Foreign Operations & Deployments

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pgbhat
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by pgbhat »

Indian Army MONUC.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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India shelves proposal to set up airbase in Mongolia?
September 18th, 2009 - 5:57 pm ICT by IANS Tell a Friend -

By Ritu Sharma
New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) An Indian proposal to have an airbase in Mongolia to increase its strategic outreach in the Central Asian region appears to have been shelved, an official said, amid concerns that it could exacerbate tensions with China.

Mooted in 2004 during the visit of then Mongolian prime minister N. Enkhbayar in January 2004, the idea elicited a positive response in Mongolia, a country with which India has been rapidly developing ties in the space and defence fields.

“We wanted to have a base in Mongolia but it has not fructified. Currently, we have a base in Tajikistan, and that’s it,” a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) official told IANS requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Although India used the Tajikistan airbase at the turn of the century, it is really not operational in the military sense and there are no Indian aircraft stationed there, knowledgeable sources say.

Besides providing enhanced reach to the IAF, the Mongolian base was seen as giving India strategic leverage vis-a-vis China. Resource-rich Central Asia is also important for India to secure its energy supplies.

But the proposed airbase did not figure during the recently concluded four-day visit of Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj toIndia. Elbegdorj signed a civil nuclear pact with India. Four other pacts were inked, including one to enhance defence cooperation.

These ties have steadily proliferated since the late 1990s as part of New Delhi’s ‘Look East’ policy and strategy to build strategic ties with China’s neighbours. And with China-Mongolian relations de-emphasising Mongolian nationalism and focusing more on regional security cooperation, the Central Asian country is keen to strengthen its ties with other countries as well.

In 2001, India and Mongolia signed an agreement on Defence Cooperation, which included joint exercises and reciprocal visits by military officers, followed by the constitution of Joint Defence Working Group.

In January 2004, a cooperation protocol was signed between its Department of Space and the Mongolian Ministry of Infrastructure. It also covers studies related to satellite communication, satellite-related remote sensing and satellite meteorology. Also included in the protocol are satellite ground stations and satellite mission management, training facilities and exchange of scientists.

A defence ministry official said the idea of the base emerged from long-term “strategic thinking” and a proposal did reach the Cabinet Committee onSecurity (CCS).

“We wanted a base in Mongolia to give us greater reach in the region. But with an air-to-air refueller and better aircraft (with us), the need is not imminent,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

Defence experts agree that the airbase would have given India a bigger strategic footprint.

“Having a military presence in the region will give India a much greater strategic profile. However, it (the plan for a base in Mongolia) seems to have been shelved as the move may be seen as provocative by China,” National Maritime Foundation director Commodore Uday C. Bhaskar, a well known strategic analyst, told IANS.

India and Mongolia share good relations, which have been deepened by the Buddhist link. India was the first non-Communist country to recognise Mongolia, which opened its embassy here in 1956. India’s diplomatic mission there opened 15 years later in 1971.

While New Delhi has reportedly dropped plans to have an airbase in Mongolia, experts say that China continues with its strategy to encircle New Delhi with a series of ports in countries neighbouring India.

The Gwadar port developed in Pakistan with China’s help has neared completion. Opening at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, it has provided China a strategic foothold in Asia and a crucial gateway to trade. The deep-water harbour in Gwadar could be used by China’s expanding fleet of nuclear submarines.

China is also engaged in developing ports and building infrastructure in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Said Bhaskar: “The Indian government is not clear how to deal with China. India should think of investing in a civil air base in Mongolia. It will be akin to the commercial port in Sri Lanka that China is investing in.”

(Ritu Sharma can be contacted at ritu.s@ians.in)
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by sunilUpa »

Haiti has been hit with Earthquake, UN peacekeeping missions HQ is badly damaged and many are reported unaccounted for. UN site for MINUSTAH mentions Indian Police personnel to be part of UN peace keeping mission. Hope everyone is ok.

The Capital looks totally devastated.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) An Indian proposal to have an airbase in Mongolia to increase its strategic outreach in the Central Asian region appears to have been shelved, an official said, amid concerns that it could exacerbate tensions with China.
So China can go about building bases in India's neighborhood which causes no issues while similar Indian action will cause tensions? :-?
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Gagan »

I wonder if Mongolia has Oil or Uranium. India can then have a listening post, airbase there to protect Indian assets from 'the marauding hordes of chang-kai-shek' types.

China uses the string of pearls thing to ostensibly protect its sea lanes of trade.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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Indian peacekeepers in Haiti safe: CISF
India is still awaiting information about 50 other Consular level officers.

"Since we got the first information, we have been trying to establish contact with our Consulate there..... There are about 50 Consular level officers. We are awaiting information about them," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in New Delhi.
:(
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Rahul M »

sum wrote:
New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) An Indian proposal to have an airbase in Mongolia to increase its strategic outreach in the Central Asian region appears to have been shelved, an official said, amid concerns that it could exacerbate tensions with China.
So China can go about building bases in India's neighborhood which causes no issues while similar Indian action will cause tensions? :-?
at this very moment we don't have enough force to commit in mongolia that can make any real difference. a listening post will however be an excellent option.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Rahul M »

any news of our policemen deployed in haiti ?
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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x-posting from Nukkad.
^
LINK wrote:New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) Escorting relief teams, giving medical treatment and providing logistics support to the UN - India’s Lt. Col. Pronob K. Roy and over 150 fellow Indians of the UN mission in Haiti have been working tirelessly and without sleep since a devastating earthquake hit the country a week ago.

It was on Jan 12, at 4.53 p.m., that the earth shook violently with a magnitude of 7.0 in the Caribbean nation, flattening whole swathes of the country, with conservative estimates saying that over 50,000 people have perished.

The Indian contingent deployed with UN’s Haiti mission, called MINUSTAH, consists of a 140-member Formed Police Unit (FPU), mainly from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), as well as 11 UN police officers. There are also 51 Indians working with Trigyn Technologies Ltd, a Mumbai-based company that provides IT support for UN missions.

