India Remains Pakistan’s biggest enemy

Congress, BJP criticise Pakistan army chief’s remarks

Indian army chief says military ready for short, swift war

Indian air force sees threat from neighbours

India hints at covert op in Pakistan

BJP leader vows to break ‘Pakistan into four pieces’    

Pakistani ‘state actors’ destabilising India: minister

Indian minister issues veiled threat to neighbours, hours after Myanmar offensive

Modi’s hostility to Pakistan

India remains Pakistan’s biggest enemy

Analysts express their views on national security | NPT holds special sitting on Defence Day
LAHORE - India is hatching conspiracies against Pakistan for the last 68 years and America and Israel are its allies but Pak Army and masses are confronting with all the challenges, defence analysts say.

During a sitting held in connection with Defence Day of Pakistan under the aegis of Nawa-i-Waqt group at Aiwan-e-Waqt yesterday, the speakers were of the view that India was still in trauma even after passage 68 years when Pakistan came into being. Immediately after the partition, India starting attacks on Pakistan. However, Pakistani nation and army retaliated in befitting manners and guarded the country’s sovereignty, they added.

Those spoke on the occasion included Lt Gen (retd) Zulfiqar Ahmad, Maj Gen (retd) Shafique Ahmad Awan, Maj Gen (retd) Zahid Bashir, Brig (retd) Yasoob Dogar, Brig (retd) Muhammad Aslam Ghuman and Maj (rted) Muhammad Afzal while Aiwan-i-Waqt in-charge Saifullah Sipra conducted the programme.

During a special lecture on “The Bright Future for the Youth in the Pak Army” at the Aiwan-i-Karkunan-i-Tehreek-i-Pakistan on Saturday, Col (retd) Z I Farrukh said the Pakistan Army is a dignified institution that places a high value on every soldier. “It is paying a rich tribute to the 1965 martyrs even after the fifty years. I feel exalted to see the new generation anxious to join the Pak Army.”
The lecture was jointly organised by the Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust and the Pakistan Movement Workers Trust.

NPT Secretary Shahid Rasheed, teachers, students and a large number of people from different walks of life attended the lecture. The proceedings of the event were conducted by Professor Latif Nizami.

Col (retd) Faruukh observed “Pak Army has demonstrated unparalleled valour and bravery. Now we are an atomic power and have the missiles that hit the target with precision. Our enemy may surpass us numerically, but the numbers hardly count.
“Narendra Modi has been brought to the forefront to flex India’s aggressive muscle. The Indian army chief has talked of a short-term war. Our civilian and military leadership have boldly called India’s bluff.”

Shahid Rasheed observed that every Pakistan was proud of their brave and valorous soldiers who have proved their worth by destroying their enemy every time it foolishly dared to attack our country. “The Pak Army is engaged not only in safeguarding the frontiers, but also in coming to the rescue of the common masses in hard times. “The enemy is afraid and perplexed, as it simply cannot defeat our invincible power of faith. Our new generation is also activated by the same spirit and considers it a matter of honour to join the Pak forces.”

At the end of the lecture, a documentary film about the achievements of the Pak Army was shown to the audience.

NPT sitting: Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust is also holding a special ceremony on this Defence Day at the Aiwan-i-Karkunan-i-Tehreek-i-Pakistan.

With NPT Chairman Rafique Tarar in the chair, speakers including vice chairman Dr Rafique Ahmad, Pakistan Movement Workers Trust chairman Col (retd) Jamshed Ahmad Tareen, Maj Gen (retd) Muhammad Javed, Brig (retd) Mumtaz Ahmad Khan, Col (retd) Salim Malik and Begum Mehnaz Rafi.

The Martyrs’ Memorial (GT Road Manawan) will be visited at 11:30 am at the end of the ceremony where a flower wreath will be laid and fateha will be offered.
The celebrations are jointly being organised by the Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust and Pakistan Movement Workers Trust.

