Indian Army: News and Discussion

[bhramos]

Countdown to army chief’s retirement begins | Northern Voices Online: NVO News Blog

 

[bhramos]

Army chief to attend `Northeast Trilogy' book release ceremony, IBN Live News

 

[bhramos]

Golden Arrow division, Army organizes medical camp in Jalandhar | www.punjabnewsline.com

 

[bhramos]

KXIP support Indian Army's initiative Sadhbavna | Indian Sports News

 

[bhramos]

Five militants killed by Army in Kashmir

 

[kaustav2001]

A very sad day indeed -
Army officers, jawans battle it out in Ladakh - The Times of India

Worse this was involving a \n Arty Regiment. The article also states that the entire artillery unit of around 550 soldiers will "eventually be disbanded" after the court of inquiry ordered into the incident establishes the chain of events and identifies the guilty. Wonder what this does to our defense preparedness along the China border considering Arty is already an "Achilles heel" of the IA.

 

[agentperry]

^ well im watching interviews of many retd army men since yesterday and they all echoed the same thing. disband entire unit on a serious account of bringing bad name to Indian army. i think the officers and jawans will face serious punishments and they would be debarred from any sort of military honor or facility. they might get sacked without any recognition for serving nation at high altitude of leh.
defence prepardness wont get a hit when a disciplined unit is there to protect the nation, but will get a blow when indisciplined army is there who just fight to level of mutiny

 

[hitesh]

Six terrorists killed in Kashmir gunfight
Six terrorists killed in Kashmir gunfight - www.daily.bhaskar.com

 

[kaustav2001]

Well more skeletons tumbling out of BEML closet -

BEML over-charged for spares too: Army sources - The Times of India

The supply of Armoured Recovery Vehicle (ARV) WZT-3 to the Indian Army by BEML suffers from similar issues, including steep prices for spare parts and lack of efforts to indigenize the vehicle.
A detailed assessment shows that BEML has been charging the Army exorbitant rates for spare parts for the vehicle. The BEML offer is sometimes 20 to 30 times more than the estimated rates based on pervious receipts. For example, 'non-return valve', for which the estimated rate is Rs 1,608.81, was supplied by BEML at Rs 39,550 in 2008-09. The 'small bolts for track links', of which the estimated rate was Rs 424.70, was sold by BEML at Rs 15,480 in the same year. A mere 'nut in the set', estimated to cost Rs 192.08, was sold at Rs 5,505.
BEML also failed to indigenize the vehicle significantly, leading to almost complete dependence on the Polish supplier.
Army sources said the "exorbitant rates" for spare parts was going to cause serious problems because the overhaul of these ARVs is becoming due..

 

[agentperry]

^ they have tender for each and every thing so why not issue tender in advance for spares and all. give some preference to original supplier but dont give in blindly to it. the money is going from army to beml which is again a govt entity take away actual defence expenditure of the nation to its revenue. if they dont want to spend much then dont allocate why use such tricks to put the blame of obsolesce on army

 

[kaustav2001]

^ they have tender for each and every thing so why not issue tender in advance for spares and all. give some preference to original supplier but dont give in blindly to it. the money is going from army to beml which is again a govt entity take away actual defence expenditure of the nation to its revenue. if they dont want to spend much then dont allocate why use such tricks to put the blame of obsolesce on army

Yes quite incredible isn't it. From what I feel probably some ppl. like Tejinder Singh along with connivance of BEML officials let such deals happen & go-on. It's not that the customer doesn't know that they are being taken for a ride, it's just that these reports seem to have been swept under the carpet & are now again seeing the light of the day thanks to the BEML controversy. I think BEML deserves a firm rap on it's knuckles for the present fiascos & the MOD should fully investigate the connivance of BEML management, not only that the Govt. should clearly lay down the rules & maintain a strict vigil for PSU's who are competing for contracts/ supplying equipment to the Army/ Defense forces.
This rot is probably on account of the sheer monopoly that BEML enjoyed here.. one more reason for opening the doors to Private players.