India has sent $1 million in cash for emergency relief, and topped it with another $5 million. But what Col. Roy and other Indians are doing for the quake victims is an untold story.

For Roy, who landed in Haiti 24 days ago on deputation from the Indian Army to the UN logistics unit, his own survival is a miracle - three times over.

“I was supposed to be in the UN headquarters but due to my presence in another conference I was lucky the first time,” 38-year-old Roy told IANS over telephone from Port-au-Prince.

The logistics base was located at the foot of a hill on which the MINUSTAH headquarters, operating from a hotel, collapsed, killing its chief, Hedi Annabi, a Tunisian, and over 100 UN personnel.

The next miracle was when Roy survived the quake in his office at the logistics base, the computer, air-conditioner and almirahs falling around him. Cracks bloomed on his office walls.

Unshaken, Roy returned after the tremor into the damaged office to see if he could salvage anything.

“Bang came the first aftershock in 15 minutes. This time the windows cracked on my back. Still I managed to survive,” he recalled.

While the FPU members are safe, the building developed several cracks. “All the personnel are now sleeping in the open and not using the concrete structure for their stay.”

With collapsed buildings, strewn bodies and roads clogged, the Indians working with the UN rallied immediately to start giving relief work after the killer quake.

“I got the first communication from a local who came rushing saying that the headquarter building had crumbled. The whole city was in a jam. Petrol pumps were burning. There was utter chaos,” said Roy, whose family is from Kolkata.

With all the UN senior officials untraceable at the collapsed MINUSTAH headquarters, Roy, deputy chief of the integrated support services, Minustah’s Logistic Base Crisis Centre, was given powers to take charge till his next superior was found alive.

“Within 45 minutes, I went on my aerial sortie to see the situation,” Roy said.

Indian personnel were also crucial in getting power and water supply restored to the premises of Minustah within hours.

“The water pipes had burst and the plumbing had clogged. Bhupinder Singh, a water treatment plant specialist, reported to me at 3 a.m., walking on foot from his collapsed house,” he said.

Singh used his ingenuity to connect the water lines and operate the pump station by 6 in the morning.

Indians used to working with lesser materials have been inventive in managing with the broken-down infrastructure, dealing with unimaginable destruction and death on a regular manner.

“When you see a corpse you don’t panic, you call another guy and lift it and put the body in an orderly manner. When you do not have refrigeration container to put it in, you empty a container which has food and keep the body in it and use the food to feed the people.”

The Indian FPUs have been put in charge of escorting the rescue and relief teams that are rushing to Haiti from around the world.

But the Indians have been going beyond their call of duty.

With all hospitals collapsed, urgent medical attention has been given by the FPU, who set up a medical camp within the premises. There are also another 35 Indian nuns working with the Missionaries of Charity, who are also engaged in humanitarian work.

“We have been working for six days without sleep. I don’t know how I have been going on. I really, really want to put on record how amazing our boys have been,” Roy said.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Amit J »

The Indian contigent of the UN forces in Haiti have also been securing Haiti's wealth by guarding the Banks in the capital. Apart from the rescue, relief and restoration activities they have tirelesly undertaking

Paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force personnel have been guarding banks and other vital centres in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, to prevent looting besides providing security to Indians in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.

http://news.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/ ... contentTop
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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from Mandeep-ji on FB
Etiquette, deference, tradition and tea amid an unsung tour of duty
In Congo, Indian troops make up the biggest contingent of the biggest UN peacekeeping operation in the world
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/10feb27/news1.htm#3
Two Majors among 9 Indians killed in Kabul attack :evil:

KABUL/NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Targeting Indians yet again, Taliban today carried out coordinated suicide attacks at two hotels in Kabul killing upto nine Indians, including two Major rank Army officers, evoking sharp reaction from India.

At least 10 others, including five Indian Army officers, were injured in the strike that killed 8 others, including locals and nationals from other countries.

The bombers, believed to be three in number, struck at the guest houses, particularly at Park Residence, rented out by the Indian Embassy for its staffers and those linked to India’s developmental work in Afghanistan.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said as per the preliminary information provided by Afghan Government officials, "up to nine Indians... Have lost their lives".

"A few Indians have been injured, most of whom are reported to be out of danger. Arrangements are being made for their adequate and expeditious treatment, if necessary, by evacuating them to India," he said in a statement.

Sources in the Indian Embassy in Kabul said however that only six Indians were confirmed dead.

Krishna asserted that the attack would not deter India from pursuing developmental activities and would stand by the Afghans in the common fight against terrorism.

Krishna, who received a telephone call tonight from his Afghan counterpart Zalmay Rassoul, said the "barbaric" attacks were clearly aimed against the people of India and Afghanistan.

Describing it as a matter of concern, he said, "These are the handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine the friendship between India and Afghanistan, and do not wish to see a strong, democratic and pluralistic Afghanistan."

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in telephone calls made to some foreign news wires.

This is the fourth attack targeted at Indians in Kabul since July 2008 when 60 people, including four Indian Embassy officials, were killed in a massive car bomb attack on the embassy building.

Strongly condemning the attack, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said it was aimed at Indians workers but would not be allowed to hurt Afghan-Indian relations. "Attacks on Indian citizens will not affect relations between India and Afghanistan," he said.

Indian Embassy sources identified the six deceased Indians as Major Dr Laishram Jyotin Singh of Army Medical Corps, Major Deepak Yadav of Army Education Corps, Engineer Bhola Ram, tabla player Nawab Khan, staffer of Kandahar Consulate Nitish Chibber and ITBP constable Roshan Lal.

Jyotin Singh was in Afghanistan to train local doctors at the Indira Gandhi hospital while Deepak Yadav was teaching English at the Afghan Military Academy.

Nawab Khan, who was killed in the attack on Park Residence, was part of the three-member cultural troupe which was sent by Indian Council for Cultural Relations to Afghanistan.

Bhola Ram was project director at Afghan Power Grid Corporation and was instrumental in bringing electricity to Kabul from Uzbekistan, sources said.

The project had been completed and Bhola Ram was in the process of handing over the responsibilities to Afghans for which they were being trained.

