOICE: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

28BAPTISM BY SPARKS, FIRE AND BAILOUT IWg Cdr Anil Kumar Gupta

[email protected] >> November-December 2016 >> SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER 03

30I STILL LOVE THE INDIAN NAVY ICapt (IN) Anil Gonsalves

32DEFENCE NEWS

36VETERANS ALERT I Hony Capt Baldev Singh

37RAISINA HILL I Lt Col Anil Bhat

38BOOK REVIEW I Air Commodore PrashantDikshit

39MY VISIT TO UJJAIN IMaj Gen Pradyot K Mallick

41DARK CHOCOLATE POTS: CONNOISSEUR’SDELIGHT I Aditi Pathak

42MAROOF’S MUSINGS IMaroof Raza

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EDITOR’S NOTE

SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER << November-December 2016 << [email protected]

When viewed in a historical context, the year 2016will perhaps be remembered as the year wherechange was attempted for the first time from thestatus quo mindset that has consumed India sinceIndependence. For the Armed Forces, the pastyear has seen many positive developments andsome downsides too, but the process of change isvisible, though it is still a work in being.

Three issues merit attention. The first of thesepertain to operational issues, the second pertainto the acquisition process and the third to the stateof relations between the military and India’sbureaucracy.

Operationally, there has been a distinct changein India’s response options to the war by othermeans that is being waged by Pakistan againstIndia using terrorism as an instrument of state pol-icy. The surgical strike was but a reflection of amore robust approach being taken to addressissues that have bedevilled India’s response toPakistani intransigence. Many defence analysts,this writer included, have long felt the need forincreasing the cost to the Pakistan Army exponen-tially for supporting terror groups, thereby forcingPakistan to act in a more responsible manner. It isno one’s case that just one strike will motivatePakistan to follow a more rational path. ThePakistan military’s pride was hurt by the surgicalstrike and it was only to be expected that theywould retaliate. With their nuclear bluff beingcalled, Pakistan found that its only option was tocontinue with using terrorists to attack IndianArmy posts. This does not signify a failure of India’soffensive gambit, but perhaps speaks of its success.

The proactive response to Pakistani terrormust now be renewed with greater force on theLine of Control (LC), without pause. The possibili-ty of escalation remains, but that is the price thatthe nation will have to pay if retribution to thePakistan military is to be effective. The Army mustnot get into a besieged mentality but must domi-nate its surroundings and ensure that armedattackers are eliminated before they are in a posi-tion to strike. This could lead to collateral damageat times. The military leadership must hold thehands of its units in such cases and simultaneous-ly, sensitise the political leadership of the same.Post demonetisation, the terrorist groups are onthe back foot and over time, will find sustenance

difficult. This must be exploited to eliminate suchgroups from Indian soil.

The acquisition process is now getting stream-lined with faster decision making and anincreased focus on the Make in India campaign.The attempt towards indigenisation are still smallbaby steps, but they represent a forward move-ment, which earlier was conspicuous by itsabsence. The forces too must look for indigenoussolutions, else India’s fledgling defence industrialbase will never take off. The Tejas aircraft andIndian ship building represent important steps inthis direction but much more needs to be done,especially in terms of making the DPSU’s,Ordnance Factories and the DRDO, moreaccountable and responsive to user needs.

The state of relations between the military andIndia’s bureaucracy remains abysmal, largely aproduct of legacy attitudes wherein the babuscontinue to spare no effort in denigrating theForces. Why the defence forces are denied space inthe decision making process remains a mystery,with India being perhaps the only democracy inthe world where such practises obtain. The babusin the MoD lack expertise to advise on defencematters, yet they are vested with complete finan-cial and decision making powers without beingheld accountable for the same. That accountabili-ty continues to rest on the shoulders of the mili-tary’s leadership, sans the financial and decisionmaking powers. Such a paradoxical situation willsooner rather than later invite disaster. It is timethat the entire MoD is revamped and staffed withat least 50 percent officers from the Armed Forces,with the post of defence secretary and secretarydefence production being held by four star rankedofficers from the Armed Forces. The CDS willcome about in the New Year, but that by itself isnot enough. Unless the rules of business arechanged and the primacy of the bureaucrat isremoved, India’s defence structure will remaincompromised.

We are at the cusp of change for the first timesince Independence. The tide is flowing, but willwe take it at the proverbial flood, which leads on tofortune? Or will we let the opportunity go by, andstagnate? The future beckons and is exciting.Happy Reading and a Very Happy New Year to allour readers.

ON THE CUSPOF CHANGE

PublisherMaroof Raza

EditorMaj Gen Dhruv C Katoch

SM, VSM

Associate EditorLt Col Anil Bhat

VSM (Retd)

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Publicity ManagerHony Capt (Retd) Baldev Singh

Board of AdvisersLt Gen Sudhir Sharma

PVSM, AVSM, YSM ,VSM( Retd)

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MAJ GEN DHRUV C KATOCH

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GENERAL SPEAK

05

As the former GOC of the Nagrota Corps,the recent terrorist related incidentresulting in loss of precious lives was acause for much anguish andintrospection. I am reminded of twoincidents in my army career which haveleft an imprint on my thinking in regardto security and access control. In the first,while commanding an infantry battalionin J&K (Samba) I had requested for fundsto improve the vast perimeter fencing ofthe unit area to keep out trespassingcivilians and cattle. The GOC while beingbriefed on it nonchalantly remarked thatduring his days when the army camped,civilians avoided coming close to thegeneral area leave alone daring totrespass the lines! Such was the fear andawe in which army units were held. Sadly,just after a few years, Samba was rockednot once but twice by terror attacks on itsgarrison. Kaluchak military station alsosuffered a horrendous and most painfulterror strike on its family quarters. Thusthe attack in Uri and elsewhere on armyposts/stations is symptomatic of aradically changed and fragile scenariowhich urgently begs a paradigm shift notonly in our thinking, but also in ourdoctrinal approach to access control andthe response/mitigation mechanism.This, in my personal opinion, can onlysucceed if driven by example and strictlyenforced in a ‘Top Down’ approach.

The second example, which is apointer to the huge chasm between usand other professional armies, alsosupports the merit of, and need for the

‘Top Down’ approach. While I was theMA in our High Commission in London,the Chief visited UK. After the ceremonialguard of honour near the Admiralty Arch,both the Chief’s walked down to the UKMinistry of Defence office locatednearby. Here, the British Chief and theIndian Chief, in full ceremonial uniform,were smartly stopped by the alertsentries, identified and allowed in one byone through a locked one way openingreinforced bullet proof gate. The BritishMA had earlier warned me of this strictand mandatory protocol and I had pre-warned our Chief. The aim is todemonstrate that respect for accesscontrol has to be set in motion by

example by the officers, and more so thesenior commanders. Unless we empowerand train our sentries and QRT’s (quickreaction teams), they are unlikely to getthe self-confidence and professionalpride which is sine qua non for a foolproof and professional access control. Itis indeed ironic that some of the wellmanaged five star hotels andestablishments give more importance toaccess control than some lax defenceestablishments.

Terrorists and intruders getemboldened by each setback we suffer.There is thus a crying need to raise thebar many notches on this infirmity anddo so very fast. It has been traditionalthat look out sentries/ listening posts andOP’s have been an important lynch pinand our first line of defence in preventingsuspect entry and ensuring security aswell as warning time. We must revisit andreinforce these elements by empoweringthem with high technology and layingdown strict processes besidesmonitoring and training them in thesemeasures almost constantly. No one,most of all officers, should have anyqualms whatsoever in stopping andsubjecting themselves without irritationor rancour to stringent checks or delayswhether in or out of uniform. There is noloss of dignity in getting out of yourvehicle or even flag cars to get themchecked out and for the occupants towalk a few steps to be identified andcross the entry barriers. It is also morallybinding on all commanders to commendgood sentries and report/take to task laxsystems. We must realise and accept thatwe are in a near war zone and need to useour military expertise and leadership tothwart the designs of terrorists and ourenemies by painstakingly upgrading ouraccess control architecture to make itnear impregnable and put in placefoolproof SOP’s to mitigate andneutralise damage should an incidentoccur. We owe this to ourselves, oursoldiers, families and our nation!

ACCESS CONTROLLt Gen Sudhir Sharma

[email protected] >> November-December 2016 >> SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER

TERRORISTS AND INTRUDERS GETEMBOLDENED BY EACH SETBACK WE SUFFER.THERE IS THUS A CRYING NEED TO RAISE THEBAR MANY NOTCHES ON THIS INFIRMITY ANDDO SO VERY FAST.

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OUT OF THE BLUE


For those who undergo flying training inthe IAF and elsewhere, it invariably startswith a piston-engined, propeller driven,two-seat trainer. But before one jumpsinto the cockpit to fly, for the uninitiated,there is a host of ground subjects tostudy, ranging from Principles of Flight,Airmanship, Aero-engines, Navigation(no Google), Meteorology, AviationMedicine and what have you. Gettinginto the cockpit to explore the ‘blueyonder’ is about the most exhilaratingand dynamic experience that a humanbeing can expect. The sheer unfetteredfreedom of the third dimension isactually unexplainable except by aRichard Bach. And to think it all beganwith Icarus (from Greek mythology)whose valiant attempt at flight withwings made of feathers, pasted withmolten wax, met a fateful end over theseas. But did this setback deter man’scuriosity to figure out how the birds andthe bees did it?

The birds flew from place to place andsoared ever so high. But the bumble-bee’sability to hover and suck honey from theflowers (astonishingly replicated by thehummingbird!) created aninquisitiveness that intrigued thethinking man. It was the great LeonardoDa Vinci (who else?), the architect/inventor, a man with foresight few peoplehave achieved, who provided thefundamental idea of a helicopter, as weknow it today. Around the year 1480 heproduced drawings/ sketches ofwindmill-like machines operating in thehorizontal pane. He called it the “Air-

Screw” and also termed it the “Helix” (aGreek word meaning ‘Spiral’ or ‘Twist’).Rather simplistic in looks, it proved mostdifficult to produce. Obviously, thecomplications involved in a hoveringmachine made for far greater challengesthan anticipated. And true to form, to thepresent day, when one moves acrossfrom fixed wing flying to rotary wingmachines, his or her concepts ofaerodynamics and the theory of flightjust seem to be overturned! How on earthdid the bumble-bee do it ?

While essays and books could bewritten (and so have been) on rotorcraft/helicopters/ choppers (‘What’s in aname?’...), the bottom line is that theversatility of the machine cannot bedoubted. The sheer capability,adaptability, flexibility and agility seem tooffer solutions for the military, the shortdistance commuter, the businessman,the politician the rich and famous and ofcourse, by far the most important, accessto inhospitable areas for medicarepurposes and disaster management. Justto emphasise its versatility, some of theuses of the helicopter that come to mindare:

• Observation• Reconnaissance• Communication• Anti-tank Role• Troop insertion• Special Forces tasks• Radar busting• Combat search and rescue (CSAR)• Casualty evacuation (CasEvac)• Air assault operations• Battlefield interdiction• Armed escort to utility/ troop carryinghelicopters.• Logistical tasks/ supply dropping• Search and rescue (SAR)• Sea search and rescue (SSR) – Navy• Mine sweeping – Navy• Anti- submarine warfare – Navy

• Policing/ traffic management• Fire fighting• Disaster management• Medical evacuation (MedEvac)

The helicopter has found widespreaduse in the civil sector in India. The vastexpanses and geographical layout ofIndia, with its varied terrain, necessitate anatural adaptation for quick responseand travel to remote and poorlyconnected areas. It proves a boon forpoliticians to access their constituenciesand for the administration to providesuccour to the needy especially in theevent of catastrophes and naturaldisaster. The last two decades, in fact,have seen more than a five fold increasein civil helicopters operating in thiscountry.

The helicopter has become themainstay across the spectrum ofoperations, be it military or civil.Presently, almost all of our helicoptersare procured from abroad other than theHAL ‘Dhruv’. While a Light UtilityHelicopter (LUH) and a Light CombatHelicopter (LCH)have been designedand are under manufacture by HAL, theformer has only recently been ordered bythe IAF and the IA. It is evident that thereis infinite potential for the Indianindustry to draw on if it cares to pursuethe helicopter program. The scope is vastand the opportunities limitless,especially for the “Make in India’ venturethe government has embarked upon. Letus go for it.

An alumnus of NDA and DSSC, AirMshl Sumit Mukerji has served the IAF

as a fighter pilot with distinction He hascommanded three units, a MiG-29 Sqn, a

MiG-25 SR Sqn and TACDE (consideredthe ‘Top Gun’ school of the IAF) and alsoserved as the Air Attaché in WashingtonDC. He retired in 2011 as the AOC-in-C

of Southern Air Command.

THE HELICOPTER – THE ENIGMAAir Mshl Sumit Mukerji, PVSM, SC, VSM

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PERISCOPE


The ignominy of INS Betwa, a frontlinewarship lying on its side in a dry-dockwith a totally damaged mast is aninglorious visual that frames one end ofthe trajectory of the Indian Navy (IN) in2016. Sadly for the IN, thisunprecedented and highly embarrassingmishap took place in Mumbai’s navaldockyard on December 5 – a day afterNavy Day (Dec 4) was celebrated nation-wide. On this day, the silent service ismore vocal and highlights its manyachievements over the year – and it mustbe acknowledged that these are a featherin the cap for the service given the severesetbacks that plagued the IN over the lastthree years.

2016 began with the InternationalFleet Review off Visakhapatnam where asmany as 100 ships from 48 nationsparticipated and this mega-maritimeevent showcased India’s competence andcredibility in the regional context.Thehigh-point for India as a nation was thefact that in the course of the year, theindigenously designed and built nuclearsubmarine – the Arihant reached itsdesired level of operational readiness.Though the entire process took longerthan envisaged, this remains a trulyremarkable achievement for the IN and

the many national agencies that werepart of this effort. The valuable supportprovided by Moscow merits notice andthis is reflective of the depth of the bi-lateral relationship that India hastraditionally had with the former USSR/now Russia.

On the sunny side for the IN, the sail-ship Mhadei has been winning accoladesglobally for the splendid sea-faring skillsbeing demonstrated by the intrepidsailors of the Navy. Most recently, an allwomen crew has carried out longvoyages and is now preparing forcircumnavigation of the globe in 2017.More power to Indian women and a hat-tip to Admiral Manohar Awati, the grand-old maritime historian of the IN who hasbeen leading the cause of sail-ships andthe need to instill the love of the sea inyoung India.

But reverting to the ignominy of theBetwa and the travails of the IN, it may berecalled that over the last three years,beginning with the loss of the submarineINS Sindhurakshak in August 2013, (alsowhile in harbour) – the IN has had asmany as 12 accidents big and small. Inthe process, the service has seen theresignation of a Chief and a C-in-C in thefinest traditions of the service where thefinal responsibility rests with the apex.

Has the IN expanded too quickly andis the support system – both human andmaterial unable to cope? These arecomplex professional matters thatwarrant the most rigorous and objectiveintrospection by the service andappropriate course-correction is calledfor. High levels of professionalcompetence and commitment of theNavy have to be located within the largernational maritime eco-system and thisneeds the collective Indian effort. In the

last two decades there has been a steadyacknowledgement of India’s maritimepotential (when in doubt, turn the mapof India upside down!) and PM NarendraModi has been advocating SAGAR – orsecurity and growth for all in the region.

Interestingly the word ‘region’ hastaken on a more expansive connotation –and it is relevant to note that the officialvision document of the IN - MaritimeDoctrine 2015 invokes the term ‘Indo-Pacific.’ This elastic term encompassesthe maritime domain from the IndianOcean to the western Pacific through theMalacca - and is often referred to as the‘New Silk Route.’ The emerging strategicscenario in this extended region will seethree major powers engaging with eachother – India, China and the USA. This isan asymmetric and uneasy triangularrelationship with many anomaliesembedded among them. Chief amongthem is the empirical reality that in thenear future, China will emerge as theworld’s number one GDP but it will not bethe world’s foremost military power – thatperch will still be occupied by the USA.

Dis-aggregatedfurther, China mayacquire more quantifiable assets – fromships and submarines to better ports andrelated technology – but maritimeempathy is an intangible qualitativecapability. India has a distinctive niche inthis regard and Betwa must serve as thespur to ensure that such ignominy willnever be allowed to happen again.

Adieu 2016Commodore C Uday Bhaskar, is

currently Director, Society for PolicyStudies (SPS), New Delhi. He was

previously Director, National MaritimeFoundation (NMF) and prior to that he

headed the Institute for Defence Studiesand Analyses (IDSA).

THE INDIAN NAVY IN 2016 – NEED FOR INTROSPECTION

Commodore C Uday Bhaskar

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Hybrid wars are protracted and cannotbe fought in isolation by a single agency.To outsource such wars to securityforces is a bad idea to pursue because itcannot be taken to logical conclusionwithout the whole of governmentapproach. Security forces can checkonly violence and bring it down to asustainable level by use of kineticmeans. But it cannot squeeze thesource of energy that sustains theviolent movement or extinguish itcompletely. There is no denying the factthat such movements are often abettedsupported and sustained by externalagencies but there are areas ofunregulated public and private spacethat gives impetus to such asymmetricforces to survive and sustain itself topursue their own agendas. To raise anorganisation and gangs of thugs thereshould be incentive in terms of cause,motivation (indoctrination) andfinancial remuneration. They arecomplementary to each other but

ultimately such movements aresustained by a stable financial support.

