Intelligence and National Security Discussion

[ravip]

Even after the GOI giving clean chit about his foreign funding you still indulge in casting aspersions without any hard facts to justify your statement.

It is only the previous govt that has "given him a clean chit". Considering how they collaborated with the aap in the formation of the first dilli govt, why am I not surprised??

The investigations under this govt has just started

the present NDA government has given clean chit not once but twice. Read this

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/centre-takes ... 0-258.html

and as to AVAM revelations the investigation is in progress.

[chetak]

{quote="ravip"}
Even after the GOI giving clean chit about his foreign funding you still indulge in casting aspersions without any hard facts to justify your statement.{/quote}

It is only the previous govt that has "given him a clean chit". Considering how they collaborated with the aap in the formation of the first dilli govt, why am I not surprised??

The investigations under this govt has just started

the present NDA government has given clean chit not once but twice. Read this

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/centre-takes ... 0-258.html

and as to AVAM revelations the investigation is in progress.

I was referring to the AVAM investigations.

I did not know but am now updated on the previous clearances by this govt, thanks to you.

[VinodTK]

Budget 2015: Govt to allocate Rs 2,46,727 crore to defence sector

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who presented the Union Budget for fiscal 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government would allocate Rs 2, 46, 727 crore in the defence sector.

"Defence of each square inch of our motherland comes before anything else. So, far as we have been dependent on imports with attendant to ample spin-offs. Our government is already permitted FDI in defence so that Indian controlled entities also become manufacturers of defence equipment not only for us but for export," he said.

"We are thus pursuing the 'Make in India' policy to achieve greater self-sufficiency in the area of defence equipment, including aircraft.

Members of this august House would have noted that we have been both transparent and quick in making defence equipment related purchase decisions. This year keeping our defence forces ready for any eventuality. This year I have provided adequately for the needs of the armed forces as against the expenditure of the current year at Rs 2, 22, 370 crore, the budget allocation for 15-16 is Rs 2, 46, 727 crore," he added.

Budget focuses on road network on borders with China, Pakistan

New Delhi: As a part of its infrastructure development initiative, the Arun Jaitley Budget has provided almost a 100 per cent increase in funds for all weather roads along Sino-India and Indo-Pak boundaries.

Keeping in mind the facilitation of troops along the 4,056-km Sino-India border stretching from 'Karakoram point' of Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir to 'Fish Tail' in Arunachal Pradesh, the Government has earmarked Rs 300 crore in 2015-16 budget, a figure which is almost double of allocation during the last fiscal when it stood at Rs 156.47 crore.

Read: Ministry of Home Affairs gets over Rs 62,000 crore in budget, sees 10.2 per cent jump

The infrastructure facilities along this border were needed as Indian troops -- the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Army -- have been facing severe restrictions in their movement whereas Chinese People's Liberation Army could reach the last post easily because of good metallic roads.

Similarly, the Government has increased the budgetary provision of construction of roads along the 1,751-km border from Rs 50 lakh in the revised budget of the last fiscal to Rs 300 crore in 2015-16.

The government had made a Rs 500-crore proposal in the last budget but ended up utilising only Rs 50 lakh.

A near 100 per cent increase has also been earmarked for construction of roads along the 3,323 Km Indo-Pak border, which stretches from Jammu and Kashmir to Gujarat.

This money will also be used for constructions of observation posts, installation of flood lighting and induction of high-tech surveillance along the border.

The Government had earmarked Rs 300 crore in the last budget but could utilise only half of it. The revised budget in last fiscal was Rs 165.22 crore whereas the amount earmarked for this year is Rs 320 crore.

Roads along the Indo-Bhutan's 699 Kms will also be getting attention in this year's budget with Government earmarking Rs 50 crore for it. In the last fiscal, the Government had spent a mere Rs one lakh on the roads along this border.

Rs 20 crore have been earmarked for construction of roads and other infrastructure along the 1,643 kms long Indo-Myanmar border. In the last fiscal Rs 11.12 crore were spent on this.

[Vipul]

The details.

On Saturday, the defence budget was increased by 10.95 % to Rs 2.46 lakh crore for the next fiscal as compared to the revised estimates of Rs 2.22 lakh crore for 2014-15 as the government focuses on 'Make in India' to curtail over-dependence on imports.

The defence budget accounts for nearly 13.88 % of the total central government expenditure for the year 2015-16 which is Rs 1,777,477.04 crore. While the government had last year alloted Rs 2.29 lakh crore in the budget, it was revised to Rs 2,22,370 crore. Today's budget represents a growth of about 7.74 % over last year's budget estimates.

However, it is far below what China spends on its defence. China's defence spending was USD 132 billion in 2014-15, a figure that many believe is under reported.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley underlined that defence of "every square inch of our mother land" comes before anything else.

"So far, we have been over dependent on imports, with its attendant unwelcome spin-offs," he said, adding that government has already permitted FDI in defence. He said this was done so that the Indian-controlled entities also become manufacturers of defence equipments, not "only for us, but for export".

Speaking on the steps taken to boost the defence sector, Jaitley said the government is working towards self- sufficiency through the Make in India programme in defence equipment including aircraft and added that the government has been both transparent and quick in making defence equipment related purchase decisions.

"This year too, I have provided adequately for the needs of the armed forces. As against likely expenditure of this year of Rs 2,22,370 crore the budget allocation for 2015-16 is Rs 2,46,727 crore," he said in his budget address. He has earmarked Rs 94,588 crore for military modernisation, which works out to 38 % of the total defence outlay.(Is this large enough for us to be able to use a part towards down payment for Rafale's? )

Incidentally, Rs 12,622 crore meant for modernisation last year remained unspent . Of this, Rs 5,992 crore was diverted towards revenue spending. India is seeking to fast-track its military modernisation and has a number of pending deals ahead like the multi-billion contract for 126 multi-role combat aircraft contract. The other major acquisitions expected to be finalised include the deals for 22 Apache combat choppers, 15 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and besides new submarines and vessels for the Indian Navy.