ITBP constable Roshan Lal, 35, a resident of Himachal Pradesh was deployed as the security personnel at the Indian Consulate in Herat. He was on leave and in transit on his way back home.

Chibber was Secretary at the Indian Consulate in Kandahar.

The terrorists targeted those Indians who were engaged in helping Afghan people and building partnership between the two countries, Indian Ambassador Jayant Prasad told.

"It is the handiwork of enemies of Afghan people and friendship between people of India and Afghanistan," Prasad said. (PTI)
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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Indian women peacekeepers hailed in Liberia
They are trained in sophisticated combat tactics and weaponry, crowd and mob control, counter-insurgency. They patrol the streets of the Liberian capital, expected to keep the peace after years of war.

Most of them are also mothers and form an all-women unit from India, policing in a country where a 15-year conflict was characterized by sexual violence. Rape, according to the United Nations, remains the No. 1 crime reported to police in Liberia.

The Indian women were pioneers, the unit's experience in Liberia an experiment of sorts for the United Nations.

Clare Hutchinson, a gender affairs officer at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York, said it was hoped that the Indian women would win the trust of Liberian women and perhaps serve as role models.

"It's about empowerment," she said. "It's quite a success story for us."

Indian policewomen first arrived in Liberia in 2007, and a fresh batch arrived a few days ago in Monrovia as part of the rotation. Annie Abraham, commander of the outgoing Indian unit, said she is proud of the Indian women's performance.

The message that the Indians brought was clear: You can trust us. And you can do anything a man can do. Even better.

"In a post-conflict society, women are much more traumatized," Abraham said. "They are much more open to us. With men, there is some kind of skepticism."

Not only did Abraham's unit provide security and leadership, it was able to embrace Liberian women, mentoring them in health care and family practices. Many were teenage mothers.

The Indians pioneered a new way of peacekeeping. But sometimes, it was heartbreaking.

"We'd hear a woman say: "I have been raped. My daughter has been raped,'" Abraham said.

All they could do was sympathize and provide the kind of comfort a male counterpart could not.

The problems were new to Abraham, who grew up a tomboy enamored with police regalia. She became a police officer because she didn't want a job that was stereotyped as a woman's.

Ironically, it was her gender that landed her in Liberia.

"We performed duties that were different than men," she said. "It was just the presence of women that made a difference."

They even organized summer camp classes on self-defense and Indian classical dance.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visited the Indian peacekeepers in Liberia, said they had motivated Liberian women to take steps to guard against rampant gender violence. "They have set an example that must be repeated in U.N. peacekeeping missions all over the world," she told the U.N. Security Council last year.

The idea of women peacekeepers is fairly new to the United Nations.

Resolution 1325, passed in 2000, recognized that women's experience in armed conflict is different and often more severe than men's. As such, the United Nations vowed to increase the number of women in its peacekeeping forces. Women make up only 8 percent of the U.N. police and 2 percent of its military personnel.

"By including female police among our ranks, we foster a safe environment for victims to get the help they need and deserve," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

Liberia, with a history of sexual violence, was a perfect candidate for women peacekeepers.

Research by human rights group Amnesty International found that many Liberian women do not have access to adequate medical care. They are often widowed or abandoned, and find themselves taking on heavy burdens with little support, few skills and no job or education.

The United Nations' Hutchinson said the world body has made a good start with the Indian female police units -- both for women in Liberia and for promoting gender equality within U.N. agencies.

"We know, for instance, that more numbers of Liberian women are joining the police. We think there is cause and effect," she said about the Indian policewomen.

Change on gender issues in Liberia is slow but gradual, Abraham said. The west African nation has the continent's only female head of state -- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf -- and a Senate that is now about 17 percent women.

As she headed home last week, Abraham said she felt good knowing that her policewomen had helped inspire Liberian women to stand up on their own. And that she had played a role in turning tears into smiles.

posting in full as the article shows the kind of role our forces play in the Country
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_in ... on_1356137
India won't scale down missions in Afghanistan: Shiv Shankar Menon
Seema Guha / DNA
Sunday, March 7, 2010 0:41 IST Email

New Delhi: Shiv Shankar Menon, the Indian national security adviser, while rounding up his meetings in Kabul stated that India will not cow down to terror threats and reduce its humanitarian mission in Afghanistan.

However, Menon made it clear that the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital (IGCH), the only children's hospital in Afghanistan will not reopen till proper security measurers are put in place for the hospital's doctors. The medical missions in Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Mazar-e-sharif will, however, continue with their work. With IGCH's temporary shut down, for the first time an Indian medical mission in Kabul has suspended its operations.

The decision was taken after terrorists killed one of the army doctors and injured several others in the hospital. The TV channel Al Jazeera showed clips of people in the hospital worried that their kids will now not get specialised treatment and free medicines that were being provided to them.

Menon also clarified that India would not scale down its rehabilitation work in war-ravaged Afghanistan. H added that the Indian government was planning to ensure additional security in places of work and areas where Indians live in Afghanistan. Plans are already afoot for better protection of living quarters. More units of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police or other paramilitary force will be flown in to secure the parameters of residential quarters.

The Indian government is concerned that more such targeted attacks on Indian nationals in Afghanistan are likely. Although Menon did not share what he was told about the investigations into the attack on the hospital’s doctors by Afghan agencies, the LeT continue to remain prime suspects.
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Re: Miscellaneous Pictures - Indian Military

Post by Vince »

This might have been discussed before and forgive me if I am posting this question in the wrong thread. But does anyone know how many Indian military personnel are stationed in Afghanistan? And what is the scope of that military presence besides providing security for the civilian contractors/workers working there? The reason I am asking is because if a Brigadier level officer was killed I am guessing there have to be quite a few troops stationed there.
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Re: Miscellaneous Pictures - Indian Military

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the security force stationed there is from ITBP. I don't know the latest count, it was around 500 a couple of years ago. the military personnel from army who have been slain were there either as military attache (the brigadier) or as part of training afghan security forces or as medical personnel. they are not directly involved in providing security AFAIK.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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Aditya G wrote:http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_in ... on_1356137
India won't scale down missions in Afghanistan: Shiv Shankar Menon
Seema Guha / DNA
Sunday, March 7, 2010 0:41 IST Email

New Delhi: Shiv Shankar Menon, the Indian national security adviser, while rounding up his meetings in Kabul stated that India will not cow down to terror threats and reduce its humanitarian mission in Afghanistan.