It is important to ascertain thesource of funds and how smooth flow ismaintained to give impetus to terrorismand hybrid war. Post 9/11 PresidentGeorge Bush declared, “Money is thelifeblood of terrorist operations… wehave launched a strike on the financialfoundation of the global terrornetwork.” It is a fact that terrororganisations do not survive on onesource of financial support rather theykeep multiple options so that if onedries up another remains open. Therange of financial sustenance is, drugtrafficking, investment in financialinstitutions under pseudo businessnames, real estate, money laundering,extortion, kidnapping, donationsthrough NGOs/ religious institutions,fake currency rackets, hawala, illegalbetting, electioneering and politicalpatronage. Interventions in thefinancial spheres are required to dry upsources of funding to curb terrorism,hybrid war and crime syndicates. Theseinclude international cooperation,strict implementation of laws, tight

control on financial markets throughregulators, technological support toidentify the fake currency andelectronic transactions.

Insurgency in the Northeast, leftwing extremism (LWE) and separatistsmovement in J&K are thriving in theabsence of strict implementations oflaws related to money laundering, drugtrafficking and spread of FICN. It isestimated that Pakistan alone haspumped close to 40,000 crore rupees ofFICN (Fake Indian Currency Notes) intothe Indian market. The route ofpumping the FICN is through organisedsyndicates run by Daoud Ibrahim,hawala, betting and pushing FICNthrough Kashmir, Nepal andBangladesh. It is true that suchoperations cannot be executed withoutconnivance of unscrupulous agents andat times wilful dereliction of duty bythose who are supposed to prevent it.The system is eroded to the extent thatit is very difficult to take actions againstdefaulters and economic offenders.India has a very poor record of bringingeconomic offenders to book. Similarly,in spite of the open cultivation ofopium and cannabis, narcotic bureau isunable to prevent sale of opium anddrugs in the Northeast. Where FICN isalmost a legal tender, drugs arepurchased and sold without mushrestriction, economic offenders allowedto escape from the clutches of law andeconomic offenders continue to be inlegislature, such a situation isconducive and creates friendlyenvironment for non-state actors toexploit them to further their cause.

The difference between separatistsmovement in J&K and Northeast is that

CHOKING TERRORIST FINANCING:A MUCH NEEDED STEP

Brig. Narender Kumar, SM, VSM

TERROR FINANCING

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT PAKISTAN ALONEHAS PUMPED CLOSE TO 40,000 CRORERUPEES OF FICN (FAKE INDIANCURRENCY NOTES) INTO THE INDIANMARKET. THE ROUTE OF PUMPING THEFICN IS THROUGH ORGANISED SYNDI-CATES RUN BY DAOUD IBRAHIM,HAWALA, BETTING AND PUSHING FICNTHROUGH KASHMIR, NEPAL ANDBANGLADESH.

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in the North-East insurgency is anindustry and a source of paralleleconomy, but dynamics of J&K aredifferent. Bulk of support to initiate actsof terror comes from Pakistan includingresources, weapons, ammunition andwar like stores. Even remuneration toterrorists and their families is also paidby ISI through Pak based organisations.Let us clearly distinguish between actsof terror and separatist’s movement.Money laundering or circulation ofFICN does not play a big role in act ofterrorism. Role of money comes in toplay in separatist’s movement orIntifada. Blood money/ black money/FICN is contributing immensely toshape the ground situation to createinstability especially in J&K and even inNortheast and heartland India.Organisations such as Jamaat-e-Islami,Peace TV and many Wahhabi Madrasas

are thriving and undertaking activitiesto subvert and radicaliseimpressionable youths. The funding iscoming from various sources throughPakistan by land route, hawala, NGOs,foreign donation and even throughcriminal syndicates. This bulk of themoney comes from Islamic nations butprimarily from Saudi Arabia.Separatist’s movement in J&K issustained by regular flow of moneyfrom across in various forms. Intifada inJ&K is actually by force, coercion andmoney power. Children, women andmiddle age group are engaged in newprofession that is taking the youth awayand elders away from education andskill development.

It is estimated that the paralleleconomy run by Naga groups alone is inthe range of Rs 2000-2500 crore peryear, generated through drugs, sale of

weapons, extortion, real estate, equityand sale of contrabands from across theborder. Similarly each of the groupshave their own network and area ofinfluence. Inter group clashes are lesson ideological ground but more forcontrol of territory to take charge ofparallel economy. Naga- Kuki clashes inlate 90s were not due to clash ofideology but for control of Tamu -MoreHaats. In other parts, the conflictbetween groups is to control thehighways and international borders toensure collection of taxes, extortion,illegal trade across the border androutes of drug trafficking.

Jamaat-e-islami has been rattled inBengal and some other states becausegovernment actions have seriouslyimpacted their financial foundation. Itis a point to ponder why there is seriousresistance from certain states to ensure


TERROR FINANCING



TERROR FINANCING

implementation of demonetisation? Isit really hurting the people or has it hurtthe actors behind the scene such asJamaat-e-Islami and WahhabiMadrasas. Bangladesh has come downheavily on Jamaat and thus it is notpossible for them to openly undertaketheir activities of radicalisation ofpopulation. As a result they have foundsafe havens in India including Bengaland certain other states. As per NIA,Bengal is emerging as the hub ofactivities of Jamaat-e-Islami and Jihadigroups operating on both sides of theborders. Bengal being a pivot state thatgives Jamaat access to make inroadsinto Northeast, Red Corridor, Bihar,Bangladesh and Nepal. Therefore, thispivot state needs to be handledcarefully and urgently to restrict andthen eliminate the activities that are notin the best interests of the country.

Demonetisation has given a deathblow to the parallel economy and it hasseriously impacted the financial

support to terror organisations,insurgents, criminal syndicates andtheir proxies. It is a great initiativeprovided the government is able tocontinue to squeeze the fund flow andshake up the law enforcing agencies toprevent creation of black money infuture. It is a surgery that needs post-operative treatment, but will thepolitical parties and state governmentsbe willing to take up the cudgels andinvite the wrath of terror organisations,communal forces, over ground workersand political parties? One time strike isa temporary setback unless it isfollowed by concrete measures toreduce transactions in cash.Government has made the beginning

and leaving it half way will be a biggerproblem to handle in future. Somesuggestions on what needs to be doneto reduce cash holdings are as under:

• Make it mandatory for alltransactions of value in excess of Rs10,000 to be cashless. Such transactionsmust be conducted only throughcheques, bank drafts, credit/debit cardsetc.

• Impose limits on the amount ofcash that can be held by an individual.Holding of cash in excess of thatamount should be made a cognisableoffence, inviting punishment to includemandatory confiscation of moneyfound in excess of authorisedholdings.This limit could be pegged atRs 150,000 per individual/ family.

• All government transactions shouldbe cashless. A beginning has been madein this regard, but it should spread to allgovernment departments. Within theArmed Forces too, cash should bediscouraged in CSDs, and in payment of

bills. Pay of men should be crediteddirectly to their bank accounts as isbeing done in the case of officers.

• Payment to employees, farmproduce and government subsidiesshould be cashless and made direct tothe account holder.

• All traders small, medium and largeshould be encouraged to acceptpayment through cards or electronictransfer.

• A major source of corruption isfunding for political parties. Here, cashdonations are accepted and no recordof the donor is required to bemaintained for small sums. Politicalfunding requires major reform and astart could be made by making it

mandatory for political parties toreceive funds only through cheques orthrough electronic transfer of money.Making political donations cashlesswould curb the spread of black moneyto a very large extent and would cleansethe political system too. Such a step willbe resisted by all political parties, but itis a must for a cleaner and healthierpolity.

It is a fact that hard earned money isnever used in drug trafficking, weaponstrafficking, extortion, crime, bettingand acts of terror; it is either blackmoney or FICN. No one knows theimpact of black money and FICN morethan the security forces because theypay the price of politicalmismanagement of financial marketthrough their blood. Be it separatists’movement in Kashmir, LWE andinsurgency in Northeast. Every bulletpurchased through the black moneygenerated by non-state actors or anti-social organisations has the potential tospill the blood of a soldier in someremote part of India. There is a need tosensitise the law enforcing agencies toremind them that every penny youallow to be generated as black moneywill take life of a soldier or policemansomewhere in the country. Therefore,he or she is guilty of murder of fellowIndians. Demonetisation of currency ofRs 1000 and Rs 500 has struck a bodyblow to terrorist organisations as in onego, the entire FICN apparatus has beenuprooted. But such structures do nottake time to reinvent themselves.Additional steps are required to betaken to ensure the cancer of blackmoney and FICN is not allowed to growagain. This is a war which India has tofight within its borders and it is warwhich India has to win, if it is to find itsrightful place in the comity of nations.

Brig Narender Kumar, an InfantryOfficer, commanded a Rashtriya Rifles

Battalion in J&K and Assam Rifle Sectorin Manipur. He is a Delhi based

Defence Analyst and is currently SeniorFellow at the Centre for Land Warfare

Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi.

DEMONETISATION HAS GIVEN A DEATH BLOW TO THE PARALLEL ECONOMYAND IT HAS SERIOUSLY IMPACTED THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO TERRORORGANISATIONS, INSURGENTS, CRIMINAL SYNDICATES AND THEIR PROX-IES. IT IS A GREAT INITIATIVE PROVIDED THE GOVERNMENT IS ABLE TOCONTINUE TO SQUEEZE THE FUND FLOW AND SHAKE UP THE LAW ENFORC-ING AGENCIES TO PREVENT CREATION OF BLACK MONEY IN FUTURE.


TERRORISM


This article examines the relationshipbetween terrorism and its financing bycriminal methods and means likeweapons smuggling, narcotics traffickingand fake currency circulation. Whatmotivates and necessitates terrorists touse these modes of criminal finance andthe benefits thereby that accrue toterrorist organisations is also examined.The article also explores the comparativescale and scope of these criminalactivities and their relative importance toterrorists, using various examples ofterrorist enterprises and their use ofthese methods.

First, money, fake currency, narcotics,and weapons all have monetary valueand are used to finance terrorism.Theproceeds of illicit arms sales, narcoticssmuggling, and the proceeds of thecirculation of fake currency are used tofund terrorist operations, set up andadminister terrorist organisations, andfor recruitment and radicalisation ofterrorists. For example, the Taliban hasrelied on drug-trafficking, the IrishRepublican Army has used weaponssmuggling, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba hasused fake Indian currency to finance

their operations.Second, due to the squeeze on licit

sources of funding, loss of state support,post-Cold-War collapse of Soviet Unionand Warsaw Pact countries and thesubsequent lacunae in governancestructures, the need for plausibledeniability on the part of the terrorists todissociate themselves from criminalmethods, and the proliferation ofterrorist affiliates and cells that requirelocal sources of income to survive,terrorists tend to rely on criminal sourcesof income and criminal methods toobtain that income to finance theiractivities. Terrorists and criminals bothneed weapons. Narcotics can beexchanged for money and weapons bycriminals and terrorists. Criminalspossess expertise to print and circulatefake currency, and terrorists use fakecurrency generated by criminals tofinance their operations. Therelationship between terrorists andcriminals becomes so neatly intertwinedthat often it is difficult to distinguish acriminal organisation from a terroristgroup and vice versa.

Third, due to attractiveness ofproceeds of crime, terrorists switch tocriminal methods either partially or fully.Arms’ trafficking is lucrative; traffickingin narcotics is the most lucrative criminalenterprise; fake currency is a classiccriminal/terrorist tactic employed tosubvert economies of states in additionto financing terrorism as mentionedthough in comparison to weaponssmuggling as well as narcotics trafficking,it may be the least lucrative monetarily.

Fourth, terrorists use criminal routesto traffic arms, narcotics, and fakecurrency. Fake currency smugglers use

the same routes as those used by armstraffickers and narcotics traffickers. Infact, criminals and terrorists use thesame routes, thus very clearly anddistinctly showing how and why thecriminal-terrorism nexus is sowidespread and strong.

Fifth, there are certain factors thatfacilitate terrorism and its reliance onweapon, narcotics, and fake currencysmuggling. These include porous andpoorly policed borders; and lack ofgovernance in border regions whichmakes it easier to smuggle weapons,narcotics, fake currency, criminal,terrorists etc. alike through borderregions.

Sixth, the choices of revenue streamsfor terrorists depends on the corecompetencies of the criminal/terroristgroup in question as well as the expertiseof their criminal/terrorist partners inweapons trafficking, narcotics trafficking,and fake currency circulation. It alsodepends on the geographical locations oftheir criminal partners. A typical exampleis the reliance of the Taliban on the D-Company for drug trafficking out ofAfghanistan; the dependence of theFARC on IRA for weapons supply andtraining; and the support of the D-Company in helping Lashkar-e-Taibatransport fake Indian currency across theIndian borders with Pakistan, Nepal,Bangladesh, Myanmar etc.

Seventh, the need to launder funds onthe part of the terrorists is also animportant variable that factors into theterrorist financing-criminal nexuscalculus. Like criminals, terrorists have todisguise the sources of their criminalincome from the final destination thatsuch income is headed for, i.e. to finance

WEAPONS, NARCOTICS, AND FAKE CURRENCY

Dr Amit Kumar


TERRORISM


terrorist infrastructure and operations.This laundering exercise serves one all-important purpose - it makes it difficultto trace terrorist funds since these are co-mingled with the proceeds of crime. Theproceeds of weapons trafficking arehuge; the proceeds of narcoticstrafficking the largest in absoluteamounts; and the proceeds of fakecurrency trafficking are the least inabsolute amounts. This difference inmagnitude is also reflected in the totalamounts laundered by these criminalmethods and activities. Since launderingis a profitable income generating exercisein itself, criminal organisations thatpossess core competency in laundering,end up laundering funds for themselvesas well as for terrorist outfits. A notablecase in point is the Los Zetas drug cartelin Mexico laundering funds forHezbollah, itself a terrorist organisationas well as a global criminal syndicate.

Eighth, terrorist funds are launderedeventually through banks, and terroristorganisations typically rely on criminalsto launder funds. Proceeds of weaponstrafficking laundered through banks orused to buy drugs; laundering providesextra income to criminals;Proceeds ofnarcotic trafficking laundered throughbanks or used to buy weapons;laundering provides extra income tocriminals;Proceeds of weaponstrafficking and narcotic smuggling usedto manufacture and transport fakecurrency which is then launderedthrough banks; laundering provides extraincome to criminals.

Ninth, money laundering followsthree stages - Placement, Layering andIntegration. In terrorist financing, thefunds are channelised to financeterrorism after the Placement andLayering stages itself and Integration isnot required.

Tenth, since money laundering ismore widespread and in much greateramounts, it is easier to gain convictionsfor money laundering crimes. Theinvestigating authorities may thenscratch the surface, go back, and stumbleacross terrorist financing activity as apredicate activity to money laundering

activity. This investigatory strategy ishelpful since terrorist financing takesplace in much smaller amounts and ismore difficult to trace and detect on itsown.

Eleventh, terrorist groups can and dorely on the misuse of charities/offersocial services to fund their activities.Criminals engaged in the smuggling ofdrugs, weapons, and fake currencies relysolely on crime for financing theiroperations.

Twelfth, given the intersection ofterrorist financing and moneylaundering discussed in the precedingparagraphs, combating terroristfinancing and money laundering bothrequire sanctions, investigations andenforcement, regulation, and outreach tobanks and international partners andanti-money laundering/ countering thefinancing (AML/CFT) controls in banks.

Finally, of special relevance to Indiaand its neighbourhood, Lashkar-e-Taibais a terrorist organisation that relies on D-Company for financing and launderingactivity. D-Company is a criminalorganisation that relies on smuggling ofdrugs, weapons and fake currency.Members of D-Company have also beendesignated as terrorists; hence it also canbe counted as a terrorist organisation.

Dr Amit Kumar is Center of NationalPolicy’s Fellow for Homeland Security

and Counter-terrorism. His key areas ofexpertise include the financing,

organisation, and evolution oftransnational terrorist and criminal

networks, both global and South Asian,and development and implementationof international, multilateral, regional,bilateral, and national regulatory Anti-

Money Laundering/ Countering theFinancing of Terrorism (AML/ CFT) andcounterterrorism compliance measures

against such networks through AML/CFT capacity building, and through

appropriate legal, policy, andorganisational responses; international

inspection and oversight; organisationaltheory; public-private partnerships incritical infrastructure protection; andhomeland security. He is also Adjunct

Associate Professor in the SecurityStudies Program at the Edmund A WalshSchool of Foreign Service at Georgetown

University where he teaches theGraduate Course in Terrorist Financing.

He has also taught at the John JayCollege of Criminal Justice for several

years. Dr. Kumar has a number of yearsexperience working with the Al-Qaida

Taliban Sanctions regime at the UnitedNations.

This article has been published in thebook, “TERRORISM TODAY: Aspects,

Challenges and Responses” and isreproduced here with the permission of

India Foundation.


RADICALISATION

13

Let us not link radicalisation of Muslimsto a few young Muslims joining ISIS,though none joined al-Qaeda. After all,the Taliban who created a satanicsystem of mis-governance inAfghanistan were ordinary studentsand teachers of Deobandi and ahl-e-Hadeesi madrasas in Pakistan, whostudied the same text books as doMuslim students of madrasas in India.

