Monthly Archives: August 2018

The new deal, while securing the interests of the UK and the US, gives the Chagosians too little too late.

Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (retd)

Diego Garcia is unarguably the most important military base in the Indian Ocean. On October 3, 2024, Mauritius permitted the UK and the US to retain sovereignty over it for a second time.

In my research paper titled ‘Mauritius/Diego Garcia: A key to the Indian Ocean’ at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London (1984), I noted: “The setting today is ominous and volatile. And with the Middle East remaining a No-Peace Zone and wars in Lebanon and the Gulf region raging unabated, the spotlight has shifted to the Indian Ocean. The vacuum following Britain’s East-of-Suez withdrawal in the Sixties made oil routes vulnerable and highlighted the importance of Mauritius and Diego Garcia among others.” This threat analysis could have been written today.

On October 3, the UK transferred sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago, consisting of 60 islands, to Mauritius. However, it retained sovereignty over Diego Garcia for 99 years for an undisclosed rent and permitted 1,500 displaced Chagosians to return to all the islands except that of Diego Garcia.

In addition, the UK extended the US’ lease period over Diego Garcia “till it is no longer required” as a joint US-UK facility. A new UK Support Fund for Chagosians will permit resettlement, but not to their satisfaction.

India and US played a substantive role in working out the deal between Mauritius and the UK. The transfer of full sovereignty is incomplete as the UK has retained sovereignty over Diego Garcia. Further, Chagosians have been denied the right to self-determination and, therefore, decolonisation is partial.

Before granting independence to Mauritius in 1968, the UK bought Chagos and Agalega for £600,000. In 1973, it paid £650,000 to settle those removed from the Chagos islands and in 1982, another £4,000,000.

In this transaction, the UK displayed remarkable strategic foresight, though it ignored the legal implications. Soon, it was beset with legal challenges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Hague, which declared the transfer of sovereignty illegal. A non-binding resolution at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) called for the UK to end colonial administration and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) listed human rights’ violations against the displaced Chagosians.

Hence, the new deal, while securing the interests of the UK and the US, gives the Chagosians too little too late.

In the 1980s, while the US and the USSR were jockeying for power in the Indian Ocean, the Soviets, lacking naval outreach, occupied Afghanistan and deployed assets in littoral states like Iraq, Yemen, Ethiopia and Madagascar. India was late in recognising the salience of sea power as it sought to have the Indian Ocean declared a Zone of Peace and Sri Lanka lobbied for a nuclear-free zone.

Mauritius is the third Hindu majority country after Nepal and India. It has many complex internal fault lines. In 1984, India posted Maj Gen JN Taimni as the first National Security Adviser (NSA) to Mauritius. Since then, its NSAs have been mostly Indian.

Mauritius-India relations are one of the best in the extended neighbourhood. Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth sought India’s help in securing the new deal over Diego Garcia with the UK. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar visited Mauritius after his Maldives’ visit during the Modi 3.0 government. India has acquired the use of Agalega island that belongs to Mauritius where a jetty and an air-strip have been built.

No study or research of Mauritius and Diego Garcia is complete without reference to at least two books: Limuria by Mauritius’ first Governor, Sir Robert Scott, and the more recent, Peak Of Limuria, by Richard Edis, who was Commissioner, British Indian Ocean Territory from 1988 to 1991 and later became an instructor at the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), UK.

Diego Garcia is a V-shaped atoll accidentally discovered by the Portuguese on their voyage from Europe to India, and is roughly 7 degrees south of the Equator. It extends 22 km north to south, with a circumference of 50 km. Diego Garcia and its sibling islands comprise remains — visible above sea level — of huge underwater mountains 10,000 feet below, and, therefore, called the peaks of Limuria.

According to history, Maldivians may have been the first to discover the Chagos group in the 15th century and introduce coconut to these islands. Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed wrote in October 2024, claiming that the Sultans of Maldives till as late as 1930 sent expeditions to Chagos, including Diego Garcia, to count and mark coconuts with the Sultan’s seal.

Sea power and sea control passed on from the Dutch to the Portuguese, then to the French and the British. Diego Garcia became the US’ most vital sea outpost in the Indian Ocean only in the 1980s as during the World Wars, although under British control, it played a minimal military role.

Today, an unknown and undisclosed air and sea armada is stationed there from where the Gulf, West Asia and Afghanistan were engaged militarily. After completing the RCDS, I travelled to Mauritius and was met by Gen Taimini at Port Louis. I managed to get to French Reunion and other smaller islands, except Diego Garcia.