However, Menon made it clear that the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital (IGCH), the only children's hospital in Afghanistan will not reopen till proper security measurers are put in place for the hospital's doctors. The medical missions in Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Mazar-e-sharif will, however, continue with their work. With IGCH's temporary shut down, for the first time an Indian medical mission in Kabul has suspended its operations.

The decision was taken after terrorists killed one of the army doctors and injured several others in the hospital. The TV channel Al Jazeera showed clips of people in the hospital worried that their kids will now not get specialised treatment and free medicines that were being provided to them.

Menon also clarified that India would not scale down its rehabilitation work in war-ravaged Afghanistan. H added that the Indian government was planning to ensure additional security in places of work and areas where Indians live in Afghanistan. Plans are already afoot for better protection of living quarters. More units of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police or other paramilitary force will be flown in to secure the parameters of residential quarters.

The Indian government is concerned that more such targeted attacks on Indian nationals in Afghanistan are likely. Although Menon did not share what he was told about the investigations into the attack on the hospital’s doctors by Afghan agencies, the LeT continue to remain prime suspects.
WOW!! Certainly didn't take long for the GoI Baffons to change thier stance within THREE days!!!!

India plans scaling down Afghan operations
India is looking at options to scale down operations of its missions in Afghanistan in the wake of terror attacks against Indians there, government sources have said.

The government is also considering putting all Indians working in road and power projects in Afghanistan together for security reasons, the sources said.

An attack on Indians in Kabul last month brought the precarious security situation in focus. Last week, National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon visited Afghanistan to assess the security of the almost 4,000 Indians working on developmental projects in that country.

Menon met Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and discussed new security measures.

Seven Indians, including three army officers, were killed in the attack on February 26.
Don't know whether to react positively or negatively to this!!! Let a lil terrorist attack, deter our involement?? or We should not be involoved in the first place???
Note it says" SCALING DOWN, not WINDING UP!!! Wonder what will they scale down, if ALL the GoI CLAIMS is that it is providing civilian responsibilty and helping rebuild Afghanistan??
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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India has no plan to scale down operations in Afghanistan: Rao
Noting that recent attacks on Indians in Afghanistan is an effort to force New Delhi to get out of the country, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao today ruled out scaling down India's operations in Afghanistan.

"We are not scaling down our operations in Afghanistan, we are taking all necessary security measures to safeguard Indian lives there," she said in response to a question at the Widrow Wilson Center.

Terming it a "barbaric attack against Indians engaged in humanitarian and development work in Afghanistan" she said, February 26 attack was by those who do not wish any other future for Afghanistan except one that suits their sinister ambitions.

"International community should understand that such attempts, if unchecked, would only embolden the same forces that held sway in Afghanistan in the 1990s and caused the tragedy of 9/11," she said.

Arguing that there could not be a distinction between a good Taliban and a bad Taliban, she said that would be disastrous for Afghanistan.

She said there was "no quick solution" to the Af-Pak situation and "it was important for international community, in its own interest, to stay the present course for as long as it was necessary."
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Re: Miscellaneous Pictures - Indian Military

Post by ASPuar »

Rahul M wrote:the security force stationed there is from ITBP. I don't know the latest count, it was around 500 a couple of years ago. the military personnel from army who have been slain were there either as military attache (the brigadier) or as part of training afghan security forces or as medical personnel. they are not directly involved in providing security AFAIK.
Correct. Indian Army is not being deployed in Afghanistan specifically as per Unkills request, though theyre allowed as part of embassy staff and humanitarian missions.

The Brig. who was killed was a DMI officer, posted as attache to the embassy.

Good that this cowardly policy of withdrawing from Afghanistan has met with a stern no.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by shyamd »

Chaps, Al Jazeera is doing a special on Sunday 21:30 GMT on the Lebanon Israeli border. It will feature Indian soldiers on the UN mission on border patrol's. The adverts had clips of INSAS wielding soldiers on routine border patrols and the issues they are facing on the border.

I think the program is called Across the blue line or something of that sort.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Viv S »

shyamd wrote: I think the program is called Across the blue line or something of that sort.
'The Blue Line Dispute', I believe.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Nikhil T »

Indian soldier killed in attack on MONUC in Congo

KINSHASA: An Indian peacekeeper with the UN mission in Democratic Republic of Congo was shot dead today when armed men attacked government troops in the troubled eastern Goma region, the MONUC force said.

According to a UN source, a Congolese soldier and a civilian were also killed in the attack, while three troops and a second civilian were injured.

"A Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) patrol was attacked by armed men. A MONUC vehicle patrol that was in the area took up position and was shot at by the assailants," MONUC spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai told AFP.

"An Indian soldier was wounded. He died after being transferred by helicopter to Goma's hospital."

The incident took place at around 1:00 pm on a road crossing the Virunga national park, around 80 kilometres north of Goma, the capital of DR Congo's troubled Nord-Kivu province.

The assailants' identity was unknown. For more than a decade the volatile east of the DR Congo has been the scene of attacks and fighting involving several armed groups, including the FDLR Rwandan Hutu rebel group and Mai-Mai tribal militias.

The Mai-Mai were recently integrated in the Congolese army but control their own territory in neighbouring Sud-Kivu province and are intent on overturning the military command in the area.