 

[bhramos]

7,099 Army men sent in UN peacekeeping missions

 

[bhramos]

No plan to withdraw troops, says India - The Economic Times

 

[bhramos]

`India can respond to any misadventure by Pak`

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Tough task ahead for the new COAS

General V K Singh, who will be retiring as the chief of the army staff on May 31,2012, will go down in history as a highly competent General, who did not deserve to be the head of the proud Indian Army [ Images ] despite his excellent record in the battle-field against our adversaries, writes B Raman

He proved during the last months of his tenure that to command the Indian Army, one's professional qualities and battle-field achievements alone are not sufficient. One requires leadership qualities like firmness in man management combined with fairness to subordinates and colleagues, discretion, an ability to win the respect of the colleagues and establish an atmosphere of trust with the political leadership.

India has been a successful democracy. Its success has been due to not only its voters and its electoral system, but also to the responsible behaviour of the heads of its institutional pillars. Our Army has always been one of the important institutional pillars of our nation and democracy.

In our 65 years of history as an independent nation, we have had instances of honest differences of opinion between the COAS and the political leadership and between the COAS and his senior colleagues.

They were handled in a way as they ought to be handled in a sensitive institution like the army -- with a sense of balance, with mutual respect despite the differences, with discretion and away from the glare of publicity. We, the people, became aware of such instances long after the COAS concerned had gone into superannuation.

It went to the credit of those chiefs that they saw to it that their differences did not damage the trust of the political leadership and the public in our proud Army. An army marches on its pride and its image in the eyes of the public.

If the pride and the image are damaged, even the best of weapons and training will be of little avail in maintaining the battle-hardiness of the army.

In his last months as the chief, Singh played to the gallery and exhibited in public a viciousness towards some of his senior colleagues, the like of which will not do credit to any institution, particularly the army.

We have had instances of viciousness in leadership in other institutions of the government dealing with national security, but such viciousness was never exhibited in public and did not make the institutions the laughing stock of the public.

Firmness and fairness in man management is the most important quality the heads of the Armed Forces should have. The esprit de corps, which keeps them fighting fit all the time and under all circumstances, depends on those qualities.

Gen Singh showed himself to be lacking in those qualities. The Indian Army, that has never been accused or suspected of factionalism, became a breeding ground of factionalism. The relationship of mutual trust and mutual respect between the political and military leadership which has been the bedrock of our successful democracy stands eroded.

Over the years, there has been a demand from strategic analysts in the country for giving our Armed Forces a greater role in decision and policy making in national security matters on par with practices in Western democracies. The government of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh [ Images ] had initiated a major exercise to see how this can be done.

Any decision to give the Armed Forces a greater role in decision and policy-making in defence and national security related matters has to be that of the political leadership. It would depend on its confidence in the sense of balance, discretion and responsibility of the military leadership.

That confidence is likely to have been eroded by the way Gen Singh conducted himself in his sunset months as the COAS. A major casualty of his behaviour could be the exercise to associate the military leadership with policy and decision making in an increasing measure.

The last months of Gen Singh as the COAS were a bad dream for the country. It is hoped that his successor will repair the damage quickly and make the Army once again one of the important institutional pillars of our democracy and re-establish its esprit de corps.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

 

[bhramos]

Army worried over NATO's early pullout from Afghanistan

As the date for the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan is being scheduled ahead of the December 2014 deadline, the pressure on the Indian Army is on the rise.

So, it has worked out a strategy to deal with the worst-case scenario of the militants making more bids to cross the Line of Control.

The thinking is that militant outfits operating in Afghanistan at the behest of Pakistan will be diverted to Kashmir. This had happened earlier in 1989 when Russian troops moved out of that country. Funds were directed towards Kashmir to foment militancy which, till date, has left 50,000 dead.