Curtsey:The Nation, Sept 8,2015

Congress, BJP criticise Pakistan army chief’s remarks

Tags: Pakistan’s army chief General Raheel Sharif, Pak-India ties, Pak army chief, Indian army chief, BJP, Congress

• General Sharif had reportedly described Kashmir as the “unfinished agenda of the Partition” and threatened an “unbearable cost” of a “short or long” war

A wordy duel between India and Pakistan which has been spiralling ahead of the UN assembly visits of their leaders this month, witnessed another flare-up on Monday when the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress slammed Pakistan’s army chief General Raheel Sharif for his comments.
General Sharif had reportedly described Kashmir as the “unfinished agenda of the Partition” and threatened an “unbearable cost” of a “short or long” war.
He was said to be responding to Indian army chief General Dalbir Singh’s remarks to the effect that India was prepared for swift, short nature of future wars.
“Let me reiterate that our armed forces stand fully capable to defeat all sorts of external aggression,” Gen Sharif said.
The BJP and Congress criticised Gen Sharif’s remarks.
BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma reportedly called it an “empty boast” and said that his provocative comments were driven by desperation over Pakistan’s internal crisis as well as “exposure” of its role in sponsoring terrorism in India.
“If still the Pakistan Army chief wishes to daydream, it just goes to show Pakistan’s immaturity in dealing with India,” BJP leader Sidharth Nath Singh said.
Terming his remarks as “belligerent and irrational”, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the only unfinished agenda before the world was to ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a safe harbour for global terrorists.
Both countries look primed to frontally attack each other at the UN General Assembly. India will emphasise terrorism as an issue with Pakistan, while Pakistan is said to be preparing to show India’s alleged violations of the ceasefire agreement between the two countries. Pakistan is also hoping to highlight the human rights situation in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. India could counter it by pointing to the court martial and imprisonment of soldiers and officers in a fake encounter case in Machil. -Dawn
Curtsey: www.southasianmedia.net

Indian army chief says military ready for short, swift war

NEW DELHI: India is prepared to face offensive military action on its borders should the need arise, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh said here on Tuesday, adding that any future conflict was expected to be short and swift.

The Indian army chief accused Pakistan of employing “new methods to create unrest in Jammu and Kashmir”.— AFP/File
The Hindu quoted him as referring to the ceasefire violations along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir, which have put relations between India and Pakistan under a strain. This had made New Delhi aware of the need to remain prepared, General Singh said.
According to The Hindu, the general was speaking at a tri-service seminar on the 1965 Indo-Pak War. “The army chief said a very high level of operational preparedness at all times has become part of India’s strategy as there is recognition that the swift, short nature of future wars is likely to offer limited warning time,” according to the paper.
It said the comments came against the backdrop of alleged ceasefire violations by Pakistan which had put India on alert. “As we look ahead we can see that our threats and challenges become more complex. As a result the commitments of the Indian Army have increased manifold in scope and intensity in past few years. The frequent ceasefire violations and infiltration bids by our western neighbour always remain live and active,” he pointed out.
Without naming names, the army chief accused Pakistan of employing “new methods to create unrest in Jammu and Kashmir” and said the recent instances of terrorist violence are “clear pointers to extend this arc of violence to other areas”.
The Hindu recalled that General Singh’s comments followed Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif’s statement blaming India for trying to “impose war on Pakistan”. The Pakistani minister also cautioned India on Sunday that it would suffer “heavy losses” if it tries to “impose” a war on his country.
The two countries have been embroiled in a war of words over ceasefire violations, the paper said. It added that tensions between them escalated after the Gurdaspur and Udhampur terror attacks, which New Delhi asserts were carried out by Pakistani nationals.
After the cancellation of the talks between the National Security Advisers of both sides, following disagreements over the agenda for talks, both countries have accused the other of violating the ceasefire agreement that has led to loss of civilian lives as well as casualties to the defence forces.
While India claims 192 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir till July 29 this year, Islamabad has countered it by asserting that the Indian forces have committed 37 and 24 unprovoked ceasefire violations on the LoC and the Working Boundary in July and August respectively, The Hindu said.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, September 2nd, 2015

Indian air force sees threat from neighbours

NEW DELHI: India does not have territorial ambitions except to possibly reclaim land it lost to unnamed neighbours as a consequence of history, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said in Bangalore on Saturday.
Reports quoted him as speaking of Indian vulnerability because of a hostile neighbourhood left by colonial policies.