In 2010, India overtook China as the world's biggest importer of defence equipment, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Indian Air Force, Army and Navy have placed orders worth Rs 83,858 crore from 2011 to the last fiscal.

[Vipul]

Defence: Getting Down To Brass Tacks.

Traditionally, the defence allocation in the finance minister’s Budget speech on February 28 receives predictable and perfunctory mention. The minister assures the house that national security is of paramount importance and that the government will provide what is required to ensure “adequate defence preparedness” — and the amount to be allocated, which is not insignificant, is announced. A few weeks later, at the fag-end of the budget session, this allocation, now of about Rs.240,000 crore (about $40 billion), is passed with little debate and even lesser quorum.

However, a radical review of the strategic and fiscal underpinning of the defence allocation is imperative — if the current military inventory stasis is to be redressed and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Make in India is to be realised.

The primary objective of the defence allocation is to enhance India’s composite military capability in a tangible manner — which means paying attention to the quality of the gun and the human resource behind the gun. The deeper strategic underpinning would also call for an objective threat assessment, the techno-strategic trajectory of modern warfare and arriving at an affordable option. Concurrently, innovative planning and management of the funds so allocated ought to contribute to the overall national design and manufacturing ecosystem that will progressively reduce import dependence and allow for export of military inventory. Regrettably, for the last two decades, this has remained an elusive goal.

In July 2014, Jaitley had announced Rs.229,000 crore as the BE (budgetary estimate) for the defence expenditure for 2014-15. This was estimated to be under 1.8 per cent of the GDP for that period. Whether this amount has been utilised in the manner that was envisaged will be evident on Saturday, but the trend analysis is far from reassuring. Over the last 15 years, going back to NDA-1, rarely have the funds allocated for defence been fully utilised or spent as per the specific categories they were meant to be expended on. In the NDA years from 2000-01 to 2003-04, the annual amount that was returned unspent to the central pool was of the order of Rs.8,900 crore, Rs.7,700 crore, Rs.9,300 crore and Rs.5,200 crore. The Congress-led UPA had a similar tale and in 2005-06 to 2007-08, the amounts unspent were Rs.2,400 crore, Rs.3,500 crore and Rs.4,300 crore. Paradoxically, in 2012-13, the amount unspent was a staggering Rs.11,600 crore, even when the Indian military was in dire need of inventory infusion across the board.In some years, 2008-09 onwards, the defence spending exceeded that which was allocated and this was ascribed to the additional expenditure incurred due to the revision of pay scales as per the Sixth Pay Commission – and the clearing of backlog for the serving military personnel and related pensioner dues. (Bloody Bast**ds did this only to spend on Salaries and Pension not to induct critically required armaments)

The overall pattern that emerges is that of an Indian higher defence lattice that is not equipped to manage large fiscal outlays – except by way of imposing stringent expenditure control and inflexible fidelity to arid procedural compliance. This, when India is expected to spend over $700 billion for defence over the next 10 years.

The macro-management of India’s defence allocation over a decade plus calls for a structural review that will, first, enable military modernisation and redressing inventory obsolescence; two, allow for improving the capacity of the national ecosystem to manufacture and design military equipment in India; and three, address the very serious HR distortions that have adversely impacted the morale of the serving soldiers and the retired veterans.

Thus, institutional fidelity to the objective of allocating funds for defence and nurturing an environment that will provide adequate incentive to all stakeholders to realise the ‘Make in India’ vision is urgently called for. The Indian private sector and academia have been marginalised and where they do make an attempt to work, one manufacturer wryly noted at a seminar on the subject: “I spend more time filling forms and submitting my tax returns.”

The Modi promise of moving from ‘red tape to red carpet’ must become a reality if the integrity of the defence allocation is to be preserved and India’s import dependence reduced. If not — it will be a familiar and bleak litany next February.

[VinodTK]

MoD Wears War Paint to Spot Moles and Hang up on Snooping

After the arrest of a Ministry of Defence (MoD) employee for corporate espionage, the South Block is in panic mode. The ministry security has issued a warning to all defence officials to be extra careful while handling classified information and directed everyone “not to communicate” anything over phone.

Recently, an official from a foreign embassy, posing as a joint secretary of the MoD, sought sensitive information on telephone from a senior officer of a service headquarters. Without revealing the identity of the person, the note mentioned that the said officer, who failed to check the identity of the caller, revealed sensitive information on telephone under the impression that it was a call from the joint secretary concerned.

Sources have indicated that these calls could be from neighbouring countries.Alerting ministry officials about the snooping, the Chief Security Officer said that “no form of telephonic conversation, including intercom and hotline is secure”. Every care has to be taken to prevent inadvertent leakage of information while discussing official matters over the telephone.

In this regard an internal communication, seen by The Sunday Standard, was issued on February 23 by the Chief Security Officer, responsible for security of all defence headquarters zone, in which he warned all defence officials about the security breach.

While mentioning instances where classified information had been compromised, the security officer talked about call spoofing. The note said that some foreign inimical agencies had been calling up members of the Armed forces, posing as officials from the MoD. They were also using telephone numbers which appear as Indian telephone numbers and seeking sensitive information about deployment, movement and other information of tactical and strategic nature through such calls to military establishments. “Such unscrupulous activities embarked upon by these agencies pose a serious security threat,” Chief Security Officer said.