Pakistan's intentions on Kashmir are "unchanged", argue senior Army commanders. It would send into Kashmir the militants who are not needed in Afghanistan after the NATO withdrawal.

"Pakistan has the capability to do that," a senior Army officer, who cannot be named under the defence rules of reporting, told The Tribune.

"This matter has been discussed at all levels in the Army. This was one of the reasons for the Army's objection to the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act," the officer said.

The ball for the early withdrawal of NATO forces was set rolling by French President Francois Hollande, who during his visit to Afghanistan this week, declared that French troops would be back home this year - two years ahead of schedule.

The Indian Army's worries are also rooted in the "poor training" of the Afghan national army."Though they have flashy weapons, their level of training is not up to the mark and they are no match for the Taliban and other groups there," the Army officer said.

On the anti-infiltration grid, he said that infiltration bids cannot be brought to zero despite the high level of vigil along the 742-km-long Line of Control between India and Pakistan. "There is no human chain at the LoC and it cannot be formed in the future either," the officer said.

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News

 

[bhramos]

Army Chief ratifies order to dismiss Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash - India News - IBNLive

 

[bhramos]

Army is in a much better state today: General VK Singh - India News - IBNLive

 

[bhramos]

Discovery Channel joins hands with Indian Army « Best Media Info, News and Analysis on Indian Advertising, Marketing and Media Industry.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Indian Army's unpaid spy dies in oblivion
British-born Sydney Wignall discovered the secrets of China's expansion across Tibet to the borders of India and Nepal

India never forgets its enemies, but sometimes has difficulty remembering its friends like the recently deceased British mountaineer who risked his life to gather information about China's military build-up in the Himalayas.

Sadly, New Delhi has ignored the death of Cheshire-born Sydney Wignall who died a few weeks ago in the UK at the age of 89. A British-born hero and unpaid spy of the Indian Army, he used both brains and brawn to discover the secrets of China's expansion across Tibet to the borders of India and Nepal.

Wignall suffered frost bite, dysentery and regular beatings at the hands of Chinese army guards during his two-month incarceration in a rat-infested prison in Tibet. After his release, he received profuse thanks from his Indian Army contacts for the valuable data he obtained. But the only 'reward' he claimed and obtained was a supply of cricket bats and balls for the children of a Nepalese village school that he visited on his way to Tibet.

In 1955, seven years before the Indian Army's disastrous rout at the hands of Chinese forces, Cheshire-born Sydney Wignall was inspired to lead a Welsh Himalayan Expedition to try and climb the 25,355-foot-high Gurla Mandhata peak in Western Tibet.

Sponsored by the Liverpool Daily Post newspaper and Life magazine, the ostensible objective of the team was to place the flags of Wales and the Chinese Republic on the Gurla Mandhata summit.

Unbeknown to his fellow climbers, however, Wignall had also agreed to gather information for the Indian Army intelligence worried about China's secret military build up in what was then the autonomous region of Tibet.

Although he and his fellow climber John Harrop, together with their Nepalese liaison officer Damodar Narayan Suwal, were captured soon after they crossed the ill-defined Nepalese border, the information that Wignall collected was the equivalent of intelligence gold dust.

It was gratefully received and analysed by his Indian Army contact, Lieut-Col 'Baij' Mehta, who was later killed during the Chinese invasion of Arunachel Pradesh in 1962. It was passed on to an equally grateful Gen KS Thimayya, who later became India's Chief of Army Staff. He tried and failed to persuade Jawaharlal Nehru of China's aggressive intentions.

Tellingly, Wignall subsequently had little time for Indian politicians, especially Krishna Menon, who allowed their communist sympathies to blind them to Beijing's aim of dominating South Asia.

Wignall had met Menon many years earlier in London in 1940, seven years before Independence, when India's future defence minister and other fellow left-wing activists toed the Soviet Union's then policy of avoiding confrontation with Adolph Hitler. Menon called 18-year-old Wignall 'impertinent' and Wignall formed the impression that Menon was 'vain, arrogant and conceited." He called him 'A thoroughly detestable man.'

