The handing over and signing ceremony was held at the National War Memorial at India Gate in New Delhi, in the presence of General Manoj Pande (Chief of Army Staff, S M Vaidya, Chairman, IndianOil and senior officials. General Pande said, we will be testing one of the hydrogen buses, and we thanks Indian Oil for choosing the Indian Army as their partner.”

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On arrival at the Corps Headquarters in Dimapur, the Army Chief was briefed by Lieutenant General Johnson Mathew, General Officer Commanding Spear Corps and the Division Commanders on the prevailing situation and operational preparedness along the Northern borders.

The COAS complimented all ranks for maintaining excellent vigil and exhorted them to stay alert and keep watch on activities along the LAC.

The Army Chief is scheduled to return back to New Delhi on 21 May 2021.

Officials said Gen Naravane arrived at Dimapur in Nagaland on Thursday to review the operational readiness along the Northern borders of Arunachal Pradesh and the security situation in the hinterland in the Northeastern region.

“On Wednesday, Gen Naravane said that the Army will maintain an enhanced presence on the entire northern front from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh till “de-escalation” is achieved.

In view of the border row with China in eastern Ladakh, the Army last year significantly ramped up deployment of troops in all sensitive areas along the nearly 3,500-km-long LAC including in the Sikkim and Arunachal sectors The Indian Air Force(IAF) also deployed additional fighter jets and attack helicopters in key bases looking after the airspace along the LAC in the Arunachal sector.

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A Pakistan MP said that Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released over fears of an attack by New Delhi.

On Wednesday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq told Parliament that Army chief General Bajwa was perspiring and his “legs were shaking” when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that India would have attacked “that night at 10 pm” if Pakistan did not release Abhinandan.

Reacting to Sadiq’s remarks, Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said “there was no pressure on Pakistan at all regarding the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan.”

“The Government of Pakistan took the decision as a gesture of peace, which was appreciated by the international community,” PTI quoted him as saying.

The Wing Commander had landed across the border after an aerial dogfight following the Balakot airstrikes by New Delhi  last year. Before his jet was hit, Varthaman had downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan. He was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan.

Sadiq, however, did not mention when the meeting between the top Pakistani officials were held.

The statement prompted BJP chief J P Nadda to target Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of not believing in anything “Indian” and “mocking” the armed forces.

Sharing a video clipping of the speech by the Pakistani leader, Nadda tweeted: “Congress’ princeling does not believe anything Indian, be it our Army, our Government, our Citizens. So, here is something from his ‘Most Trusted Nation’, Pakistan. Hopefully now he sees some light…”

“Congress Party premised it’s entire campaign around keeping our armed forces weak. They mocked our armed forces, questioned their valour and tried every trick to ensure India doesn’t get latest Rafale Planes. The people India rejected such politics and punished Congress,” he tweeted.

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The missile employs a tandem HEAT warhead to defeat Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) protected armoured vehicles. It has been developed with multiple-platform launch capability and is currently undergoing technical evaluation trials from gun of MBT Arjun.

Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) Pune in association with High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) Pune, and Instruments Research & Development Establishment (IRDE) Dehradun have developed the missile.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO for the successfully test firing of the Laser Guided Anti Tank Guided Missile from MBT Arjun at KK Ranges.

Secretary DDR&D & Chairman DRDO congratulated DRDO personnel and industry on the successful test firing.

Meanwhile Although India and China has agreed to stop sending more troops to Ladakh front-line, New Delhi is prepared for a long haul of multiple rounds of military-diplomatic talks before a firm political understanding is reached between two sides on complete disengagement.

“This is going to be a long drawn out process and it will be foolhardy to assume that results will be achieved in one or two rounds of talks. While both sides have agreed in principle not to send more troops to the border, there is no means for both sides to verify this on ground as neither would like to share information collected through communication intercepts and spatial intelligence,” said a senior official.

As of now, there is no change of situation on ground with People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops still on finger four mountainous spur on north Pangong Tso lake and Indian Army dominating the Rezang La Rechin La ridgeline on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). There has been no change in situation in Gogra-Hot Springs sector as the PLA have linked the withdrawal there to Pangong Tso disengagement.

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The ceremony was be attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, his French counterpart Florence Parly, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said “The induction is a very important step in light of the prevailing security conditions that prevail, or I would say, that have been created along India’s borders,”:49

Singh said the IAF plays an important role in maintaining military deterrence and their actions will be decisive in any future war. “While the prevailing situation on our boundaries has caught our attention, we should not ignore the threat of cross-border terrorism,” he added.
IAF chief Bhadauria said the Rafale aircraft can rapidly access all areas of interest due to its deployment.

“What we see is a result of decisive action by the government to break the impasse over the MMRCA deal. Today, the Rafale has been operationally inducted. We are good to go,” he added.
Singh congratulated IAF personnel for the swift and decisive action taken by them near the LAC recently. He said the rapid deployment of IAF assets at forward bases created a trust that our Air Force is fully prepared to meet its operational obligations.

The defence minister reiterated the resolve of not compromising India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity under any circumstances, and the country’s determination to make all possible preparations for it.
“The intentions of military are as strong as it can be,” he said.

Singh said strengthening India’s defence is aimed at achieving international peace and stability, adding it does not want to take any step that can endanger international peace.