So radicalisation is not somethingnew. No less than 18,000 and accordingto some estimates, 30,000 IndianMuslims left their homes, and, in somecases prized government jobs, and wentto Afghanistan in 1920, as theyconsidered British India Darul Harb,the land of infidels, and believed that itis not religiously correct to live in a landnot governed by Islamic Sharia. No lessan Alim (scholar) than Maulana AbulKalam Azad gave a fatwa, along withothers, saying that it is a Muslim’s dutyto leave the Darl Harb and migrate toDarul Islam.

Radicalisation or extremism in

thought doesn’t necessarily lead toterrorism. But these states of mindcertainly are stepping stones toviolence and terrorism. Undoubtedly,there are several factors at play in actsof violence. But for a Muslim,theological sanction is a must in goingfor jihad in the sense of qital, killing,warfare, and even one’s own death.Every Muslim knows that both killingan innocent or killing oneself arestrictly prohibited in Islam. So,persuading a Muslim to kill innocentcivilians on any account or commitsuicide in order to kill others should bea near impossible task. And yet an armyof suicide bombers emerge from withinthe Muslim society wherever requiredby motivated groups with the necessaryresources.

This should have been deeply,deeply worrying for the Muslimcommunity, as it is to the larger worldcommunity. Unfortunately, that doesn’tappear to be the case. Of course, there ishardly any recognised Musliminstitution anywhere in the worldwhich has not denounced terrorismand sought to delink it from Islam. Howcome then Muslims continue to beattracted to extremist violence. Almost30,000 Muslims from 100 countriestravelled to the so-called Islamic Statewithin a year. Now, from India too, thereare sporadic reports of Muslim youthgetting radicalised and some evengoing to what they must consider thepure land of Islam.

The answer to this lies in the natureof anti-terror fatwas themselves. Allthese fatwas quote Quranic verses fromthe early Meccan period but do notengage with the Medinan verses of war,

quoted by jihadi ideologues, orderingkilling of unbelievers and polytheists.Out of seventy war verses of this period,fifty-nine are of a purely defensivenature and only eleven can becategorised as of offensive or pre-emptive nature. There should be nodifficulty in our ulema (scholars ofIslam) telling us that such contextualverses do not apply to us anymore as weare no longer fighting those wars. Notone alim (scholar), however, is preparedto say that.

As a matter of fact, all madrasasteach books such as Tafsir-e-Jalalain,which say that the war-time versesordering killings of kuffar haveabrogated the earlier Meccan versesexhorting peace, pluralism, patience inthe face of persecution, etc. But ulemarunning the same madrasas keepquoting “abrogated” peaceful verses tomake the hypocritical statement thatIslam is a religion of peace.

Much worse is the case of Ahadees,the so-called sayings of the Prophet.Hadees was collected and written downdecades and centuries after the demiseof the Prophet. While the Muhaddesin(experts in Hadees) like Imam Bukhari,Muslim, etc studied and authenticatedthe chain of narrations, they did notstudy the content to see if theysupported or contradicted the holyQuran, the personality of the Prophet(pbuh) and the spirit of Islam.

For instance, the holy Quran says: “ifany one slew a person - unless it be (aspunishment) for murder or forspreading mischief in the land - itwould be as if he slew the wholemankind: and if any one saved a life, itwould be as if he saved the life of the

COUNTERING RADICALISATIONAND VIOLENT EXTREMISM

Sultan Shahin


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whole mankind. (Qur’an, 5:32)But the Prophet, who did everything

to avoid war and establish peace, issupposed to have said in a Hadeesconsidered authentic, "I have beenordered to fight against people untilthey testify that there is no god but Allahand that Muhammad is the messengerof Allah and until they perform theprayers and pay the zakat, and if they doso they will have gained protection fromme for their lives and property, …”

This is the same Prophet who hadbeen told in Quranic verses repeatedlythat God does not like aggressors (9:36)and (2:190) and to whom had beenrevealed the pluralistic Quranic versethat says “lakum denakum, waleyadeen,” for you your religion, for memine,” the Quran -109:5. Is it possiblefor such a prophet to say something likethe above? I believe not. But it becomespossible to think so, if you consider

peaceful, pluralistic verses of the HolyQuran abrogated.

Clearly our ulema will have to dobetter than merely quoting peacefulverses of Quran, which they themselvesconsider abrogated, if we are to saveIslam and the world from an impendingdisaster caused by rampant Islamsupremacism. There is a reason whysome of our educated, intelligent youthtrust terror ideologues more than theulema making peaceful noises. It’s notdifficult to see who is being hypocriticaland dishonest.

Indeed, Islamist terrorism is aproduct of a theology of violence and

supremacism, exclusivism andintolerance that has evolved overcenturies, starting right from thebeginning of Islamic history. Not onlyArab theologians like the originalKhwarij, Ibn-e-Taimiya, Mohammadibn-e-Abdul Wahhab and Syed Qutb,but also revered Indian scholars likeMujaddid Alf-e-Saani Sheikh AhmadSirhindi, Shah Waliulllah and MaulanaAbul Ala Maududi have given asupremacist vision of Islam based onthe Medinan verses of war and ahadeessupposedly from this period.

To go forward, we will need to start asubstantive dialogue with the ulemaand make sure that they agree to:

• Open the gates of ijtihad, creativelyrethinking all tenets of Islam in the lightof the situation prevailing today.

• Declare that only constitutive andessential, not the contextual andallegorical verses of Quran, are meant

to guide us today.• Compile Qur'anic verses in the

order in which they were revealed, thusrestoring primacy to Meccan verses ofpeace and pluralism that mostlyconstitute the essential and universalteachings of Quran.

• Declare that ahadees cannot beconsidered any form of revelation fromGod.

• Declare that Sharia is not divine. Itwas created over a century after thedemise of the Prophet and has changedsince from place to place.

• Declare clearly that Islam believesin co-existence with other religions, not

political dominion over the world.• Declare that Khilafat is not an

essential aspect of Islamic theology.• Gradually dismantle the institution

of full-time clergy. It has no basis inIslam’s foundational texts, neither inQuran nor in Hadith, nor in earlyMuslim practices.

• Re-define commonly used Islamicterms like Muslim, kafir, mushrik,munafiq, ahl-e-kitab, jihad, qital, farz,sunnat, etc, and concepts like Al-WalaWal-Bara (loving friends of God andhating and actively working againstenemies of God) and Amr Bil Maroof &Nahi Anil Munkar.

In a word, we must evolve a trulyIslamic and a coherent theology ofpeace and co-existence, moderationand modernity, to counter the verycoherent theology of violence andxenophobia, intolerance andsupremacism that ulema have createdover centuries.

Sultan Shahin is an alumnus ofPatna University and is the founder

and editor of the multi-lingual Islamicwebsite NewAgeIslam.com. His career

in journalism spans 40 years duringwhich time he has travelled extensively

in India and abroad and has acquiredexpertise in Islamic theology, politics,

and culture as well as an empiricalknowledge of the impact of religion

and ideology over radicalisation andradicalism. He has written edit-page

articles, opinion pieces, special reports,and columns for major Indian

publications such as the HindustanTimes, The Indian Express, The Timesof India, The Asian Age, etc. as well asfor international newspapers such as

the Asia Times Online, Hong Kong. Hiswebsite is aimed at engaging with the

Muslim communities across the world,to encourage open debate and to

rethink Islam by fighting xenophobia,religious intolerance and gender

inequality in Islamic societies. Its mainfocus is to combat jihadi radicalism at

an ideological level by promoting aprogressive interpretation of the

Islamic scriptures.

RADICALISATION


AS A MATTER OF FACT, ALL MADRASAS TEACH BOOKS SUCH ASTAFSIR-E-JALALAIN, WHICH SAY THAT THE WAR-TIME VERSESORDERING KILLINGS OF KUFFAR HAVE ABROGATED THE EARLIERMECCAN VERSES EXHORTING PEACE, PLURALISM, PATIENCE IN THEFACE OF PERSECUTION, ETC. BUT ULEMA RUNNING THE SAMEMADRASAS KEEP QUOTING “ABROGATED” PEACEFUL VERSES TOMAKE THE HYPOCRITICAL STATEMENT THAT ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE.

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An essentialattribute ofsecurity is itsdynamic nature.Every threat hasr e s p o n s eoptions whichthe societall e a d e r s h i pdecides to

adopt. In the event the response isappropriate the threat is neutralised; orelse the threat overcomes the resistanceand the slaveries, the colonies, thedependencies, the cruelties and so onfollow. With the advancements intechnology and science of warfare,indeed Revolution in Military Affairs,RMA for short, the threat and responsesto National Security have been moredynamic than before and in the moderntimes, the threats and the responsesthereto are hugely different andupgraded. National Security today has tofactor in all these issues.

Before embarking on expedition toresearch India’s security issues, it isessential to correctly identify theimplications of national security. Definedby Wikipedia, Security is the degree ofresistance to, or protection from, harm. Itapplies to any vulnerable and valuableasset, such as a person, dwelling,community, item, nation, ororganisation. Security provides "a formof protection where a separation iscreated between the assets and thethreat."

National security enjoins upon agovernment to protect the ‘state’ and itscitizens against all kind of national crisesthrough a variety of power projections,such as political power, diplomacy,economic power, military might, and soon. It encompasses a broad range offacets, all of which impinge on the non-military or economic security of the

nation and the values espoused by thenational society. Accordingly, in order topossess national security, a nation needsto possess economic security, energysecurity, environmental security, etc.Security threats involve not onlyconventional foes such as other nation-states but also non-state actors such asviolent non-state actors, narcotic cartels,multinational corporations and non-governmental organisations.

Macmillan Dictionary defines securityas "the protection or the safety of acountry’s secrets and its citizens"emphasising the overall security of anation and a nation state. Nationalsecurity objectively means the absenceof threats to acquired values andsubjectively, the absence of fear that suchvalues will be attacked. The 1996definition propagated by the NationalDefence College of India accretes theelements of national power: "Nationalsecurity is an appropriate and aggressiveblend of political resilience and maturity,human resources, economic structureand capacity, technological competence,industrial base and availability of naturalresources and finally the military might.”

In India’s case, the first and logical stepwould be to identify threats to NationalSecurity after Independence.Immediately after Independence, J&Kwas assailed by Pakistan. The peoples ofBritish India which included the peoplefrom Pakistan battled for Independence.Yet, just a year after IndependencePakistan waged a war against India inorder to annex Kashmir. The attempt waspartially foiled when the Indian Armyreached the Valley and pushed back theinvaders. This proclivity for war hascontinued with Pakistan and apart fromtwo regular all-out wars in 1965 and 1971,there was engagements in Kargil in 1999and engagements continue till date, thelast significant one being the surgical

strikes on 29 September 2016 when theIndian Special Forces caused immensedamage and destruction to the terroristcamps in POK. The Pakistan Army, stungby creation of Bangladesh, continues toviolate the ceasefire agreement of 2003.After the surgical strikes by India, theirArmy personnel in greater numbers areseen in their BOPs. Threat to India fromPakistan across the InternationalBoundary has been and continues to be amatter of great concern.

Pakistan, severely miffed by creationof Bangladesh, realised that defeating theIndian Armed Forces is not their cup oftea. So, they came up with OP TOPACdetails of which were provided byPresident Zia in April 1988. Aim of thisoperation was “liberation” of Kashmirwithout getting the Pakistan Armydirectly involved and had experience offuelling an insurgency in Afghanistan.Pakistan ISI was well trained andequipped for such a task. Astonishingly,the countries that provide economicsupport to Pakistan chose to ignore andcondone the dirty, illegal, unfair andimmoral handiwork of Pakistan inproviding active moral and materialsupport to the so called non-state actorswho have and continue to take suchsteps that would vitiate the atmospherein the Kashmir Valley and compel Indiato deploy a vast proportion of its Armynot only for managing the Line ofControl, the LC, but also the hinterland inthe Kashmir Valley and the hilly regionsof Jammu. This proxy war commenced in1990 and continues. This is the mostsinister threat to India’s security.

External threat from China is equallysignificant. Circa 1950 insurgencymovement started in Nagaland. Theinsurgents caught revealed that they hadsome Chinese connection and hadsanctuaries in the neighbouringMyanmar. The weapons that they carried

INDIA’s NATIONAL SECURITYLt Gen Anand M Verma, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM


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OPINION

were mostly of Chinese origin. Inevitably,the Indian Army was deployed and thesituation is yet to be fully controlledthough a ceasefire is in place. There havebeen insurgencies in Mizoram, Manipurand two districts of Arunachal. Chinesematerial support to the insurgents is notruled out. More on these insurgencieslater.

Indo-Chinese relations, soon afterIndependence, were warm and friendlybut deteriorated soon thereafter. Twoevents merit mention. The Chineseannexed Tibet and they invaded India. 20October 1962 was the ill-fated day whenthe Chinese Army launched theiroffensive in Ladakh and what was thencalled NEFA. After making significantprogress on both fronts, the Chinesewithdrew to their side of Line of ActualControl or the LAC, a situation thatcontinues till today. It was a wake- up callfor the Indian Army which began raisingsand training in real earnest to deal with asituation arising on the LAC. In 1967there was a brief engagement after whichno exchange of fire has taken placethough the Chinese troops do come intothe Indian side of the LAC every now andagain claiming Arunachal Pradesh andsome parts of Ladakh to be their territory.This threat to our security is likely tocontinue. One may add that according toone view the threat from China is on ahigher pedestal that threat from Pakistan.

Is China likely to have a rethink? Veryunlikely. The Chinese had offered to Indiain the 1960s, a proposal which wasentirely unacceptable to India to theextent that a resolution was passed in ourParliament rejecting it which envisagedgiving up Chinese claims in the East forretaining areas in Ladakh. The reason forthe Chinese to retain areas in Ladakh isquite simple to understand. The Chinesehave invested hugely in Pakistan. TheKarakoram Highway and the latest ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor, CEPCprovide an easy access to China to theblue waters through Gwadar where aport has been developed by the Chinese.This corridor is considered to be anextension of China's ambitious One Belt,One Road initiative which will eventually

link the city of Gwadar in southwesternPakistan to China's northwesternautonomous region of Xinjiang via a vastnetwork of highways and railways. Theprojects will be financed byconcessionary loans from China. ForPakistan, these projects generate severalthousand jobs. Therefore, retention ofareas in Ladakh is vital for the security ofthis corridor and the Chinese rethink onthis issue is a no-no. Threat to India’ssecurity will continue to be a matter ofgreat concern.

Another area of conflict between Indiaand Pakistan is the economic well being.India lags behind China economically, astate of affairs which is likely to continuein the foreseeable future. China’seconomic interests might get somewhathurt if India were to disengage from theChinese producers of daily use anditems. Though such a move by India mayonly marginally hurt Chinaeconomically, it is likely to furtherenhance bitterness in our relations. Italso needs to be mentioned that Chinahas vociferously opposed India’sinduction into the Nuclear SupplierGroup and has also not supported themove to declare a known terrorist basedin Pakistan as UN declared terrorist. In anutshell, the core threats to India fromChina are external aggression, support toPakistan and economic interests.

Internal stability is an important assetof a secure environment. Threats tointernal stability may be in the form ofseparatist tendencies by a section of thepopulation, black or parallel economy,political instability to name just a few.This discourse shall address only the firsttwo i,e, separatist tendencies and paralleleconomy.

Soon after Independence the firstvoices of disagreement with theGovernment of India were heard inNagaland. The Government respondedappropriately and soon enough theArmy was deployed. The insurgentswere and are getting support fromoutside for their demands whichinclude Nagalim, comprising areas ofNagaland and a few neighbouringStates. The state government is fairly

stable. The struggle, however, continuesthough the two main rebel factions arein a state of ceasefire and a ceasefiremonitoring mechanism is in place. TheKhaplang group of NSCN is headed by aperson who is not an Indian and hassanctuaries in Myanmar. The leader ofthe other group, NSCN(IM) belongs to avillage in Manipur, a fact which hascaused fissures between the two states.The rebels run a parallel economy too.Though secure politically, the internalsecurity environment in Nagaland is notwholly under control.

Manipur is a different story. The Meitisor the plainsmen, who are Hindus, areunhappy with the state of affairs in thestate and have been demandingfreedom. There are Nagas too in Manipurwho have a different mindset and are notentirely aligned with the Meitis. In therecent past there were two instanceswhen the roads leading to Manipurthrough Nagaland were blocked causingimmense hardships to the people ofManipur. A small part of the State aroundKohima is free of Armed Forces SpecialPowers Act (AFSPA) for several years nowand the incidents of violence in this areahas been the highest every year as theArmy cannot operate. Politically secure,the internal security environment isvolatile. Mizoram was very unstablethrough the 1960s and early 1970s. Thesituation was brought under control andthe leader of the Mizo National Front,who was exiled in England, wasappointed the Chief Minister in 1986.Mizoram is a peaceful state now.

Assam is a land of autonomousdistricts. Politically secure anddeveloping rapidly, ULFA continues to bea force having significant support,particularly in Upper Assam. The topleadership of ULFA is absconding insome foreign country and will eventuallybe neutralised or perish. There areseveral other groups with varieddemands. The Bodos have been givenfour districts as Bodo Tribal Council anddevelopment has ensued, though theycontinue to be far from fully satisfied.There are groups in the hills in UpperAssam, Rajvanshis in lower Assam and a


OPINION


few more which have some support andneed to be dealt with appropriately.

