Junior Digest

Pak army chief visits LoC after surgical strike

Islamabad : Pakistan’s army chief General Raheel Sharif visited the Line of Control for the first time since the surgical strike conducted by Indian troops across the LoC and expressed satisfaction over operational preparedness of the military.

The Pakistan Army said in a statement that Sharif visited the Haji Pir sector and interacted with troops deployed there.

He was also given a detailed briefing by the local formation commander on operational preparedness of the units and formation of the troops, the statement added.

“The army chief expressed his complete satisfaction over high state of morale, operational preparedness and vigil being maintained by Pakistan Army personnel along the LoC,” the army said.

Sharif’s visit comes over a week after Indian army chief General Dalbir Singh visited the Northern and Western Commands to review India’s operational preparedness along the border with Pakistan in the wake of heightened tension between the two countries following the surgical strike at terror camps across the LoC.

Indian troops launched the surgical strike on September 29 following the deadly Uri attack on September 18 in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed in the brazen assault launched by four Pakistani terrorists who were also eliminated in the counteroffensive by the army.

Pakistan has denied the surgical strike by India but has claimed two of its soldiers were killed in alleged ceasefire violations along the LoC by Indian troops.

Surgical strikes : Army hands over clips to government

New Delhi, Oct 5 : The Army has handed over to the government video clips of the cross-LoC surgical strikes as per laid down procedure, Union Minister Hansraj Ahir said today, amid a growing chorus that evidence of the operation on terror launch pads in PoK be made public.

Ahir, the Minister of State for Home, said there is a process for putting such issues in perspective which was duly followed by the Army as well as the government.

Separately, Kiren Rijiju, also a MoS for Home, said everyone should have faith in the government and allow the Army to take its own call.

“The laid down procedure has been followed. The DGMO briefed (about the surgical strikes). It was not the Defence Minister nor the Prime Minister and not the Home Minister. It was the DGMO who briefed (the media). That was the right thing to do and they (Army) did it.

“There was a time when written documents were submitted.

Now the times have changed. Now clips are given and the clips have been given,” Ahir told reporters.

The statements by Ahir and Rijiju came amid demands that government release the footage of Army’s recent surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

“Have faith in the government and leave it to the Army,” Rijiju told reporters here when asked about the demand for release of proof of the surgical strikes by the Army.

A political slugfest erupted yesterday over the surgical strikes with Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam calling it “fake”, provoking stinging criticism from BJP even as his own party said it “totally dissociates” from his remarks.

As the government mulled options on the issue of release of the video footage of the surgical strikes, a debate raged with BJP leader Subramanian Swamy favouring putting out an edited version of the video on the operation while most experts spoke against it.

Rejecting the demand, the BJP attacked some Congress leaders and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal for raising questions over the strikes and accused them of giving a handle to Pakistan to advance its false propaganda.

The Congress, on its part, insisted that it never questioned the authenticity of the strikes but steered clear of the demand, including from within its own ranks, for the release of evidence, saying it would give appropriate advise in the best interest of national security if consulted by the government.

Swamy, a Rajya Sabha member, said anybody questioning the operation should prove prima facie evidence to support his allegation but added that an video should be released following a newspaper report today that gave details of the operation.

“I think they should edit the video of the logistics value of it and show the other part, showing explosions, the dead body… they have got in the video. So all these parts can be released,” he said.

Former army chief Gen V P Malik slammed those questioning the credibility of the strikes saying, “The video should not be released just because some stupid people have sought so.”

He told PTI it was “utter nonsense” that people are asking the army to prove the operation and wondered what is wrong with the political class.

Army’s surgical strikes along LoC destroy 7 terror launch pads

In response to the recent Uri attack that killed 18 soldiers, the Indian Army on Wednesday night conducted surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) on terror launch pads, said Director General of Military Operations (DGMO).

Addressing a joint press conference with External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup on Thursday, DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said, “Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads on the LoC. Heavy damages have been caused to terrorists and many of them have been killed.”

Adding that India had also shared details of the surgical strikes with Pakistan Army and expected them to cooperate in the fight against terror, he said, “The motive of this operation was to hit out at the terrorists who were planning to infiltrate into our territory.”

Going into details about the strike, Singh said that there were no Indian casualties during strikes, adding, “Indian armed forces are ready for any contingency, but no plans as of now for further operations,” DGMO said.

“We can’t allow terrorists to operate across the LoC, there has been a surge in infiltration. It has been a matter of serious concern that there have been many infiltration bids by terrorists at LoC. Despite our persistent urging to Pakistan to not allow territory under its control to not be used for terrorist activities nothing was done,” DGMO Singh said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday also chaired a cabinet committee meeting on security on the situation along Line on Control.

The meeting took place after Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire twice along the LoC in last 24 hours.

Uri attack: Terrorists came from Pir Chana Sai training camp

New Delhi, Sept 28 : Four terrorists, who carried out attack on an Army base in Uri, are suspected to have come from a militant training camp located at a place called Pir Chana Sai in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

During interrogation, two persons who were arrested for allegedly helping the four terrorists as “guides” said that they had started their journey from Pir Chana Sai in Gyarahbad in PoK where the militants have a training camp, official sources said.

The two–Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsaan Khursheed–both residents of Muzaffarabad in PoK, were produced before a designated court in Jammu which remanded them to NIA’s custody.

