World economy is now rebooting. The western world is decoupling with China. Youth unemployment in China is now stated to be 17.1 per cent. Xi Jinping, Chinese President, is staring at pressure cooker blast situation, which could take China into an unchartered territory and even a possible violent uprising.

Within the military circle, it is well-known that skirmishes across the line of actual control keep taking place, but they have largely been verbal feud or fisticuffs at the most. But the skirmishes, including the latest in the Yangtse in Arunachal Pradesh, which was on the pattern of the Galwan Valley battle in 2020 in eastern Ladakh, is being assessed in the strategic domains to take worrisome seriousness. That will be on account of Xi increasingly becoming more insecure within the Communist regime in China.

Indian polity remains divided on ways to deal with China. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has sought to pin down on the mat Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Yangtse skirmish. Congress is building the political pitch on a ‘weak PM’ theme. This is in counter to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s muscular nationalism, which gained muscles following the surgical strikes carried out against the terror launch pads in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

This political divisiveness deprives India of a consensus strategy in dealing with China. Major General (Retd) Shashi Asthana has argued, while writing for Modern Diplomacy, that India too should have a law on defence of border on the lines of the Chinese law, which will give a statutory backing to the infrastructure upgradation across the LAC and the international borders. This indeed is in the context of some of the governments in New Delhi having been cold to the idea of building a robust border infrastructure.

The November data for China was gloomy. Retail sales went down by 5.9 per cent against the estimate of negative four per cent, industrial output was just 2.2 per cent against the estimate of 3.5 per cent, fixed asset investment was abysmal at 0.7 per cent, home sales dived by a whopping 31 per cent, while property investment took a 20 per cent beating. Data tells a dreadful future of China, which when faced with the full might of the global de-coupling can bring the Chinese economy crashing to a level that could set off a popular uprising, and that could be a ground for Xi to make LAC with China a tinderbox.

“People’s republic of China (PRC) refused to ratify the Simla Agreement of 1914, signed between British India and Tibet, initialled by Chinese representative. The Indian stance on Border generally follows Johnson Line (1865) in Ladakh and McMohan Line in East,” wrote Major General (retd) Asthana.

It may be known that China has accepted the McMohan Line with Myanmar. But with India, Xi has a domestic politics to play with and an economy that is nosediving and restlessness against the oppressive regime increasing. China pushing for more could be testing its luck.

Manish Anand is a senior journalist and views express are personal.

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Few days ago, a tweet critical of Iftar gathering with local population that one of the Army units organised in Doda, J&K caught my attention. At the outset, let me clarify that such activities are regularly carried out by the Army as part of its counter-insurgency campaign; more on it, later. The said critical tweet was in form of a comment, describing the event as, ‘a kind of disease that has crept in the Army too’, or words to that effect. This tweet by a journalist who seemingly has a considerable following was distasteful and insensitive, to say the least.  

Being a cantonment kid or an Army brat, as we are known as colloquially, I felt it pertinent to pen down my opinion on the matter by providing the context in terms of elucidating the nature of socio-religious fabric that prevail in the military. I very proudly, have grown up amidst the second family that Army has provided me with; my father being a serving officer from the Infantry for last three decades. My views of course are based on what I have seen, experienced and inferred from rich interactions with my father.

Given progressive family background of ours and my father being a student of history prior to his induction into the Army, his motivation to join came from the secular ethos that armed forces. And mentioning of secularism, I hint at the ‘audible secularism’ of ours wherein all religions and faith are accepted beyond merely tolerated. This is contrary to the western hue of ‘aggressive secularism’ that recognises no religion and rubs on the wrong side of community’s sentiments via bans and embargo. He opted for a honourable service, for this very secularism.

A secularism where soldiering was the prime mover and stakeholders as part of an outfit adopt each other’s religion, without any ulterior motive. 

The battalion that my father was commissioned to and I was born in, comprised ten percent muslim men. As a routine, each Monday evening was ‘mandir parade’ and each Friday noon was marked by ‘masjid parade’. During the peace postings of the unit, we too used to attend such gatherings  wherein participation was irrespective of one’s faith and a healthy turnout was taken to be an indicator of levels of morale of the unit. A muslim soldier participating in Bhajans and a hindu soldier enjoying sewaiyan after dhuhr (noon prayer) was something very natural and attracted no particular attention. It was no different for festivals like Eid, Dussera, Deepawali, Ganesh Chaturthi etc.

With muslim minority in the battalion, it was a given that non-vegetarian cooked in the cook houses (langars as referred to by soldiers) was ‘halal’ since hindus had no inhibitions in consuming the same. Most importantly, as part of the regimental practice, broader shouldered majority accepts and respects the sentiments of minority without being tutored upon to do so.