Punjab was in a state of turmoilthrough the 1980s. However, thesituation has been brought effectivelyunder control. Names of some leaders ofthe rebel organisations do come up oncein awhile, but the people of Punjab arenot likely to allow, in the foreseeablefuture, such movements to grow.

Left Wing Extremism or Maoistinsurgency in the hinterland is anotherenormous problem for the country. Themovement is led by people who are wellinformed and there is discipline in therank and file. They have unitarycommand structure and have causedimmense casualties to the armed policeforces that combat them and in turn havesuffered heavy casualties too. There is novisible foreign element. LWE continues tobe a serious threat and needs to be dealtwith suitably.

Parallel economy or the black moneyis and has been a very serious problem.Several measures have been initiated bythe Government, the latest beingdemonetisation of Rs 500/- and Rs1000/- currency notes beginning 9November 16. No clear estimate isavailable of the quantum of blackmoney within and outside the country,but the established facts are that thepolitical activities and arming andsupporting the terrorists is carried outalmost wholly through black money.Demonetisation with effect from 09November is positively a brilliant movewhich has delivered a death blow to theproducers of fake currencies within thecountry and foreigners as also to theperpetuators of havala transactions.Stone pelting has disappeared aspayments cannot be made to them.Material support to the terrorists maydisplay a negative trend as alsocorruption and amounts collectedthrough corrupt practices may furthercome down drastically, at least in theimmediate future as major part of illcollected amount is unusable. Threatfrom this source is likely to reduce,though the scourge of corruption willcontinue to plague India.

What has the country done to meetthese threats? There are agencies andorganisations who wholeheartedly worktowards identifying optimal responsemeasures. Against external aggressionthe Armed Forces, think tanks and suchlike organisations have carried out threatassessments and conveyed the same tothe government. Serious gaps howeverexist in the capabilities of the forces,which need to be made up at the earliest.The decision making system in thecountry however precludes rapidconclusions with regard to weapons andequipment acquisitions leaving largegaps. Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation(DRDO), hasmade some very useful contributions tothe Armed Forces. But given ourscientific expertise, the DRDO by now,should have made the country largelyself sufficient in terms of weapons,ammunition and equipment withouthaving to look for resources from othercountries. The rifle produced in thecountry has not been found up to themark, Arjun tanks lack portability, NAGmissiles are yet to be operational, Tejas isyet to make its presence felt, nosignificant addition to Navy, missiles areimported, ammunition for vital weaponsystems are imported, the ammunitionproduced indigenously leaves much tobe desired, and so on. The list is long.Government needs to streamline thedecision making apparatus with regardto acquisition of weapons andequipment and the DRDO needs to bemade more efficient and heldaccountable if they do not produce thedesired equipment in time and of thedesired quality. We may outsourceproduction of defence weapons etc toprivate sources within the country.

Internal stability requires a statesmanapproach. The State leadership isgoverned by the dictates of the electoralpolitics. Two neighbouring states havingsimilar problems, as is the case in CentralIndia, may have differences in theiroutlook towards the issues related to therebellion. The Central leadership needsto address the issues holistically takinginto account the overall good of most of

the country and ensure its compliance byall. We seem to be concentrating ontreating the symptoms and not thedisease.

The Armed Forces will never allow thecountry to look down but theGovernment needs to adequately armand equip the Armed Forces to deal withexternal aggression threats.Diplomatically, the immediateneighbourhood and those countrieswhose opinions matter need to besystematically taken on board to see ourpoint of view. The Indian diaspora mustbe made to feel they are part of thecountry to which they need to contributemorally and, if the need arises, materially.Politically, the country must be totallystable with all democratic organisationsfully alive and functional. The differencesbetween states need to be tackledthrough dialogue. Internal stability is afundamental requirement lest we end upspending vast amounts on this issue. Theparallel economy must be put downruthlessly. Period! Nothing more needs tobe said about black money and paralleleconomy. The countrymen need to putaside all thoughts of personal glory thatadditional money would provide. Thereare many issues that may be mentioned.Two important issues are cleanliness anddiscipline. No elaboration is needed.

As a Nation we, the proud Indians,need to rise above our minor differencesand make our country one of theforemost countries in the world with aclean environment, corruption freedemocratic system and a country wherepeople respect law and work for thecountry and the humanity.

We can do it. Let us do it.

Lt Gen Anand Mohan Verma wascommissioned in the Rajput Regiment

on 31 March 1972. An alumnus of theNational Defence College, New Delhi,

College of Defence Management,Secunderabad and the Defence Services

Staff College, Wellington, he held manychallenging appointments while in

Service, finally retiring from service asthe Director General of Military

Operations.



Pakistan’s sponsorship of terroristgroups to achieve its foreign policyobjectives can be linked to three eventsthat shaped and continue to shape thesecurity discourse in the region. Thesewere the Cold War that raged betweenthe Soviet Union and the West after theend of World War II, the India Pakistanwars of 1965 and 1971 and therevolution in military affairs that tookplace due to advances incommunication technology andweapon delivery systems.

The Cold War placed Pakistan in anadvantageous position where it couldexploit its geographical location toextract economic and military aid fromthe West. The middle of the previouscentury was a time when the Cold War

was at its peak and rivalry between theUnited States and the Soviet Union wasat an all time high. Pakistan astutelysided with the West, joining the SouthEast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO)in 1954. The purpose of theorganisation was to preventcommunism from gaining ground inthe region. Although Pakistan was not apart of Southeast Asia, the appeal injoining the pact lay in the potential toreceive economic and militaryassistance from the western powers,ostensibly to fight communism, butcovertly to be used in its struggleagainst India. A year later, Pakistanjoined the Central Treaty Organisation(CENTO), originally known as theBaghdad Pact, along with Iran, Iraq,Turkey and the United Kingdom. USpressure and promises of military andeconomic aid were the key ingredientswhich helped forge the alliance. TheUnited States too, joined the militarycommittee of the alliance in 1958.Pakistan was acutely conscious of itsimportance as a frontline state insupport of US efforts to containcommunism. It played its cards withpanache and finesse, and in theprocess, bolstered its economic andmilitary capability.

During this time, India washampered by a slow growth rate, afallout of Nehruvian socialism. Internaldisturbances also plagued the country,which further debilitated the economy.

The debacle suffered at the hands of theChinese in 1962 had left deep scars onthe national psyche and consequently,India in the early sixties, was arguably atits lowest ebb, economically andmilitarily. India’s perceived weaknesswas seen by Pakistan as an opportunityto wrest Kashmir from India by force.However, as India was slowly butsteadily augmenting her militarycapability, post the 1962 debacle, policymakers within Pakistan veered to theview that this window of opportunitywas limited in time. Pakistan hadalready missed an ideal moment tocapture Kashmir in October 1962,during the Sino Indian conflict. It wasnow focussed on keeping the Kashmirissue on centre stage in theinternational arena, and using all themeans at its disposal to grab the state byforce.

Though Pakistan had modern tanksand aircraft that were technologicallysuperior to anything that Indiapossessed, It was still hesitant to takeon India in a full scale war. Pakistaniplanning therefore focused on keepinghostilities limited to the state of Jammuand Kashmir and towards that end, itplanned to create an armed uprising inthe state to tie down Indian troops. Thisoperation, code named ‘OperationGibraltar’, envisaged the infiltration ofthousands of regular and irregulartroops dressed as Kashmiri guerrillasinto Jammu and Kashmir, who would

SHAPING OF INDIA’SSECURITY DISCOURSE:

The Impact of Regional ConflictsMaj Gen Dhruv C Katoch, SM, VSM

TERRORISM

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mingle with the local population. It wasenvisaged that the local populationwould rise against the Indian state andparalyse the state administration. ThePakistan Army would then launch anoperation to capture Akhnur andthreaten Jammu, thus severing the onlyland link to the Kashmir Valley. Thisoperation, code named ‘Grand Slam’was designed to deliver the coup degrace by exploiting the successachieved by Gibraltar. Kashmir would,like a ripe plum, then fall into the handsof Pakistan.

Gibraltar failed because the localpopulation did not rise up against thestate. The infiltrators were either killedor taken prisoner by the Indian Armyand the few that survived made theirway back to Pakistan. Grand Slam verynearly succeeded in its aim of capturingAkhnur, with the attacking force being

stopped just a few kilometres short ofits objective. Here, Pakistan made agrave strategic miscalculation. It lackedthe capability to win an all out war andits offensive towards Akhnur waspredicated on the assessment that Indiawould not enlarge the conflict acrossthe International Boundary. That hopegot belied when India launchedoperations all across the Western Sectorto relive pressure on Akhnur, forcingPakistan to pull back most of its armourdeployed there for the offensive. Whenthe ceasefire was declared, Pakistan hadlost more in territory than India and itswar machine was crippled. But moreimportantly, the realisation dawned onPakistan that it could no longer hope totake Kashmir by force. The 1971 IndiaPakistan war put the final nail on thatbelief. If Kashmir had to be retaken byPakistan, then the means to do so

would have to be other thanconventional conflict.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistanput Pakistan back into centre stage. As afrontline state in the war against Sovietoccupation, it once again receivedmassive aid from the West. TheMujahideen was formed in Afghanistanto resist Soviet occupation and itreceived arms, equipment, training andfunding from several countries, mostnotably the United States, Pakistan andSaudi Arabia. After a decade of war, theSoviets were driven out of Afghanistanin February 1989. The decade of war inAfghanistan was also the time whenPakistan was ruled by a militarydictator, Gen. Muhammad Zia ul Haq.Zia assumed power in September 1978and remained in office till his death in aplane crash in August 1988. It was Ziawho postulated the policy of bleeding


TERRORISM



TERRORISM

India with a thousand cuts, as a meansof wresting Kashmir. After the Sovietwithdrawal form Afghanistan, Pakistanthrough its Inter Services Intelligence(ISI), started promoting terror in India,primarily in J&K, but also in other partsof the country. The lesson learned fromMujahideen operations by the ISI werethat if a super power could be defeatedby giving support to local guerrillas,then a similar methodology could beapplied in Kashmir to force the hand ofthe Indian government. After thewithdrawal of Soviet forces fromAfghanistan, many fighters wereavailable for employment elsewhereand some of them accordingly foundtheir way to Kashmir. In addition,

Pakistan had set up training campswithin its territory to train anti Indiaterror groups. These training camps stillcontinue to train, equip and arm suchgroups for terrorist and subversiveactivities against India. By 1991, theSoviet Union had collapsed and theWest had lost interest in the region.Pakistan’s promotion of terroristorganisations for use against India wasthus largely ignored by the majorpowers as they were not affected by thescourge and India was left to fight themenace on its own.

The attacks by al Qaeda on theUnited States on 11 September 2011,once again brought Afghanistan on tocentre stage as the al Qaeda was based

in Afghanistan under the patronage ofthe Afghan Taliban government.Pakistan did a volte face and astutelysided with the US in its war againstterror. The Afghan Taliban wasoverthrown in a swift campaignlaunched by US led coalition forces, butthe foot soldiers of the Taliban escapedto the mountainous region to the Northand West of the country and itsleadership took refuge inside Pakistanin the rugged border areas inBaluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa andFATA. From their bases in theirmountain hideouts, they continue tobattle the security forces of Afghanistanand the US led NATO forces supportingthe elected Afghan government. US



TERRORISM

dependence on Pakistan for its supplylines to support the Afghan regime haveforced it to take a muted stand onPakistan’s support to Afghan terroristgroups such as the Haqqani networkand the Quetta Shura which are basedin Pakistan and receive support fromthe Pakistani establishment.

Pakistan’s support to terrorist groupsto further its foreign policy objectiveshave had a negative fallout for Pakistanitself, as it is now embroiled in waging abitter war with the Tehrik-i-TalibanPakistan (TTP) a loose coalition ofmilitant groups based in FATA along thePakistan Afghan border. That howeverhas not impacted on Pakistan’s policy ofproviding support to those terroristgroups which it views as its strategicassets. Pakistan hence will continue touse terrorist groups such as theLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), HizbulMujahideen (HM) and others to strikeat India. The dramatic improvement ininformation technology as part of the

RMA has also enable Pakistani handlersto remotely control the actions of suchgroups when tasked to operate in Indiaand also provide them with intelligence,communication and logistic support.Zia’s concept of a war with a thousandcuts is hence a strategy with thePakistani establishment will be loatheto discard, considering that it is a cheapoption to keep the pot always boiling inIndia, more so in Jammu and Kashmir.

It can thus be seen that the Indo-Pakwars of 1965 and 1971 and thegeopolitical environment of the latterhalf of the previous century havecontributed to the shaping of thecurrent security environment in thecountry. Asymmetric warfare as aconcept has come to stay and remains auseful tool for the weaker nations to

resist stronger powers. Such conflictsare playing out in West Asia,Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar and tosome extent in certain parts of India.The question that naturally comes tomind is, what next?

Pakistan is unlikely to give up itspolicy of bleeding India with athousand cuts. The asymmetric war ithas been waging against India over thelast nearly three decades has beenexecuted with minimal cost to Pakistan,but India has been forced to pay a heavyprice to defend its territory. India’spolicy options against Pakistan have forlong remained defensive, with focusbeing on attack prevention, but littlewas done to punish Pakistan for itsintransigence. This defensive mindset isslowly yielding to a more proactivepolicy wherein Pakistan is being heldaccountable for its support to terroristgroups. This is becoming increasinglyvisible on the political, diplomatic andmilitary front. Political and diplomatic

initiatives to isolate Pakistan were mostvisible in the recent Heart of Asiaconference held in Amritsar in earlyDecember 2016, in which 40 countriesparticipated. This will remain anongoing process, seeking to make thePakistani establishment accountablefor its continuous support to terroristgroups. This is a welcome changebrought on by the present governmentand should yield results over a period oftime.

Militarily, the policy too hasundergone a sea change. The responseto the Uri attack was a surgical strikeacross the border which disconcertedPakistan a great deal. A new normal hasnow been set into the equation ofdealing with acts of terror in Indian soil.The Indian Army’s attack on militant

hideouts in Myanmar in 2015 haddrawn the possibility of such attacksbeing carried out against Pakistaniterror networks too. At that timePakistan had boasted that it was noMyanmar and that any attack on its soilby Indian forces would not be tolerated.Pakistan also indulged in nuclearbluster, warning India that it was anuclear power and would not hesitateto use any power at its disposal tothwart Indian designs. The Pakistanbluff was called within ten days of theUri attack, when the Indian Armylaunched a series of surgical strikesacross the LC, on a wide front. Pakistanwas now faced with an unenviableoption. It could respond through theuse of military force on select Indiantargets or could play the nuclear card.Failure to do nothing would drawderision from its public. Lackingcapability to use its military, and notwanting to be seen as weak, Pakistanchose to deny that an attack had takenplace at multiple points on its soil,wherein a large number of terroriststhat were trained by Pakistan and werebeing prepared to be infiltrated intoIndia were killed. The Pakistani Armytoo suffered some casualties in theIndian response. This served as a faceserver, for if no attack had taken place,then obviously there was no need for aresponse!

The overall security situation in theregion remains grim with no end insight to the conflict in Afghanistan, orthe multiple conflicts that are takingplace in West Asia. A more assertivepolicy is now being executed by India toisolate Pakistan on the political anddiplomatic front and impose heavymilitary and economic costs to it for itssupport to terror groups. The warhowever will be long drawn out andIndia needs to walk the course it haschosen. The Indian public too mustrealise that it is not the Indian Army butthe Indian nation which is at war withPakistan. A collective effort is requiredto make Pakistan mend its ways andchange the direction of its foreignpolicy, if peace is to return to the region.

PAKISTAN’S SUPPORT TO TERRORIST GROUPS TO FURTHER ITS FOREIGNPOLICY OBJECTIVES HAVE HAD A NEGATIVE FALLOUT FOR PAKISTANITSELF, AS IT IS NOW EMBROILED IN WAGING A BITTER WAR WITH THETEHRIK-I-TALIBAN PAKISTAN (TTP) A LOOSE COALITION OF MILITANTGROUPS BASED IN FATA ALONG THE PAKISTAN AFGHAN BORDER



While speaking at the launch of TheNew Arthashastra: A Security Strategyfor India (HarperCollins India, 2016),the book I have edited on India’snational security strategy, DefenceMinister Manohar Parrikar said thatthere should be an element ofunpredictability in the country’smilitary strategy.

Thinking aloud while answering aquestion, he wondered whether India’snuclear doctrine should be constrainedby a “no first use” posture. Hementioned the advantages ofunpredictability and said, “If a writtenstrategy exists, you are giving away yourstrength. Why should India bind itself(to no first use)? India is a responsiblenuclear power and (it should suffice tosay that) we will not use nuclearweapons irresponsibly.”

The essence of the defence minister’sintrospection was that ambiguityenhances deterrence. This view hasbeen expressed by several nuclearstrategists. However, he emphasisedseveral times that there was no changein India’s nuclear doctrine and that hewas expressing a personal view. While

he has been criticised, there can be nodoubt that fresh thinking is invaluableto the discourse on the subject.

There is no justification for the beliefheld by some that the nuclear doctrineshould be debated only in governmentcircles and not in public. BernardBrodie, Herman Kahn, Henry Kissinger,Thomas Schelling et al and, nearerhome, K. Subrahmanyam, Jasjit Singhand several others have made sterlingcontributions to advancing thought onnuclear deterrence.

