Security

Could a ‘Transactional’ Trump Leverage the Pannun Case to Get Modi to Buy US Fighter Aircraft?

Such a gambit would eventually depend on the culpability levels of India’s security establishment in the Sikh activist’s intended killing, and the credibility of its denials which, so far, has been somewhat questionable.

Chandigarh: Donald Trump’s comeback to the US presidency has spawned optimistic speculation in Indian security and defence circles – that a line is likely to be drawn by his incoming administration under the disquieting issue regarding the Modi government’s alleged involvement in Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Pannun’s planned assassination in New York last year.

But a cross section of senior military veterans and analysts believe that any US willingness to help Modi bury l’affaire Pannun could come at a heavy price under Trump, which they anticipate may well be the $25-billion purchase of 114 US fighters by the Indian Air Force (IAF) as part of its long-pending Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) requirement.

“The MRFA is needed as of yesterday,” Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh had declared last month in his annual presser, highlighting the criticality of timely platform procurements to sustain the IAFs operational readiness by boosting its fighter squadron numbers that had declined to 29-30 from a sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons. This former number will reduce further imminently, after the IAF’s two remaining ground attack MiG-21’Bison’ squadrons, comprising 40 legacy platforms, are number-plated or decommissioned next year.

Three US-origin combat aircraft are amongst eight overseas fighters potentially vying for the IAF’s MRFA buy. Analysts are of the view that the inbound Trump administration could possibly use the political leverage it clearly has over Delhi to acquire one such fighter type as an undeclared form of ‘blood money’ for Washington to diplomatically entomb the Pannun dispute. To be sure, legal proceedings on the Pannun case would continue in a New York court but care would then be taken to firewall the Indian establishment and its senior officials and leaders from embarrassing allegations of involvement.

The 78-year-old president-designate fancies himself as a master negotiator, capable of deploying his business acumen into the world of politics and diplomacy, especially by taking advantage of potentially profitable, but questionable, deals, including those involving allies.

In official circles in Delhi, Trump’s return to the White House is widely viewed as a boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP-led government that has faced a certain amount of unwelcome scrutiny from the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers for avidly propagating Hindu nationalist policies domestically, and more, recently, allegedly planning and executing extra-judicial killings in the US and Canada.

A recent Bloomberg analysis of which world leaders would profit or lose from Trump’s return, anticipated that Modi would agree to deals with Washington, without the ‘finger wagging’ he has had to recently endure. It also goes on to state that a Trump presidency may not support Canada’s push to hold the Indian government accountable for the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Nijjar in British Columbia last June. Trump’s animosity towards and disdain for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is well known.

Other diplomatic and policy analysts in Delhi suggest that, for assorted security, strategic and commercial considerations, and in consonance with Trump’s personal equation with Modi, Washington’s new administration would summarily move towards concluding the Pannun affair, albeit gainfully, perhaps in exchange for US fighters for the IAF.

No serving or retired Indian military or security official, or diplomat, was willing to be named in commenting on such a sensitive and speculative matter, but many privately conceded that such a ‘trade-off’ could ensue, given Trump’s widely acknowledged ‘transactional’ propensities. “Trump is a typical businessman, forever looking to leverage his advantage for profit,” said a retired three-star IAF officer. It’s quite conceivable that Trump, along with his like-minded cabinet, could foresee a ‘ripe deal’ in settling the Pannun matter to suit a panicked Indian government, by manoeuvring it to their pecuniary benefit.

But what, after all, is the putative MRFA procurement, who are the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) competing for it and how favourably does the US line up in this race?

Delays in inducting some 180 variants of the indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to replace legacy fighters like the MiG-21’s and 100-115 ageing SEPECAT Jaguars has prompted the MRFA acquisition, the request for proposal (RfP) or tender for which is likely to be dispatched sometime in 2025 or early the following year. In his October presser, ACM Singh had declared that if the under development advanced LCA- Mk2 and the MRFA purchase progress as planned, the IAF could conceivably deploy 36 fighter squadrons over the next decade.

The MRFA procurement envisages importing a squadron of 18 fighters in flyaway condition from a shortlisted OEM, six of whom responded to the IAFs April 2019 request for information (RfI) offering eight fighter types. The remaining 96 platforms would be built indigenously, via a collaborative venture between the qualified OEM and a domestic strategic partner (SP) from either the private or public sector, with progressively enhanced levels of indigenisation in a deal, currently estimated at around $25 billion.

