DEFENCE:
- DAC approves capital acquisition of various platforms & equipment worth Rs 38,900 crore; Focus on indigenous design and development; acquisitions from Indian industry of Rs 31,130 crore.
- Indian Air Force SASOs’ Conference.
- PM visits Nimu in Ladakh to interact with Indian troops
- Conversation between Special Representatives of India and China on recent developments on the India-China border areas.
- Raksha Mantri reviews progress of border infrastructure.
- 16th Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs.
- Indian Navy Completes “Operation Samudra Setu”.
- Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh e-inaugurates six strategic bridges in Jammu & Kashmir.
- Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh holds telephonic conversation with Defence Minister of Republic of Korea; Reviews progress in bilateral defence cooperation.
- Defence Ministry delegates capital procurement powers to Armed Forces.
- Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik inaugurates conference on Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Technologies.
- India and China Military Level meeting on 14 July 2020.
International Terrorism:
Africa
- Nigeria: 600 Boko Haram terrorists release after rehabilitation programme.
Afghanistan - Security forces destroyed LeT camps at Afghan-Pak border;
- Taliban attacked and killed 10 people in Samangan province.
Pakistan - Security agencies arrested three Islamic State terrorists.
Domestic Terrorism:
Jammu and Kashmir
- IS-JK commander killed in Srinagar;
- Terrorists killed a local BJP leader in Bandipora.
Left-Wing Extremism
- Four Maoists killed in anti-Naxal operation in Odisha.
Islamist Extremism (India) - NIA filed Charge Sheet against IS accused in Tamil Nadu;NIA invoked UA (P) Act against four in Kerala gold smuggling case;
- Islamic State’s online magazine calls for ‘jihad in India’;
- NIA arrested two Islamic State associates from Maharashtra.
Khalistan-inspired Extremism - GoI banned 40 websites of pro-Khalistan group SFJ.
Defence
DAC approves capital acquisition of various platforms & equipment worth Rs 38,900crore; Focus on indigenous design and development; acquisitions from Indian industry of Rs 31,130 crore.
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in its meeting 02 July 2020 held under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri accorded approval for capital acquisition of various platforms and equipment required by the Indian Armed Forces. Proposals for an approximate cost of Rs 38,900 crore were approved. Focused on indigenous design and development these approvals include acquisitions from Indian industry of Rs 31,130 crore. The equipment are going to be manufactured in India involving Indian defence industry with participation of several MSMEs as prime tier vendors. The indigenous content in some of these projects is up to 80 per cent of the project cost.A large number of these projects have been made possible due to Transfer of Technology (ToT) by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to the indigenous industry. These include Pinaka ammunitions, BMP armament upgrades and software defined radios for the Indian Army, Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile Systems and Astra Missiles for the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force (IAF). The cost of these design and development proposals is in the range of Rs 20,400 crore.
Further, addressing the long felt need of the IAF to increase its fighter squadrons, the DAC also approved the proposal for procurement of 21 MIG-29 along with upgradation of existing 59 MIG-29 aircraft and procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft. While the MIG 29 procurement and upgradation from Russia is estimated to cost Rs 7,418 crore, the Su-30 MKI will be procured from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at an estimated cost of Rs 10,730 crore.
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Indian Air Force SASOs’ Conference.
Indian Air Force Senior Air Staff Officers’ (SASOs’) Conference was inaugurated by Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC on 02 Jul 20. The conference was conducted through video conferencing, in a first of its kind effort in the backdrop of the prevailing security environment and COVID-19 pandemic.
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PM visits Nimu in Ladakh to interact with Indian troops.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi travelled to Nimu in Ladakh to interact with Indian troops on 03 July 2020. Nimu is surrounded by the Zanskar range and is on the banks of river Indus. The Prime Minister met the top leadership of the Indian Army and later interacted with personnel of the Army, Air Force and ITBP.