IAF chief Air Marshal Arup Raha.—AFP/File
“India has no territorial ambition, except for recovering the territories that we lost, because of the history that we had, to our neighbours,” he was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying. “So we might like to recover those. But otherwise we have no intention of any territory being occupied by us from our neighbours or otherwise,” Raha said.
Delivering the Air Chief Marshal L.M. Katre memorial lecture, he said: “But we have a hostile border, with the legacy of the British rule and the conflicts we have had in the past. So we are vulnerable in terms of our security.”
India had to have the capability not to wage war because its aim was to avoid conflict, “but to deter an adversary from launching operations against us or waging a war against us”, he said, adding that the air force could play a key role in it.
“So who is going to deter? What sort of capability do we re­quire which will give us this deterrence against our adversaries?”
Stating that there should be striking capability deep into the enemy’s heartland, Raha added it could be provided “through aerospace power, air forces of the country. That is how we can explore the vulnerabilities and criticalities of any adversary”.
“That means we have to build up our striking power which would deter an adversary from launching any offensive against the country,” he said. “To my mind that national instrument which will provide the best defence and deterrence would be in the shape of aerospace power of the nation.”
Speaking about the geopolitical environment which determines the role Indian Air Force should play in mitigating threats, Raha said, “If we take a broad scan we will realise that the strategic gravity has shifted in the recent times from the West to the East.”
Raha said that China was now asserting itself in making claims on international waters and island territories and the international airspace in South China Sea and East China Sea.
They are claiming new air defence identification zones, new areas of influence in the open ocean.
“It has got into conflicts with all its littoral neighbours. We are also having problems in terms of intrusion along the LAC (Line of Actual Control) in Leh-Ladakh sector as well as in Arunachal Pradesh.
So the situation is not very good for the environment that is there, and peaceful rise of China may remain a distant dream if the things go the way it is happening now,” he added.
Quoting from the article written by a prominent security analyst from Hong Kong, who mentions China is developing its capability to fight five important conflicts in the next 30-35 years that includes annexation of Taiwan, occupying Spratly Islands, annex south Tibet that is Arunachal Pradesh from India, get hold of Senkaku Islands from Japan and recover large territories in Russia and Mongolia, Raha said, “I hope it is not true, but there are doubts whether the rise of China is going to be peaceful or not”.
“But we have no option but to be prepared to meet such a challenge in the near future,” he added.
Raha said Afghanistan and Pakistan regions were also an issue. “We all know that Pakistan had been a fountainhead of terror though it is part of global war on terrorism, but it is also encouraging terrorist activities and today with the withdrawal of American and western forces from Afghanistan, I think the situation is going to be very, very delicate in terms of sub-conventional threats to India.”
He said “the ISIS which has grown with strength in Iraq and Syria and in the Middle East is going to be another challenge to the world”.
Published in Dawn, December 1st , 2014

India hints at covert op in Pakistan

Six Indian army officials sentenced over killing three Kashmiris after falsely terming them LeT militants

NEW DELHI - Indian Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore yesterday boasted again to conduct a covert or special operation in Pakistan to take out Dawood Ibrahim and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed.

In an interview with a private news channel, Rathore said that India could launch a special operation to net Ibrahim and Saeed as his country was always ready to ‘neutralise’ its enemies.
“Enemies of India should never think on the lines that we are not hammering out any planning about them,” he said.

