Indian Spy Arrested From Lahore

Intelligence agencies have arrested an Indian spy from Lahore on Tuesday.

According to media reports, Ilyas alias Pervaiz was arrested from the provincial capital. The reports further added that the man belonged to India’s primary intelligence agency - Research and Analysis Wing – and was an officer in Punjab police's VVIP service unit.

The accused confessed before police that he had visited India seven times. He had got leave from police department on pretext of medical compulsion. Maps of many sensitive installations have been also recovered from the accused.

Officials have taken the Ilyas into custody and more investigation into the incident is underway. Pakistan has said repeatedly that India is involved in carrying out anti-state against it. Indian involvement in Pakistan is no secret now. Two months back, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi gave a victory speech in Bangladesh and confessed that Indian Army was involved in the entire East Pakistan episode of 1971. Previously, India always denied any role in secession of East Pakistan.

Latest development clear indicates that RAW's involvement in Pakistan has reached to a whole new level and now it is penetrating into civilian law enforcement agencies like Police.   

Increasing Accidents of Mi-17: Pakistan Army Needs a New Workhorse?

By Shahzad Masood Roomi

Mi-17 helicopters have been backbone of Pakistan Army Aviation (PAA) since many years now. These machines have played a remarkable role in ongoing counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations. During natural calamities like floods and earthquakes these are priority option of Pakistan Army for search and rescue operations. 

But due to this workload of every kind, the fleet of PAA's Mi-17s is rusting fast and the accidents are on the rise. On 6th August, PAA suffered second major accident involving Mi-17 killing all 12 on board including pilots and paramedical team of Pakistan Army near Mansehra, in KPK province.

Earlier, on 8th May 2015, 8 people were killed  in an Mi-17 crash in Naltar in District Gilgit, including the ambassadors of Norway and the Philippines, as well as the spouses of the Indonesian and Malaysian ambassadors to Pakistan.

Apart from these two incidents, scores of troops have lost their lives.

On 3rd July 2006, in a terrible accident of Mi-17 crash, 26 Pakistan Army soldiers were killed.

On 11th July 2012, A Pakistan Army Mi-17 crashed in Sarkdu in which left 5 dead and 3 injured. Major Shoaib was injured in the incident and lost his life next day due to heavy burns on his body. 

Maj Shoaib Shaheed - Sakrdu 2012

It is evident that Pakistani Mi-17 have become older and rusty due to excessive operations during the last 10 years and Pakistan Army needs the replacement or up-gradation of Mi-17s. This is not going to be an easy undertaking as right now Pakistan Army is using approx. 100 of these Russian machines. Availability of Russian spare parts has remained a big issue as well due to heavy political clout of New Delhi in Moscow till recent past.
 

Political Dimensions:
The latest crash incident of Mi-17 in Mansehra has triggered a political debate in the country on Pak-US/West strategic partnership in war on terror in which Pakistan has played a key role being the front-line ally since 9/11.

Western alliance failed to provide Pakistan Army with the required hardware and technologies in this war due to which strong suspicions about the future of this partnership are being raised in Islamabad. It has been noticed within the strategic circles in the country that the US never supplied Pakistan with key components like attack helicopters and drones in this war due to which Pakistan Army had to suffer fatalities at a very high rate.

According to media reports, the US never considered Pakistan's demand for sophisticated technology for its COIN operations. Sources has confirmed that Pakistan had been requesting the US for new or leased helicopters and transfer of drone technology since the onset of WoT, unfortunately, the US despite paying Pakistan from Collision Support Fund, never agreed to provide technologies required for effective operations against terrorists in FATA.

Pakistan was only supplied with second hand Cobra and few Mi-17s which were maintained in airworthy conditions by tireless efforts of Pakistani technicians. 

But Pakistan is not the only country where Mi-17 have met with accidents. The list of crash incident is quite long and include all major operator of this machine.


Latest Developments:

Pakistan Army has been looking for suitable attack and utility helicopter of Western origin. Pakistani delegations visited Turkey for number of times in this respect. Finally, Pakistan signed deal with Russian Federation directly. Fluid regional geopolitics played a key role in change of heart in Moscow; a key Indian ally. Ice began to break from President Musharraf's visit to Russia in 2005. After years of military diplomacy, despite attempts by India to prevent Russia from supplying Pakistan with latest military hardware, Pakistan Army leadership was able to convenience Moscow to sign a deal of supplying high tech Russian hardware directly to Islamabad. Pakistan signed a deal with Russia to procure Mi-35 Gunship helicopter, although Pakistan still seeking a replacement for Mi-17s. 