“We have the same expectation of our neighbours and other countries of the world.”

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“China’s PLA has responded to the hotline message sent by Indian Army. They have confirmed that the missing youths from Arunachal Pradesh have been found by their side. Further modalities to handover the persons to our authority is being worked out,” Union Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted.

The five men who had been missing since September 2 were hunters, the army said in a statement.

Meanwhile The Army on Tuesday said Chinese troops fired shots in the air and attempted to close in on an Indian position in eastern Ladakh a day earlier as it rejected charges by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that it transgressed across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The remarks by the Army came after the PLA late on Monday night alleged that the Indian troops crossed the LAC and “outrageously fired” warning shots near the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh.

Chinese side says We have made representations through diplomatic and military channels asking them to immediately stop dangerous moves, withdraw people who crossed the line and discipline frontline troops.
Indian army said “As a result of persistent efforts of Indian Army, five missing hunters from Indian side of LAC in Upper Subansiri, who had inadvertently crossed over to other side on 2 September 2020, were traced. Chinese Army on September 8 responded on hotline and confirmed that the missing Indians have been found on their side. Formalities for their early transfer are being coordinated with the Chinese Army,”

Sources said porters and guides after dropping off cargo at forward posts often go to higher altitude to hunt for mask deer or collect herbs like “gumba”. The mask deer and the gumba, a traditional medicine, have big prices in the international grey market. It is possible the five men strayed away while looking to hunt or collect herbs, sources said.

Long-range patrols (LRPs) that need help from porters to carry supplies are common at all strategic points along the McMahon Line, the effective border between India and China.

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With Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) having successfully developed Basic Trainer Aircraft (HTT-40) Prototypes and certification process underway, the DAC approved procurement of 106 Basic Trainer Aircraft from HAL to address the basic training requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Post Certification 70 Basic Trainer Aircraft will be initially procured from HAL and balance 36 after operationalisation of HTT-40 fleet in IAF.

To improve the fire power of Indian Navy, the DAC approved procurement of an upgraded version of Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) which is fitted as the main gun onboard Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) warships from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). The upgraded version of SRGM has enhanced capability to perform against fast manoeuvring targets like missiles and Fast Attack Crafts and increase the maximum engagement range.

In view of the availability of requisite capability for indigenous development of the ammunition, both in terms of ‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Technology’, the DAC approved procurement of 125 mm APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot) ammunition for Indian Army as a ‘Design and Development Case’. The ammunition being procured will have a 70 per cent indigenous content.

The DAC also gave approvals that are likely to speed up the procurement of AK 203 and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle upgrades.

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This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. It also offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces in the coming years.

The list is prepared by MoD after several rounds of consultations with all stakeholders, including Army, Air Force, Navy, DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and private industry to assess current and future capabilities of the Indian industry for manufacturing various ammunition/weapons/platforms/equipment within India.

Almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the Tri-Services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020. With latest embargo on import of 101 items, it is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs four lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next five to seven years. Of these, items worth almost Rs 1,30,000 crore each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force while items worth almost Rs 1,40,000 crore are anticipated by the Navy over the same period.

The list of 101 embargoed items comprises of not just simple parts but also some high technology weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircrafts, light combat helicopters (LCHs), radars and many other items to fulfil the needs of our Defence Services. The list also includes, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which the Army is expected to contract almost 200 at an approximate cost of over Rs 5,000 crore.

Similarly, the Navy is likely to place demands for submarines with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which it expects to contract about six at an approximate cost of almost Rs 42,000 crore.

For the Air Force, it is decided to enlist the light combat aircraft LCA MK 1A with an indicative embargo date of December 2020. Of these, 123 are anticipated at an approximate cost of over Rs 85,000 crore. Hence, there are highly complex platforms that are included in the list of 101 items, of which details of three examples are given above.

The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024. The aim behind promulgation of the list is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation. The MoD has adopted many progressive measures to encourage and facilitate ‘Ease of Doing Business’ by the defence Production entities. All necessary steps would be taken to ensure that timelines for production of equipment as per the Negative Import List are met, which will include a co-ordinated mechanism for hand holding of the industry by the Defence Services.

More such equipment for import embargo would be identified progressively by the DMA in consultation with all stakeholders.

A due note of this will also be made in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) to ensure that no item in the negative list is processed for import in the future.

In another relevant step, the MoD has bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year.

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Women SSC officers were till now allowed Permanent Commission only in the Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and Army Educational Corps (AEC) branches.

The Government Sanction Letter, paving the way for women officers shouldering larger roles in the organisation, specifies grant of PC to SSC women officers in eight additional streams of the Army: Army Air Defence (AAD), Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) and Intelligence Corps.

The Army Headquarters has set in motion a series of preparatory actions for the conduct of the Permanent Commission Selection Board for Women Officers. The Selection Board will be set up as soon as all SSC women officers exercise their option and complete the requisite documentation.

The directive will apply to those who had joined as SSC officers, but were not given an option during their service tenure to opt for Permanent Commission.

Their male counterparts from same batches and streams went on to become PC officers. The SSC officers – men or women – join for a period of 10 or 14 years following which an option is given for becoming Permanent Commission officers.

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