Recently, the director general of military intelligence, in a communication to the Indian military establishment, had warned that “Pakistan-based intelligence operatives (PIO) are calling staff officers to senior officers at all levels to extract information.” MI communication also said that from the numbers flashed, these calls appeared to have originated from Delhi-based defence zones and “on many occasions the caller identified himself as an officer from the RAW, IB or IAF, leading the recipient to accept the genuineness of the caller on face value.”

While giving out instructions to handle classified information, the internal note said that no file or documents containing classified information will be kept in open or carried by unauthorised persons. Officers in charge of classified documents are responsible for their safe custody and their disclosure is limited to only those who are directly concerned with them in their performance of duty.

“The loss of any document in office or in transit will be reported immediately, with full details, to the security office,” the CSO said. Besides making records of classified fax or photocopy, the ministry also mentioned the size of the shredding of the classified papers.

“All top secret, secret and other classified documents are to be destroyed by shredding under the supervision of a high-ranking officer. In no circumstances shall any office-waste of classified nature be allowed to fall in the hand of unauthorised persons,” document further stated.

The MoD has earlier been in the news for leaking of its classified documents. A prime accused in the 2006 Navy War Room Leak case—where sensitive naval documents were leaked by a network of serving and retired defence officers—Abhishek Verma is now in jail under the violation Official Secrets Act for possessing secret documents of the ministry.

Verma’s estranged business partner, a US-based attorney, had forwarded these classified documents to the MoD. Subsequently, the CBI arrested a former Wing commander of the IAF for providing secret documents to Verma. These documents relating to the Air Force’s acquisition plans for 2009-10 and 2011-12, minutes of a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council, and so on, landed in the hands of defence agents. It clearly pointed to a nexus between the middlemen and top officials in the Service headquarters.

Apart from leakage of classified documents, the MoD also raised concerns regarding cyber security. Recently, there have been incidents where

computers at the ministry of defence were hacked into, leading to a ban on the use of dongles for Internet and laptops with features such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The defence security corps has been asked to keep a close watch on movement of visitors in the South Block. In fact, they are not even sparing the bureaucrats working in the South Block and the bags and briefcases of every defence ministry employee are being thoroughly checked.

[Shrinivasan]

^^^ the venerable old lady IL-76 is still parked in the corner? hmmm how many years will she be left to rust away.... Methinks it is just a decoy... She is probably roaming around in the rarified air of the Himalayan peninsula.

[pushkar.bhat]

^^^ the venerable old lady IL-76 is still parked in the corner? hmmm how many years will she be left to rust away.... Methinks it is just a decoy... She is probably roaming around in the rarified air of the Himalayan peninsula.

The lady in the corner is not a IL-76. Its a old Tupolev TU-124 from the Comm Sqn now sitting in a corner. You can see it clearly from the road.

[chaanakya]

Almost all known assets of ARC in one pic.

And all the international chain of hotels
looking right at it. Thanks to Praffula Patel.

[ravip]

^^^ the venerable old lady IL-76 is still parked in the corner? hmmm how many years will she be left to rust away.... Methinks it is just a decoy... She is probably roaming around in the rarified air of the Himalayan peninsula.

The lady in the corner is not a IL-76. Its a old Tupolev TU-124 from the Comm Sqn now sitting in a corner. You can see it clearly from the road.

No they are the B-707 strategic air borne surveillance aircraft.

@chaanakya They are shifting to new base, which is still secret.

[ramana]

For sake of completeness:

<SNIP>

Guys,

there was a TV scrolling news yesterday about a senior military officer (Indian?) selling secrets. Anyone has any inputs on that??

TIA

This is what India Today is carrying:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/isi- ... 21908.html

In an explosive revelation, sources told Headlines Today that Indian Army movement plans were leaked to ISI in February last year.

The ISI was aware of the details of talks between Army chief General Bikram Singh and then defence minister AK Antony, the sources said.

General Singh and Antony had discussed the troop movement on February 15, 2014 at 11 am and lasted for an hour. The meeting took place in Antony's room.

The Indian Army was planning the movement on Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir border.

Ads by ZINC

The leakage

- At 12 noon, the Army chief briefed the DGMO chief about the redeployment plan.

- Within a few hours, the Pakistan Army too began redeploying the troops as a counter.

- The military intelligence told the DGMO Pakistan was also redeploying strategically.

- Rapid counter deployment by Pakistan triggered the alarm bells in the Army.

- The Army chief informed Antony of a possible leak, who then briefed the PM.

The fallout

- Manmohan Singh then visited the DGMO war room to meet the Army top brass.

- A Senior Army officer was the mole who leaked the operational details to the ISI.

- The DGMO official was subsequently court marshalled for this incident.

- The incident led to CCTVs being installed across the ministry office in South Block.

This seems pretty strange!

The concerned army officer would not only face court-martial but also be arrested and tried for treason. And the fact that Indian counter-intel apparatus was able to ferret out the mole in double-quick time seems to good to be true. A mole in DGMO's office would be something Pakis would protect at all cost. It does not get any bigger than this!

Some how, this seems to be a red-herring to me...it does not sound right.

My spider sense tells me that with this petroleum ministry leakage thing under investigation, something big is about to come about the MOD as well. And rear-guard action in media has already started to create confusion and deflect the heat.

----

Here is another more detailed article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/in ... -mole.html

Shocking revelations have exposed the frail security set-up in the South Block, housing the defence ministry from where an Indian Army deployment plan was leaked to Pakistan’s ISI in February last year.
Aaj Tak has learnt that details of a meeting between then defence minister A.K. Antony and then Army chief General Bikram Singh on troop movement in Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir borders reached the Pakistan Army, which accordingly countered the Indian plan.

The meeting between Antony and Bikram Singh took place on February 15, 2014, at 11am, lasting an hour.