The infrastructure that is constructed as per laid down standard to house mandir, masjid, gurudwara, church etc depending upon the composition of the unit is a common building called ‘dharma-sthal’. 

A military unit cannot afford to have divisions of any sorts, be it social or religious. The uniform that the soldiers dons and the flag that they salute to, gives them the requisite commonality of purpose to enable them overcome the trying service conditions of all sorts. I am told that in combat, deepest possible bondings are mandatory, after all they cover each other in face of enemy bullets. 

In the context of Iftar that drew the unfortunate tweet, army units organise such events in conjunction with civil populace in the areas of deployment to counter insurgencies. Being a people’s army operating in such environment, local population is considered to be the centre of gravity and bonding with them is imperative for normalcy. This culture of inclusivity and sensitivity that fructifies in events like Iftars has its genesis in the intrinsic thought process vis a vis religion that the soldiers hold. 

At the cost of sounding alarmist, such insensitive comment on social media and traction that it acquired thereafter, has the potential of damaging the intra-organisational social fibre of military units with grave consequences. I hope and pray that I am wrong.              

The author is an Advocate based out of New Delhi and daughter of a serving Army Officer

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The US spends most on its military, both per capita and total. Its Navy has the largest and most aircraft carriers in the world with 11 full-sized carriers (counting the new USS Gerald R. Ford) and 8 “helicopter carriers” in service. Its Air Force flies the largest and most technologically advanced air fleet in the world which is just a little larger than the U.S. Navy’s air fleet.

Russia

If it comes to the military, it is hard to find a better example than Russia. Despite a fact of its small economy it manufactures a large amount of military hardware and is the second largest exporter in the world after the U.S. This allows it to field about 3,800 planes, 5,600 armored vehicles including tanks, and 282 warships (counting everything from its aircraft carrier to small logistics vessels). It’s currently trying to develop the T-14 Armata. If successful, that would be the world’s most advanced tank, boasting active protection systems, an auto-loader, and nearly unbeatable armor.

China

China is the country with the most population of 1.4 billion and its largest military population at 3.7 million with 2.2 million of those being active troops. Those millions of men and women are equipped with 3000 aircraft, 13000 armored vehicles, and 714 ships.

India

India has a large number of troops but those are largely reserved personnel. It has 11, 000 armored vehicles but it has relatively small navy and air force. It has 2.4 million troops reserved and 1.4 million active. But some of those joint ventures are paying off. While India’s Sukhoi planes purchased from Russia have repeatedly run into problems, the country is also working with Russia to perfect a fifth-generation fighter and a supersonic cruise missile that could be carried by submarines, planes, and vehicles.

Japan

Japan maintains a self-defense force on both offense and defense. It has the 4^th largest submarine force and 4 small aircraft carriers frequently called-helicopter carriers as well as homegrowns tanks and aircraft and imported weapons like the U.S. Apache, Japan has a varied and capable collection of military hardware. It has less than 1,600 aircraft, 4,000 armored vehicles, and only about 130 ships. All of that is manned by a little over 300,000 troops.

The Correspondent Bureau

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The new special patch for the Wing Commander’s unit depicts a MiG-21 Bison in the foreground and a red-colored F-16 in the background.  Patches are cloth badges that depict the squadron’s role and often identify itself with an important engagement in which the squadron took part. It also reflects the type of aircraft the squadron flies and is worn on flying overalls.

Any squadron can come out with such shoulder patches to mark its achievements and success stories, the officials said, adding that the Indian Air Force officially does not issue such markings.

The IAF foiled the Pakistani retaliation, and in the dogfight, Varthaman downed an F-16 fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force, showing grit, determination and bravery.

Soon after he brought down the F-16, Varthaman was captured by the Pakistani Army as his MiG-21 Bison jet was hit. Vardaman was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan.

The IAF had said the Pakistani F-16 fighters fired AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile during the aerial combat.  After he was captured, Varthaman showed courage and grace in handling the most difficult circumstances for which he was praised by politicians, strategic affairs experts, ex-servicemen, celebrities and people in genera

Varthaman had become the face of the military confrontation between the two countries. Last month, he was shifted out of Srinagar and posted to a frontline air base in the western sector. The IAF is recommending wartime gallantry medal Vir Chakra to Varthaman.

The Correspondent Bureau with inputs from agencies

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The J&K government has said that in view of the threat, necessary security measures must be taken to ensure the security of the ration deposits of the camps, especially in the state. It also states that ration procured for the use of security forces across India be subjected to frequent checks to rule out any untoward incident or attempt.