Responding to a question, the minister said: “We are evolving a strategy against the accused of Mumbai attacks but it should not be talked about before it is launched.
We might talk about it after it’s over.
It depends on whether the government says it should be a covert operation or a special operation,” he said.
India has accused Saeed of masterminding the 2008 attack on its financial capital Mumbai when gunmen killed 166 people.
India also believes that Ibrahim, wanted for 1993 Mumbai bombings, was sheltering in Karachi.Pakistan denies that it shelters Ibrahim.

Answering a question, Rathore said that every available option will be used to take out the two.He said that the Indian government believed that dialogue was the best option for ironing out differences with Pakistan, but that was only possible when there was a cessation to terrorism.

Meanwhile, An Army officer of Colonel rank was among six awarded life imprisonment today in the 2010 Machil encounter case, a Northern Command-based defence spokesperson Col S D Goswami said here.
Colonel Dinesh Pathania, Captain Upendra, Havildar Devendra Kumar, Lance Naik Lakhmi, Lance Naik Arun Kumar and Rifleman Abbas Hussain were awarded life imprisonment in the 2010 case, which had sparked off widespread unrest in the Valley.

Col Goswami said the General Officer Commanding in Chief, Northern Command, Lt Gen D S Hooda, has confirmed the sentence of the Summary General Court Martial in the Machil encounter case.

The case related to the killing in 2010 of three youths-namely Shezad Ahmad, Riyaz Ahmad and Mohammad Shafi from Nadihal village of Baramulla.
On April 29 in 2010, the three were lured by two local counter-insurgency agents Bashir Ahmad Lone and Abdul Hamid and a Territorial Army jawan Abbas Hussain Shah to Kalaroos village in the Machil sector near the Line of Control.

They were promised jobs as porters and good money, but were then killed by the Army jawans of 4 Rajputana Rifles near the Sona Pindi post and dubbed as ‘Pakistani militants’ belonging to Laskar-e-Taiba.The identities of the victims were revealed a month later when their bodies were exhumed following a public outcry.

The April 2010 killings in Machil sector had sparked widespread protests in Indian-held Kashmir at the time, leading to 120 deaths in battles between demonstrators and security forces.

Hundreds were reportedly wounded in the riots while thousands of Kashmiri youth were detained as well.A case was registered by the local police against nine Indian army personnel and two local residents, who had claimed that three ‘Pakistani terrorists’ were killed in the encounter.

A probe into the incident had later proved that the three Kashmiri labourers (Shahzad Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Shafi Lone, Riyaz Ahmad Lone) were lured with promises of jobs and taken to the border where they were killed in a fake encounter in the Machil area of northern Kashmir’s Kupwara district near the Line of Control (LoC).

The Indian army had subsequently ordered a general court martial that found the six army personnel guilty of charge.The Army probe was set up following a notice issued by the Sopore Chief Judicial Magistrate based on a charge sheet filed by local police against 11 people including nine Army officials and two civilians.
Curtsey:The Nation September 08, 2015,

BJP leader vows to break ‘Pakistan into four pieces’    

New Delhi: Following Pakistani troops' firing in Poonch, Kashmir, using rocket propelled grenades and mortars, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy today said that India would never want to declare a war against Pakistan.
 He also said that if Pakistan desires war, India is ready for it. This time we will break Pakistan into 4 pieces, says Subramanian Swamy. "
Pakistan has no power. It is frustrated and weak. Their civilian government is useless. It's a dummy government. If the military wants a war, we are ready, but we are not going to declare a war," Swamy told ANI. Advertisement
"We have always been a country which has never gone to war with anybody, unless the war is forced on us," he added. As per a Hindi daily, Bhaskar, Subramanian Swamy said.
 "India would never declare war on Pakistan, but if Pak military wants it, we are ready for it." "Pakistan government is useless, lacks confidence and frustrated. India is confident. We already ripped them into two last time, next time we will break them into four pieces," Swamy further said as per the daily.
Courtesy One India, September 08, 2015

Pakistani ‘state actors’ destabilising India: minister
NEW DELHI: India’s home affairs minister on Saturday accused Pakistani “state actors” of attempting to destabilise his country.