After the meeting, the Army chief briefed then director general military operation (DGMO) Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia about the redeployment plan.

Alarm bells

It was noticed that within a few hours, the Pakistan Army had begun redeploying its troops to counter the Indian plan.
Alarm bells started ringing in the Indian Army about the shocking “leak”. The Army chief immediately informed the defence minister, who then briefed then prime minister Manmohan Singh.

A meeting of the Army top brass was later held with Manmohan Singh, who visited the DGMO war room. The Army managed to identify the “mole”, who was a senior officer who had leaked the operational details to ISI. He was court-martialled.
As a follow-up step, the security of the entire South Block was beefed up with the installation of CCTV cameras.

Then DGMO lt. Gen. (retd.) Vinod Bhatia said: “The leak did happen… there is always an insider hand”.

But Antony chose not to give details.
“I do not comment…I don’t want to say anything now”.

Former Army chief General Bikram Singh also preferred not to talk about the incident.
“I retired a year ago, check with the Army headquarters,” he said.

Asked if the minutes between the then defence minister and the Army chief in February 2014 were leaked, the then DGMO Bhatia said: “No security system is foolproof. A leak did happen, how it happened is a different matter, but I can assure you whenever this kind of leak happens, we do re-check our security system and make it foolproof. Whatever happened that time, shouldn’t have happened. We will ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

When asked if there was a lapse and whether it was an insider job, he replied: “There is an old saying ‘ghar ka bhedi lanka dhaye’.

There is always insider hand, why does he do it? How does he do it? Whom does he do it for? Important thing is it’s an insider job. I cannot reveal the steps taken publicly, but steps were taken. It is almost a year, but whenever information is leaked, the system will be corrected.”

---

In that insider job what were the reasons for the person to turn traitor? I think the country needs to know especially when he is court martialed. I think OAS requires imprisonment. Court Martial is easy let off unless it leads to military prison.

[pankajs]

Saurav Jha ‏@SJha1618 17m17 minutes ago New Delhi, Delhi

In fact a lot of spying on India is actually outsourced by the CIA and NSA to the Aussies and the Kiwis. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=11415172 …

[nits]

Americans interrogated Indian PoWs in Pakistani jails in 1971, reveals former IAF officer

n a startling revelation in a recently published book authored by former Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander (Retired) Dhirendra S. Jafa, American military officers interrogated 1971 Indian Air Force prisoners of war (PoWs) in Pakistan in an attempt get information on Indian Air Force navigational techniques which were used with pinpoint accuracy to target Pakistani air fields.

In chapter seven of his 241-page book titled “Death Wasn’t Painful”, Wing Commander Jafa reveals that a well-known American flyer and test pilot was brought to his prison cell by a Pakistani officer around the 25th of December, 1971, who he saw as a symbol of the US Seventh Fleet, “the coercive, high-handed, self-righteous aggressiveness of the ugly American.”

The American military officer wanted know how the Indian Air pilots were accurately targeting Pakistani airfields at night.

Wing Commander Jafa recalls that the American officer interrogating him was taken aback by his (Jafa’s) initial hostility, but recovered quickly enough to avoid a “slanging match” and begin a “dialogue” (read interrogation).

Wing Commander Jafa mentions that he was taken momentarily aback when the line of questioning shifted to the wreckage of his crashed aircraft, when the American test pilot referred to it as “very interesting, these Russian aeroplanes …, which never depart from the basic concept.”

Deciding to play along with the line of questioning being taken by his American interrogator, Wing Commander Jafa reveals the latter then asked him whether he was following the developments in Russian aviation, and specifically referred to aircraft such as the MiG series, the Sukhois and, of course, their bombers, and in a suggestive sort of way, sought to understand from the Indian PoW whether he was aware or not of whether they were of all of the same make or of different concepts.

Wing Commander Jafa reveals that he did not know precisely what his American interrogator was looking for through his line of questioning, and replied, “I am only a flyer, the end user, so to say. You’d know better, of course, being a test pilot…”

Wing Commander Jafa states in his book that the American test pilot suggested that he (Jafa) and other Indian Air Force fighter pilots were aware that the Sukhois they were flying had been equipped with advanced electronics and pinpointed navigational aids to find targets by day or night, whereas the earlier versions used before the 1971 war did not include them, nor had the Russians developed them.

The American interrogator further suggested that some IAF aircraft had been accommodated with these advanced electronics and navigational aids and given to Jafa and other Indian pilots to operate and “to enable you to find targets …” in Pakistan.

Wing Commander Jafa suggests in his book that the Americans were monitoring the war in real time, but were “even more bothered about the accurate night bombings by the Indian pilots than were the Pakistanis.”

He says that despite telling his American interrogator that he was not aware of any such development, the latter asked, “Then how come your pilots were finding the targets so accurately by night? Not a single failure.”

He suggests that the American test pilot was not daft and adds that he (Jafa) was aware that the Americans could and would have taken all shot down aircraft apart and examined all the bits and pieces “to determine just one piece of equipment that could solve the mystery, and added that the interrogator suggested that Russian provided the Indian pilots with “some kind of beam guidance system” which the Americans were not aware of.

Wing Commander Jafa says he remonstrated with his American interrogator that the simple fact was that the Indian Air Force pilots were trained to be accurate flyers and to use simple gadgets like a compass, a speedometer and a wrist watch to unerringly go wherever they had to go, and pointedly asked the latter what he was actually after.

The American said that he was engaging in a bit of chit-chat among professionals, among fighter pilots, and walked out of his cell with a shrug.