The Congolese army with logistical support from the UN mission has conducted several military operations to try to bring peace and stability to the east of the vast central African country.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa- ... print=true
8 August 2010 Last updated at 11:49 GMT
Indian peacekeepers killed in DR Congo
Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed three Indian peacekeepers in an apparent ambush.
Dozens of machete-wielding men dressed in raffia palms attacked as soldiers opened a fortified base to help a group of civilians, the Indian army said.
The attackers are thought to belong to the Mai Mai militia group, blamed for contributing to the violence that has disrupted the region for years.
The motive for the night attack is unclear, the Indian army said.
Jungle attack
A group of five Congolese civilians came to the base, operated by the UN's peacekeeper mission, known as Monusco, in the town of Kirumba.
"They asked the post for assistance. While they were engaging the guard in conversation, a group of approximately 50 rebels attacked the post from the surrounding jungle," an Indian army statement said.
The soldiers opened fire and drove the rebels away, but not before three Indian soldiers were killed and seven wounded, it added.
Nearly 4,000 Indian army soldiers are part of the UN Congo peacekeeping mission.
Repeated rebel attacks in Congo have called into question the ability of the UN force to protect civilians.
Radhey
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Radhey »

I am not sure if the below link has been posted earlier..

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=69384
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by nithish »

shyamd wrote:Chaps, Al Jazeera is doing a special on Sunday 21:30 GMT on the Lebanon Israeli border. It will feature Indian soldiers on the UN mission on border patrol's. The adverts had clips of INSAS wielding soldiers on routine border patrols and the issues they are facing on the border.

I think the program is called Across the blue line or something of that sort.
The Blue Line Dispute
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

India is pulling out the helicopter contingent from UN ops. Hind fleet saw lot of action in DRC so hope we get a complete history published by IAF one day.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ind ... ?css=print
...Mr Manjeev Singh Puri, India’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said that India needed its helicopters. “The contract has ended,” he told PTI adding, “We need them back for our own use.’....
http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/post ... acekeeping
...The Indian drawdown will deal a blow to the U.N. mission, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, which has depended on Indian troops and aircraft to ensure it can protect civilians and conduct humanitarian operations in a sprawling nation the size of Western Europe, and one with few roads....
Series of cables leaked on DRC-MONUC-India tensions:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sp ... ble39.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sp ... ble40.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sp ... ble41.html
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Post by Aditya G »

Barely a quarter has gone by, and India is now sending a new aviation contingent to Congo, reversing its decision.

What events have unfolded in this time?
Airavat wrote:
An Indian Army aviation unit, comprising six light helicopters and 70 personnel, will leave Wednesday for a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Congo’s restive Kivu province. The contingent, led by Col. Shantanu Kashyap, will stay in the Congo for one year.

The Indian Army aviation contingent, with its Chetak and Cheetah helicopters, will provide air support to the UN peacekeepers, including border and field surveillance, observation and reconnaissance, medical transport and search and rescue flights.

Army air unit going for Congo UN mission
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by member_20030 »

Does anyone have information about Indian naval or army assistance to Oman in the 1970s?
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Post by Nikhil T »

Congo Sex Scandal: 4 Indian Army Men Indicted
Four army personnel, including a Major, have been indicted by a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into a case of alleged sexual exploitation of women in Congo during their deployment under a UN mission in 2007-08.

Army Chief General Bikram Singh told PTI here today that CoI into the case has been completed and the DNA sample of one jawan has matched with one of the kids allegedly fathered by Indian troopers in Congo.

According to the CoI, three persons will face administrative actions for Command and Control failure and the jawan will face disciplinary action, Gen Singh said.

The CoI has found three others personnel responsible for Command and Control failure. One of the officials include a Company Commander of the rank of Major, while other two are a JCO and a Havildar.

Army officials also said the report of the CoI has been sent by the 11 Corps HQ to Western Command but it is yet to reach the Army headquarters here.

The CoI was ordered by the Army in May 2011 after United Nations communicated to the Indian government that personnel of 6 Sikh regiment were allegedly involved in sexual exploitation of women during their deployment in Congo in 2007-08.

The CoI was held in Meerut Cantonment under a Brigadier and had two Colonels as its members.

The UN mission to Congo, which was established in late 1999, is one of the largest UN peacekeeping missions in the world, and India had a brigade-size contribution -- nearly 4,000 troops-- to the multi-national force serving there at that time.

In 2010 also, an inquiry was launched against a Major who was allegedly found in the company of sex workers in a hotel in Congo.

In March 2008, three Indian peace-keepers to UN Mission in Congo were detained by Pretoria police in South Africa after a woman complained that they had raped her.

The UN indictment of Indian troops in that episode of sexual abuse had surfaced in a probe report, which had revealed "prima-facie evidence" against a number of Indian peace-keepers previously assigned to one of the units with the UN Mission in Congo.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by member_23677 »

Nayak wrote:
No more Indian troops please, Congo tells UN chief
26 Nov 2008, 1052 hrs IST, AFP

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Worl ... 758894.cms

Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
KINSHASA: The Congolese government has written to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asking him not to send any more Indian troops to reinforce its peacekeeping mission, according to a letter read to the news agency.

India is not mentioned by name, but diplomatic sources told the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is without doubt referring to the Indian contingent of MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission.

"In view of the numerous abuses of power carried out by certain troops within MONUC, the (Congolese) people would not understand if soldiers from the same country would be used to boost numbers within MONUC," says the letter, which was read to news agency by diplomatic sources.

Indian peacekeepers have been accused of sexual abuse and MONUC admitted in August that some Indian troops could have been involved.

The letter could prove a major diplomatic embarrassment to the UN. Some 90% of the peacekeepers patrolling the troubled Nord-Kivu region are from India and New Delhi is also providing assault helicopters for the mission.

The UN Security Council voted last Thursday to send 3,000 reinforcements to the country. Which countries will supply the extra troops and when is still to be undecided.

The UN has been criticised for failing to protect the estimated 250,000 displaced people by both the rebels and government forces.

Congolese Foreign Minister Alexis Tambwe Muamba handed the letter addressed to Ban to the deputy head of the UN mission Leilaq Zeerougi on Saturday, the same diplomatic sources said.

MONUC spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai confirmed that a letter from the Congolese foreign minister had been received Saturday, but declined to give details on its contents.

The Congolese government also confirmed Muamba had sent a letter to Zerrougui on Saturday, but gave no further comment.