He paid tributes to the brave soldiers who were martyred in Galwan Valley and recalled that India has always given a befitting reply to anyone who has tried to disturb the prevailing atmosphere of peace and progress. He affirmed that India is committed to peace and friendship but this commitment to peace should not be seen as India’s weakness. Today India is becoming stronger, be it in naval might, air power, space power and the strength of our army. Modernization of weapons and upgradation of infrastructure has enhanced our defence capabilities multi-fold. Prime Minister said that the time for expansionism is over and that this was the era of development. He recalled that it is this mindset of expansionism that did great harm.
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Conversation between Special Representatives of India and China on recent developments on the India-China border areas.
The Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question - Shri Ajit Doval, and H.E. Mr. Wang Yi had a telephone conversation on 5th July 2020 on the recent developments in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas.The two Special Representatives agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity. In this regard they further agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously. The two sides should also ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas. They re-affirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo and work together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas.
The two Special Representatives agreed that the diplomatic and military officials of the two sides should continue their discussions, including under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs (WMCC).
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Raksha Mantri reviews progress of border infrastructure.
The state of forward connectivity to border areas was reviewed and the consistent need of boosting the ongoing projects and to expedite the construction of strategic roads, bridges and tunnels in the border areas was discussed. The Border Roads has executed 30 per cent more works in financial year (FY) 2019-20 as compared to FY 2018-19.
The BRO has worked incessantly even during the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 without affecting the progress of various projects. Despite unprecedented snowfall, breaking 60 year old record, all strategic passes and roads were cleared this year for traffic about one month before their average yearly opening dates. The Border Roads executed snow clearance works on 149 roads (of 3,965 kilometres) in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. This ensured rapid and early movement of troops and logistics to forward areas.
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16th Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs.
The 16th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held on 10 July 2020. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs, while the Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation.They reviewed the situation in the India-China border areas including the progress made in ongoing disengagement process along the LAC in the Western Sector. They agreed that it was necessary for both sides to sincerely implement the understandings reached between Senior Commanders. As agreed by the two SRs, the Senior Commanders will meet soon to discuss further steps so as to ensure complete disengagement and de-escalation in a timely manner.
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Indian Navy Completes “Operation SamudraS etu”.
Operation Samudra Setu, which was launched on 05 May 2020 culminated after successfully bringing 3,992 Indian citizens back to their homeland by sea. Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa(Landing Platform Dock), and Airavat, Shardul and Magar (Landing Ship Tanks) participated in this operation which lasted over 55 days and involved traversing more than 23,000 kms. Indian Navy has previously undertaken similar evacuation operations as part of Operation Sukoon in 2006 (Beirut) and Operation Rahat in 2015 (Yemen).
Raksha Mantri e-inaugurates six strategic bridges in Jammu & Kashmir.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh dedicated six major bridges to the nation through video conferencing on 09 July 2020. These bridges of strategic importance were completed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in a record time.The two bridges on the Tarnah Nallah in Kathua District and four bridges located on Akhnoor-Pallanwala road in Akhnoor/Jammu district have spans ranging from 30 to 300 metres and were constructed at a total cost of Rs 43 crores. These bridges constructed by Project Sampark of the BRO will facilitate movement of Armed Forces in this strategically important sector and will also contribute towards the overall economic growth of remote border areas.
The annual budget of the BRO that varied from Rs 3,300 crore to Rs 4,600 crore in the FY 2008-2016, saw a substantial rise to Rs 8,050 crore in FY 2019-2020. With focus of the Government in improving infrastructure in border areas, the budget for FY 2020-2021 is likely to be Rs 11,800 crore. This will give a major boost to ongoing projects and will expedite the construction of strategic roads, bridges and tunnels along our northern borders.
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Raksha Mantri holds telephonic conversation with Defence Minister of Republic of Korea; Reviews progress in bilateral defence cooperation.
Raksha Mantri today spoke over telephone with Minister of National Defence of Republic of Korea (RoK) Mr Jeong Kyeong-Doo. The two Defence Ministers had discussions on issues pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. During the telephonic conversation, the Ministers reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and expressed commitment to further promote defence cooperation engagements between the Armed Forces. It was also agreed to take forward the agreements in the field of defence industry and defence technology cooperation between the two countries.Views on the regional developments of shared security interests were also shared during the telephonic call.
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Defence Ministry delegates capital procurement powers to Armed Forces.
