Monthly Archives: August 2018

Lt Gen DP Pandey addresses the media.

New Delhi, July 31

A top Pakistani terrorist, Ismal Alvi, alias Abu Saifullah, alias Lamboo, was among two Jaish-e-Mohammed militants killed by security forces in an encounter in J&K’s Pulwama district today, said police officials.

Probably the biggest strike this yr: Officials

Ismal Alvi: An IED expert, he was from the family of JeM chief Masood Azhar; had trained Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Dar, say sources

Sameer Dar: He too was involved in the Pulwama attack. Of the 19 accused in the attack, eight have so far been killed, said the J&K DGP

Belonging to JeM chief Masood Azhar’s family, Lamboo was allegedly involved in the planning of the 2019 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama that had left its 40 personnel dead. A resident of Pakistan’s Punjab province, he was believed to have been the JeM operational commander (alongside Rauf Asgar) in southern Kashmir, the hotbed of militancy. The second terrorist has been identified as Sameer Dar. An A-category terrorist, he was named in the Pulwama attack chargesheet.

A suicide bomber, Adil Dar, had rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the CRPF convoy on February 14, 2019, on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in Pulwama.

Lt Gen DP Pandey, General Officer Commanding of Chinar Corps, is reported to have said that Lamboo was one of the masterminds for having trained a local, Adil, who blew himself up in the IED attack. — TNS

Beijing, July 30

Customs officials in China have seized a large consignment of world maps, meant for export, for showing Arunachal Pradesh as part of India, the official media reported on Friday.

China claims the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which is firmly rejected by India. India says Arunachal Pradesh is its integral and inalienable part. The maps were wrapped in about 300 export consignments. — PTI

12th round of military talks last for around nine hours; no official comment on the outcome of the meeting that took place at the Moldo border point on the Chinese side of LAC

Photo for representation only. PTI

New Delhi, July 31

India on Saturday pressed for an early disengagement of troops and weapons in Hot Springs, Gogra and other remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh during the 12th round of military talks with China that lasted for around nine hours, sources in the security establishment said. 

Both sides held detailed deliberation and the talks were comprehensive, they said without elaborating further.

There was no official comment on the outcome of the meeting that took place at the Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh amid expectations of a breakthrough in the disengagement process in Gogra and Hot Springs.

It is learnt that both sides discussed “specific details to cool tempers in the remaining friction points including moving ahead with the disengagement process and agreed to jointly maintain stability on the ground”.

The talks started at 10.30 am and ended at 7.30 pm, sources said.

The Indian side forcefully pressed for early resolution of the standoff and particularly insisted on expeditious disengagement in Hot Springs and Gogra, a source said.

Ahead of the talks, sources said India was hopeful of a positive outcome on the disengagement process.

India has been insisting that the resolution of the outstanding issues, including at Depsang, Hot Springs and Gogra, is essential for the overall ties between the two countries.

The latest round of talks took place after a gap of more than three and a half months. The 11th round of military dialogue had taken place on April 9 at the Chushul border point on the Indian side of the LAC and it lasted for around 13 hours.

The 12th round of military talks took place over two weeks after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar firmly conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the prolongation of the existing situation in eastern Ladakh was visibly impacting the bilateral ties in a “negative manner”.

The two foreign ministers had held a one-hour bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tajik capital city Dushanbe on July 14.

In the meeting, Jaishankar had told Wang that any unilateral change in the status quo along the LAC was “not acceptable” to India and that the overall ties can only develop after full restoration of peace and tranquillity in eastern Ladakh.

In the last round of military talks, both sides discussed ways to take forward the disengagement process in Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang with a larger aim to bring down tensions in the region. However, there was no forward movement in the disengagement process.https://4cdf56fc6d7d8a21f498d43bcb12f202.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

The Indian delegation at Saturday’s talks was led by Lt Gen PGK Menon, the Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps.

The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted in May last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the North and South banks of Pangong lake in February in line with an agreement on disengagement.

Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the sensitive sector. PTI

Gogra, Hot Springs, Depsang friction points

Photo for representation only. PTI

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 31

Senior Indian and Chinese military commanders could possibly arrive at a consensus of some sort for a pullback of troops at the identified friction points along the 832-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

The agreed upon agenda for the Lt Gen-level talks, which began at 10 am and lasted around 10 hours, included disengagement and de-escalation of troops, weapons and equipment from Gogra and Hot Springs, the two flashpoints along the LAC. The Chinese were learnt to be unwilling to discuss troop build-up in Depsang plains, said an official.

Round 12 of Army talks

• It was the 12th round of military talks since June 6 last year
• Come 2 weeks after S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart
• EAM told China that LAC tension was ‘negatively’ impacting ties
• Any unilateral change in status quo was ‘unacceptable’, he had said

Organised at the Moldo garrison of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, it was the 12th round of senior military level talks between the two sides since June 6 last year. Moldo faces Chushul on the Indian side.

A formal announcement of the outcome, if any, was expected after the Indian side returned to its base and the decision was conveyed to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The MEA is the coordinator of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs. The WMCC is a group comprising representatives of the foreign ministries and the militaries of the two sides.

Lt Gen PGK Menon, 14 Corps Commander, led the talks from the Indian side. Once Lt Gen Menon along with his team returned to Chushul from Moldo, he was expected to head back to his headquarters at Leh, a 4-hour journey in normal weather conditions.

The 12th round of military talks took place over two weeks after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar firmly conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the prolongation of the existing situation in eastern Ladakh was visibly impacting the bilateral ties in a “negative manner”.

The two foreign ministers had held a one-hour bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tajik capital city Dushanbe on July 14.

In the meeting, Jaishankar had told Wang that any unilateral change in the status quo along the Line of Actual Control was “not acceptable” to India and that the overall ties could only develop after full restoration of peace and tranquillity in eastern Ladakh.

Assam security personnel stand vigil outside the Mizoram House in Guwahati. PTI

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 31

Assam and Nagaland have inked a pact to “move back” their security personnel from the current location to their base camps in a bid to reduce tension at the border, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Border conflict: Several clashes since 1965

• The border dispute between Assam and Nagaland began soon after Nagaland became a state in 1963
• The Nagaland State Act of 1962 had defined the state’s borders according to a 1925 notification
• Nagaland, however, did not accept border delineation
• Several major clashes have taken place on the inter-state border since 1965

In a Twitter Post, the Assam Chief Minister said, “the two states have agreed to move back their security personnel from the current location to their base camps in a bid to reduce tension at the border.”

“In a major breakthrough towards de-escalating tensions at Assam-Nagaland border, the two Chief Secretaries have arrived at an understanding to immediately withdraw states’ forces from border locations to their respective base camps,” Sarma said.

The joint statement, a copy of which was also pasted on Twitter by Sarma, read: “Both sides agreed that in order to maintain peace and tranquility in the areas around Ao Senden village and Vikuto Village, as known in Nagaland and in Assam they are known as Jankhona Nala/Nagajankha respectively, urgent and effective steps are required for defusing the standoff between the security forces of Nagaland and Assam.”