Mi-35 Gunship Helicopter

But now Pakistan is in position to acquire spare parts or new units to replace those destroyed in accidents. Chinese have made big stride in military hardware and China is producing Z-18 and Z-8 helicopters... But so far, Pakistan is only interested in Z-10 Gunships. 3 Z-10s are being evaluated by PAA.

In the long run, Pakistan will be best served to cooperate with China on a joint venture to produce a reliable utility helicopter in medium weight category. For short to medium term, Pakistan must enhance strategic cooperation with Russia to get latest version of Mi-17 and local maintenance facility. Pakistan Army is in desperate need of both utility and gunship helicopter and in given geopolitical scenario of the region and improvement in Pakistan's economy, Russian machines are feasible to acquire both politically and financially.

Finally! An Official Response from Pakistan on Mullah Omar

News Desk

Finally! Pakistani government recovered from deep slumber when Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, while addressing the National Assembly on Friday, denied the reports and claims of Afghan government that Taliban leader and founder Mullah Omar died inside Pakistan. "He didn't died here and is not buried in Pakistan", said Defense Minister. 

He rejected the claims that the Afghan Taliban leader was in Quetta or in Karachi. He also made it clear that Pakistan has no interest in being part of ongoing leadership crisis within Afghan Taliban.Pakistan just wants peace in the region and is playing its role as a facilitator in negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government, he added. 

He also clarified that Mullah Omar was never treated in any hospital in Karachi. Asif said that statements made by Mullah Omar's family prove that he died in Afghanistan and was buried there as well.

He was of the view that an atmosphere of peace can only be established in the region after ensuring peace in Afghanistan.

Last month, It was announced by Afghan intelligence and government that Mullah Omar, the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban movement, died more than two years ago in Karachi. Pakistani rebuttal of official Afghan narrative came after 9 days when it was first confirmed by Kabul that Mullah Omar died in 2013 in a Pakistani hospital in Karachi.

“The government ... based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban died in April 2013 in Pakistan,” the Afghan presidential palace had said in a statement.

Later, the Afghan Taliban confirmed the death of their leader Mullah Omar but did not say when or where he died. The statement though rejected claims of his demise on Pakistani soil. The statement said “his [Mullah Omar's] health condition deteriorated in the last two weeks” and “not for a single day did he go to Pakistan”.

Omar's death marks a significant blow to the Taliban, which is riven by internal divisions and threatened by the rise of the self-styled Islamic State group, the Middle East terrorist outfit that is trying to establish footprint in Afghanistan. So far, it is limited only in Nangarhar province. The most immediate impact of Mullah Omar's death was postponement of second round of peace talks between Taliban and Kabul regime of Ashraf Ghani.   

The delay in Pakistani response provided certain hostile actors in the region with an opportunity to malign Pakistan for hiding Mullah Omar during the last 14 years of Global War on Terror (GWoT) just like Osama Bin Laden. Indian media was particularly vocal in this regard and so was former NDS chief Amarullah Saleh. Ruling PMLN government remained bogged down by domestic political issues while Pakistan had to bear the brunt of a well orchestrated media campaign of disinformation targeted at highlighting Pakistan as terror harboring state. This was not the first time when Pakistani government's ineptness was exposed by such development. In 2011, when Osama Bin Laden was killed by US SEAL team in Abbottabad, the absence of any official narrative provided explosive to hostile media and diplomatic entities to portray Pakistan as global terror hub. Evidently, no lesson was learnt from that humiliation!

ANALYSIS: Indradanush IV - Joint IAF- RAF Exercise

By Shahzad Masood Roomi

The British Royal Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoon and Indian Air Force's Sukhoi Su-30MKI ‘Flankers’ came face to face during a successful major exercise, Indradanush, in UK. This was the 4th round of the exercise which first held in  India in October 2006. Last visit of IAF's Su-30MKIs was in 2007 when 6 of the IAF Su-30MKIs along with one IL-78 tanker were hosted by 25 Squadron of RAF based in Leeming.