The DAC delegated the powers for progressing urgent Capital Acquisition Cases upto Rs 300 crores to the Armed Forces to meet their emergent operational requirements. This will shrink the procurement timelines and ensure placement of orders within six months and commencement of deliveries within one year.
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Raksha RajyaMantri inaugurates conference on Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Technologies.
Shri Shripad Naik exhorted that the Indian A&D industry has to rise to the occasion to shoulder greater responsibility in making the nation self-reliant in Defence Production and achieve 26 Billion US Dollar domestic production by 2025, which is the stated objective of the Defence Production Policy.
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India and China Military Level meeting on 14 Jul 2020.
India and China have been engaged in discussions through established military and diplomatic channels to address the prevailing situation along the LAC.Commanders from PLA & Indian Army held a meeting at Chushul, on Indian side, for the fourth round of talks, on 14 July 2020. The two sides remain committed to the objective of complete disengagement. This process is intricate and requires constant verification. They are taking it forward through regular meetings at diplomatic and military level.
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INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
Africa
Nigeria
600 Boko Haram terrorists released after rehabilitation programme.
On 13 July, 600 Boko Haram terrorists were released after they regretted their membership with the terror group and paid allegiance to the country. These terrorists have completed Nigeria’s rehabilitation and reintegration programme. Boko Haram terrorists who were caught in various counter-terrorism (CT) operations in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States had sworn to an oath of allegiance to the Republic of Nigeria, said spokesperson of the Nigeria military’s Operation Safe Corridor (OSC)—BamideleShafa.
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Afghanistan
Security forces destroyed LeT camps at Afghan-Pak border.
In a Counter-Terrorism (CT) operation on 29 June, the Afghan Security Forces (ASFs) destroyed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) camps located at the Durand Line at Spinzara near Durbaba area of Naizan district of Nangarhar at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and killed Abu Bakar—LeT commander from Khyber Agency in Pakistan. The operation lasted for two hours (2300 hrs- 0100 hrs) in which two ASF personnel were martyred and five others were injured. Reportedly, the LeT had establish its terror camps in Wargah and Tordarah on the border and were launching attacks on the Afghan forces from these camps.
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Taliban attacked and killed 10 people in Samangan province.
On 12 July, Taliban terrorists attacked the government compound and killed 10 people and injured dozens in Aybak in Samangan province. The government compound close to an office of the Afghan National Security Directorate (NSD). The attack was a complex attack that started with a car bomb. The attack ended after all four Taliban terrorists were killed in gun-battle with the Afghan security forces, said Mohammad SediqAzizi, a spokesman for the provincial government.
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Pakistan
Security agencies arrested three Islamic State terrorists.
On 06 July, Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police carried out an operation in Daska in Sialkot and arrested three Islamic State (IS) terrorists—Ahmed Idrees, Azam Ali, and Mazhar Mukhtar, for collecting funds for the group in Punjab province. Upon their arrest, cash for terror funding, receipt book and receipt of funds has been recovered from their possession.
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DOMESTIC TERRORISM
Jammu and Kashmir
IS-JK commander killed in Srinagar.
In a Counter-Terrorism (CT) operation on 02 July, security forces killed Zahid Das—an Islamic State-Jammu & Kashmir (IS-JK) commander for ‘Anantnag district’, in Malbagh area in Srinagar. According to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kashmir—Vijay Kumar, Zahid Das and other four terrorists were involved in series of attacks on security forces, including the Bijbehara attack. According to the State police, 12 ‘top’ commanders of Hizbul-Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are active in the Kashmir Valley.
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Terrorists killed a local BJP leader in Bandipora.
On 08 July, unknown terrorists attacked and killed a local BJP (BhartiyaJanta Party) leader—Sheikh Waseem Bari, his father—Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, and brother—Umar Bari in Bandipora district. At the time of attack, trio were standing outside their house located opposite to the town’s Police Station. Considering the threat calls, ten policemen were assigned to the family’s protection. However, at the time of attack, none of the ten policemen were present. The State police has suspended and arrested all of the ten policemen.
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Left-Wing Extremism
Four Maoists killed in anti-Naxal operation in Odisha.