India's Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh. - AFP/file
Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh alleged at a security conference in India’s northeast that Pakistan was still supporting militants fighting Indian troops in Kashmir.
Mr Singh pointed to a guerilla attack earlier this week on an army patrol in India-held Kashmir in which at least 10 people were killed.
“It is unfortunate Pakistan does not mend its ways,” he said, singling out Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence as one of the “state actors” seeking to disturb India’s security.
“I do not hesitate in saying Pakistani state actors have a role in destabilising India,” Mr Singh said and repeated a longstanding demand that Pakistan rein in militants.
Mr Singh’s remarks come on the heels of the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit held earlier this week in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu that was reportedly overshadowed by India-Pakistan rivalry and ended with little progress towards regional integration.
Since 1989 about a dozen Kashmiri groups, seeking independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan, have been fighting Indian troops — a battle that has left tens of thousands of people dead, most of them civilians.
Mr Singh also voiced concern about Indian young people joining the Islamic State (previously known as Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham or ISIS)) militant group as investigators interrogated a 23-year-old Mumbai resident who returned home on Friday from the Middle East.
The man is believed to have spent nearly six months fighting for the Islamic State, according to Indian police.
“Even though ISIS was born in Iraq and Syria, the Indian subcontinent cannot stay untouched by it – we need to be aware of that reality,” Mr Singh said.
“A few Indian youth are getting swayed towards it (ISIS), which is a matter of concern,” he said. India was ready to deal with such security challenges, he added.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, November 30th , 2014

Indian minister issues veiled threat to neighbours, hours after Myanmar offensive

Hours after Indian forces carried out an operation against militants in its northeastern neighbour Myanmar, an Indian minister threatened that the offensive was also 'a message for Pakistan', which lies on its western border.

India "will strike at a place and at a time of our choosing" against all countries, including Pakistan, and groups harbouring “terror intent”, Indian media quoted the minister as saying.

The comments by Indian Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore followed an operation by Indian forces against alleged militant camps inside Myanmar.

Senior army officer Ranbir Singh said the operation "inflicted significant casualties" on the Indian rebels. He said the Indian army "engaged two separate groups of insurgents" in the mountainous forests close to the border with Myanmar.

The offensive came a week after the killing of 20 soldiers in an ambush on a troop convoy in north-east India near the border with Myanmar.

Rathore, a former army officer, said the operation deep inside Myanmar was carried out following “a bold decision” by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Indian Army strikes into the heart of militants. A fitting reply to the enemies of the country. Efficient leadership, strong government," he said in a separate tweet in Hindi.

The veiled threat comes days after PM Modi issued statements acknowledged India's interference in the 1971 war.