They have since been brought to the national capital where they would be interrogated by a joint team of officials of various security agencies besides being subjected to scientific tests.

It is claimed that during their preliminary interrogation, they have admitted to facilitating infiltration by a group of four JeM militants who carried out the Uri attack.

Pak is ‘terrorist state’, carries out war crimes : India to UN

United Nations, Sep 22 : India today called Pakistan a “terrorist state” and accused it of carrying out “war crimes” against Indians through its “long-standing policy” of sponsoring terrorism, hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raked up Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly session.

In a strong rebuttal, India said the terrorists designated by the UN continued to roam Pakistan’s streets freely and operate with State support.

Exercising India’s Right of Reply to Sharif’s “long tirade” about the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Eenam Gambhir said “the worst violation of human rights is terrorism.”

“When practised as an instrument of state policy it is a war crime. What my country and our other neighbours are facing today is Pakistan’s long-standing policy of sponsoring terrorism, the consequences of which have spread well beyond our region,” she said.

Gambhir said India sees in Pakistan “a terrorist state” which channelises billions of dollars, much of it diverted from international aid, to training, financing and supporting terrorist groups as militant proxies against it neighbours.

In a reference to JeM chief Masood Azhar and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, she said terrorist entities and their leaders, including many designated by the UN, continue to roam the streets of Pakistan freely and operate with State’s support.

“With the approval of authorities, many terrorist organisations raise funds openly in flagrant violation of Pakistan’s international obligations,” Gambhir said.

She said while Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation record is marked by “deception and deceit,” it talks about restraint, renunciation and peace.

“Similar false promises it has made to us – the international community on terrorism. Perhaps renunciation of lies and self-restraint on threats could be a good place for Pakistan to start,” Gambhir said.

India also strongly slammed Sharif for glorifying Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani, who was killed on July 8 by the Indian forces.

“Even today we have heard support by the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a self-acknowledged commander of a known terrorist organisation,” she said.

Gambhir said Pakistan was a democracy deficit country and practises terrorism on its own people.

“It extends support to extremist groups, it suppresses minorities and women and denies basic human rights including through draconian laws,” she added

Another jawan dies; Uri attack toll rises to 18

New Delhi, Sep 19 : Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan, who was airlifted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital here after being critically injured in the Uri attack, succumbed to injuries today, raising the toll in the terror strike to 18.

Two other critically injured soldiers have also been airlifted to the military hospital here.

Seventeen soldiers were yesterday killed in the attack, while about 23 others were injured.

Of the 17 killed yesterday, eight were from the administrative section which included seven cooks.

Uri, a small town located 103km north of Srinagar, woke up to heavy gunfire yesterday when four terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed group entered the battalion headquarters of 10 Dogra regiment and killed 17 soldiers. All the four terrorists were eliminated.

After Ladakh sector, Chinese troops came 45 km inside Indian territory in a remote area of Arunachal Pradesh earlier this month and built shelters to claim that the territory belonged to them, according to reports from the area.

Initial reports from Anjaw district said more than 40 Chinese troops set up a temporary shelter at ‘Plum post’, an area 45 km inside the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the district earlier this month. Official sources said today that the incursion was, however, detected by a joint patrol of ITBP and army on September nine after which a required banner drill was conducted.

However, the Chinese troops were reluctant to leave the place and claimed that the territory belonged to them, the sources said. The ‘Plum post’ has witnessed frequent incursion bids by the Chinese troops every year at least two to three times but it was for the first time that they entered into this area, the sources said. Some of the Chinese troops left on September 13 and the others after India and China held a Flag meeting on September 14 on the Chinese side, the sources said.

In a bid to end the repeated incursions from the Chinese side in this area, the two sides would be meeting again on October one. Chinese troops have to travel through dense forests to reach ‘Plum post’ while Indian troops have a jeep track in larger areas and after have to trek some distance to reach this post, the sources said. The Chinese troops had earlier entered into Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh but were pushed back.

Junior Digest

Pak army chief visits LoC after surgical strike

Surgical strikes : Army hands over clips to government

Army’s surgical strikes along LoC destroy 7 terror launch pads

Uri attack: Terrorists came from Pir Chana Sai training camp

Pak is ‘terrorist state’, carries out war crimes : India to UN

Another jawan dies; Uri attack toll rises to 18

India, Russia may ink pact to make Kamov choppers

India, Russia to sign Rs 39,000 cr deal for S-400 air defence missile systems

No territorial violation because PoK is India’s : Rathore

Chinese troops entered 45 km inside Aruanchal Pradesh earlier this month

In a first, Pakistan and Russia military to hold joint drills

Uri : 2 infiltration bids in Kashmir foiled ;10 terrorists and a jawan were killed

Russian troops arrive in Pakistan for first-ever joint military exercise

Something may have gone wrong in Uri : Manohar Parrikar

India-China ties ‘complicated’ but not a ‘zero sum game’ : Jaishankar

Three-day encounter in Poonch ends, 4 terrorists killed

Nawaz Sharif raised the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly

17 soldiers killed in terror attack in Uri

Scorpene leak: Data was divulged in DCNS’ France office : Navy chief

Surgical strikes Modi’s first action worthy of stature as PM : Rahul Gandhi

Sino-India ties under stress, need recalibration : Shivshankar Menon

India, France ink deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets

Indian Navy’s guided missile destroyer to be launched on Sept 17