In the latest edition of the exercise, which concluded on July 30th, IAF dispatched 4 MKIs from 2 Sqn ("Winged Arrows") based at Tezpur near India’s frontier with China. RAF Typhoon squadrons from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire represented RAF in the exercise.

Intensive flying operations from both IAF and RAF against each other was major highlight of the exercise.  According to Aviation Week, 10 IAF crews including 15 pilots and 5 weapon systems operators flew twice daily missions, often flying all four Su-30s on air-to-air training missions flying beyond visual range (BVR) and within visual range (WVR) engagements with the Typhoon.

The Flanker pilots were also deployed the thrust-vectoring control (TVC) “super-maneuverability” capability. For RAF pilots, this was something new and exciting. “This is fantastic. It’s the first time I’ve flown against a Flanker this morning and it’s fascinating to see another air force do its thing in a different aeroplane. Flying against an aircraft which is equally comparable to the Typhoon isn’t something we get to fight against on a regular basis in the UK.", Typhoon pilot Flight Lieutenant Mike Highmoor spoke shortly after his first encounter with the TVC equipped Su-30. 

Indian pilots used the yaw capability of the TVC to remain inside the tight turn radius of the Typhoon in order to keep the Typhoon in missile launch parameters, as reported by Aviation Week. It was also reported that RAF pilots also flew in rear cockpit seats of MKIs to get maximum experience of its flight profile.

According to RAF's Wg. Cmdr. Chris Moon, CO 3 (Fighter) Sqn, which led the exercise, said that the exercise was advanced in “crawl, walk, run approach” meaning the pilots from both the air forces were put in complex scenarios in a gradual manner. MKIs took on the Typhoons in 1vs1, 2vs1 and increasingly complex engagements.  During the last phase of exercise,  mission saw all four Flankers working with six Typhoons to escort and support two C-130J Hercules on a para-dropping mission. They were opposed by 8-10 red-air Typhoons.

The exercise also saw the use of an Indian C-17 and an Il-78 tanker aircraft. 

ANALYSIS:

The ultimate aim of every exercise is to mitigate the potential threats and Indradanush is no exception in that regard. RAF's Typhoon has physical characteristics similar to Chinese J-10 (Canards, Delta Wings) while IAF's SU-30MKI is undoubtedly the most advanced version of Russian Flanker fighters sans SU-35. RAF pilots witnessed the employment of Russian TVC technology in both complex BVR and WVR scenarios.

Keeping in mind the prevailing geopolitical tensions between China-India and Russia-NATO, this particular exercise offered huge learning curve for the fighter pilots of both the air forces to understand and study their opponents. The experience gained in this exercise is going to play a critical role for both the forces in mitigating very peculiar types of threats. i.e. J-10 for IAF, Russian Flanker for RAF.
 

Any attempt to obstruct or impede CPEC will be thwarted: Gen Raheel

Pakistan: Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Friday said that Pakistan and China have a common enemy and we will defeat it jointly. 

He expressed his views at the grand reception hosted by Chinese military attaché Major General Qi Huajun on the 88th anniversary of the PLA here in Islamabad. The army chief, who was chief guest, said the people of China rendered great sacrifices for their country.

“Pak Army and PLA form edifice of our strategic relations. Together we can defeat the nefarious designs of the enemy. Eliminating the East Turkistan Independence Movement (ETIM) is its manifestation.,” he said adding, “Our friendship will further grow in these testing times.”

The army chief said that Pakistan and China enjoyed strong cordial relations, adding that “our friendship will grow stronger in these testing times. We will defeat nefarious designs of forces detrimental to us. The PLA is one of the best armies of the world."

Commenting on the strategically important, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the army chief said the project would benefit the entire region, adding that the corridor was being developed at full speed.

“I reiterate our resolve that any attempt to obstruct or impede this project will be thwarted at all costs,” he noted. The army chief said that the economic corridor project would maximize dividends of geo-strategic locations.

CPEC has emerged as one of the key strategic development project in the region and holds the key for Pakistan to transform its precarious-looking economic profile. For Pakistan to maintain a credible deterrence against arch rival India, an economic turn-around remains a strategic requirement. This is why Pakistani leadership is aggressively pursuing this project. Last year, Indian defense budget surpassed Pakistan's total annual spending. This is where CPEC is going to play a significant role in uplifting Pakistan's economy.