With a pacifist strategic culturesteeped in Gandhian non-violence,India is a reluctant nuclear power. Indiabelieves that nuclear weapons arepolitical weapons, not weapons ofwarfighting; their sole purpose is todeter the use and threat of use ofnuclear weapons. India’s nucleardoctrine is built around “credibleminimum deterrence” and professes a“no first use” posture.

As a corollary, India is willing toabsorb the damage that a nuclear firststrike may cause and has declared itsintention to launch massive retaliationto cause unacceptable damage inreturn. Consequently, India follows apolicy of deterrence by punishmentthrough a counter value targetingstrategy aimed at the destruction of theadversary’s major cities and industrialcentres.

A doctrine is a set of beliefs andprinciples that guide the actions ofmilitary forces in support of a nation’sobjectives. According to C. VonClausewitz in On War: “Doctrine is aguide to anyone who wants to learnabout war from books: It will light theirway, ease their progress, train theirjudgement and help them to avoidpitfalls. Doctrine is meant to educatethe minds of future commanders… notto accompany them to the battlefields.”

Nuclear doctrines are not written in

DON’T NUKE THE DEBATEGurmeet Kanwal

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stone and are never absolutely rigid.They are not binding internationaltreaties that must be adhered to in letterand spirit. The purpose of doctrine ispartly declaratory — that is, to enhancedeterrence by making public one’sintentions; partly to provide the basisfor organising a country’s nuclear forcestructure, including the command andcontrol system; and, partly to reassureone’s own people and, whereapplicable, one’s allies. If deterrencebreaks down, publicly declareddoctrine becomes irrelevant and goesout of the window. During a crisisinvolving nuclear exchanges, theessence of national military strategywould lie in preventing escalation andminimising civilian and militarycasualties and material damage whileensuring the survival of the state.

The Political Council of the NuclearCommand Authority (NCA) will decidehow to retaliate based on the advicegiven by the Executive Council, ofwhich the army, navy and air forcechiefs are members. The method andmode of the retaliation will take intoaccount the prevailing operational-strategic situation and the likelyresponses of the adversary, especially

the probability of further nuclearexchanges.

The assessment will also include thereactions of the internationalcommunity — the threats held out, theappeals made and the course of thediscussions held in the United NationsSecurity Council. Almost 14 years havepassed since India’s nuclear doctrinewas approved by the CabinetCommittee on Security (CCS) afterreviewing the progress in theoperationalisation of nucleardeterrence. The doctrine wasenunciated in the Government of Indiastatement issued on January 4, 2003.Since then, many new developmentshave taken place, including thedevelopment of “full spectrumdeterrence” by Pakistan. Hence, areview of the nuclear doctrine is longoverdue. In fact, a review should becarried out every five years. In itsmanifesto for the general elections ofMay 2014, the BJP had promised such areview, but no move appears to havebeen made in this direction so far.

Credible minimum deterrence andthe posture of no-first-use have stoodthe test of time. There is no conceivableoperational contingency that justifies a

first strike, because it isguaranteed to result in thedestruction of several great citieswhen the adversary retaliateswith the nuclear forces that it willstill have left in its kitty afterabsorbing India’s first strike.

India’s declared strategy is thatof massive retaliation. Ideally, theretaliatory strategy should havebeen “punitive retaliation, toinflict unacceptable damage”, asenvisaged in the Draft NuclearDoctrine of August 17, 1999,prepared by the first NationalSecurity Advisory Board headedby K. Subrahmanyam. This wouldhave permitted flexible responsethat offers a range of options.

However, massive retaliationis a viable deterrence strategythat has served India well; anychange now would not be

beneficial. It would even deter Pakistaniplans to use tactical nuclear warheads(TNWs) against Indian forces onPakistani soil as they cannot possiblyrisk massive retaliation that wouldresult in the destruction of all majorcities and lead to the end of Pakistan asa cohesive nation state.

However, the credibility of massiveretaliation needs to be enhancedthrough a carefully formulatedsignalling plan. Signalling should bebased on an elaborate plan designed toshowcase the preparedness of India’snuclear forces and the firmness of itspolitical will.

Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal isDistinguished Fellow, Institute for

Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA),New Delhi and Adjunct Fellow, Centrefor Strategic and International Studies(CSIS), Washington, D.C. He is former

Director, Centre for Land WarfareStudies (CLAWS), New Delhi. His books

include Nuclear Defence: Shaping theArsenal; and, Indian Army: Vision 2020.

This article was first published in theIndian Express, November 16, 2016 andis reproduced here with the permission

of the author.


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The ‘no first use’ (NFU) attribute ofIndia’s nuclear doctrine is back indebate. Indeed, this is one feature of thedoctrine that evokes high emotions. Ithas been the subject of much angst,especially in some quarters of themilitary. Bred on the dictum of retaininginitiative with self, the apparent loss ofinitiative with NFU obviously does notappeal to the military mind. Thestrategy of not using nuclear weaponsfirst is criticised for ‘leaving India open’to a nuclear strike. And this, in turn, isinterpreted as a projection of a weakand passive India – the fabled Gandhiland that can only be reactive, notproactive. In April 2014 even the IndianPM described the NFU as a “reflection ofour cultural inheritance.”

This, however, is an incompleteunderstanding of the NFU strategy.India’s choice of eschewing first use ofnuclear weapons arises not just from itsdistinct strategic culture (whichcertainly does not consider use of forceas an instrument of preference), but alsofrom the military and political logic ofthe futility of first use of nuclearweapons when the adversary has a

secure second strike capability(hardened, concealed, dispersed,mobile nuclear assets). In such asituation (which is India’s reality),instead of coming out of conflict lookingbetter after first use, the country wouldactually be far worse off, having broughtnuclear retaliation upon itself. None inIndia should have the illusion that thecountry’s first strike could remove allretaliatory capability of the adversary.Would the Indian first use then havebeen a wise step? Would it actually haveprotected the country?

While the answer is clearly in thenegative, yet there is a seemingly naturalinclination towards first use. Thisappears to arise not from a deepanalysis of situations but from a sense ofpent up frustration at not being able tostem Pakistan’s continued provocations.Rawalpindi’s ability to persist with itspolicy of bleeding India by projectingnuclear first use has come to be inferredin India as a better deterrence strategy.But is that really true? India’s decision torespond to Pakistan through meansother than military is a result of manyconsiderations. Amongst these,Pakistan’s threat of using nuclearweapons first is certainly not aconstraining factor. In fact, a bit ofscraping under the surface reveals thatPakistan’s first use strategy is notcredible for many reasons.

Firstly, it suffers from hugelimitations – both logistically andpolitically – of executing a militarilyuseful nuclear offence. Even to have amodicum of a chance of escapingretaliation, Pakistan is required to buildan arsenal large enough to fight a war ofnuclear attrition and prevail. The

arsenal must consist of first strikeweapons (such as accurate missiles,preferably with multiple independentlyre-targetable vehicles), nuclearsuperiority to carry out multiplecounter-force attacks, elaborate anddelegated command and controlstructures to coordinate simultaneousnuclear attacks from and over dispersedforces, high order intelligence system sothat the storage sites and movements ofthe nuclear assets is regularly monitoredand clearly known, and effective activeand passive defences to shield thecountry from leftover retaliatory strikesfrom the adversary. None of this isavailable with Pakistan. Nor is it easy orcheap to build or acquire. So, despiteprojection of first use, by actually doingso, Pakistan could only end up bringingnuclear ruin upon itself. India wouldsuffer the same fate if it were to adopt anuclear first use strategy withoutbuilding the necessary arsenalrequisites. Compared to the demandingrequirements of a credible first usestrategy, an NFU must only concentrateon building a survivable arsenal that caninflict damage that would beunacceptable to the adversary. Theserequirements are not easy orinexpensive either, but they do afford amore relaxed posture.

Secondly, the NFU frees the politicalleadership of the psychological strain ofmaking the difficult choice of being thefirst to use a nuclear weapon. Given thelong standing norm of nuclear non-usethat is today in place, the decision to usethe nuclear weapons first cannot beeasy. Rather, it is made even moredifficult by the knowledge that evenafter inflicting horrific damage on the

THE WISDOM OF NFU ININDIA’S NUCLEAR DOCTRINE

Dr Manpreet Sethi

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adversary, one would not haveprotected ownself from similar horrorseither. In face of such logic, the NFUappears far more sensible and credible.While a country would find it verydifficult to use the weapon first, thedecision of retaliation would be fareasier, seemingly legitimate, and moreguilt free to make. Therefore, by offeringto concede the onus of escalation to theadversary, an NFU actually becomesmore liberating.

A third advantage of the NFU whichis often misunderstood is that italleviates the adversary’s insecurity bygiving him the assurance of not beingsubjected to first to use nuclearweapons. Supporters of ambiguity as ameans of enhancing nuclear deterrencedecry providing such an assurance.They miss out, however, that such areassurance is beneficial to one’s ownself. If the adversary is not underconstant fear of a nuclear strike, his owntemptation to use his nuclear forcewould be lesser too. NFU helps tomitigate the ‘use or lose’ pressure andthereby lessens crisis instability. Byplacing the onus of escalation on theadversary, while retaining the initiativeof punitive nuclear retaliation, NFUsteers away from nuclear brinkmanship.It actually encourages the possibility of‘no use’ instead of ‘sure use’.

Those who still persist in believingthat first use is a better deterrentstrategy argue that this works well in twocircumstances. One of these is identifiedas a situation where the country facesthe prospect of large scale conventionalattrition and defeat. It would then be leftwith no option but to use nuclearweapons. After all, what is the sense inkeeping this weapon and letting thecountry face the prospect of defeat inform of loss of territory or occupation?While this question appears logical, theanswer lies in considering that even insuch a dire situation, how does acountry gain by using its nuclearweapon? In fact, once it has done so, itsfate shifts from being defeated-now-but-living-to-fight-another-day to oneof severe damage/annihilation

depending on the state of itsgeographical, material and humancapacities. Jonathan Schell explainedthis dilemma well when he questioned,“what logic is there in staving off alimited defeat by bringing on unlimited,eternal defeat? Nuclear deterrence islike a gun with two barrels, of which onepoints ahead and the other points backat the gun’s holder.” In dodgingconventional defeat, a country wouldhave brought untold nuclear ruin uponitself. Can this make sense?

A second situation which is believedto merit first use is when a country getsto know that the adversary is preparingfor a nuclear strike. Should not nuclearpreemption then be the right step? Theanswer to this lies in understanding thateven knowledge of preparation is noguarantee of a nuclear strike. Rather, itmay well be part of a strategy of‘coercive diplomacy’. Therefore, despitethe apparent show of readiness, therewill, more likely than not, still be achance that nuclear weapons would notactually come into use. A country evenwith a first use doctrine may or may notuse its nuclear weapons despite theprojected preparedness, but afterhaving been struck and where the firststrike has not been disarming ordecapitating (which is well nighimpossible with the kinds of arsenalsstates with nuclear weapons todayhave), retaliation would be a certainty.

Given the lack of military utility ofnuclear weapons and in order to handle

the strategy of nuclear brinksmanshipadopted by Pakistan, India has in facthelped the cause of its own security byhaving an NFU. A wrong impression hasbeen allowed to gain ground thatPakistan’s first use strategy offers itbetter protection while leaving Indiaopen to damage. The fact of the matteris that India’s NFU accompanied by astrong message of retaliation to inflictunacceptable damage actually putsPakistan in a quandary. The credibilityof its first use, especially if it has to comeout better after that use, is seriously indoubt. Under no circumstances canPakistan’s first use not amount tounbearable losses as a nation and asociety.

A first use strategy when faced withthe prospect of assured retaliationamounts to tilting at windmills. Ourswould too, if we were to have one. NFU,on the other hand, reflects a quiet,calming confidence. There is a deepwisdom in this strategy and the need ofthe hour is to do some quiet reflection ofthis instead of adding to the clamour forits change just because first use soundsmore macho and we are angry withPakistan. Nuclear weapons, by virtue oftheir nature to cause mass destructionso easily, are best suited for deterrence –to stop such weapons from being usedagainst oneself. Threatening first usewithout having the ability to carry out adisarming or decapitating strike on theadversary can never be seen as acredible deterrent strategy. Butretaliation with leftover assets (whichcan be easily increased with intelligentsurvivability measures) smacks of a tacitcredibility. NFU brings manyadvantages for India. Let’s not be in ahurry to squander these.

Dr Manpreet Sethi is Senior Fellowat the Centre for Air Power Studies, New

Delhi where she heads the project onNuclear Security.With 8 books and over80 published papers to her credit on all

aspects of the nuclear issue, her workon strategic issues was rewarded

through conferment of the KSubrahmanyam award in 2014.


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Conventional deterrence models fromThomas Schelling (1966) to Frank Zagare(2004), including Robert Axelrod, RobertJervis are primarily applicable toconventional warfare. Where as inmultipolar world Richardsonion modelfinds its application. Classical deterrencetheory emphasises on, proportionality,reciprocity, coercive capability andrationality. Whether one is nuclearoptimist or pessimist, it has worked a longway. The tremendous gap in the theoryand practice that globe faces today, is dueto the changing nature of warfare in lightof the emergence of rogue states andterrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Typically, the cause for conflict amongnations is explained by Charles Doran’spower cycle theory, where a revisionistpower challenges a status – quo power atan inflection point.Game theoretic analysisand agent based simulation explains in-group – out-group conflict as under-• Hostility in the intergroup interactionresults if the fraction of parochialmembers of at least one group issufficiently large.• The possibility of conflict increases withthe difference between the groups, thiscauses phase transition.• During peace time, the payoff fortolerant- non altruists is more whereas,during war time, parochial altruists ismore, that leads to fitness. This explainthe evolutionary root of conflicts.

However, in all such analysis, it is thestronger state, which has a higherpossibility of winning, wages war againstthe weak state. There are situations,where the weak especially rogue statecreates conflicts against strong state indifferent ways. U.S National SecurityStrategy defines rogue state as “Thesestates, brutalise their own people andsquander their natural resources forpersonal gain of ruler, threaten theirneighbours, use threats, sponsorterrorism, reject basic human values…”

The author here, addresses this

phenomenon as context as cause whichis neither sufficient nor necessarycondition under which weak state wageswar against strong state, but makescertain outcomes more or less likely incombination with other factors using:• Power Transition Theory. “This is a warinitiated by state, that feels moredissatisfied regardless of whether one indefender or challenger. Here, a weakerpower would be more dissatisfied withstatus quo if it is in loss frame.• Windows of opportunity Theory. Policymakers decide to choose wars where theconditions are suitable for them, andsuch conditions world drastically worsenas time lapses. Thus Even a weak statewould wage war that is anxious aboutfuture. This would be preventive orpreemptive war.• Diversionary Theory: This is external useof force for internal political purpose orinternal compulsions.• Rational Choice Theories. Limited goalsfor military action in asymmetric conflictlike better negotiation advantage.

For analyses, the author uses cognitivemodel, as combination of Game Theoryand Prospect Theory, combiningperceptions of rich and frame effect.

The analysis suggests that, While strong states have preference

order of Prisoners Dilemma, weak stateshave preference order of Chicken Game.If credibility of punishment is increased,

strong state can push weak state thuspreventing defection.Decision makers ofrogue state in loss frame seek risky choice.Gain frame choose safe choice. Hencestrong state should make defection costly.

For Weak State: In Chicken Game, co-operation is safe choice, defection is riskychoice.In Prisoners Dilemma, co-operation is risk choice and defection issafe choice

Sang Hun Park has given enoughempirical evidence to demonstrate thisphenomenon. U.S. Army War Collegeclearly differentiates between ‘deterrence’and ‘coercion’ and emphasises oncapability, credibility and effectiveimposition of unacceptable costs. Centrefor Strategic and International Studies insuch situations recommendsdeconstructing the network intocomponent parts to deter themindependently. This brings us to aconclusion that, strategically dealing witha weak rogue state requires proactive,credible use of strong incentives anddisincentives, so as to make cost ofdefection high, thus converting theChicken Game into Prisoner’s Dilemmagame.This will ensure that the weak roguestate does not gamble and take unduerisks threatening the strong state.

Prof. Rajiv Gupte is Professor:Management Studies and is a frequent

contributor in Strategic Studies,Geopolitics and International Relations.

DETERRENCE AGAINST A ROGUE STATEProf. Rajiv Gupte

THEORETICAL CONCEPTS


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YOUR VOICE

7th CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION ANOMALIESDear Sir,The best way forward is to appoint an Expert Committee toreview all recommendations of various Committees that havedeliberated on this issue. Thereafter, a Sub-Committe can beconstituted to review the recommendations of the ExpertCommittee. Subsequently a Sub-Sub-Committee can beconstituted to decide on the way-ahead. The whole policy canbe finalised and implement within a short period of 30 to 40years. —Cdr VS Gopinath

Dear Sir,Implementation of 7th CPC without addressing anomalies &granting NFU is further degradation of Forces. The safety andsecurity of the country comes first always and every time. Theforces have always lived up to this dictum. The welfare of thepersons you command comes next. It is for the Service Chiefsto ensure this in full measure. —Col Lamba(one man army)

MAA KE HAATH KI DIWALIDear Sir,I truly enjoyed reading this beautifully described Diwalinarrative (Maa Ke Haath Ki Diwali) and I relived the Diwalicelebrated in my younger years. It also reminded us to thinkabout the many service families of India making the sacrificesof enjoying this beautiful family festival with their families.Thank you for bringing the real important awareness of ourculture. May all Diwali celebrations be blessed with joyfulmemories.