Wing Commander Jafa says that thereafter they were consigned to their cells, got no answers to their questions from the prison guards, and nor were police corporals or their chief available, and he surmised that the American test pilot-cum interrogator was going around extracting information that he could during his meetings with every Indian prisoner individually to possibly complete “some jigsaw puzzle of the American intelligence somewhere…”

He concludes that the superpowers played their own games and were nobody’s friends, and the poorer and less powerful nations more often than not succumbed to their blandishments easily, and did all their dirty work.

He says that the war between India and Pakistan in 1971 could have been prevented had the superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union – desired so.

[svinayak]

He concludes that the superpowers played their own games and were nobody’s friends, and the poorer and less powerful nations more often than not succumbed to their blandishments easily, and did all their dirty work.

He says that the war between India and Pakistan in 1971 could have been prevented had the superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union – desired so.

Key point. The super powers were together to test the leadership of IG in their own way in 1971.

[chetak]

^^^^^^^

chuck yeager seems to be the guy doing the interrogation.

This creep may have also flown operational missions against India during the same war.

Good that the IAF (via Adm Arun Prakash) took out his personal, pentagon supplied twin engined beech.

http://in.rbth.com/articles/2012/01/17/ ... 14208.html

However, Ingraham says there are clues Yeager played an active role in the war. A Pakistani businessman, son of a senior general, told him “excitedly that Yeager had moved into the air force base at Peshawar and was personally directing the grateful Pakistanis in deploying their fighter squadrons against the Indians. Another swore he had seen Yeager emerge from a just-landed jet fighter at the Peshawar base

[Nikhil T]

This was an elaborate counter intelligence exercise by MoD. Everything was planned as detailed in the report below:

Economic Times story link

Guys,

there was a TV scrolling news yesterday about a senior military officer (Indian?) selling secrets. Anyone has any inputs on that??

TIA

For sake of completeness:



This is what India Today is carrying:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/isi- ... 21908.html

-

Here is another more detailed article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/in ... -mole.html

[sum]

Footprints of Shri.Doval all over!

Cant wait for all the hair raising intel exploits( esp in foreign countries) we will hear slowly seeping out years after this govt has gone

[rkhanna]

Footprints of Shri.Doval all over

If this incident was in Feb 2014 (previous govt) how does it have Dovals footprint? Or is Doval's footprint in the ecotimes Article covering it up under the name of a 'Drill'

[sudhan]

Am confused here, so the Paki re-deployment was all made up for the war game? Never happened?

[ramana]

I read Yeager's bio and he recounts his going around questioning IAF pilots. He appeared arrogant that the IAF pilots were in adulation of his being a test pilot etc. Came across as very crass fellow.

[ravip]

Footprints of Shri.Doval all over

If this incident was in Feb 2014 (previous govt) how does it have Dovals footprint? Or is Doval's footprint in the ecotimes Article covering it up under the name of a 'Drill'

Seen this pattern many times here and on Social media as well, anything good attribute to NaMo and Doval, anything to criticize there is a punching bag 'Arun Jaitley & Lutyens Gang'.

[Philip]

Finally?!

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/commen ... 55441.html

At long last there will be CDS
Inder Malhotra
Also the much sought after one rank, one pension
At long last there will be CDS

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

AMIDST a glut of deeply depressing goings-on across the country there is good news to cheer not only the Indian military but also all those concerned about national security. It is now almost certain that there will soon be a Chief of Defence Staff like other established democracies, such as the United States and Britain, have had for ages. Here the very idea has been rejected summarily when presented to successive governments for some reason or the other. It is no secret that in the early years the fear of a military coup played its part in official thinking, especially after 1958 when Gen Ayub Khan took over as Pakistan's first military dictator and his example was followed in Burma (now Myanmar) by Ne Win two years later. This apprehension was unreal in any case. For democracy had taken roots in this country right from the first general election, and leaders of the armed forces were as divided as the Indian polity or Indian society. Indeed, those in the know used to say: “If you lock up the Army Chief, Vice-Chief and commanders of the fighting Army commands in a room they won’t be able to agree even on the time of day”. Yet the mindset on the subject remained so woolly that even in the mid-nineties an otherwise intelligent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence made the fatuous statement that a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or a CDS was needed only by those countries which had global interests; the Indian military’s role was defending Indian borders and shores, according to him.
It was only after the Kargil war in 1999 that the country woke up to the need for a CDS. The credit for this must go to the Kargil Review Committee, headed by K. Subrahmanyam, India’s pioneering guru in strategy and security. Its other members were eminent journalist George Verghese and Lt-Gen K. K. Hazari (retd). Satish Chandra of the Indian Foreign Service was its member-secretary. The committee's case for having a CDS, integrating the three services with the Ministry of Defence — at present they are only “attached offices” of the MoD — and making the chiefs of the three services part of the government and not mere commanders of the service to which they belong - was strong and persuasive. No wonder that a Group of Ministers, headed by L. K. Advani, endorsed it. It seemed that the appointment of the CDS was a done deal. But, at the last minute, the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, held up a decision on this recommendation while approving all others.
Asked privately why he had deferred the most important decision, he gave two reasons. First, there was too much bad blood over the issue, as no fewer than nine Air Chiefs had met him to demand the rejection of the CDS concept. Secondly, Mr Vajpayee said, he had consulted former President R Venkataraman and former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, both of whom had been defence ministers during their political careers. They both had advised him to think the matter through. Atalji assured me, however, he would take a decision, one way or the other, within a year. That, alas, was not to be.
Ten years passed and the UPA-2 government, headed by Manmohan Singh, realised that a comprehensive review of national security was overdue. So it appointed a Task Force, chaired by Naresh Chandra, a former Cabinet Secretary and Ambassador to the US, for this purpose. Judging by the evidence the various ministries and other relevant official entities gave it, the task force concluded that the idea of a CDS would not pass muster even now. Therefore, it suggested a step in the right direction. It recommended that there should be a permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee with a fixed tenure of two years. At present the chairmanship of COSC is rotational and goes to the senior-most serving chief. Consequently, the term of the Chairman is usually short — in one case it was precisely 30 days — and because the Chairman has to run his own service, he has limited time to devote to the task of promoting inter-services coordination and cooperation.
The task force took care to prescribe that the permanent Chairman would leave the operational functions of the three service chiefs well alone and concentrate on the entire spectrum of inter-services matters that include determining the priorities in the acquisition of weapons by the three services. Even more important is the supervision of the Strategic Command. Several former chairmen of the COSC have confessed they seldom had enough time to confer with the head of the Strategic Command. Sadly, the UPA-2 government sat on the task force's report for two years and rejected it just before its inglorious exit.
What an irony it is therefore that in the current discussions on the subject, the civilian bureaucracy of the Defence Ministry, a bane of the national security architecture, is arguing that instead of having a CDS the country should have a permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff. These “abominable no-men” are unlikely to get their way. For, instead of the do-nothing A. K. Antony a very decisive and doer Manohar Parrikar is the Defence Minister. Some of the decisions he has already taken had been hanging fire for close to a decade because to preserve his enviable image for probity, Antony did nothing throughout his eight-year tenure as Raksha Mantri.
For the same reason one can be sanguine about the welcome announcement by the Army Chief, Gen Dalbir Singh, that the “long-pending” one rank, one pension scheme would be implemented by the end of April. Over long years we have witnessed tragic scenes of gallant ex-servicemen demonstrating at Amar Jyoti at India Gate and then marching to Rashtrapati Bhavan to return their gallantry awards to the President, their Supreme Commander. Let this not be repeated ever again.