MONUC has been operating in Congo since 2001. It is one of the largest UN missions worldwide with 17,000 peacekeepers currently deployed there.
:evil: :evil: :evil:
looks like the corrupt officials of DRC caved in to demands of goons roaming the country, such things are pretty common in such countries, mafia and gangs or rebel armies bribe/threaten a certain higher official and they make up these stories to serve their masters. Looks like our troops were too good for them ....
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Brando »

^^ Good. No point risking Indian lives/resources in some god forsaken place for nothing but grief. Let them kill each other - why should we care ? The Euro's broke Africa - let them fix it or let the African Union.

India needs to take a page out of the P5 handbook- America, China, Russia etc which don't put their troops on the ground unless they have a direct stake or something to be gained. India needs to pull out being the UN's Ghurka watchmen to guard and police hellholes for peanuts.

The MEA and IFS babu's get their jollies by boasting about Indian contribution at the UN to foreign diplomats but when the P5 are not willing to share power, why should India bend over backwards risking Indian lives/resources etc to support a bloated and diseased institution called the UN that has done nothing for India ??
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by member_23677 »

Brando wrote:^^ Good. No point risking Indian lives/resources in some god forsaken place for nothing but grief. Let them kill each other - why should we care ? The Euro's broke Africa - let them fix it or let the African Union.

India needs to take a page out of the P5 handbook- America, China, Russia etc which don't put their troops on the ground unless they have a direct stake or something to be gained. India needs to pull out being the UN's Ghurka watchmen to guard and police hellholes for peanuts.

The MEA and IFS babu's get their jollies by boasting about Indian contribution at the UN to foreign diplomats but when the P5 are not willing to share power, why should India bend over backwards risking Indian lives/resources etc to support a bloated and diseased institution called the UN that has done nothing for India ??
Or atleast build temples and spread Hinduism and Indian culture to these regions and then sit back and watch them grow. Something that the P4 have always done.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by rohitvats »

^^^That is pretty rich of the DRC government whose own army vacated an town without any resistance when faced with assault from the rebels. And guess what, they looted their own population while withdrawing. Also, it seems that IAF Gunship contingent was used to slowdown the rebel advance. Incidentally, this is what Orbat.com carried:
The Congo Civil War turns serious again as M23 rebels take Goma and advance on Sake to the west. M23 is supported by Rwanda; indeed, Goma is just a few miles from the Rwanda border. There was no real fight for Goma as the Congo Army simply withdrew. MONUC has no mandate to fight the rebels. It has supported the Congo Army in operations against the rebels, and did so last week as it used attack helicopters to try and stop a rebel push. But by itself the air support proved insufficient, and with the Army having vacated Goma, there is no one for the UN to support.

M23 says 2100 Congo Army troops and 700 police surrendered; many have joined the rebels. The rebels plan on advancing on Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu, which is shared between Rwanda and Congo. From there they want to advance west, all the way to Kinshasa. To us at this time this seems an unrealistic plan, but let’s see what we see. The push for Bukavu has hit a temporary roadblock because the Congo Army is fighting back at Sake, an important town on Highway N2 from Goma to Bukavu. Whether the army can stop the rebels remains to be seen.

The UN’s position is simple. Its job is to provide security for the civilians in the region and to help out the Army. It is not to do the fighting for the government. There is no doubt that if MONUC is ordered into action, with its several Indian and Pakistani battalions it will quickly sweep away the rebels. But what next? MONUC was supposed to buy time for a new Congo national army to be formed from the 5-6 major rebel armies in Eastern Congo. MONUC did this, and now the Congo Army is not doing its job. Frustrating as it is, MONUC is doing the right thing by staying out of things.

<SNIP>

Unwilling to defend Goma the Congo Army nonetheless gave the people they were supposed to protect a parting gift: they looted the civilians and along with the rebels, are doing their standard killing and raping.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Nikhil T »

Indian all women police (RAF) contingent in Liberia

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Post by Nikhil T »

Indian Army helps rescue 12 students from Congo rebels
New Delhi: An Indian Army unit deployed in peacekeeping missions in Congo helped in rescuing 12 local students from a rebel group there.

“Efforts of peacekeepers of INDBATT 2 (Indian Battery) of North Kivu brigade resulted in rescue of 12 innocent students from M23 rebels at Kiwanja in Rutshuru territory of North Kivu province of Democratic Republic of Congo,” an army statement on Facebook said.

Brave soldiers. AFP
The students were apprehended by the M23 rebels on 5 June on the suspicion of having links with banditry activities in the area, it said.

After the students of the Butrande Secondary School, Kiwanja were apprehended, a delegation of local community leaders and Children Parliament– an NGO, approached Indian Army Company Operating Base (COB), Kiwanja, for the safe release of these innocent people, the statement said.

After receiving the information, “the Indian Army’s contingent swung into action and a team was formed to ensure their safe release. The Company Commander incorporated the locality chiefs and other influential people of the area and through them passed a strong message to the armed group for the release of innocent civilians especially the students. ”

“This resulted in immediate release of two students within five hours and after sustained efforts, negotiations and robust posture of MONUSCO (UN Peacekeeping mission in Congo) remaining ten students were also released on the second day,” the army said.

The Children’s Parliament and locals of Kiwanja appreciated the assistance by MONUSCO peacekeepers for rescue of local civilians, the army said.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

"Op Lal Dora" ... add it to the list of "Ops that never happened"

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/w ... 492148.ece
The Top Secret ‘Operation Lal Dora’ — which remains highly classified to this day — was conceived in 1983 with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s approval and called for the amphibious landing of troops from the 54th Division to help the Mauritian Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth fight off a challenge from his radical rival Paul Berenger which New Delhi feared might take the form of an attempted coup.

India’s military plans also included the deployment of major naval assets including as many as six destroyers with Alouette helicopters and MK 42C Sea Kings for slithering operations, according to the first detailed account of the events by Australian academic David Brewster and the former Director, Naval Intelligence, Ranjit Rai, in the latest issue of the scholarly journal Asian Security (‘Operation Lal Dora: India’s aborted military intervention in Mauritius’).