—Neena Cheema

Dear SirVery moving... brought tears to my eyes (Maa Ke Haath KiDiwali) —Preeti Takle

Dear Sir,Here's a heartfelt thank you to all our service personnelwhosesacrifice enables us to celebrate so many Diwalis with ourfamily. We all recall and lookback at Diwali as an importantevent and family time, but never did it strike us that there arefamilies who weren't together at this time to celebrate it ourway. After reading this article I'm thinking of doing more tobind our family through festivity. Thanks for sharing.

—Vineet Kaur

PAKISTAN’S PROXY WAR IN J&KDear SirYou have hit the nail on the head by identifying the SaudiRoyals and their Salfist and Wahabi supporters as thefountainhead of Islamist terrorism all over the world. ThePakistanis provide the foot soldiers, nuclear cover andintellectual inputs. Some in the Western political, media andadministrative elites have been in the pay directly or indirectly

of the Saudis for a long time. They are no better than some inIndia, who sacrifice national interest for their own short termgains financial or political.

—Maj Chandrakant SinghDear Sir,Very nice articles and I agree with most of the points. But couldyou consider some other factors too? I am writing this as aconcerned citizen and a veteran:—

While the political decision to go in for the 'strike' certainlydeserves due credit, we could have down with less chestthumping. That would have increased the significance of themessage. In an election season, military successes should notbe part of posters put up by political parties. It is better to leavethe Army out.

A point has been made that the present dispensation cannotrein in the babus since lacking absolute majority, they cannotamend the rules of business. If an MOD letter says that this hasthe approval of the RM and the RM feigns ignorance of thesame, either the person signing the letter or the RM is lying andit doesn't require a constitutional amendment to punish theerring babu, if he is guilty. The FM repeatedly quoting wrongfigures and trying to build public opinion against OROP cannotbe attributed to mischievous Babus. While in all otherdepartments, the Babus do the bidding of the Ministers, why isit that in MOD alone, the Babus are calling the tune? If youcannot control your subordinates, then either they or you needto be sacked. The message is loud and clear — pay lip service,but teach them a lesson. —Brig Sandip Sen

Dear Sir,In my opinion the bureaucrats or the babus have become sopowerful that they want Armed Forces under their toes. Theywere made all powerful at JL Nehru's time only. I can tell youfrom my personal experience that in 1990 when ManekaGandhi as MOS, Environment tried to get me in EnvironmentMinistry on deputation, the then Secretary Mr Rajamani puthis foot down and did not give me an entry to the Ministry forunknown reason. Even in 1973 I wonder if Indira Gandhirealised what harm she did for the country's security byreducing our pension on the advice of then Defence SecretaryKB Lal. Even now they are continuously misleading the presentGovt. Such is the power they enjoy. So our fight should beagainst these babus. —Col Shakti Ranjan Banerjee

Dear Sir,The issue has been well amplified. But I have a submission. Thecivil bureaucracy and the military should be two instrumentsof political control and excessive bureaucratic involvement inmilitary matters should be stopped. This issue needs to bedriven home in no uncertain terms. The Babus want all thereins with them without expertise to handle it.Hope SALUTEmake endeavours for the same.

—Col Mathew Adipuzha

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[email protected] >> November- December 2016 >> SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER

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“If you can walk away from a landing,it’s a good landing. If you use theairplane the next day, it’s anoutstanding landing”- General ChuckYeager, USAF

It was a day prior to Valentine’s day, 13thFeb 1971. I was barely 21 years old. Fouryears of rigorous training to get thecoveted wings was to end soon and Iwas high on becoming a hot shot fighterpilot. It was to be my second solo flightin the Vampire Mk 52 fighter bomber atthe Fighter Training Wing (FTW)Hakimpet, Secunderabad. I was all tookeen to show off my flying skills to my

colleagues and impress the instructors.The mid-morning was clear and

bright with the odd cloud. After anormal take off, whilst retracting theundercarriage, at a low height, I foundthe retraction lever getting stuck andnot allowing the undercarriage toretract. I was eager to get theundercarriage up quickly todemonstrate a perfect take-off. Toresolve the problem, I committed thecardinal sin (something all pilots arerepeatedly asked not to do) of lookinginside the cockpit to diagnose theproblem.

For those of you familiar with theHakimpet airstrip, it has a small humptowards the end, almost like a shallowcauseway. Unless careful, it can easilylead to an over estimation of altitudeafter take-off. Though aware of this, as Ilooked inside, the right hand holdingthe control column moved slightlyforward resulting in the aircraftdescending instead of climbing. Thenext was a “bang”. My aircraft had hitground. The normal and instinctivereaction was to pull the stick back andclimb.

The ATC and duty instructor hadseen this happen. They had noticed theaircraft take off, hit the runway, seensparks and smoke and made anassumption that the aircraft engine hadcaught fire and I was attempting to landstraight ahead. The DATCO (Duty AirTraffic Controller) pressed the buzzerdeclaring an emergency for the crashtenders and crew to be ready. As theaircraft was climbing, I was advised togo for a landing on the cross runway.Just as I lined up for landing, the sparkssubsided and I was asked to abandon

the landing. The ATC noticed theabnormality in the aircraftundercarriage and asked me to do aflypast in front of the ATC for a visualcheck. I was asked to check engineparameters and advised to climboverhead and orbit at 10,000 ft.

Wg Cdr Marshall, the COO wasairborne with another cadet for a checksortie. He carried out a visualinspection of the aircraft at height andtransmitted back the details of theundercarriage status. This is when Icame to know that the nose wheel wasleft behind and only a stub protrudedwhile the left undercarriage was bentinwards at an angle. The right wheelwas intact. I now knew the truepredicament facing me.

We were taught various scenarios oflanding with undercarriage issues, butthis was new. On advice from theground, I carried out variousmanoeuvres to try and getundercarriage to fully retract in or getall the three wheels down. Turned andbanked hard to exert maximum G’s andthen take negative G’s. Nothing worked.

The Vampire was fast, but thirsty. Fuelconsumption at low to medium altitudewas ferocious. Tank capacity of 1,500litres used at the rate of 1,200 litres perhour at low to medium altitude, meant60 minutes flying time maximum,including take off and climb and descentand landing. By now the StationCommander, CI (Chief Instructor) andCFI (Chief Flying Instructor) had joinedthe duty instructor in the ATC. Time wasrunning out.

Finally, it was decided that I shouldbailout. A few trickier solutions to landthe aircraft could have been attempted,

BAPTISM BY SPARKS, FIRE AND BAILOUT

Wg Cdr Anil Kumar Gupta

MOTIVATION

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but given my limited flying experience,they were given a pass. The Vampire wasmade of Balsa wood and on landingwithout undercarriage, fire was a realrisk for a rookie pilot.

Bailout was no easy task either. Theonly instruction given in the pilot'snotes was the same as that given toSpitfire pilots - jettison the canopy,wind the trim hard forward, release theseat straps, roll upside down andfallout, hoping to miss the tail plane. Ifyou made it, count 1-2-3 before pullingthe rip-cord for the parachute.

ATC guided me on the manualbailout procedures a few times and Iran the drill. Reduced throttle andlowered airspeed to just over stallspeed, removed the canopy andinverted the aircraft. Finally, it was timeto unharness the seatbelt and dropdown. I did that. At this point, myrecollection of further events is blank.

As per eye witnesses, I was picked upby the ground search party around 10Km north of the airstrip. Sqn Ldr SSDange was the first one to reach thespot. I was unconscious and my helmetwas damaged on the left side. Hecovered me in the chute and wentabout finding the rest of the searchparty. I spent about four weeks inhospital and was diagnosed with a headinjury. It could have been caused byhitting a part of the aircraft or the rockyterrain on which I landed subsequently.About 8 months later, on the day the1971 war broke, I was declared fit andfinally got the go ahead to get back toflying. The trainer version of theVampire had already moved to havingejection seats. To my knowledge, thisprobably was the last manual bailout inIAF history.

Anil Kumar Gupta (Lui), from the37th NDA/ 106 pilot’s course, finally gotcommissioned before the 108th courseafter recovering from the accident. He

went on to serve the IAF for 25 yearsflying nearly 3,000 hours across a

number of aircraft types includingVampire, Hunter, Gnat, Mig-21 FL/

Bison, Kiran MK-II and Ajeet.


THE VAMPIRE WAS FAST, BUT THIRSTY. FUEL CONSUMPTION AT LOWTO MEDIUM ALTITUDE WAS FEROCIOUS. TANK CAPACITY OF 1,500LITRES USED AT THE RATE OF 1,200 LITRES PER HOUR AT LOW TOMEDIUM ALTITUDE, MEANT 60 MINUTES FLYING TIME MAXIMUM,INCLUDING TAKE OFF AND CLIMB AND DESCENT AND LANDING.

MOTIVATION

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Two months before I left the Navy, theNaval students from Staff Collegevisited Maritime Warfare Centre inMumbai for computerised warfaregames. On the eve of their departurethey hosted a Pre-Lunch Drinks tothank us for all the trouble we hadtaken. Some of my old students askedme what my future plans were. I toldthem that I was planning to join theMerchant Navy. Suddenly, everyonestopped talking in the Ante-room, thebarman dropped a glass, one officerchoked on his gin and tonic and the CINavy stuffed his mouth with fish fingerfries so he wouldn't have to give asuitable explanation for my errant talk.All this because I had used the M-wordirreverently in a gathering of the creme-de-la-creme of the Navy. It felt good tospeak my mind without a Damoclessword (in the form of an ACR) hangingover my head! But the outside worldwould not be as rosy as I imagined atthat time, which I'll come to a little later.

When I was a young lieutenant onINS Kesari, we had the pleasure ofgiving a day at sea to a senior

Bureaucrat off Vizag who begancomplaining about how hard and rigidthe only chair on the Bridge was. TheXO ordered me to cushion the seat withmy pillow. I dutifully obeyed and evendressed it up with a freshly launderedpillowcase. That was a big mistake,because sleeping on a pillow whichsmelt of a combination of poop andmethane gas can be counted among theworst experiences in my life. I could putup with massive bouts of truculence(intense pain and suffering), deepdiscomfiture in heavy seas, but nopillow before, or since, has ever givenme such nightmares as that one did.

The DP operator's chair on SCIPanna has buttons to hydraulicallyoperate the chair from sitting to lyingposition, forward to backward andraise, lower and gives a back massage. Italso has a vibrator for a buttockmassage since DP operations can takeas long as six to eight hours or more. Idon't sit on it because the Navy hastaught me to sit on a hard seat and notcrib about it. I prefer to stand andoperate the DP.

Back in the seventies, when ourpensions were brought down from 70%to 50% and Pune University was goingon flash strikes and when Rajneesh wasinvading the city with white womendressed in plunging necklines andreceding skirts, we were passing outfrom NDA. Those were horrible timesbecause we didn't get to see any of thenecklines. The depression lasted till themid-eighties. It went on to a climaxwhen even in the movie Terminator 2,Arnie refused to kill anyone for a briefwhile! Thankfully, the Indian recessionhas ended now and they have given the

Navy some credible machinery tooperate. Nowadays, the skirt length istouching the ground but the slit hasmoved upwards towards the ladies area.The ones without slits have wardrobemalfunctions - All of which are okaywith me. But I sometimes wonder whymy pants don't fall off when I'mwalking on the cat-walk! And my shipdoes have a cat-walk for ship sideinspection.

In those days when we entered NavalDockyard for the very first time afterpassing out from NDA, one of my moreerudite course mates began waving hishands in the air and pointing out to anold missile boat which had set fire toKarachi in the 71 war. The ship had nofunnel but was belching thick smokeand diesel fumes from a vent close tothe waterline. The boat looked morelike an anti-mosquito foggingcontraption. As soon as the enginestarted, three guys, presumably the CO,the XO and the EO poked their headsover the guardrails through the heavysmoke, gasping for fresh air, while I wasstill gawping at this incredible piece ofmachinery which helped us win theNaval battle. I couldn't help thinkingthat if this boat was a drug, it wouldsurely have been crack cocaine, sinceyou could revv it to 25 knots in the waterbut get a headache from the dieselfumes for trying. Thankfully they've gotbetter missile boats now, with none ofthe problems I'm going to mentionbelow.

Years later I was posted on the sameINS Vidyut with (then) Lt Cdr RameshReddy as my CO. I remember when Ientered the boat, it got even wilder. Thedeck head and watertight doors were fit

I STILL LOVE THE INDIAN NAVY

Capt (IN) Anil Gonsalves

IN LIGHTER VEIN

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IN LIGHTER VEIN

for a guy 5 feet tall and the only toiletseat on the boat was fit for a baby's ass.It took me a while to adjust my positionon the seat before I could begin thebooming sounds. Also, my missile panellooked straight from the pages of IssacAsimov. It was festooned with hugeknobs and dials and blinking lights,which I didn't have a clue about. Andbecause the boat didn't have a crediblecommunication system, I had to send arunner to the Missile Gunnery Officer'spanel at the rear end of the boat everytime I did a dummy firing. Best of all,once when we fired a practice missilewhich was really a shelf expired one, thewhole Fleet went helter-skelter in a bidto escape the rogue missile. What fun!Okay, it made a smoke screen and themissiles locked onto unexpectedtargets, which could be useful in battle,but when you let it up a little, it felt likewe were in control of a neutron bomb.

But seriously, where in the Civilworld would your colleague offer youhis house to stay when you bring yournewly wedded wife into station? Young

officers would often drop by for dinnerand enjoy whatever was put on thetable. In the Navy I could rely on acolleague to take my wife to hospital orput her in a train to home station if Iwas away on duty.

Check out my very first interview fora job in Great Eastern ShippingCompany with none less than theDirector of Personnel of the Company(who should have been drowned atbirth). He was interviewing me whilesimultaneously reading from a IndiaToday magazine. Seriously, this dudehad not mastered the art of speech. Hesaid something like “You know CowBuster?”, while chewing his gutkha witha mouthful of saliva, and buried hishead into the magazine as if his neckwas broken, which would have beentaken care of by me, only if he wasn'toffering me a job. When I said “excuseme?” he looked up and said “arrey baba!Bow Thruster! Jo front end of ship meHota hai” And his head flopped backinto the pages of his India Today. By thetime my interview ended I was staring

wistfully through the window in thedirection of the Naval dockyard

Which brings me to my firstinterview in the Navy, on my first shipINS Amba, where the Captainwelcomed me in ceremonial uniform,offered me a cup of tea and biscuits andwelcomed me on his ship with thewarmth I have yet to see in the outsideworld. And this repeated itself on everyship that I ever served on in the Navy.

If I had to choose between mypresent job and the last one, it would bethe Navy undoubtedly. I think aboutthat often and smile.

Captain Anil Gonsalves, IN, (Retd)joined NDA in 1975 and passed out in

1978. He commanded Coast Guardship Rajshree and INS Mahish in the

Navy among his varied appointments.He took premature retirement in 2005

and presently is working in theOffshore Division of the Shipping

Corporation of India as Master in theirPlatform Support Vessels.

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DEFENCE NEWS

32 SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER << November-December 2016 << [email protected]

ARMY’S ARTILLERY FIRE POWER ENHANCEDIn a much looked forward to development,the deal to purchase 145 M777A2 155mmUltra Light howitzers was cleared by theDefence Acquisition Council, headed by theRaksha Mantri, Shri Manohar Parrikar on 20October 2016. This marks the first majorpurchase of artillery guns since thepurchase of Bofors guns in 1987.Thehowitzers are being purchased from theUnited States through the Foreign MilitarySales route, authorised by the Arms ControlExport Act. Delay in decision making foracquisition of these guns has however seena cost escalation from $647 million in2010 to $750 in 2016.

Suited both for the mountains andwarfare in the plains, these guns will bedeployed on India’s border with China andwill equip the artillery component of theMountain Strike Corps, which was raised in2013. Once the guns are inducted, Indiawill join the U.S., Canadian and Australianforces in gaining the M777’s unmatchedstrategic and tactical mobility.

The M777A2 155mm 39 calibre UltraLight howitzer, due to its light weight,makes it easier to be towed on road andalso to be air lifted to where it is to bedeployed. In India’s mountainous borderwith Tibet bordering the Indian state ofArunachal Pradesh, switching forces fromone axis to another is a long and timeconsuming task. The use of titanium andaluminium alloys, which makes the gunslighter and easy to be airlifted, enablesrapid deployment of the gun, and providesthe Army with flexible and swift responseoptions to emerging threats. The lightweight also provides for quicker roadmovement when towed thereby enhancingthe 'shoot and scoot’ capability of theweapon system to give it greatersurvivability on the battlefield.

The M-777A2 is the upgraded version ofthe M-777A1 ULHs with softwareenhancements. The gun has proved itsreliability, maintainability and safety, even in

extreme temperatures and have beensuccessfully tested in Indian conditions.The M-777A2 has a digital fire controlsystem from BAE Systems that allows thegun to programme and fire long rangeaccurately.The gun can fire up to fiverounds per minute. These features are verycrucial as artillery needs to be flexible,manoeuvrable, mobile and swift to supportinfantry and armoured divisions operations.