The antipathy of the IAF to a CDS has been a major factor.It is now out in the public domain. Such a dog-in-the-manger attitude must now be "put to sleep". Every service branch must be part of a team and not a maverick outfit with its own whims and fancies.The MMRCA deal controversy where the IAF reportedly has no "PLan B" has also come in for much criticism.

[Nikhil T]

First time I'm hearing about the DG (Security) position. Some imp snippets worth archiving:

RAW Chief to hold additional charge of Director General (Security)

NEW DELHI: RAW chief Rajinder Khanna was tonight given charge of Director General (Security) which looks after the aviation wing and special forces within the organisation.

The competent authority has approved that Khanna, a 1978 batch officer of Research and Analysis Service (RAS), will also hold charge concurrently as Director General (Security), an order issued late tonight said.

The government's move to appoint him as DG (Security) may be seen as a surprise as the Aviation Research Centre (ARC) is being headed by his batchmate Arvind Saxena. This means Saxena will now have to report Khanna.

The ARC carries out aerial surveillance of the borders using its unmanned aerial vehicles and other flying machines including MIGs and helicopters. It also has the responsibility with IAF to transport Special Frontier Force (SFF) commandoes.

DG (Security) is responsible for the Office of Special Operations, intelligence collected from different countries, electronic, technical section and general administration.

[VinodTK]

Parrikar hints at more liberalised defence exports regime

New Delhi: Advocating for a larger role for India in the Indian Ocean Region and ASEAN, which are witnessing an increased Chinese influence, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today hinted at the possibility of having a more liberalised defence exports regime for friendly nations.

He also said the government was working on a policy under which certain defence industry related items would be banned from being imported to boost the domestic manufacturing sector and hoped that "we will be able to soon come out with it".

Laying emphasis on the need for defence exports, Parrikar said many countries are looking at India for support as they are being "threatened" by others.

"Sometime you have to make common viewpoint with your neighbours. You need to build goodwill for yourself in the region whether it is Indian Ocean Region or ASEAN... Whichever area, you need to develop support for your viewpoint around and within 1,000-2,000 kms of your location," he said.

Addressing a seminar here, Parrikar said "many of them are threatened by others" and they are looking at India with a hope that it will come to their support in time of need.

"Many of them want to build up their defence strategies. You can develop or support peace... The best peace can come to you if you are strong. There is no weightage of a weak person talking about peace," he said.

Parrikar said exports of weapons at times can help strengthen countries which will indirectly ensure that peace and stability comes to the region.

"Of course you have to be careful about which countries to export. There are countries that are by nature aggressive. There are countries where conflicts are in such a boiling state, it's a perpetual issue of security," he said, adding one needs to ensure supply of arms to nations or export oriented items are sent to countries that have a sensible purpose of using it.

He said one needs to make sure that arms do not go into wrong hands and gave the example of ISIS, which is using weapons that were given by foreign powers to Iraqi forces.

The Defence Ministry, in a report earlier this week, had said India remains conscious and watchful of the implications of China's "increasing military profile in our immediate and extended neighbourhood, as well as the development of strategic infrastructure by China in border areas".

Without naming China which is in territorial dispute with several countries over South China Sea, the report said, "The contestations over island territories in the Asia Pacific have created tensions in the region and threaten to polarise the Asia Pacific community."

[VinodTK]

Defence university in Gurgaon to start classes this year

NOIDA: The Indian National Defence University (INDU), situated in Binola, Gurgaon, will start its first academic session from 2015-16. The University aims to undertake long-term defence and strategic studies and provide military leadership. It will also offer programmes in higher education for defence management.

Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma, adjutant general of the Indian Army, and the official spokeperson, said that the INDU will start the academic session from current year. "The Army offers schooling to around two lakh students in 134 public schools, 200 pre-primary schools. The Army also runs 12 colleges which offer education in management, engineering and law. Four Army-run academic institutions will be constituent to the INDU," he said at the two-day Indian Army's Weapons and Equipment Display at Amity University in Noida. The foundation stone of INDU laid down by the then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh in Binola, Gurgaon in May 2013.