So, the second transfer of October 3 sovereignty by Mauritius to the joint US-UK military facility in Diego Garcia leaves an awkward question: how has full sovereignty been restored to Chagos Islands when the UK retains sovereignty over Diego Garcia — this time for 99 years, previously it was 50 years, extendable by 20 years — and “till no further use for it”?

Therefore, sovereignty is incomplete as the right to self-determination has still not been exercised by the Chagosians. They were excluded from the second deal, as also in the first agreement.

While India’s quest for Zone of Peace and a regional maritime force is unconsummated, so is Sri Lanka’s advocacy of a nuclear-free zone. Nuclear-armed bombers, ships and ICBMs are reportedly located in Diego Garcia. India’s gain is the Agalega Island, sentinel to the western entry of the Indian Ocean.

Speculation is also rife that India is negotiating for the use of Diego Garcia.

May resume in a ‘day or two’ | Plateau along Aksai Chin crucial for both India & China

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

More than 10 days after India announced a ‘patrolling arrangement’ with China at two spots along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the resumption of patrolling at crucial routes on the Depsang plateau in eastern Ladakh will take “some more time”.

Sources told The Tribune that meetings regarding this have taken place between Brigade-Commander level officers of the two countries. The modalities for patrol are still being finalised. It could take a day or two more for the patrols to re-commence, said a source.

For both sides, the Depsang plateau is militarily crucial. East of it lies the Aksai Chin — the northwestern dge of Ladakh illegally occupied by China since the 1950s.After mod

alities were decided at the Brigade-commander level, the first patrol at Demchok was done yesterday. Patrolling re-commenced after troops of either side physically verified that structures and man-made blockages on patrolling routes have been removed at Depsang and Demchok. All temporary structures, tents, vehicles, cameras, sensors and weapons, were removed, sources said. The ‘patrolling arrangement’ does not mention the resumption of patrolling at any other contentious spot in eastern Ladakh, where disengagement has been done — those are at Gogra , Hot Springs, Pangong Tso, and Galwan.

Separately, the two sides exchanged sweets at five locations along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh to mark Diwali. There was no ceremonial military ceremony. At each location, a very small team (of 8-10) from the Indian side and a matching contingent from China met. The two saluted each other and exchanged sweets.

The incident takes place when the police were deployed on security duty at the market at Jagargunda village

PTI

Two Chhattisgarh Police constables were injured when Naxalites, dressed as civilians, attacked them with sharp weapons at a weekly market in the insurgency-hit Sukma district on Sunday morning, an official said.

Naxalites also took away the service rifles of the two personnel following the incident which took place when the police were deployed on security duty at the market in Jagargunda village, he said.

A small ‘action team’ of Naxalites (typically comprising four-five cadres) suddenly attacked the two constables — Kartam Deva and Sodhi Kanna — with sharp edged weapons and then escaped after looting their Insas rifles, the police official said.

Other security personnel deployed there swung into action and launched a search for the attackers, he

Both the injured constables, posted at Jagargunda police station, were initially admitted to a local hospital. They were later airlifted to Raipur and admitted to a private hospital in the state capital, the official said.

Naxalites, dressed as civilians, have several times in the past targeted security personnel at the weekly markets in Bastar division, comprising seven districts including Sukma.

India and China have made “some progress” in LAC disengagement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, describing it as a “welcome” move which opens up the possibility that other steps could happen. His comments come days after Indian…

PTI

India and China have made “some progress” in LAC disengagement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, describing it as a “welcome” move which opens up the possibility that other steps could happen.

His comments come days after Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at two friction points at Demchok and Depsang Plains in eastern Ladakh. The Indian Army commenced verification patrolling at Depsang while patrolling at Demchok started on Friday.

“In terms of India and China, yes, we have made some progress. You know, our relations were very, very disturbed for reasons all of you know. We have made some progress in what we call disengagement, which is when troops were very close to each other, with the possibility that could lead to some untoward incident,” Jaishankar said.

“There are very large numbers of Chinese troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control who were not there before 2020. And we, in turn, have counter-deployed. There are other aspects of the relationship, which also got affected during this period. The disengagement is a welcome step. It opens up the possibility that other steps could happen,” said the minister.

On October 21, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in Delhi that an agreement had been finalised between India and China following negotiations over the past several weeks and that it would lead to a resolution of the issues that arose in 2020. The agreement was firmed up on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, a breakthrough to end the over four-year standoff.