Curtsey:The News, June 10, 2015

Modi’s hostility to Pakistan
By Talat Masood

The writer is a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army and served as chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board
Once again, India-Pakistan relations are passing through testing times. The Line of Control (LoC), but more significantly, the Working Boundary, has become extremely volatile with highly belligerent statements being directed against Pakistan by the top leadership of the BJP and the Indian army chief. Pakistan’s response has been relatively far more temperate both, at the military and political levels. What really are the triggers that are driving India towards this brinkmanship, especially when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has sincerely made solid gestures for normalisation and has promised a new beginning, despite strong opposition from the traditional army-dominated establishment.
Most pundits attribute this aggressive Indian posture towards Pakistan to several factors that relate to Indian political dynamic, its growing international clout and Pakistan’s current weaknesses. It is widely believed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up anti-Pakistan rhetoric to make gains at the recently held state elections. His belligerent posture against Pakistan and his Hindu nationalist roots, along with his positive image as a performer, did help the BJP to sweep polls in Maharashtra and Harayana states that previously were the strongholds of the Congress. For Modi, the BJP’s victory in the forthcoming state elections in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is considered crucial for realising his highly controversial plan of doing away with Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gives a special status to the state. Any change in the constitutional status of J&K will have far-reaching repercussions for the people of the state and further adversely impact India-Pakistan relations. It will also demonstrate India’s arbitrary and hegemonic attitude and trigger a fresh wave of resistance in the Valley.
The warm reception that was accorded to Prime Minister Modi in the US and other world capitals, after the BJP’s convincing victory in the national elections, has further inflated his arrogance. The BJP leadership is also emboldened by Pakistan’s present political instability and internal weakness. Perhaps, in Modi’s assessment, if he were to behave normally towards Pakistan, the world would take a kinder view of it and will be a counter to his policy of isolating Pakistan.
Intensity of border violations, however, is likely to subside in the coming weeks as this is a short-term tactic and would be counterproductive if pursued over a prolonged period. Modi’s ambition of putting India into the big league can only materialise if it is at peace with its neighbours and is internally stable. Increased tension and escalating violence in a nuclear environment would keep investment away and consequently, affect economic growth and reflect poorly on India’s ability to deal with its neighbours.
We have recent examples when mounting tension brought armed forces of India and Pakistan eyeball-to-eyeball and then they were withdrawn without any gains. It also led to foreign investment shying away and raising alarm of a conventional war that could escalate into a nuclear confrontation. During the 2002 general mobilisation, Pakistan’s unambiguous warning that it will not hesitate using its strategic weapons if it were conventionally overrun did have a sobering effect and resulted in the pullback of military forces to peace locations.
The Indian allegation that Pakistan is responsible for the current border skirmishes and has initiated them and that it is only retaliating with greater intensity and firepower does not stand to close scrutiny. At a time when Pakistan’s armed forces are stretched to their limit in fighting an existential threat of insurgency, is engaged in rehabilitation of the IDPs and flood-affected people, and have a bulk of armed forces deployed on the eastern front, it is not logical to ignite tensions and further stretch their resources. Moreover, with the highly elaborate defensive network in place on the Indian side of the Working Boundary and the LoC — electrified fencing, aggressive patrolling, satellite coverage, etc., it seems so illogical that these could be penetrated so easily. Equally intriguing is the disregard on the part of the Indian military in invoking the established confidence-building measures (CBM). In case of border violations, there is an agreed procedure that is supposed to be followed irrespective of who fired the first round. Local commanders are expected to inform their counterparts regarding incoming fire so that the situation is quickly brought under control and if firing fails to cease, flag meetings should be sought and if that also does not work, then the DGMOs’ hot line should be activated. Both countries blame each other for not responding to any of these CBMs. The Pakistan Army blames India for deliberately flouting the CBMs as a part of its current policy. Frequent volatility on the LoC and the Working Boundary is symptomatic of the deeper grievances and the unfortunate history that the two countries share and are unable to shed for a better future.
Pakistan’s frustrations are embedded in India’s intransigence over solving the Kashmir problem politically, its continued suppression of the Kashmiri people and its overall hegemonic behaviour. For India, Pakistan’s support of militants is unacceptable and responds forcefully to it politically, diplomatically and by activating the border. Modi should, however, know that deep political alienation cannot be addressed through administrative measures like abrogation of Article 370 and the autonomous status of the state. Kashmir is truly a thorn in the throat of India, no matter what draconian measures it takes to suppress them. Perhaps, the Indian leadership does not realise that the younger generation of Kashmiris born after 1990 has only experienced suffering and refuses to accept Indian dominance. So, it is a long-term problem that will not go away by arbitrary administrative measures. Pakistan should stop support to any militants, if any, because the post-1990 generation will not accept any Indian control and our involvement will only weaken its case politically.
If India-Pakistan tensions continue, these would influence their policies in Afghanistan, with serious impact on the overall stability of the region.
Unless Modi abandons his belligerent policy, no progress seems possible. The Pakistani leadership cannot continue to keep knocking at a closed door. It is regrettable that South Asia is already the most disconnected region in the world and current Indian policies are further pulling it apart.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2014.