The intelligence input comes just days after 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were martyred on February 14 after a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into their 78-bus convoy.

Intelligence agencies had earlier issued a warning that Pakistan-backed terrorist outfit JeM is planning to carry out more Pulwama-like attacks in the near future. Intelligence agencies have already alerted security forces about fresh intercepts on JeM planning similar attacks in the days to come.

According to the inputs gathered by intelligence agencies, JeM and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen are planning to carry out an IED attack targeting security forces and military vehicles plying on the Chowkibal and Tangdhar routes in Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, an IED blast took place in Trial on Saturday in which one civilian has been injured. As per reports, the blast took place around 3 am in Amlar area of Trial creating panic in the neighborhood While investigation in the matter is underway, it is being said that the IED was planted to target the patrol vehicles of the security forces.

with inputs from news agencies.

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The Pulwama terror attack has not only killed our soldiers, but has hurt everyone in the country. The palpable anger is understandable. For far too long we have been a silent people. Patience and resilience has been the hallmark of Hinduism way of living. Religion has taught us to seek nirvana and live in peace. We are not blood thirsty or revengeful by nature. Revenge is a word that does not exist in Sanatan Dharma.

Mahatma Gandhi says eye for an eye will make one blind. But Sir, let the blind be the other guy, nah!

When cheating, deceit and trickery are prevalent, norms are broken and terrorists are killing our jawans, social order has to be restored in the society. Our scriptures have advocated for calibrated, well-planned responses. Lord Krishna says, whenever and wherever impiety sprouts, Dharma should prevail. To tolerate evil is to accept it. To eliminate evil and establish Dharma or righteousness in the society and we must restore order.

To correct mistakes of the past, we have to do things not done before.

Ladies and Gentlemen, without going into a detailed historical discourse, it is suffice to admit that Pakistan was a mistake. Not to point fingers at any political dispensation, but so was ceding ‘Aksai Chin’ and releasing 90,000 prisoners of war.

Sending them to Allah

And today, taking leniency of the mainlanders, some bastards in the Pakistani Army have been fuelling religious bigoted mindsets and resorting to terror. They need to be taught a lesson. The military leadership and the likes of Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar (the same terrorist Atal Bihari Vajpyee let off post Kandahar hijacking) and Dawood Ibrahim should be sent to the almighty by bullets pumped into their chests or a generous dose of bombs sprinkled over their heads. And the people of Pakistan, who are either silent spectators or supportive majority, will have to suffer. So be it.

Old order ought to change to give way to new. Bharat has been a country that has never initiated an attack. But now is the time to do the unthinkable and do the undoable. But before we go further, at this juncture, we must also promise ourselves to be better citizens – don’t let religion manipulate our senses, pay our taxes and keep our country clean – and do hundreds of other things what we should be doing. Our response at this juncture, having suffered for long, very long, should be mature, planned and should leave little space for ambiguity. We must deliver a clear cut blow and end all the miseries forever rather than adopting for a piecemeal approach.

No Excuse for the Army now

There are enough examples in the modern world of countries invading other territories for ‘justice’. USA, Israel, Russia… We have not done anything so far. Either we start counting our pennies, or lack of preparedness or international pressures… the list of excuses is exhaustive.

Our Defence establishment together with RAW and IB have let the nation down in 2008 when they could not prepare a legitimate response after the Mumbai bomb blast having been asked to do so by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Today, PM Narendra Modi has said forces are free to hit back. What excuse will they have now!

Blood will flow

And in the process, we may have to suffer. I have seen blood flow. I have served in the Army and have heard the reverberating sound of AK 47s, piercing the silence of the valley. Having seen bullets fly, colleagues being hit by terrorists, I know the pain of war. But when the country bleeds, it hurts more that bullets. Having taken part in many-many of security operations, day in and day out when the militancy was its deadliest, I can say that retaliation is not revenge but elimination of terror as a tool of ‘freedom struggle’.

Remember they also have nuclear bombs. It should be kept in mind: They are not going to take the beating lying down. The enemy will perhaps be more prepared than us because they have instigated a sleeping lion. After Uri, Pakistani Generals knew that retribution of any misadventure would be detrimental for their existence but they still did what they did. So, as a strong nation, we must deliver on the expected lines, theirs and ours. It is better for them to die than continue living in fear.

Rest, it is the job of the security forces to send them to Allah and 72 ‘hoor’ and correct our ‘blunders’. The ball in the court of the Army now.

For Dharma, we have to fight. The scale and level of adequate or more than equal response, which is imminent, should be left to the Forces. It is time for Mahabharat and the aim should be to reclaim the land that was mistakenly called Pakistan.                   Send comments to: editor@thecorrespondent.in

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