01-cover_00_COVER_1.qxd 10/7/2016 11:09 AM Page 1 `100 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2016, VOL 8 ISSUE 12 www.salute.co.in I www.saluteindia.org PAKISTAN’S PROXY WAR IN J&K INDIA’S PATIENCE RUNS THIN 02-IFC_00_COVER_1.qxd 10/8/2016 8:52 AM Page 1 THIS ISSUE OF SALUTE MAGAZINE IS DEDICATED TO THE MARTYS `100 OF INDIA’S SECURITY FORCES. Only the fortunate Warriors, O Arjuna, Get such an opportunity For a righteous war against evil, That is like an open door to heaven. —Srimad Bhagavad Gita - 2.32 03-Contents_03_EDIT.qxd 10/7/2016 11:08 AM Page 3 in this issue 04 THE RUBICON IS CROSSED I Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch 05 INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY I Lt Gen Sudhir Sharma 06 THE URI TERROR ATTACK & THE VIP CABIN QUESTION I Commodore C Uday Bhaskar 07 THE HIGH-STAKES GAME I Air Mshl Sumit Mukerji 08 UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF KASHMIR I Hiranmay Karlekar 10 HYBRID WARFARE: PAKISTAN’S TOOL OF WAR IN J&K I Brig. Narender Kumar 33 13 DEFENCE NEWS INDIA’S COUNTER TERRORISM STRATEGY: AN ASSESSMENT 36 I Jaikhlong Basumatary RAISINA HILL I Lt Col Anil Bhat 15 37 ASSESSING URI: LOOKING BEYOND THE SOUNDBITES I VETERANS ALERT I Hony Capt Baldev Singh Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch 38 18 BOOK REVIEW I Krishnan Srinivasan THE LAST LETTER I Shemeem Burney Abbas 40 21 A VETERAN SUCCESS STORY 29 SEPTEMBER 2016: YES, WE CAN I Aarti K Pathak 41 22 PAV BHAJI: THE STREET FOOD OF MUMBAI POINT COUNTERPOINT: DEALING WITH PAKISTAN I TREAD I Aditi Pathak CAUTIOUSLY ON BALOCHISTAN: Col Sanjiv Wattal 42 BREAK UP PAKISTAN TO RESOLVE KASHMIR JIHAD: Tufail Ahmad MAROOF’S MUSINGS I 26 Maroof Raza LIFE & TIMES OF A CENTENARIAN:THE GRAND OLD “FIRST LADY” OF THE INDIAN ARMY I Lt Gen. Baljit Singh 28 SECUNDERABAD: ORIGINS, TALES & ARMY CONNECTION I Col Shailender Arya Authors aspiring to publish their articles in Salute may send by email to [email protected] along with pictures, if any [email protected] >> August-September 2016 >> SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER 03 04-Edit_14_19_ BEING A FLY GIRL.qxd 10/7/2016 11:07 AM Page 1 EDITOR’S NOTE THE RUBICON Publisher Maroof Raza IS CROSSED Editor MAJ GEN DHRUV C KATOCH Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch SM, VSM Two terrorist attacks in J&K, one on which is fighting a proxy war with India, Associate Editor either side of the Pir Panjal Range has using Pakistan as a stooge. How that Lt Col Anil Bhat VSM (Retd) angered the Indian state to the point of should manifest is a work in being, but no return. The first attack in Poonch was unfortunately, we seem to be losing the Design fortuitously detected in time and all the plot here as Chinese goods continue to UNEEDUS four terrorists who had sneaked in were be marketed by the government at the eliminated before they could cause may- cost of Indian industry. Besides defence Publicity Manager hem. In the second incident, which needs, Make in India must look into the Hony Capt (Retd) Baldev Singh occurred a week later on 18 September requirements of Indian industry too. on the Army’s Brigade HQ at Uri, the four Chinese products can well kill the Indian Board of Advisers terrorists got lucky, when they managed manufacturing base in certain key sec- Lt Gen Sudhir Sharma to achieve surprise and kill 18 soldiers tors. One example is given below. PVSM, AVSM, YSM ,VSM( Retd) sleeping in a tent, before being eliminat- The electricity transmission grid is the Printed published by ed in a swift gun battle. The two inci- life line of the country and ceramic insu- Flags Media Pvt Ltd dents were similar, but only the attack on lators have played a vital role in building A-47 Hauz Khas (LGF) Uri caused outrage, because the terror- the same over the years. Yet, there is a New Delhi 110016 ists were successful in their venture. This sudden surge, led by the Power Grid highlights the weakness in our response Corporation of India, in replacement of Printed at to state sponsored terrorism by Pakistan. the ceramic insulators, which are pre- JK Offset Graphics (P) Ltd An incident does not become an act of dominantly made in India, with poly- C-21,DDA Shed, terror only if it is successful. It remains meric insulators, (also referred to as Okhla Phase -1 so, if it was intended to cause terror. The composite insulators), made in China. New Delhi -110020 Indian state and the Armed Forces must This will not only effectively kill Indian treat every incident of terror, whether industry, but is fraught with grave long RNI Registration DELENG/2008/26923 successful or not as an Act of War and term security implications as well. respond accordingly. Only