Separately, officials of the Indian Army demonstrated sophisticated weaponry in the show in Noida. Lt Gen Sharma said the Indian Army organizes similar programmes to encourage young generations.

[Raja Bose]

I read Yeager's bio and he recounts his going around questioning IAF pilots. He appeared arrogant that the IAF pilots were in adulation of his being a test pilot etc. Came across as very crass fellow.

Yeager is an uneducated bumpkin who just happened to have superior eyesight and reflexes. His contribution to supersonic flight is the same as that of a monkey strapped into a rocket plane. I once had the pleasure of telling him what I thought of him to his face which turned red like a GUBOed paki mush. The old bugger was not used to getting heckled by strangers.

[Aditya G]

http://m.economictimes.com/articleshow/46709611.cms

Nia charge sheets paki spying on project varsha

[schinnas]

He concludes that the superpowers played their own games and were nobody’s friends, and the poorer and less powerful nations more often than not succumbed to their blandishments easily, and did all their dirty work.

He says that the war between India and Pakistan in 1971 could have been prevented had the superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union – desired so.

Key point. The super powers were together to test the leadership of IG in their own way in 1971.

IG proved too clever to both of them. Except for some minor flashes of unnecessary magnanimity post war, IG achieved major strategic gains for India and we all remain grateful to her for that. US and Nixon had egg on their faces as they couldn't do zilch when their favourite munna was sliced into two despite them sending 7th fleet near Indian waters. Along with that Uncle Sam lost preferential access to strategically critical East Pukistan which would have helped them in dealing with Cheen or Myanmar later. Till today, they are smarting under this loss of preferential access to current Bangladesh and have been trying to get a port access in Bangladesh by hook or crook.

[arshyam]

^^ Also, it would have been more than egg on their faces, had this been true. Damn, we were so close. And I was quick to blame IG on how someone could be so well aware of acting quickly to liberate B'desh and improve our strategic position, but not act on the mother lode.

A dramatic turnaround came on 6 December when the mole leaked out India’s “war objectives” to the agency. Prime Minister Gandhi told Union Cabinet that apart from liberating Bangladesh, India intended to take over a strategically important part of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir and go for the total annihilation of Pakistan’s armed forces so that Pakistan “never attempts to challenge India in the future”.

Source: Vinod Mehta, The CIA mole, And I - Anuj Dhar, Swarajya

[schinnas]

^^ Also, it would have been more than egg on their faces, had this been true. Damn, we were so close. And I was quick to blame IG on how someone could be so well aware of acting quickly to liberate B'desh and improve our strategic position, but not act on the mother lode.

A dramatic turnaround came on 6 December when the mole leaked out India’s “war objectives” to the agency. Prime Minister Gandhi told Union Cabinet that apart from liberating Bangladesh, India intended to take over a strategically important part of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir and go for the total annihilation of Pakistan’s armed forces so that Pakistan “never attempts to challenge India in the future”.

Source: Vinod Mehta, The CIA mole, And I - Anuj Dhar, Swarajya

All the more reason to eliminate moles from top areas of governance - PMO, CSS, key cabinet ministries and DGMO and offices of the service chiefs. Since Independence, moles have penetrated top echelons of our government. If not for such moles, IG would have taught Pukis such a lesson in 71 that they would not have N-assets now. I hope the Modi-Doval combo gets to finish the vision of IG.

[krishna_krishna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRNF_n6rlMU

[VinodTK]

Chinese base in Indian Ocean threat to peace: Ajit Kumar Doval, National Security Adviser

NEW DELHI: Pointing out that China's rise will impact the globe and the region including India, National Security Adviser Ajit Kumar Doval has suggested that the change in the world order should be internationally approved and indicated that building military bases by China in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) will be detrimental to peace in the area.
:
:
:
This was first and free frank remarks from Doval, since he took over as NSA last year, on the phenomenal rise of China and the alarm bells that it has sent ringing in various parts of the world particularly in the region neighbouring India. Doval just completed 18th round of Special Representative level boundary talks with China here this Monday - the first such talks under the Modi government.
:

[Karan M]

Raja bose more details please!! Line and verse. You cant leave the audience hanging.

[ramana]

If there is a secret it can and will be found out. The trick is to have multiple outcomes with various probabilities which lead to uncertainty. Leads to the "on the other hand" (OTOH) dilemma.

[sum]

^^ This site lists a huge satellite SIGNIT station near Sikandarabad, Noida:
India’s Satellite SIGINT Intercept Station at Sikandrabad

Google coordinates:
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.4809942 ... !1e3?hl=en

[Picklu]

The latest on burdwan blast case

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/o ... 048647.ece

[partha]

Look what the incompetent, dirty SDREs have been upto
http://indianexpress.com/article/world/ ... a-to-india

Former defence contractor found guilty of sending US military data to India

A 49-year-old former owner of defence contracting businesses in the US has been pleaded guilty for illegally sending sensitive military technical data to India as part of a conspiracy in which she worked with an Indian resident.

Hannah Robert, 49, of New Jersey pleaded guilty before US District Judge Anne Thompson to charges that she conspired to violate the Arms Export Control Act by exporting to India military technical drawings without prior approval from the US Department of State.

According to documents filed in the case, from June 2010 to December 2012, Robert conspired to export to India defence technical drawings of parts used in the torpedo systems for nuclear submarines, military attack helicopters and F-15 fighter aircrafts.

Robert founded One Source USA and Caldwell Components that contracted with the US Department of Defence to supply defence hardware and spare parts.