The gun can be turned around in lessthan two minutes by the crew. This wouldenable the gun to react to sudden changesin target location.The gun would alsopossess Laser Inertial Artillery PointingSystems. For direct and indirect firing, thelow-rate initial production systems employan optical sighting system.Full production

systems will be fitted with the GeneralDynamics Armament Systems TowedArtillery Digitisation system, while the LRIPsystems will be retrofitted with TAD.Encouraged by Prime Minister Modi’s call to“Make in India”, BAE Systems hasannounced a plan to establish an Assembly,Integration & Testing (AIT) facility in India asan integral part of the offset offer to theGovernment of India.The offset offercommits to investing in, and thedevelopment of, a number of Indiandefence suppliers, providing them withaccess to the BAE Systems group acrossAir, Land, Sea and Security programs. Theconclusion of this procurement will enableBAE Systems to make an investment ofover $200 million in those Indian defencesuppliers.

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DEFENCE NEWS


INS CHENNAI JOINS INDIAN NAVYINS Chennai, a P 15A Guided Missile Destroyer, was commissionedinto the Indian Navy by the Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar atan impressive ceremony held at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on21 Nov 2016. The event marks the formal induction into the Navyof the third and the last of the three ‘Kolkata’ class destroyers,indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation,Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Mazagon DockLimited, Mumbai.

The ship measures 163m in length, 17.4m in breadth with adisplacement of 7500 tonnes and can rightfully be regarded asone of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India.The ship is propelled by four powerful Gas Turbines, in a CombinedGas and Gas (COGAG) configuration, capable of achieving speedsin excess of 30 knots. The ship has enhanced stealth featuresresulting in a reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS) achieved throughefficient shaping of hull, full beam superstructure design, platedmasts and use of radar transparent materials on exposed decks.

INS Chennai is packed with contemporary and sophisticated‘state of the art’ weapons and sensors such as Surface to SurfaceMissile and Surface to Air Missiles. The ship is fitted with a modernSurveillance Radar which provides target data to the gunneryweapon systems of the ship. The ship’s Anti Submarine Warfarecapabilities are provided by the indigenously developed RocketLaunchers and Torpedo Launchers. The ship is equipped to fightunder Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.A unique feature of this ship is the high level of indigenisationincorporated in the production, accentuating our national objectiveof ‘Make in India’. Some of the major indigenised equipment /system onboard INS Chennai include Combat ManagementSystem, Rocket Launcher, Torpedo Tube Launcher, AutomatedPower Management System,Foldable Hangar Doors, HeloTraversing system, Auxiliary ControlSystem and the Bow mountedSONAR.

While addressing the gathering,the Raksha Mantri termed thecommissioning of INS Chennai, lastof the Project 15 A classDestroyers, as a historic day forthe Indian Navy.“it adds anothermilestone in our relentless journeytowards achieving self reliance inbattle readiness,” he said andadded that “the ship represents asignificant ‘coming of age’ of ourwarship building capability anddefence preparedness, in additionto providing overall maritimesecurity to India and also plays acrucial role as the ‘net securityprovider’ in our adjoining seas”.

During his address, Shri Manohar Parrikar also stressed that theNavy’s growth and development must keep pace with the nation’sgrowth and maritime security needs. He lauded the role played bythe naval designers (DGND) and the ship builders i.e. M/s MDLMumbai, stating “with the induction of INS Chennai, a newbenchmark has been achieved for our warship design andconstruction endeavours, with the sophistication of systems andequipment, and utilisation of advanced ship building techniques”.

The Naval Chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba said that commissioningof INS Chennai marks another milestone in the Navy’s quest forself-reliance as it signifies completion of the challenging Project P-15A and heralds a new era of advanced warships built indigenouslyby Indian shipyards. The Admiral also stated that indigenisation ofplatforms, weapons, sensors and equipment with participation ofpublic as well as private sectors, will continue to remain a focusarea of the Indian Navy, in line with the ‘Make in India’ policyenunciated by the Prime Minister. He emphasised that the‘Roadmap for the Navy’s expansion and growth would continue toremain firmly anchored on Self-reliance and Indigenisation’.

Indigenous Naval Systems InductedThe Defence Minister handed over four Naval Systems developedby DRDO to the Indian Navy at a special ceremony on 18November 2016. The four indigenously developed naval systemsviz. ABHAY, HUMSA UG, NACS and AIDSS which will boostunderwater surveillance capability of the Indian Navy, have beendesigned and developed by National Physical and OceanographicLaboratory (NPOL), a Kochi based laboratory of DRDO.

They were formally handed over to the Chief of Naval StaffAdmiral Sunil Lanba by the Minister.


DEFENCE NEWS

34 SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER << November-December 2016 << [email protected]

INDIA CHINA JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE

On 15 November 2016, a Chinesecontingent from the 13 Group Army,Chengdu Military Region comprising of oneinfantry company along with supportingstaff landed at the Lohegaon airfield inPune in two IL- 76 Aircrafts from China toparticipate in the sixth India China JointTraining Exercise “Hand-in-Hand 2016”from 16 to 27 November 2016 in Aundh.The exercise - held alternatively in India andChina, was aimed at acquainting both theArmies with each other’s operatingprocedures in the backdrop of counterterrorism environment. The basic objectiveof the training was to enhance confidenceand trust between the two armies whichmay be called upon to grapple with antiterrorism operations under the UNmandate.The first such exercise was held in2007 at Kunming Military Academy inYunnan province in China.

The 13 day schedule focused upontraining on crossing of obstacles, specialheliborne operations, firing of variousweapons, handling &neutralisation ofimprovised explosive devices and conductof cordon & search operations ininsurgency and terrorism environment.

The opening ceremony was attended byMaj. Gen. Y K Joshi, Additional DirectorGeneral of Military Operations of IndianArmy and Maj. Gen. Wang Haijiang of the

People’s Liberation Army. After animpressive parade commanded by Lt Col LiGuanghua, Commanding Officer of People’sLiberation Army, both the Generalsaddressed the contingents before Gen.Haijing declared the Joint Exercise open.Thereafter, both contingents displayed theirweapons which included assault rifles,grenade launchers and other sophisticatedequipment. The ceremony concluded withan enthralling and mesmerising display ofIndia martial arts of Kalyaripattu, Khukridance and Malkhamb by soldiers of IndianArmy and a massed martial arts display bythe Chinese contingent.

The 13-day exercise includedunderstanding each other's operationalmethodology, developing interoperabilityand conducting joint tactical operationscontrolled by a joint command post. It wasconducted in three phases -- familiarisationwith weapons and equipment; conduct ofbasic training including combatconditioning, firing of personal weapons,support weapons and practice of drills likeestablishment of covert observation post,house clearing, cordon and search andhumanitarian and disaster relief operations.The third phase comprised conduct of jointexercise.At the closing ceremony, MajorGeneral S.K. Prashar of the Indian Armyand Major General Wang Haijiang, Deputy

Commander of the People's LiberationArmy, jointly reviewed a paradecommanded by Colonel Dayanand Sharma,the Indian contingent commander.

MODERNISATION OF DEFENCEFORCESDuring 2015-16, 61 Contracts have beensigned for capital procurement of defenceequipment for Armed Forces includingRadars, Missiles, Rockets, Helicopters,Aircrafts and Simulators. A number ofmeasures have been taken to achieve self-sufficiency in defence production byharnessing the capabilities of the publicand private sector. These measures includeprovisions for according priority andpreference to procurement from Indianvendors under the Defence ProcurementProcedure, liberalisation of the licensingregime and providing access to modernand state-of-the-art technology to Indianindustry by raising the cap on FDI in thedefence sector. The DPP-2016 hasintroduced provisions for expediting theprocurement process, to facilitate swiftdecision making, promote self-reliance andimprove transparency and accountability inprocurements. (Written reply by Minister ofState for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre toShri PK Biju and others in Lok Sabha on 18November 2016).


DEFENCE NEWS


CDS IN THE OFFING?During a book launch on 10 November 2016,the Raksha Mantri stated that higher defencereforms were under active consideration, whichincluded the proposal for having a Chief ofDefence Staff (CDS). These could be finalisedwithin a few months and they would bring injointness among the three armed services. MrParrikar admitted that the services did not wantto leave their "turf" but they have"slowly" cometo understand that jointness would be muchbetter than individual separate forces. While notcommitting himself to a time schedule, theMinister made it clear that the final call would betaken by the Prime Minister. In march last year,the Raksha Mantri had stated that CDS was amust and hoped to propose a mechanism forthe creation of the post within the next three

months. This time schedule could not be keptsaid the minister, as many issues needed to beironed out. He stated that jointness wasessential and could save the country a lot ofmoney as too many activities that were beingreplicated by the different services could thenbe jointly executed and synchronised, especiallyin the field of acquisitions.

The post of CDS was recommended in 2001by a Group of Ministers (GoM) which was set upin April 2000 to review the national securitysystem in the aftermath of the Kargil War.Therecommendation, if implemented, would be thefirst major military reform by the BJP led NDAgovernment, which has already announcedsignificant changes in the procurementprocess.

PINAKA REGIMENTS FOR ARMYIn September, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared theraising of the third and fourth Pinaka regiments at a cost of Rs3,000 crore. In November, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)cleared a RFP (Request for Proposal) for six additional regiments ata cost of Rs 14,633 crore.

The Pinaka system is designed and developed by two privateentities, the Tatas and Larsen and Toubro (L&T), in association withArmament Research and Development Establishment of theDefence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). TheIndian Army’s two Pinaka regiments were inducted during 2016-2010. L&T supplied the systems for one regiment while Tata PowerSED delivered the other Pinaka regiment to the army. Currently,contract signing for two regiments (negotiations for whichconcluded in January 2011) is under way and is likely to be inkedsoon.

Each regiment consists of three batteries of six Pinakalaunchers,in addition to support vehicles, a radar and a command

post. Each launcher is capable of launching 12 rockets with a rangeof 40 km in a space of 44 seconds.

NAVAL CHIEF VISITS SRI LANKAThe Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba during his five day visitto Sri Lanka, in November, attended the Concept Galle Dialogue2016 - Fostering Strategic Maritime Partnerships. The GalleDialogue is an annual conference hosted by Sri Lanka on the issuesof Maritime Security and Cooperation between international navies.At the Galle Dialogue, the CNS delivered the key-note address on‘India’s perspective on the benefits of Strategic MaritimePartnerships’. The visit by the Naval Chief was aimed at enhancingthe bilateral maritime security relations between India and Sri Lanka.During the visit, the CNS held bilateral discussions with PresidentMaithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe andsenior dignitaries including the Chief of Defence Staff and the threeService Chiefs.



VETERANS ALERT

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) ON “CAREER”

Q. How do I Join Indian Army? What is the minimumqualification to join Indian army.A. Thank you for your interest in the Army. You may visit websitewww.indianarmy.gov.in where you will find all the details thatyou need. Q. My Age is above 25, but my dream is to serve the nationby joining the Army?A. You can join the Territorial Army. For more details contactAdditional Directorate General Territorial Army, General StaffBranch, IHQ of MoD (Army), L Block, Church Road, New Delhi- 01, Tele Numbers 011-23094365, 23092186.Q. I have qualified CDSE. When is my date of interview?A. After the declaration of result by UPSC, the interviews arenormally conducted after 45 to 60 days. You can see your SSBinterview details on the said website.Q. I am unable to attend the interview on thedate given. What should I do?A. Send an e mail to [email protected] period suitable to you. They will try andaccommodate you as per your availability.Q. My sister's marriage has been fixed a dayprior to my reporting at your centre. Can I get asecond chance?A. Yes, you can write/speak to the concernedSelection Centre about your problem and get thedate extended. You can also contact on e mail [email protected]. What are the avenues available to me to joinarmy at graduate level?A. IMA, OTA, NCC Special Entry Scheme, TGC and UES entriesare available.Q. I have done NCC training and obtained 'C' certificate.What are the avenues available for me?A. Certain vacancies for NCC 'C' certificate holders are reservedfor IMA and OTA. For IMA you have to apply through UPSCi.e.Combined Defence Services Examination (CDSE) and forOTA through NCC Special entry Scheme for whichadvertisement is published in Jun/Jul and Nov/Dec every year.NCC Special Entry scheme is a Non UPSC Entry.Q. What are the facilities available for guidance /information / clarification regarding the application form?A. Candidates can contact Additional Directorate General ofRecruiting at their Reception Room at West Block-III, RK Puram,New Delhi or over telephone No 011-26173215/011-26175473on all working days between 0900hrs to 1700hrs.Q. Will I get any compensation if I get injured during SSBinterview?A. No compensation will be paid in respect to any injurysustained as a result of test conducted at SSB.

Q. What is the procedure for Joining Territorial Army (TA)?A. Only male citizens who are graduate gainfully employed andbetween the age of 18 to 42years are eligible for grant ofcommission in TA, as non department TA commissionedofficers. The advertisement for TA commission, as an officer, ispublished twice a year i.e Jan/Feb and Jul/Aug. A postal order ofRs 10/- along with bio date and a self addressed envelopecontaining postage stamp of Rs 12/- is required to be sent to theconcerned TA Group HQ. You can apply to the concerned TAGroup HQ for an application form and submit the completedform along with copy of the required documents to theCommand. Contact details of respective Command are:a) TA Group HQ, Southern Command, Pune-01b) TA Group HQ, Western Command, Building No 750, Sector

8B, Chandigarh(UT)c) T A Group HQ, Eastern Command, Kolkatta-21d) TA Group HQ, Central Command, Lucknow-02You can visit above website or contact AdditionalDirectorate General Territorial Army, General StaffBranch, IHQ of MoD (Army), L Block, ChurchRoad, l;New Delhi-01, Tele 011-23094365/23092186Q. I want to join TA. But my present employer/company is not giving NOC for joining. Wherecan I find the authority for NOC ?A. Employees of Pvt/ Govt Sector, who clearwritten exam for TA commission are required tosubmit NOC from their employer, which is

prerogative of parents department/ employer. The letter forgrant of permission to Civil Govt Servants to join the TA is givenin the above website.Q. What is the procedure for joining Army Medical Corps asDoctor?A. The application for Short Service Commission in ArmyMedical Corps are invited by way of advertisement in all leadingNewspapers including Employment News and in websitewww.indianarmy.gov.in and apply accordingly. You may visitthe u/m link if Indian Army Website for more information: http://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTempSimple.aspx?MnId=LXdync7Y4q1ZNQX3mlK4bw==&ParentID=0e4TDQQkVRITBK/gTPALyw==Q. How can we invite Indian Army for campus in College/University?A. College/ University may approach directly to 'A' Branch ofrespective Command Headquarters, under which area they fallfor their campus request.

Note: Proposed plan of FAQ on ECHS will be in the nextissue of “SALUTE”.

Hony Capt Baldev Singh

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RAISINA HILL


Heightened hostilities by Pak army andborder forces across the Line of Control(LoC) and the International Border (IB)respectively as well as attacks byPakistani terrorists in the Kashmir valleyhave over a period taken a heavy toll offatal casualties of Indian Army andcentral and state police personnel. Theseadd up to an already large number ofearlier fatal and disabled casualties, all ofwhich must be suitablycompensated/rehabilitated. On 22November 2016 in reply to a question inRajya Sabha, Minister of State forDefence Dr. Subhash Bhamre provideddetails of welfare measures taken toameliorate the lot of families of Armypersonnel martyred during attacks byPakistan’s military and the terrorists it hastrained and supported. In this case thewelfare measures include educationalconcessions, healthcare and otherfacilities for children of martyredsoldiers.Educational Concessions:The following educational concessionsare provided to the Children of ArmedForces Officers / Personnel Below OfficerRanks, Missing / Disabled / Killed inaction:• Tuition Fees: Full reimbursement oftuition fee (capitation fee and cautionmoney not included) levied by theeducational institutions concerned(including charges for school busmaintained by the school or actual fare

paid for railway pass for students/busfare certified by the head of institute).• Hostel Charges: Full reimbursement ofhostel charges for those studying inboarding schools and colleges.• Cost of books/ stationery: Rs.1,000/-per annum per student or the amountclaimed by the student, whichever is less.• Cost of uniform where compulsory:Rs.1,700/- maximum during first yearand Rs.700/- for the subsequent yearsper annum per student or the amountclaimed by the student, whichever is less.• Clothing: Rs.500/- for the first year andRs.300/- for the subsequent years perannum per student or the amountclaimed by the student, whichever is less.

These educational concessions areadmissible only for undertaking studiesin government/ government aidedschools/ educational institutes, military/sainik schools and other schools orcolleges recognised by the central or stategovernments including the autonomousorganisations financed entirely by thecentral/ state governments.

Reimbursement of Children’sEducation Allowance (CEA) will not belinked with the performance of the childin his/ her class, i.e., even if a child fails ina particular class, the CEA shall not bestopped.

Central Organisation, Ex-Servicemen’s Contributory HealthScheme (ECHS) provides for freehealthcare to all dependents of martyredsoldiers.The dependents of martyredsoldiers are also exempted from paymentof one time contribution for becoming

ECHS members.The wards of Defence/ Coast Guard

personnel killed in action are the firstpriority for award of Prime Minister’sScholarship Scheme under which 5500Scholarships are awarded annually to thewards of ex-servicemen / widows inorder to support their higher technical /professional education.The wards ofDefence personnel killed in action arethe first priority for MBBS/ BDS seats(normally 20-24 MBBS and 2-3 BDS seatsannually) reserved for Defencepersonnel.