Wignall's Indian heroes were the likes of Gen Thimayya, Col Mehta and Brig John Dalvi, who, in 1962, had only 2,700 soldiers under his command to resist a Chinese division of 12,000 that swept down on him from the Thagla Ridge in what was then known as the North East Frontier Agency or NEFA.

Brigadier Dalvi's 7th Brigade, which ran out of ammunition, suffered 90 per cent casualties. Those who survived the immediate onslaught died overnight because they had not been supplied with adequate tents, sleeping bags or warm winter clothing. Brigadier Dalvi himself was captured and tortured. A broken man when he was released, he died a few years later much before his time.

It was while he was preparing for his Himalayan expedition in 1955 that Wignall made contact with a retired Indian Army officer, one Lieut-Col Toby Tobin, who was then the vice-president of the Himalayan Club and editor of the Himalayan Journal. Tobin told him, "You might be able to do some friends a favour" before introducing him to a contact called 'Singh' at the Indian High Commission in London.

What followed thereafter was like something out of a John Buchan novel. Singh briefed Wignall about the bellicose statements that some Chinese generals had been making about territorial claims to large parts of Northern India, Nepal, Sikkim and Burma. For that reason the Indian military authorities were interested in rumours of China's intention of building a military highway in west Tibet, close to the sacred lake of Mansarowar.

"You happen to be the only one visiting what to us is the most sensitive area in the whole border region," Singh explained. "From a vantage point on the north-west ridge of Gurla Mandhata you would be able to see, with a telescope, any sign of a military encampment in that area, and you could look for evidence of the building of that military highway to west Tibet."

Supplied with maps provided by the British War office, Wignall and his team soon embarked on their 6,500-mile trip from London to the borders of India, Nepal and Tibet. Within days of crossing into Tibet from the Khatang Pass, however, the three lead members of the team were arrested for illegally crossing into Chinese territory.

For the next two months they were held in freezing, rat-infested rooms and interrogated by a team led by Gen Chang Kuo-hua, the military commander of Tibet. These were hard-line party supporters, very different from the likes of 21st century Chinese communist VIPS like millionaire Bo Xilai who had his son Bo Guagua educated at Harrow, Oxford and Harvard.

General Chang was made of much sterner stuff. His minions beat up and abused the British mountaineers, subjecting them to mock executions and telling them, "You intended disguising your illegal armed invasion of China so that the Tibetans would not know you are agents of a foreign power, Western Fascist Lackey Imperial Running Dogs."

Wignall himself was told, "Sign the confession that you are a Western Fascist Lackey Imperialist Running Dog of the American CIA and we will be very good to you. Otherwise you will be severely punished."

Although they were under close surveillance during their captivity, Wignall and his friends were able to extract vital information, both from their interrogators and from some of the more friendly guards.

In what was then the pre-satellite age, Wignall managed to accurately estimate the strength of the secret Chinese army base at Jitkot, 17 miles from Tklakot close to the Nepal border. More importantly he was able to gauge that China's strategic highway from Lhasa would reach Tklakot within the next two years. And from General Chang he heard how Beijing laid claim to India's Aksai Chin and NEFA regions, as well as parts of Nepal, Kashmir, all of Sikkim, all of Bhutan and parts of northern Burma.

Much of what Wignall discovered was confirmed and reconfirmed before, during and after the 1962 Chinese invasion of India. He himself neither asked for, nor was given any form of compensation by the authorities in India.

Wignall did brief members of the British Foreign Office about his adventures when he returned to London, but his main satisfaction was extracted from the belief that he had taken high risks for the right reasons. In later years he became an underwater archaeologist, uncovering wrecks in British, Portugese and Panamanian waters. A handful of Indians may still remember both his affection for the country and his perilous exploits in the Himalayas. For them he remains a much-loved friend of Mother India.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

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