Indian Army to setup a new Military Base in Ladakh

 

(DefenseNews.in) The state government has “legally handed over five lakh kanals of land to the army for setting up a new military base, firing ranges and for other defence purposes in Ladakh”, a Chandigarh-based newspaper reported. The army shall be setting up artillery firing range over 40,000 kanals at Mandal Thang in Leh district. “We have given the approval to authorise 5 lakh kanals to the army in Ladakh for defence purposes, including establishing bases and firing ranges,” the report quoted the officials as saying, without mentioning his name. As per the report, the deputy secretary, Revenue, Ghulam Rasool, said the process had been initiated to legally authorise to the army the land that was under the force’s unlawful possession.

India to Deploy Remote Controlled Guns on LoC

By Shahzad Masood Roomi

Indian Army is going to deploy remote controlled guns on LoC. Though the weapons are still far from field deployment but these are being developed and tested.

This was revealed by General officer Commanding (GoC) of the 16 Corps of the Indian Army Lt Gen RR Nimbhorkar during a function held in Akhnoor.

“At the moment, they (new and modern weapons) are in the nascent stage... there are various up gradation and whether you call them remotely controlled (guns) or you can say up gradation of various technologies, they are in the nascent stage. But there are reports suggesting that these guns will make their debut in Indian Army on LoC by the year end.

“We are trying them and if they are successful we will deploy them.”

He also hinted that these remote controlled guns will be deployed under a well worked-out plan by Indian Army.

The locally-developed integrated machineguns employ infrared sensors radiating in a grid arrangement to produce IR beams to detect any movement. The system will able to detect any movement up to a distance of 80 metres ahead of the border fence – the distance between the fence and the LoC can vary from 50 metres to over 2km depending on the terrain.

“On the LoC, we have to be always evolving. There is no one methodology and equipment we put on the LoC. (Whenever) We find it needs to be changed, (we change it). We do innovation and that is the ongoing process,” Lt Gen Nimbhorkar said.

“So, in this process, there are things which we have thought off which we are practicing and when they are fully functional then we will deploy them” he added.

The IR sensors are linked to automatic guns mounted on rotors complemented with night-vision cameras providing live video stream to workstations, located in bunkers, running mapping software and manned by field commanders.

A buzzer is sounded if the grid is broken, rotating the weapon in the direction of the intrusion site. Video aid enables the commander to identify the intrusion and take action.

“If the target is visually identified as hostile, the observer simply presses a button to take it out,” said Brigadier PC Vyas who is implementing the remote-controlled weapons project.

But these plans of Indian Army to install remote-controlled weapons on LoC would require considerable time. Not only these technologies are in their nascent stages, Indian Army also lack proper firing range to test them and this was also hinted by Lt Gen Nimbhorkar as a problem Indian army is facing right now.

ANALYSIS:

Development, testing and deployment of any new weapon system is slow process and takes many years and firm dedication and financial support to induct hence require an early response as well. This is where such plans by India Army, though long way from execution, do demand some serious thinking by Pakistan as far as impact of such systems on the operational plans of Pakistan Army is concerned.

There can be number of considerations which pushed Indian Army to devise such an ambitious plan. Technological evolution in conventional weaponry viz-a-viz Pakistan has always remain at the center stage of Indian military’s strategic thinking.

But employment of such system must not be taken as a mere attempt by India to display her technological prowess. This plan, once implemented, would allow Indian Army to deploy additional firepower on LoC without any fear of retaliatory fire by Pakistan Army on these positions. Through such systems, Indian Army would able to field additional firepower as well.  

US military bases in India: Emergence of New Strategic Order in Asia

By Shahzad Masood Roomi

US President Obama has begun his 3 days official visit to India today. The visit is considered a significant one as  President Obama will be the first ever US president invited as chief guest on annual Indian Republican Day parade in Delhi on 26th January. It is expected that growing strategic partnership between the two states would enter in next phase through a series  of strategic agreements in field of defense, nuclear cooperation, security, diplomacy and trade. President Obama has already declared India as a strategic partner in his Asian Pivot strategy.

It is being reported that,during this visit,in response to a US proposal, India is to throw open its military,air and naval bases to the US which means that the US will have permanent military footstep in India as well. This deal is certainly going to change the strategic equation in Asia. It is believed that in return to this offer India would be able to use the US military communication setup in Indian Ocean along with other . But, the most significant clause, being reported, is related to joint security pact between the two states where India would also get US to fight alongside it in case of a war. Considering the Indian doctrine of "Two Front War" (a response to threat which stems from strategic partnership between Islamabad and Beijing), this deal is ought to be the counter-balance strategic equation among the Asian nuclear states where two out of three, are perceived to have an undeclared alliance against the third (India). Now after the inclusion of world's only super power in this equation, the strategic balance of power hangs in middle.

