The Bombay High Court Tuesday permitted the Indian Navy to decommission and destroy a frigate which had partially sunk after a collision with a foreign ship almost one-and-a-half years ago, an official said.
Justice Roshan Dalvi granted the clearance in response to an application filed by the Indian Navy seeking permission to destroy the warship.
The application was filed some time after the warship, INS Vindhyagiri, and a Cyprus-flagged vessel MV Nordlake had collided in theMumbaiHarbouron Jan 30, 2011.
The foreign vessel was sailing out of the main navigation channel of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust when it collided with the warship.
The warship, which sustained extensive damage, had partially sunk and was later salvaged by the navy. Since then, it remained grounded as the navy filed a case in the high court seeking damages from the owners of the foreign vessel.
In its application, the navy pointed out that the dockyard in which INS Vindhyagiri is grounded is in a high traffic area with heavy movement of merchant and defence vessels.
Hence, it contended it would be potentially dangerous to continue keeping the grounded warship there with all the ammunition aboard it.
The navy added that since it would be difficult and risky to retrieve the ammunition without chances of an explosion, it would be in the national interest to safely dispose it off in the manner that it decommissions and destroys old ships.
With the green signal from the court, the official said that the Indian Navy would initiate necessary process to decommission and destroy the warship.
CHINESE WARSHIP MADE PORT CALL AT KOCHI
A Chinese naval training ship called ‘Zheng He’, which is on a voyage around the world to celebrate the 63 anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), made a call at the port of Kochi today at 10 a.m. Zhang Yan, Chinese Ambassador to India, accompanied by the Chinese Defence Attache and top PLAN officials were in the city today to welcome the warship. During the three-day port call of the ship, senior Chinese officials will meet the Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command Rear Admiral S.Y. Srikhande, who is officiating as the chief of the command in the absence of Vice-Admiral K.N. Sushil.
The Chinese Naval personnel aboard the visiting ship will drop in at the Southern Naval Command’s Navigation andDirectionSchooland the Indian Navy’s newly-inducted sail training ship INS Sudarshini.
Indian Naval Sea Cadet David Veeravalli was on board the chinese ship was disembarked atKochias a goodwill gesture. He had boarded the Chinese ship fromMalaysia. Besides ship visit exchanges, there would also be a friendly game of football between the naval personnel of both nations.
NEW SIMULATORS FOR TRAINING AIR FORCE PILOTS
NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is acquiring simulators to help its rookie pilots learn the art of flying, parliament was informed Wednesday.
The IAF has already procured four simulators for its Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft and a contract for four more has also been signed Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the Rajya Sabha.
He also noted that eight simulators of the intermediate jet trainer had been contracted for.
The IAF is currently training its rookie pilots on Kiran jet trainers after its entire fleet of piston-engined trainers was grounded following a series of crashes that claimed several lives of pilots and trainees.
It also has a fleet of Hawks to provide stage-III flying trainer to the pilots before they move onto flying supersonic combat jets such as MiG-21s.
The IAF is in the process of signing a contract for 75 basic trainers as a replacement for the piston-engined trainers. The Swiss Pilatus has been chosen as the winner of the contract for supplying PC-7 basic trainer aircraft.
INDIA NEEDS TO ENHANCE MILITARY DEPLOYMENT
There are multiple layers inChina’s approach to relations withIndia. At one level, there is a Chinese recognition ofIndiaemerging as a power that cannot be ignored and that Chinese interests are served by being seen to have a cooperative relations withIndia, in forums like BRICS and the G-20.
These links are chosen byChinato sometimes describeIndiaas having an “independent” foreign policy, even as concern is periodically voiced over growing US-Indian strategic ties. This ostensibly positive approach is balanced by heaping ridicule onIndia, or making threatening noises, wheneverIndiaenhances its space and missile capabilities, or seeks to bolster its defences along its borders with the Middle Kingdom.
But, above all, there is a dominant theme of “containment,” inChina’s policies towardsIndia. This is undertaken by strengtheningPakistan’s conventional, nuclear and missile capabilities and by adopting measures to show that whileChinarecognises the legitimacy ofPakistan’s control over PoK and the Northern Areas, it refuses to take any action that provides legitimacy to Indian control of the state. Similar policies are adopted while dealing withIndia’s other South Asian neighbours likeSri Lanka,Bangladeshand, most importantly,Nepal.
China’s “containment” policies have also included attempts to undermine our “Look East” policies, deny us legitimacy on global nuclear issues in forums like the Nuclear Suppliers Group and obstruct measures in the UN to declare Pakistan-based terrorist groups like the Jamat-ud-Dawa as international terrorist organisations.Chinaactively works to furtherPakistan’s ambitions of “parity” withIndiaglobally. For over two decades now,Indiahas often been caught off the wrong foot in dealing with these Chinese policies. But, asChina’s economic and military power expands, it is becoming increasingly assertive in dealing with its neighbours, particularly on differences over its land and maritime borders. The most serious manifestation of this growing Chinese arrogance and intolerance has been its propensity to threaten virtually all its coastal neighbours on issues of sovereignty over islands in the East andSouthChinaSeas.