Mrs. Gandhi put the military part of the operation on hold after a squabble between the Navy and the Army over who would lead the intervention. Instead, she chose to task the Research and Analysis Wing’s then chief, Nowsher F. Suntook, with supervising a largely intelligence-led operation to reunite the Indian community whose fracturing along ideological and communal lines had allowed Mr. Berenger to mount a political challenge.

“The matter remains highly classified to this day,” a retired intelligence official familiar with the operation told The Hindu on condition of anonymity. “But it was a huge success. As a result, Jugnauth stayed on as PM for more than ten years. We produced this outcome by political means.”

A measure of this ‘huge success’ was Mr. Jugnauth’s subsequent decision to request India Gandhi for an Indian as his national security adviser. “He wanted an intelligence officer but we sent an army man, General J.N. Tamini, who remained there for many years,” the retired officer recalled.

India’s first military intervention in the Indian Ocean came four years later, first with INS Vindhyagiri helping to abort a coup in the Seychelles in 1986 (‘Operation Flowers are Blooming’) and then ‘Operation Cactus’ in 1988 when commandos and naval ships were rushed to the Maldives after Sri Lankan Tamil militants sought to unseat the then President, Abdul Gayoom.

But India has never acknowledged its 1983 plans to save the Jugnauth government in Mauritius using military means. Indeed, there has been no public account of this operation till the article written by Prof. Brewster and Cmde Rai, which is based largely on interviews with retired Navy and Army officers. In his book on the external agency, Kaoboys of R&AW, former intelligence official B. Raman mentioned Suntook’s mission but did not name the country.

According to Dr. Brewster and Cmde Rai, the Indian military was divided on the planned operation with the then Navy Chief, Admiral O.S. Dawson backing the idea and General S.K. Sinha, who was the deputy Army chief at the time, telling Mrs Gandhi he did not have confidence in the planned operation. Though they document the concrete military preparations which got under way in Bombay at the time, the two scholars speculate that Mrs. Gandhi’s real aim may have been to spread the word in Mauritius — as a signal to the Berenger camp — that Indian military intervention was imminent.

Officials on the intelligence side don’t disagree. “[The situation in Mauritius] wasn’t really a military threat of the kind for which the Navy was asked to prepare [a plan] for. Actually, Jugnauth had requested that a senior R&AW official rush to Port Louis and help defuse the crisis. So the matter was taken out of the Navy’s hands and given over to the R&AW,” recalled a veteran intelligence officer.

Suntook passed away a few years ago but one officer who was around at that time told The Hindu that the operation was a “very fine piece” of intelligence and operational work by the R&AW chief who was pitchforked into Mauritius by Mrs. Gandhi on the very day he was to retire.

Soon after that operation, Mauritius became a listening post for the Indian Navy that bolstered a 1974 agreement for sending Indian defence officers on deputation to its coast guard and helicopter squadron. Today 35 to 40 Mauritian police officials train every year at Indian defence training academies.

Though eventually aborted, Operation Lal Dora has a special resonance today because of the Indian strategic community’s focus on promoting the Indian Navy’s role in the wider neighbourhood, especially the Indian Ocean. This call for a blue water navy has been helped by the improved budgetary allocation for the Navy to buy military hardware.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1 ... 08#preview
DOI:10.1080/14799855.2012.761208
David Brewster* & Ranjit Rai
pages 62-74


Publishing models and article dates explained
Published online: 08 Mar 2013
Article Views: 186
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Abstract
As India expands its strategic reach in the Indian Ocean, it will need friends that it can count on. The island state of Mauritius has long been one of India's closest allies in the region. This article discusses India's plans for a military intervention in Mauritius in 1983 to prevent a feared coup that may have threatened India's interests. A naval task force was readied, but the intervention did not proceed because of disagreements in India's leadership. Instead New Delhi facilitated a political solution to the crisis that firmly consolidated its special role. This previously undisclosed episode sheds light on India's thinking about the Indian Ocean, the alignment of India's interests with the United States, and India's military capabilities
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Post by Aditya G »

An Afghan policeman stands at the site of a suicide attack at the Indian consulate in Jalalabad province. - Reuters

Image
Philip
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Philip »

Aditya,tx. for that very valuable post.The Island's PM has had an Indian defence/security advisor for quite some time.Reports that the twin islands of Agalega have been offered to us a listening base surfaced last year.Here is an interesting viewpoint from a Lankan analyst at YaleGlobal.
India: Still at the Center of the Indian Ocean
India nurtures close security ties with island states in ocean that bears its name
Nilanthi Samaranayake
YaleGlobal, 22 February 2013

India still dominant: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa receives Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma in 2010 (top); Dosti-XI joint naval exercises of India, Maldives and Sri Lanka

ALEXANDRIA, VA: Is India’s influence declining in the ocean named after the country? That seems to be the conclusion of some analysts after Maldives’ cancellation of an airport development contract with an Indian company in November. These concerns are elevated by China’s increased engagement with smaller states in the Indian Ocean, including Maldives. Given the legacy of the 1962 war between China and India and ongoing competition for influence, New Delhi is right to have suspicions about Beijing’s intentions in its neighborhood and whether smaller Indian Ocean countries are playing the two sides off each other. But the fact is that India’s position in the region remains strong due to longstanding and growing security cooperation with smaller neighbors as well as the Indian Navy’s expanding capabilities. Just in the past week, New Delhi’s influence has been underscored by former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed’s decision to seek refuge in the Indian High Commission in Male after a Maldivian court ordered his arrest.

India is a rising naval power and has the natural advantage of geography in the surrounding ocean. Moreover, India is connected to smaller countries in the region through entrenched ethnic and historical ties. President Mohamed Waheed has discussed Maldives’ “preferential relationship” with India, and a former Maldivian foreign minister has stated that “nothing will change the fact that we are only 200 miles from Trivandrum,” referring to Maldives’ proximity to the Indian city. India feels security obligations to regional states and has displayed its operational reach through campaigns in Sri Lanka and Maldives. In 1987, it intervened in the Sri Lankan civil war through the Indian Peace Keeping Force. Likewise, Indian armed forces intervened in Maldives in 1988 following a coup, and after the 2004 tsunami the Indian Navy was first to provide critical disaster relief to Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia.