Along with an Indian resident, identified in the complaint only as ‘PR’, Robert owned and operated a third firm located in India that manufactured defence hardware and spare parts.

In addition to US’ sales, Robert sent export-controlled technical data to PR in India so that the two could submit bids to foreign actors, including those in the UAE and Pakistan, to supply them or their foreign customers with defence hardware and spare parts.

Neither Robert nor PR had obtained approval from the State Department for these businesses.

The complaint cited an August 2012 email from PR to Robert requesting a technical drawing of a particular military item.

PR had also forwarded to Robert a request from an individual purporting to be “an official contractor of the UAE Ministry of Defence.”

The UAE e-mail requested quotations for a bid for the “blanket assembly” for the CH-47F Chinook military helicopter and listed the “End User” for the hardware as UAE Armed Forces.

Robert transmitted military drawings for these parts to India by posting the technical data to the password-protected website of a New Jersey church where she was a volunteer web administrator.

Through the course of the scheme, Robert uploaded thousands of technical drawings to the church website for PR to download in India.”

The complaint said there were quality issues also with the parts that Robert provided to the Defence Department.

After the department disclosed in 2012 that certain parts used for the wings of the F-15 fighter aircraft, supplied by Robert’s company One Source, failed, Robert and PR provided false and misleading material certifications and inspection reports for the parts.

These documents listed only One Source USA’s New Jersey address and not the address of the actual manufacturer in India, One Source India.

As a result of the failed wing pins, the Defence Department grounded nearly 47 F-15 fighter aircraft for repair and inspection, at a cost estimated to exceed USD 150,000. As part of her plea agreement, Robert will have to pay USD
181,000 to the Defence Department, including the cost of repair for the grounded F-15s.

Robert also consented to a forfeiture money judgement of about USD 78,000, which represents the dollar value of Robert’s fraudulent contracts with the department.

[ramana]

^^^ Looks like more a case of off shore mfg than any espionage. Look at the client list: UAE, TSP, & USAF etc.

[RajD]

Posting in full.: http://idrw.org/dont-give-info-cover-wi ... more-61399
Don’t give info, cover will be blown, former head of Army covert unit writes to Parrikar


The disbanded Technical Support Division (TSD), a covert operations unit set up during the tenure of former Army Chief General V K Singh, is back in the news with its former Commanding Officer, Colonel Hunny Bakshi, writing a letter to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar asking for a clampdown on all information on its operations in the “nation’s interests.”

The letter, dated March 1, comes against the backdrop of the ongoing General Court Martial (GCM) against Shyam Das D, the only clerk employed in the TSD who is alleged to have sold “highly sensitive operational data” and was arrested in Kochi in May 2012.

The Indian Express (June 2, 2012) had first reported the arrest of the TSD staffer and later (September 20, 2013) reported on the controversial findings of the Board of Officers inquiry headed by Lt General Vinod Bhatia.

Officials said that the GCM being held in the Delhi Cantt should conclude its hearings within a few weeks — 14 prosecution witnesses have been examined — has sent a “scare” among the 36 other staff who were working in that sensitive unit.

Bakshi, now posted in Karu in Ladakh, begins his letter by stating that the TSD was set up and based on “deniability, that is covert operations…deniability is deemed to be denied in any situation or circumstances…TSD as a unit was formally never set up because of the clause of deniability.”

Coming to the case against Das, Bakshi adds: “The Army in its exuberance will punish him but the individual will definitely move superior courts, where the evidence, that is the CDs will again be brought in for inspection of the courts and civilian lawyers.”

These CDs are the ones recovered from Das when he was intercepted by a team of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Kochi and later handed over to military authorities (see box). First, a Court of Inquiry was held by the Army and later the ongoing Court Martial was ordered.

Bakshi has said that the CDs were treated as material evidence by the court martial based on a covering letter received from the MI-9 DGMI (director general military intelligence) after Das’s arrest. “The (court martial) will go away, but once the case is in superior courts, they will ask to confirm or deny the material in the CDs…also once the material is taken as evidence it will not be easy to deny the same of operations particularly in neighbouring countries and the same will affect the international and bilateral relations. My duty is to inform you of the likely harms upon the nations interests, which I foresee in the present state.”

To buttress his case, he has argued that all information on TSD has been denied on the floor of Parliament as

well as via the Right to Information Act in the past. “The accused will go to a superior court, wherein, the production of the evidence then cannot be refused, which if it comes to public knowledge like the secret Board of Officers report, it will become prejudicial to national security, interests and foreign affairs.”

Significantly, he also writes to the Defence Minister that, “the nation is trying to get a place in the Security Council and has an open stated policy, wherein the concept of TSD is in direct conflict on the stated position of the nation, internationally. In fact, in a citation for an award of an officer, we were asked to remove the word ‘covert’ as it is not the stated position of the country and the copy of a citation has to be given if asked through RTI.”

Bakshi has also informed the Minister that under provisions of the Indian Evidence Act (section 162) he will not answer any questions posed to him either by the prosecution or defence side in the GCM but this should not be construed as the act of an indisciplined soldier. Sources, however said, that Bakshi deposed before the GCM last week.

What the CDs have:

The over 400-page proceedings of the Court of Inquiry held against Shyam Das contain snapshots of files in the incriminating CDs recovered from him and a list of the files in the CDs. Some of the listed files are:

* The proposed command and control of TSD; organisation
* Summary of monthly payment of MI funds (2010-2011)
* Details of claims and temporatry duty of TSD officials including Col Bakshi
* Details of visits abroad; usage of post-paid mobile connections
* Details of vehicle stickers, bank statements of expenses

[dinesha]

Pakistan hires spies for 'Project Varsha'; India's naval base to house nuclear submarines
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... ttarget=no