Chinanow claims that the entire South China Sea is an area of “core interest”, periodically sparking direct naval confrontation withVietnamand thePhilippines. This, in turn, has led to its neighbours virtually pleading for a greater American naval and military presence in the western Asia-Pacific region.Washingtonhas not hesitated to oblige, and naval exercises are being stepped up by the Pacific Fleet with countries like thePhilippines,Japanand evenVietnam. This enhanced Chinese “assertiveness” appears to have arisen from recent estimates that theSouth China Seahas oil and gas reserves equivalent to 17.7 billion tonnes of crude oil.
After India was warned by China not to undertake off-shore oil exploration projects with Vietnam and an Indian naval vessel warned not to enter the South China Sea, India and Vietnam jointly stated: “Disputes like the East and South China Sea should be resolved by peaceful means in accordance with universally recognised principles, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the conduct of parties in the South China Sea”.
India’s new-found candour on theSouth China Seacould not have been better timed.Chinafound itself cornered at the November 2011 East Asia Summit atBali. While China’s Foreign Minister expressed the hope that the maritime disputes over the South and East China Seas would not figure at the summit, all but two of 18 participating nations — Myanmar and Cambodia — did raise the issue, with Singapore, which is otherwise circumspect in references to China, playing a prominent role from among ASEAN members. This approach by the ASEAN countries was adopted despite a warning fromChina’s Global Times that “Any country that chooses to be a part of theUSchess game will lose the opportunity to benefit fromChina’s economy”.
The Chinese were clearly out of touch with regional sentiments, virtually on their backyard. Responding to queries from Premier Wen Jiabao on Indian oil exploration off the Vietnam coast, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Indian interests in the South China Sea were “purely commercial”, adding for good measure that “issues of sovereignty should be resolved according to international law and practice”.
India’s growing partnership withJapanhas also not gone unnoticed in the Middle Kingdom.Japanis now clearly amongIndia’s most important economic partners, with its commitment to the development of rail and industrial corridors acrossIndia. The sad reality, however, is the snail’s pace at which Indian decision makers and project planners have proceeded in implementing these key projects.Japan, which has faced aggressive and indeed hostile behaviour from the Chinese, on their dispute over theSenakakuIslandsin the East China Sea, particularly over the past two years, now seesIndiaas an important partner in building a stable balance of power inAsia.
Bilateral military exercises withJapanhave been reinforced by a trilateral India-Japan-US dialogue and trilateral military exercises offOkinawa. ButIndiastill appears to hold back when it comes to military cooperation with ASEAN members likeIndonesia,Vietnamand thePhilippines, whose naval forces and coastal security would certainly be strengthened by the supply of Indian Brahmos cruise missiles. GivenChina’s own nuclear and missile cooperation withPakistan, it is astonishing thatNew Delhiis still hesitant in moving ahead in strengthening the coastal security of friendly ASEAN countries.
While expanding economic and security cooperation is essential for the success of its Look East policies, it is important thatNew Delhienhances its military deployments and strengthens confidence-building measures along its borders withChina. The Chinese are supreme realists and understand the logic of the politics of power. It is unlikely that the border issue will be settled anytime soon, or thatChinawill give up its irredentist claims to the whole of Arunachal Pradesh.Chinawill, however, not find it either wise or beneficial if seeks it to launch a military adventure on its borders withIndia, especially ifIndiais well prepared militarily, conducts its diplomacy imaginatively and sustains a high rate of economic growth.
China’s policies of “containment” ofIndiawill continue, but can be managed by imaginative engagement and cooperation on the one hand, combined with a pro-active approach to strengthening our defences and to our Look East policies, on the other. The disastrous 1962 conflict withChinawas largely a result of a gross miscalculation of Chinese capabilities and intentions and our own diplomatic and military naiveté and follies. Hopefully, we are now wiser and more realistic than we were then.
HIGH ALERT AT PUNE AIRPORT
PUNE: Following a terror threat, all major airports in the country, including Pune airport, were on high alert on Tuesday.
Airports inDelhi, Mumbai,Bangalore, Chennai and Ahmedabad were on alert after there was a human bomb terror threat. Officials of the Pune airport said they did not get any specific alert, but Pune being a sensitive airport, was on alert on Tuesday.
Assistant commandant of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), JS Nayal, who heads the security arrangements at Pune airport, said, “We have not got any specific alert. It is a general alert and we have beefed up security at Pune airport for precautionary reasons.”
He added, “The civil airport is situated in thelandofIndian Air Force, therefore it is regarded as a sensitive airport. We always have security on alert because of the sensitivity of this airport. Now we have been allotted additional manpower by the home ministry. Therefore we can cover the airport area in a better way.”
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