then will there Polymeric insulators do give some Certified that the views be deterrence in the minds of the advantages in polluted areas and are expressed and suggestions Pakistani sponsors of terrorist violence. undoubtedly cheaper, but have a shorter made in the articles are made The Prime Minister has made it clear life cycle of 8 to 15 years as compared to by authors in their personal that their will be costs to Pakistan for this ceramic insulators which last for up to 30 capacity and do not have any blatant act of aggression in the diplomat- to 40 years. The attraction of cheaper ini- official endorsement ic, economic, social and military tial cost does not hold true if the entire domains. The isolation of Pakistan has life cycle costs are determined, but still begun, and a military response was the likes of Power Grid is adopting these delivered on 29 September with elimina- insulators in the transmission lines at the tion of some terrorist bases in seven sur- expense of Indian industry. This is short- gical strikes. If Pakistan now escalates sightedness of the worst kind as it will the conflict, India must respond with lead over time to closure of the ceramic even greater vigour. The Rubicon has insulator industry in India, depriving been crossed and their is no turning back thousands of people from jobs. That cer- now. tainly will be a setback to the Prime We also need to deal with China, Minister’s Make in India initiative. 04 SALUTE TO THE INDIAN SOLDIER << August-September 2016 << [email protected] 05-General_14_19_ BEING A FLY GIRL.qxd 10/7/2016 11:06 AM Page 1 GENERAL SPEAK INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY Lt Gen Sudhir Sharma institutional mirror. In affairs military, examining the lows is perhaps even more relevant than glossing over the highs! Whilst attending a course in UK, I “I never lose. I heard with disquiet a reputed British either win or military historian remark tongue in cheek, that ‘India and Pakistan are the learn” only two countries in the world who can celebrate a victory for the same —Nelson Mandela operation in war.’ While this may be an uncharitable comment, the fact is that After serving for decades in the army we do tend to seriously airbrush our and having fought wars both external military history at the altar of so called and internal, what can one bequeath to loyalty. the gallant soldiers you once We need to buck this trend resolutely commanded? Few pictures; medals or and ruthlessly. The brutal lessons of mementoes? Even though symbolic and botched operations and gross military emotive, these are not enough to repay lapses should be our building blocks the debt of gratitude you owe to your and primers for the young and comrades in arms. What needs to be uninitiated. Our divisional and corps transferred sincerely and imaginatively battle schools must hunt and search for is, the invaluable experience, the underlying truth for what went knowledge and lessons learned by wrong where it did. We must have the sweat and blood on this challenging military acumen to sift through the journey and on the battlefield! This a unit or regimental perspective. Often, routine fog of war and Murphy’s Law distilled knowledge tempered by our misplaced sense of loyalty comes in syndrome and home on to preventable escapades of valour and blunders, in the way of reporting facts of botched mistakes and oversights in planning, equal measure, honestly analysed and operations or a grave military lapse. execution, training, and in leadership. dissected with moral courage, is the Thus, the cover up soon enlarges in The underlying spirit has to be “Loss of greatest gift which needs to be passed scope and takes on mythical life on the battlefield must never be in down to the next generation. proportions with the lessons learnt and vain” An army which honestly The Indian Army as an institution is blood shed slowly forgotten, with the introspects at routine intervals would overall upright, correct, professional ambers of sacred institutional memory see its warts and strengths for what they and pragmatic. However it has a ebbing, fading and then dying forever. If are. This attitude is difficult to foster somewhat dubious record in anecdotal instances like Kaluchak, Pathankot, where we only reward success and talk memory when it comes to critically Samba, Uri are not to be repeated we of ‘zero error’. Unfortunately in military recalling and recording operations from need an objective, unflinching operations there is no such animal. There is thus an urgent need for course AN ARMY WHICH HONESTLY INTROSPECTS AT ROUTINE correction, for we ignore it at our own INTERVALS WOULD SEE ITS WARTS AND STRENGTHS FOR peril.