The ties between the two Asian giants nosedived following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

Jaishankar, who arrived in the Australian city of Brisbane earlier in the day on the first leg of his two-nation tour, said that there were right now two conflicts, which were in everybody’s mind.

“One is Ukraine. And one is what is happening in the Middle East. In different ways, we are trying to do something in both,” he said. On the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Jaishankar said India was making efforts to bring diplomacy back to the forefront, with Prime Minister Modi personally involved in meetings with leaders of the two countries.

On the situation in West Asia, Jaishankar said it was very different. “At the moment, the effort is more to prevent the conflict from spreading. And, here, one of the gaps is the inability of Iran and Israel to talk to each other directly. So different countries are trying to see if they can, you know, bridge that gap. We happen to be one of them,” he said.

Indian Army and Rehabilitation of Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs)

The rehabilitation of Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs) who transition out of the Indian Army can be a complex issue. Here are some key points regarding the support (or lack thereof) provided:

Current Support Structure:

• Limited Guidance: Many SSCOs report that upon their release, there is limited structured support from the Indian Army for rehabilitation.
• Career Transition Programs: While there are some programs, they may not be specifically tailored for SSCOs compared to other categories of officers.
• Networking Opportunities: The army provides some networking opportunities through veteran forums, but these may not be widely known or accessible to all.

Challenges Faced by SSCOs:

• Civilian Job Market: Transitioning to civilian life can be challenging due to a lack of skills that directly match civilian job requirements.
• Psychological Adjustment: The shift from military to civilian life can lead to psychological challenges, including identity issues and stress.
• Financial Planning: Many officers may not have adequate financial planning or advice during their transition period.

Potential Suggestions for Improvement:

• Structured Rehabilitation Programs: Development of comprehensive programs specifically for SSCOs, focusing on skills training and job placement.
• Awareness Campaigns: Increase awareness of available resources and support systems for transitioning officers.
• Mentorship Initiatives: Establish mentorship programs connecting former SSCOs with those currently in civilian roles. Conclusion
  While the Indian Army does provide some support to Short Service Commissioned Officers, there is a noticeable gap in comprehensive rehabilitation assistance. Addressing these challenges could significantly improve the transition experience for SSCOs as they reintegrate into civilian life.

IS THE USA CAPABLE OF THWARTING CHINESE INVASION OF TAIWAN?

by

Veteran Col SS Rajan, The Bombay Sappers

[Email: colonelrajan44@gmail.com; Cell No. 9449043770]

China, a Frankenstein monster

          Who created today’s China, a Frankenstein monster? Undoubtedly, the USA. The USA in its greed to lap up cheap goods made by forced labour in China went whole hog in developing close economic ties with China. And, in no time Chinese whose aims were very clear, ie. one of world domination and to replace the US as a superpower, went about systematically overpowering and taking over countries in Asia and Africa by ensnaring them into a debt trap. Not only that, over a period, the Chinese expanded their Armed Forces and bolstered their defence capabilities aggressively, so much so that today Chinese have forcibly occupied islands & atolls in the South China Sea belonging to others; and, China is all set to throw out the US forces from the South China Sea.       

USA, a spent force

The US today with all its bluff & bluster is no more than a toothless tiger. I do not know why the US and its West European NATO allies keep repeating that they would not allow China to attack Taiwan and gobble it; when they fully know that, when push comes to shove they will do nothing; other than to impose toothless sanctions.

People of Taiwan being taken for a ride

I feel sad for the people of Taiwan who are being taken for a ride by the false promises being made by the US and its West European NATO allies to stand by it in their hour of need. If the US is really serious and means business; let them first issue a statement recognising Taiwan as a sovereign independent Country; and secondly, state in most unequivocal & unambiguous terms that the US is committed to safeguarding the territorial integrity of Taiwan in the face of repeated Chinese threat to invade Taiwan and annex it.

Russian stand on Taiwan

Russia has already committed itself that Taiwan belongs to China; and would support China in the event of China invading Taiwan. Does the US have the gumption & military strength and wherewithal to take on China in case of it invading Taiwan, which would soon take place. It is only a question of time as to when?

AUKUS

Will the AUKUS, a military Treaty or an Alliance forged between Australia, UK and the US come to the aid of Taiwan when invaded? If the US really wishes to be a savior of Taiwan and other littoral states of South China Sea from China, the predator, it has to put up a credible armada of ships, tanks, guns and fighter aircrafts and above all Soldiers ready for battle to take on the Chinese threat; for only that would thwart any Chinese designs of invading Taiwan.