Recurring grant of Rs.1350/-p.m. isprovided to War Memorial Hostels for thechildren of war widows / war-disabled.

There is an institutionalisedmechanism at all levels down to the unitat Services’ HQs. to ensure that families/dependents of martyred soldiers areprovided with uniform and adequatefinancial assistance.The Kendriya SainikBoard Secretariat, an attached office ofDepartment of Ex-servicemen Welfareimplements other facilities/ welfaremeasures for ex-servicemen includingmartyred soldiers.However the processneeds to be relentlessly pursued/monitored as there have been cases oflaxity and apathy in implementation ofwelfare/ rehabilitation measures. Whilethe BJP government has no doubt tried tocreate consciousness about thededication of armed forces and centralarmed police forces personnel, despitethe risks and the losses of lives or limbsthat they face, at the bureaucratic andclerical levels matters often tend to getdragged. While units of the deceased ordisabled personnel are a great supportbase, but the steady pace of theirpursuance cannot be indefinitelysustained owing to their operationalcommitments. Officialdom must do itsdue and maintain sensitivity to becomereliable and relentless in implementationof welfare measures for martyrs andseriously injured/disabled personnel.

Lt Col Anil Bhat

OFFICIALDOM NEEDS TO BE SENSITIVE AND EFFECTIVE IN IMPLEMENTINGWELFARE MEASURES FOR FAMILIES OF MARTYRED SOLDIERS

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BOOK REVIEW


Spitfire Singh is a biography ofLate Air Vice Marshal HarjinderSingh by Mike Edwards. Mike hasresurrected his life andcontribution to India. What trulystands out is the manner inwhich Mike has presentedHarjinder. It is a most readablethriller, woven around theevolution of a lowly ‘HawaiSepoy’ to an Air Vice Marshal. Asepoy was perhaps the lowliestrank showered on the Indianmembers of the erstwhile airforce (RAF) serving under theBritish crown which eventuallyfound its way in the somewhatIndianised formation of RoyalIndian Air Force (RIAF). Itreflected the level of contempt atwhich the British personnel ofthe RAF held their Indiancounterparts. Mike, anEnglishman and a BritishAirways pilot does not flinchfrom saying it over and overagain. And despite thesehorrendous odds against him,the no-nonsense, shoot from thehip, Harjinder rose to suchmonumental heights ofachievement. The disdainperhaps catalysed to challenge.He was the first hands onengineer to reconstruct flyingmachines from their wreckagesand no doubt claim credit for“Making in India”. He had builtIndia’s prototype of the HS 748which went on to operate both inthe IAF and the Indian Airlines.

With a measure of regret, Imust say that we seem to haveforgotten Harjinder’s support tothe Indian Air Force and thenation throughout his life till hisearly death in 1963. Both he and

his wife Beant Kaur becameprolific aviators. Beant walkedshoulder to shoulder with herhusband Harjinder as he wenton to salvage, reconstruct andpioneer the engineering andmaintenance structures of theIAF. Harjinder had started withthe Wapiti and had traversedthrough the Lysander,Hurricane, Tempest, Spitfire,Liberator, Dakota, Vampire andthe Hawker Hunter. The Mig 21had joined when he was there. Imay have missed a few perhaps,but not Mike Edwards who wrotean exceptionally lucid text andbrought Harjinder’s endeavourand persona to public gaze. Andin the process we also learnt ofthe cracking of the sound barrierby Hrushikesh Moolgavkar (wholater rose to the rank of Air ChiefMarshal and was the Chief of AirStaff from Feb 76 to Aug 78)during a dive in a Tempest flyingmachine and how he had hit,“Compressibility”.

I most earnestly recommenda thorough reading of this bookby not merely aviators but alsoby people who are protagonistsof development, buildingorganisations and visions for afuture. Mike brings these pathbreaking success stories to hisreaders with great felicity in asuperb text. Mike is well knownto aficionados of the aviationsector and specially the IAF andhis contribution in raising theIAF’s Vintage Aircraft Flight. AndI must not miss to add thatwithout the memorabiliatreasured by Mr Nanda of Avi Oil,it would have been difficult toproduce this narrative.

WE FORGOT HARJINDER SINGHAir Commodore Prashant Dikshit, SM (G)

SPITFIRE SINGHA True Life of Relentless

AdventureBy Mike Edwards

Bloomsbury India434 pages

Price: Rs 499

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LEISURE & LIFESTYLE


For officers from the Corps of Signals,Military College of TelecommunicationEngineering (MCTE), Mhow is the AlmaMater, our Mecca Madina. We keepgoing there for long and short courses.Add to that Junior/ Senior/ HigherCommand courses at Army WarCollege. I was also posted at MCTE oninstructional and staff appointmentsduring 96 – 99. I have very fondmemories of Mhow. On its Northernand Southern sides, couple of hoursdrive away, are located two of the mostvenerated twelve Jyotirlingas - MahakalTemple at Ujjain and Omkareshwar bythe bank of river Narmada.

In the Mahakal Temple at Ujjain, thepresiding deity, Lord Shiva in thelingam form is believed to beSwayambhu, deriving currents of power(Shakti) from within. Out of the twelveJyotirlings, only Mahakaleshwar ofUjjain in Madhya Pradesh is situated in

MY VISIT TO UJJAIN

Maj Gen Pradyot KMallick, VSM

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LEISURE & LIFESTYLE


the south direction. As per thescriptures, the universe has threeregions namely the sky, earth andnether. Mahakal is the Lord of earth. Ofall the twelve Jyotirlingas, it’s just theMahakal which is called the Lord ofearth as well as death. According tobelief, 33 crore gods reside in Mahakalpremises. Adorned by Hanuman, Shiva,Devi, Navgraha, Radha-Krishna,Ganesha temples, the premises evokesvibrant spiritual feelings. Mahakal is theonly temple among DwadashJyotirlingas, which has so many templesin its premises.

I am not a very religious person perse. I do pay obeisance to any religiousplace one comes across, of all religions.This is also one of the finest traditionsof the Indian Army. In most difficultplaces, say Kaiyan Bowl in 17 MountainBrigade sector in J&K, the way Armylooks after the Peer Baba is a sight tobehold. During my service days, I neverattended Bhasma Aarti in Ujjain,though the town was barely a two hourdrive from Mhow - one hour to Indoreand another toUjjain, 50 km away. Roadcondition has improved tremendously.This time I decided to go to Ujjain andattend Bhasma Aarti.

The process of Bhasma Aarti starts at4 AM in the morning and finishes at 6 O’clock. Since there is limited space, onehas to book in advance. MCTE sent itsliaison NCO with the requisitedocuments, photo id etc beforehand formaking arrangements. True to thetradition of MCTE everything was takencare of. I started at 0030 hours in themorning. By 0200 hours I was at thegate of Mahakal Temple. For going toGarbhagriha and do jaal abhisek menhave to wear dhoti and women saree.We took dhoti and small steel watercontainer on hire to put water on shivlinga. After a cup of tea we entered thetemple duly attired at 0230 hours. Theplace was already teeming with thedevotees. Attached photo will shownhow Mallick Dada is ready for thedarshan.

Lord Mahakaleshwar, the King ofUjjain is among the public, six Mondays

from the first Monday of Shravan in theform of procession. Procession of sixthMonday is called "Shahi Sawari". I wentto Ujjain on 29 August, Monday night.This Monday was the last of HISprocession. In the morning, the Lordwas taken out in the procession. TheMahakal Mandir was beautifullybedecked with flowers. We waited atcouple of places, and then, on theringing of a bell, we were ushered in themain hall around 0345 hours. At 0400hours we started entering theGarbhagriha and put water on the ShivLingam called jaal abhisek. It is a veryfast process and within about 15minutes a very large number of peopleare able to do jaal abhishek. After thiswe came to Nandi Hall. The Hall issituated outside the SanctumSanctorum and accommodates 100people. An additional 500 devotees cansit near barricades behind the NandiHall.

During the Bhasma Aarti no one isallowed to enter into Garbhagriha.Initially, the abhisheka, or ritual bath ofthe God takes place. We could see whatwas happening in the main hall througha screen projection via the three CCTVsinstalled. The Shiva Lingam wassmeared with multiple offerings likecurd, honey, butter, sandal paste andfinally washed with milk and water.Then, the Lingam was decorated withan elaborate arrangement of flowers ofvarious kinds including the ones dear toShiva (the Bel Patra and Dhatura fruit).After the abhishek by Pujaris, localladies from Ujjain came and didabhisek at appointed time. By about4.45 AM, the very elaborate process of‘shringar' started - a lengthy process inwhich, through the application ofvarious substances, the stone pillar wastransformed into a divine face, and thenfurther embellished.

At around 0530 hours, the mostimpressive part of the ceremony began.The face of the God was veiled with acloth. A priest told all women present tocover their faces with the ends of theirsaris and not to watch bhasam aarti atthe time of bhasam pooja. The lady

police were strict in enforcing this.Finally, it was time for the head monk ofthe Mahanirvani Akahara to offer thesacred ash, bhashma or vibuthi, overthe Lingam. He started shaking thatcloth vigorously over theMahakaleshwar and ash startedpouring as fine dust all over the ShivaLingam. It was a very uniqueexperience to witness this part of theBhasma Aarti of Mahakaleshwar. Wholeatmosphere was having a strong divinefeeling and everyone was justmesmerised to see what washappening. Soon the whole innersanctum was filled with bhasma overthe Lingam and billowing in the air.With the continuous loud chanting, thiswas the most electrifying and upliftingmoment of the unique worship.

The Bhasam Aarti carried on forabout seven to eight minutes. The mainpriest then took over, and did Aarti withtraditional lamps accompanied bytraditional music instruments likedamru, shinga and others. Devoteesclapped in unison with the musicmaking it a very joyful and upliftingevent. By 6 AM it was all over.

We departed after doing pranam toLord Mahakal. It was once in a life timeexperience. They say you don’t get tosee Bhasma Aarti unless Lord Mahakaldesires. May be it was His desire I couldsee this. I feel I am blessed.

Maj Gen PK Mallick, VSM is fromCorps of Signals, specialises in Cyber,

Signals Intelligence and ElectronicWarfare issues. He has been Senior

Directing Staff (Army) at NationalDefence College. He does free lance

writing, enjoys travelling, interested inMilitary History. He runs a blog site

and websitehttp:/ / strategicstudyindia.blogspot.in

and http:/ / indianstrategicknowledgeonli

ne.com for benefit of people interestedin strategic issues.

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LEISURE & LIFESTYLE


It's festive season, and here I am withsomething sweet and delicious to startyour New Year with. It is Jamie Oliver’srecipe called Dark Chocolate Pots. It isone of my most favourite desserts as it’snot just yummy but so very light on thestomach too. It is good for those partynights when you have had too much tooeat but still crave to have some dessert!

Ingredients:● Silken tofu - 2 packets (300 gm per

packet approx.)● Maple syrup - one bottle (mine was

236 ml)● Vanilla powder or paste - 1 tea spoon● Dark chocolate - 2 packets (I used

Lindt 85% cocoa)

For garnish:● Raspberries● Strawberries● Pista nuts ● Chocolate rice/ chocolate shavings● Castor sugar

Recipe:Set up a double boiler where you canmelt the dark chocolate. This is verysimple. Take a deep pan, half fill withwater and then heat. When hot, put aheat proof glass container inside thepan, making sure that the water is nothigh enough to get inside the container.Now break the chocolate into pieces and

add to the glass container to melt. Keepthe heat medium and stir the chocolateonce every few minutes. Once melted,remove the container and let thechocolate cool. To prepare the tofu, takeit out from its pack and remove excesswater by squeezing it in a muslin clothor kitchen towel. You don't need to worktoo much at this as you need onlyremove the excess liquid in it. Whendone add the tofu into a blender. Repeatthis for the second packet of tofu. Tothis, add the whole bottle of maplesyrup. Add the vanilla paste or powderand blend till you get a smooth paste.Help the process using a spatula if thetofu is stuck to the sides but make surethat the final result is a smooth paste.Check if the chocolate has cooled downsufficiently. You just don't want this toohot, a bit warm should be okay. Ifsufficiently cooled down, add themelted chocolate to the blended tofumaple syrup mix and blend again. Donote that you may need to 'help' theblender out a bit as once the chocolate isadded the mixture can get a bit thick tomove. Stop your blender and smoothout the entire contents with a spatula if

needed. Once the chocolate hascompletely blended into the tofu andmaple syrup paste, you can remove theentire contents into a bowl, from whereit will be easier to pour this into desertcups.

And now you can move on todecorating this as you like. I really like tohave some fruits added to my desserts,as this way I at least eat a few of them!And also, they make for beautifuldecoration too. I used strawberries,raspberries, pistachios and especiallyfor my chocolate loving friends Igarnished with a ferrero rocherchocolate! Just spoon the chocolate mixyou prepared into desert cups. Leavesome space on top for your chosengarnish. Dust with icing sugar for thatspecial wintry feel! You can let yourcreativity guide you so don't be shy andadd the topping you like best!

Happy New Year. Do hope you enjoythis dessert and make it past of yourholiday festivities.

Ms Aditi Pathak is based inSingapore. Widely travelled and from aServices background, cooking is one of

her many passions.

DARK CHOCOLATE POTS: CONNOISSEUR’S DELIGHT

Aditi Pathak

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MAROOF’S MUSINGS

Despite the relentless attacks on Indian soil and its citizens, sponsoredand initiated by Pakistan’s deep state for the past quarter century, therehas been an absence of an information strategy to deal with Pakistan’s

design to bleed India endlessly. Whereas the Pakistani narrative, promoted byPakistan’s military led propaganda against India has left no stone unturned toshow that the Pakistan army’s primary role is to counter India’s hegemony, Indiahas done little to address the Pakistani narrative by adopting a more aggressivecounter-information strategy to put to rest the fears created amongst Pakistanis– by the slick anti India propaganda of their army – that India is poised to undothe process of partition and absorb all of Pakistan! This argument could’ve beencountered decades ago, with the assertion that India has enough problems of itsown, for it to absorb a faction-ridden Pakistan. More recently, as the fallout at thedeath of Burhan Wani has shown, our leadership was paralysed into inaction byPak sponsored anti-India propaganda specially through social media, eventhough we boast of being an IT-knowledge super power!

Secondly, at the diplomatic level, we have been far too accommodative toPakistan’s lies and propaganda, preferring to look the other way when Pakistan’sdiplomats have been going hammer and tongs at every possible platform toshow India as the aggressor in Kashmir. Few Indians know that Pakistan’s armyhas made the Pakistani public believe that it was India that had set out to occupyall of Kashmir in 1947, and even though Pakistan intervened later, it managed totake back a third of J&K before it was forced into a cease fire! Or leading Pakistanisinto believing that 1965 was a war they had won, since India was too decent innot asserting its claims of greater gains in that conflict. And despite thehumiliating surrender of the Pakistani army in Dacca in 1971, Pakistanis havebeen made to believe that they were let down on that front by some incompetentgenerals and Bengali treachery; whereas on India’s western front in the 1971 war,Pakistan had a resounding victory (once again, with nothing to show on theground)! More recently, India’s inability to rub the nose of Pakistani generals inthe snows of the high Himalayas by remaining silent about tremendousachievements of our soldiers in Siachen, has led the Pakistani army to claim thatthey are on the glacier, when in reality they never got there in the first place. Andnow, by keeping silent about the evidence of the surgical strikes, India has missedanother opportunity to expose the limitations of the Pakistan army to the worldin general and the Pakistani people in particular.

Finally, the most pressing challenge for any Indian government has beenPakistan’s obsession to wean Kashmir away from India by using every possibletool in its possession. And Pakistan’s army has made Kashmir the corner stone ofits existence as articulated in several publications including the Pakistan army’sGreen Book. India on its part has been reluctant to expose Pakistan’swrongdoings from nurturing terror groups- which Pakistan has refused toconfront, seeing them as assets, despite the onslaught of terror attacks withinPakistan - to pushing in thousands of armed terrorists to keep Kashmir on theboil. New Delhi’s assumption that the Shimla accord is the answer to resolving allbilateral issues,even though Pakistan has long since abandoned it as the onlybasis for negotiation, has led to an Indian reluctance to name and shamePakistan for sponsoring terrorism at international forums. While one couldunderstand Congress led UPA government’s obsession to follow this line becauseMrs. Gandhi had only the Shimla Accord to show after Zulfikar Bhutto tricked herinto freeing over 90,000 POWs, it is difficult to comprehend why the BJP ledgovernment is following the same line. Only fools and those living in delusion,reinforce failures.

For more details on Maroof Raza, visit: https:/ / www.maroofraza.com.

CONFRONTPAKISTAN’SNARRATIVE

Maroof Raza


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“SALUTE” HAS PUBLISHED A NUMBER OFSPECIAL ISSUES, COMPLETELY FOCUSED ON A

THEME OR A REGIMENT

SALUTE welcomes queries for a Special Issue.For more details please email us at

[email protected] our website: https://www.salute.co.in and https://saluteindia.org

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RNI Registration: DELENG/2008/26923

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demonitisation · in this issue authors aspiring to publish their articles in salute may send by...

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