India has enduring
and growing military relationships with island nations in the Indian Ocean.

Aside from such extraordinary circumstances, India has enduring and growing military relationships with island nations in the Indian Ocean. India deputes a navy officer to manage the National Coast Guard of Mauritius, where two-thirds of the public is of Indian origin. In 2007, New Delhi built a monitoring station in Madagascar that relays intelligence back to Mumbai and Kochi. India is also installing a network of coastal radars in all 26 Maldivian atolls that feed back to India. The Indian Navy and Coast Guard frequently assist Seychelles, Maldives and Mauritius in maintaining security by providing maritime surveillance, hydrographic surveys, training, and maritime military equipment and repair, in addition to engaging these countries in exercises. In contrast, China has not provided such maritime assistance, except for two patrol craft and training to Seychelles. India concluded the DOSTI exercise with Maldives in April, even adding Sri Lanka to this two-decade bilateral engagement. The three countries will soon sign an agreement to advance maritime domain awareness in the region. India’s military ties with postwar Sri Lanka are now deeper with the resumption of the SLINEX naval exercise in 2011, and the two countries began an annual dialogue between their defense secretaries in 2012. Beyond bilateral relationships, New Delhi is gradually assuming a greater leadership role in Indian Ocean institutions, such as the economic and diplomatic forum Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS). Far from India’s influence waning, all these measures reinforce the country’s strong security relationships with Indian Ocean countries.

As seen in India’s security activities with states in its neighborhood, defense cooperation is a normal occurrence and not a cause for concern in its current form in the Indian Ocean. While some observers were unnerved by the Maldivian defense minister’s visit to China after the airport deal collapsed, a similar trip occurred in 2009 during the presidency of Nasheed, who was seen as a pro-India leader. The 2012 visit resulted in minimal security cooperation: China agreed to provide a $3.2 million marine ambulance for the archipelagic nation.

Defense cooperation is
a normal occurrence and not a cause for concern in its current form in the Indian Ocean.

China’s defense cooperation with Sri Lanka was once more robust, with Beijing giving Colombo critical weapons systems to fight the Tamil Tiger insurgency, but has eased since the conclusion of the civil war. Nonetheless, Chinese Minister of National Defense Liang Guanglie recently promised Sri Lanka $100 million to develop military infrastructure in the country’s north and east, he was careful not to antagonize New Delhi. Following his visit to Sri Lanka, Liang traveled to India for confidence-building discussions on border tensions.

Despite India’s entrenched ties with smaller island states in the Indian Ocean, these countries are constrained by limited resources and accept infrastructure assistance from any country that can offer it – from Japan, South Korea and Iran as well as from China. Smaller countries seek to develop their economies without having to choose between India and China. In fact, New Delhi has not always been receptive to their requests for development assistance and should not be surprised when China steps in to fill this role. Sri Lanka, for example, consulted India first to build a port in Hambantota, but New Delhi declined. Colombo subsequently accepted Chinese funding rather than pass up an opportunity to develop a possible transshipment hub in South Asia.

Furthermore, Beijing’s economic engagement with smaller South Asian states offers benefits for India. Until New Delhi is prepared to increase its investment in regional infrastructure development, China’s road, rail, seaport and airport projects will improve trade and connectivity for the betterment of the entire South Asian region, which the World Bank and Asian Development Bank consider to be among the least integrated regions in the world.

Until India’s prepared
to increase investments, China’s projects will improve connectivity for the betterment of South Asia.

Still, New Delhi should not take for granted its dominant position in the Indian Ocean. The rejection in Maldives, though its significance should not be overstated, serves as a wakeup call for India to invest more in developing its backyard. Scholar Rani Mullen finds that India’s provision of aid lacks a cohesive strategy. India’s intelligence organization Research and Analysis Wing recently called on the government to provide more economic investment and technological expertise in Maldives and Nepal, following analysis of China’s IT and telecom industries’ interest in these countries. Also, a Jane’s Defence Weekly article reported last July that National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon called on Indian envoys posted in neighborhood countries to discuss ways to facilitate often delayed infrastructure assistance through the new Development Partnership Agency. Officials conceded that New Delhi’s assistance projects carried on “interminably” and that ties to regional states were “limited and haphazard.”

Despite the failed airport deal with Maldives, New Delhi is not in danger of losing its privileged place in the Indian Ocean. This transactional thinking ignores India’s longstanding security ties with regional states, which have been expanding and will continue to do so. At the time of writing, Nasheed waits in the Indian High Commission while Maldives’ High Court and police force seek India’s assistance with bringing him into custody. Although the High Commissioner has not yet made a decision, the episode displays India’s persisting influence in the region.

That being said, China will increasingly pursue economic opportunities in the Indian Ocean, and the smaller states will accept Chinese assistance as they seek to develop their economies. But this is not a zero-sum game and does not translate to India losing its strategic advantage in a region whose very geography is a metaphor for the country’s centrality and growing influence.

Nilanthi Samaranayake is an analyst in the Strategic Studies division at CNA in Alexandria, VA. She may be reached at nilanthi@cna.org. The views expressed are solely those of the author and not of any organization with which she is affiliated.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

You are welcome Philip.

Found this titbit from IPKF ...

http://sf-3.blogspot.in/2008/02/story-o ... -sams.html
...

The desire of the Tamil Tigers for SAM capability existed as early as 1986. During "Operation Tiger" led by Tamilnadu DIG intelligence K. Mohandas, the Tamil nadu police captured SAMs, AK-47, rocket launchers and pistols. According to Tamil Nadu sources as many as ten LTTE cadres undertook training of SA-7 in an undisclosed location in Uttar Pradesh. This group was said to be led by a Pulendran, who later committed suicide at the Palaly base in 1987. When the IPKF landed in Sri Lanka as per the Indo-Lanka agreement there are two accounts of SAMs being used against IPKF gunships. Neither was successful. This is in addition to a captured SA-7 from the ceiling of a school teacher by the IPKF

...
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