Diplomatic Blitzkrieg

Will the US launch a diplomatic blitzkrieg to free the peace loving Buddhists in Tibet and Uighurs in Xinjiang from the shackles of Chinese oppression & tyranny; and aggressively take up the case of Taiwan, Tibet and Uighurs in the UN Security Council? I am afraid the US will do nothing of that sort. Why? Because the US will not do anything that would irretrievably damage its trade relations with China, on which it is heavily dependent. I have no hesitation in stating most candidly that what matters to the US is a fistful of Dollars; and for that they would not mind compromising on anything.

Morality and the US

There is no morality in the US when it comes to statecraft. Let us not forget that the US is a Nation of immigrants whose very foundation rests on a pool of blood; for it is the early White immigrants who exterminated the ‘Native Americans’ referred to as ‘Red Indians’ by distributing blankets soaked in small pox virus. And, a few years later, it was once again the White Americans who captured Africans and brought them to the US and gave rise to a saga of slavery and horrendous brutality.

If the US were serious about Chinese’ illegal occupation of various islands & atolls in the South China Sea, belonging to the littoral states, viz, the Philippines, Vietnam & Malaysia, it would have by now put together a military alliance comprising Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia. And for such an alliance to be credible, it is a must that India forms part of the Alliance along-with the US and Australia & New Zealand. And it is here that the genuineness of the West European Nations, viz. UK, France & Germany would be put to test. Are they serious about democratic values and preservation of freedom? And if so, are they willing to join the military alliance of South-East Asian Nations and contribute their military & economic might to rid the islands & atolls in the South China Sea of illegal occupation by China?

A word of caution to the US

In the absence of any credible military alliance of the littoral states of the South China Sea, backed by Australia, New Zealand, India and the West European countries, viz. UK, France & Germany; the US would be committing a blunder in flexing its muscles in the South China Sea in support of Taiwan. In such an eventuality, there is every likelihood that China would commence its invasion of Taiwan with a surprise attack on the US Navy in South China Sea, sinking two of its Aircraft Carriers, as its opening gambit.

The Indian Army began patrolling at Demchok on Friday, days after In dian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh, Army sources said. Patrolling at Depsang is expected to resume shortly, they said. Indian and Chinese troops have completed disengagement at two fric tion points at Demchok and Depsang Plains in eastern Ladakh and patrolling is set to commence soon at these points, Army sources had said on Wednesday. Indian and Chinese troops exchanged sweets at several border points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the occasion of Diwali on Thursday. The traditional practice was observed a day after both the countries com pleted troop disengagement at the two friction points, bringing a fresh thaw in Sino-Indian ties. Patrolling has begun at Demchok, an Army source said. Sources had earlier said that the areas and patrolling status were expected to be moved back to pre-April 2020 level. PTI

Indian, Chinese troops exchange sweets at several border points on Diwali

Frontline troops of India and China exchanged sweets at multiple spots along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh on Diwali on Thursday. Sources said sweets were exchanged at five locations. However, there was no ceremonial mili tary ceremony. At each location, a very small team includ ing 8-10 troops from the Indian side and a matching contingent from the Chinese side met. The two saluted each other and exchanged the sweets. Notably, the exchange of sweets took place at locations that included the Karokaram Pass, the northern-most point along the India-China boundary. Among other locations, sweets were exchanged at Hot Springs and Kongka La. All three spots are extremely sensitive. Hot Springs was one of the friction spots where the two sides were engaged in eyeball-to-eyeball military stand off from April 2020 onwards

16 people had initially been reported killed in two strikes on Thursday on the central Nuseirat refugee camp, but officials from the Al-Aqsa hospital said bodies continued to be brought in

AP

The death toll from Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip rose to 25, including five children, as more bodies have been recovered, hospital officials said on Friday.

Sixteen people had initially been reported killed in two strikes on Thursday on the central Nuseirat refugee camp, but officials from the Al-Aqsa hospital said bodies continued to be brought in.

Overall, the hospital said they had received 21 dead bodies from the strikes, including some transferred from the Awda hospital, where they had been brought the day before.

One of the strikes killed an 18-month-old and his 10-year-old sister—the children’s mother was missing as of Friday and the father was killed by an Israeli airstrike four months ago, the family told AP journalists at Aqsa hospital.Strikes on a motorcycle in Zuwaida and on a house in Deir al-Balah on Friday killed four more, the hospital officials said, bringing the overall toll to 25.The Israeli military did not comment on the specific strikes but said it had killed armed militants in central and southern Gaza on Thursday.