On 05 July, the Special Operation Group (SOG) and the District Voluntary Force (DVF) of State police carried out an anti-Naxal operation and killed four Maoists in the forest area of Sirla gram Panchayat of Kandhamal district in Odisha. Among four Maoists killed in the operation, two were women cadres. Post-operation, security forces recovered six sophisticated weapons, including three SLRs (Self-Loading Rifles), an INSAS rifle, several rounds of magazines, and IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).
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Islamist Extremism (India)
NIA filed Charge Sheet against IS accused in Tamil Nadu.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed charge sheet against six accused linked with Islamic State (IS) in connection with the murder of a policeman—Wilson, a Sub-Inspector of Kaliyakkavilai police station. Wilson was stabbed to death on 08 January this year. The assailants—Abdul Shameem and Thowfeek were arrested on 15 January. Along with these two assailants, the NIA filed charge sheet against Khaja Moideen/Mohideen, Mahboob Pasha, Ejas Pasha, and Jaffar Ali. The charge sheet stated that “It was revealed that Khaja Mohideen was a member of the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)/Daish. Since May 2019, he had radicalized Abdul Shameem and Thowfeek on the jihadi (violent extremist) ideology and recruited them into his terrorist gang to carry out violent attacks against establishment, especially police in Tamil Nadu, to bring Islamic Rule, or Shariah.” Also, in October 2019, Mohideen had instructed Mahboob Pasha, Ejas Pasha, and Jaffer Ali to procure illegal firearms and prohibited ammunition for carrying out attacks.
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NIA invoked UA(P) Act against four in Kerala gold smuggling case.
On 10 July, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UA(P)A], 1967, and registered the FIR against four accused—Sarith P S (former PRO with Consulate office), Swapna Suresh (former consulate executive secretary), Sandeep Nair (Swapna Suresh’s friend), and Fazil Fareed, in connection with the bid to smuggle 30 kg gold via diplomatic cargo addressed to the Consul-General of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
According to the statement released by the NIA, the case directly relates to smuggling of large quantity of gold into India from offshore locations which further threatens the stability of the economy and national security of India. The act amounts to a terrorist act as stated in section 15 of the UA (P) Act, 1967. Further, as the case has national and international linkages and as the preliminary investigations have revealed that the proceeds of smuggled gold could be used for financing of terrorism in India, the NIA has taken up the investigation of the case.
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Islamic State’s online magazine calls for ‘jihad in India’.
In its online English-language magazine— ‘the Voice of Hind’, Islamic State (IS) has made several calls to its supporters for carrying out attacks in India. ‘The voice of Hind’ was launched by pro-IS media outlet—al-Qitaal Media Centre, and Junudul-Khalifa-al-Hind (JuKH). Through the magazine, Islamic State is trying to gain a foothold in India by eulogizing Jihad and violent extremism. However, the security agencies are alert to the threat of the IS and in the past couple of years have busted a number of its terror modules in India.
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NIA arrested two Islamic State associates from Maharashtra.
On 12 July, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials raided different locations in Pune (Maharashtra) and arrested two associates of Islamic State (IS)—Nabeel S Khatri (27 years-old) and Sadiya Anwar Sheikh (22 years-old) in connection with the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP) case. Nabeel is a gymnasium owner and Sadiya is a second-year student of Mass Communication and Journalism program in Baramati in Pune district.
The preliminary investigation has revealed that Sadiya was in contact with other arrested IS associates/sympathisers through various secured messaging applications and was trying to establish a cadre of IS in India by recruiting youth.
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Khalistan-inspired Extremism
GoI banned 40 websites linked with pro-Khalistan group SFJ.
On 05 July, the Government of India (GoI) banned 40 websites linked with pro-Khalistan group—Sikh For Justice (SFJ) for a ‘campaign for registering supporters for the cause’. According to the notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), “Sikhs For Justice (SFJ)—an unlawful organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UA (P)A], 1967, launched a campaign for registering supporters for its cause. On recommendations of MHA, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (ME&IT), has issued orders under Sec 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, for blocking 40 websites of SFJ.
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