This is not the first time when such a proposal has been moved by the US. Last such attempt was made during the previous Indian regime of congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), and it was shot down by allies then. Defence Minister Antony too had vetoed it saying that it would compromise security of India. These clauses would come under the renewal of Defence pact signed in 2005. Under this pact, US had supplied India around $10 billion worth of arms. Now as the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has replaced the government in Delhi, officials of both the states are hopeful that this new agreement would be reached eventually during the current visit of President Obama.

Apart from giving the US military access to bases of Indian forces, this proposed agreement would enable the US to have direct access to India's secured communication network. This access will enable the pentagon and other US bodies to have eyes and ears within India as well. In return, India would have access to the high-tech military hardware and active military  support of the US in event of war. 

The advantage, the NDA defence ministry argues, is that in turn Indian ships can get real time information through the US networks which is not possible today. According to the NDA's defense ministry, these agreements -known as "Foundational Agreements", are just the formal announcement for the cooperation which is already there and an arrangement that is already 'operational'. These agreements include the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement, the Logistics Support Agreement and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for geo-spatial cooperation.It points out that Indian ships in Gulf waters do refuel from US ships in sea and neither countries have objected. Now that US has shifted base to Asia, India is seen as a partner by US.

Indian response was promising for the US as Prime Minister Modi had instructed his defence minister to finalize the paperwork before Obama’s visit indicating Delhi's willingness for opening new vistas of strategic bilateral cooperation with the US.

ANALYSIS:

This new proposed strategic cooperation deal is a significant development in the region and is going to change the strategic scenario in Asia. But the implications of this agreement would be global.

1. This agreement would be perceived by Islamabad as a new strategic partnership against national security interests of Pakistan. Pakistan already has grave concerns over Indian presence in Afghanistan. 
2. This agreement would be a key development against Chinese strategic interests as well. Though it is not clear yet which bases India would allow the US to utilize, but to Beijing, it would be part of existing US encirclement strategy against China. 
3. US already has massive military presence in the East and South East of China (i.e. Japan, Taiwan, South Korea) now with this strategic partnership would establish the US military footprint in South of China as well. It is worth-noticing fact that the US forces are already there in Afghanistan which border China from West.
4. It would be interesting to see how Moscow reacts over this new development. But one fact is certain that this strategic partnership would put India's so-called Non-Alignment stance to an end.
5. The ongoing strategic maritime competition for dominance over Indian Ocean between China and US led alliance of India,Japan and Australia  would intensify further. Smaller players like Pakistan and Sri Lanka are bound to play significant role due to their geographical proximity to India.   
6. As for as Pakistan is concerned, this partnership between India and the US necessitates a similar long term strategic arrangement between China and Pakistan. Pakistan foreign policy must seek overtures to bring about a balance in Islamabad's relations with the US and Russia as well.
7. Political change in Sri Lanka is also a significant development in context of overall emerging strategic order in the region. Sir Lanka has expelled RAW's station chief in Colombo for alleged involvement in ouster of pro-China Rajapaksa regime in recent election. Against Indian wishes, new Sri Lankan government has not changed pro-China policy of previous government due to which India felt that it was time to seek the US military support to counter Chinese maritime strategy around India. In this backdrop, Sri Lankan geography would continue to hold a significant strategic value in the region.
8. Sri Lanka is also vital for the native American interests as well. Chinese naval out reach in Indian Ocean has raised eyebrows in Pentagon and the US Navy which consider the Chinese moves to build naval bases in Sri Lanka as a hostile move. The strategic Naval base of the US in Deago Garcia is located South of Sri Lanka.

All these potential factor establish the fact that a new Asian strategic order is going to take shape in coming months in which the US would assert itself through military partnership and diplomatic outreach to increase the influence in the regional geopolitics. This is what the US envisioned in her Asia-Pivot policy. Indo- US strategic partnership framework is vital prong of this strategy which is primarily designed to encircle and contain China.

Siachen:The Geopolitics and Strategy in Frozen Battlefield

Shahzad Masood Roomi

Aftermath of Gyari Tragedy:

The tragic incident of 7^th April avalanche that hit the battalion HQ of 6NLI battalion of Pakistan Army in Gyari sector of Siachen trapping 139 Pakistani troops and civilians has traumatized the entire nation. Pakistan Army is desperately trying to reach the trapped persons under the 80 feet high and one square kilometer wide pile of rubble, rock, snow and ice in a rescue operation in an unforgiving weather and constant snow falling at a height of 14,000 feet from sea level.  The incident was the worst catastrophe since 1984 when India illegally occupied Siachen glacier and Saltoro ridge to its southwest.