The OEMs who responded to the RfI include Dassault (Rafale), Eurofighter (Typhoon), Sweden’s Saab (Gripen-E), Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and Sukhoi Corporation (MiG-35 ‘Fulcrum-F’ and Su-35 ‘Flanker-E’ respectively) and the US’s Boeing and Lockheed Martin (F/A-18E/F ‘Super Hornet’ and F-15EX ‘Eagle’ II and the F-21, principally an upgraded F-16 derivative, configured specially for the IAF).

In view of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, evaluating the two fuel-intensive Russian fighters for eventual IAF acquisition was, according to senior officers ‘ totally irrational’, considering the grave spares and components crisis the force is facing with regard to its fleet of 259 multi-role Sukhoi-30 MKI’s and some 60 MiG-29UPG fighter-bombers.

“Delhi’s druzhba or friendship with Moscow, which sustained prodigious bilateral military commerce between the two, worth over $70 billion over nearly six decades, seems to have more-or-less run its course,” said former MoD acquisitions advisor Amit Cowshish. The materiel road for India, he added, now leads to Western vendors and towards fast-tracking ‘atmanirbharta‘ to indigenously develop weapon systems and platforms, or to a practical blend of the two, underscored by technology transfers.

The Typhoon had been rejected earlier during trials conducted 2010 onwards for the IAFs binned Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract floated in 2007, as were the Gripen-E and the US’s F-18 and the F-16 – the precursor to the F-21 – on multiple operational capability counts. Moreover, the Gripen-E and the F-21 were single-engine platforms, and though the MRFA RfI had not specified any preference for fighters with single or dual power packs, the IAFs intrinsic preference for the latter remains unstated. And though the OEM’s claimed that their platforms had since been equipped with newer and more advanced technologies and weaponry, the IAF, it seems, remained unimpressed.

Vajraang formation comprising of a C 130 Super Hercules transport aircraft in the centre flanked by two Rafale multirole fighters on either side on Republic Day, January 26, 2023. Photo: PIB

The Rafale, on the other hand, is favourably placed in the MRFA sweepstakes, due not only to its operational superiority over its competitors, as acknowledged by the IAF but more recently by the Indian Navy (N), that is negotiating the purchase of 26 Rafale-M (Maritime) fighters for deployment aboard INS Vikrant, India’s indigenously built aircraft carrier. Dassault had also recently secured clearance to establish a fully self-owned maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility near Jewar International airport in Uttar Pradesh to support not just the IAFs fleet of some-50-odd Mirage 2000Hs fighters and eventually 62 Rafales, including 26 of the IN, but also the 42 Rafale’ operated by the Indonesian Air Force, thereby enhancing its MRFA acceptability.

Once the purchase of 26 Rafale-Ms by the IN is completed, the Indian military would have an aggregate of 62 of these French fighters in its inventory. “Adding to these numbers makes eminent commercial, logistical and operational sense”, said military analyst Air Marshal V K ‘Jimmy’ Bhatia (retd). Besides, acquiring supplementary Rafales under the MRFA purchase, he added would also streamline the IAFs diverse fighter catalogue, which currently features seven different aircraft types, sustaining all of which was not only an enduring logistical challenge, but also a hugely expensive affair for the financially overstretched force.

But despite these obvious advantages favouring the Rafale, a slew of recent media reports, quoting unnamed official sources, ruled the French fighter out of the MRFA contest. These stated that the government wanted to ‘play safe’ by pursuing a ‘non-controversial path’ in executing the MRFA buy, since the IAFs 2016 purchase of 36 Dassault Rafale’s for around Rs 59,000 crore via a government-to-government deal, had become hugely contentious and a major parliamentary election issue in the 2019 polls. Allegations of wrongdoing in this purchase had also featured in the Supreme Court, where matters of national security were, perforce, made public, these reports claimed.

Moreover, these media accounts quoted unidentified defence officials as stating that even in the event of the Rafale being shortlisted as the IAFs MRFA choice, Dassault would be unable to supply the platforms for at least 10 years due to pending orders from various other countries. Such delays, the reports added, would undermine the MRFA programme’s urgency in making up IAF fighter squadron numbers swiftly, adversely impacting Rafale’s chances in the MRFA contest.

Hence, this process of elimination leaves only Boeing’s twin-engine F-15EX Eagle II all-weather multirole 4.5 generation fighter in the fray. Derived from the erstwhile McDonnell Douglas F-15E ‘Strike Eagle’ model dating back to the mid-1980s, the upgraded Eagle II conducted its first flight in 2021 and become operational in June 2024 with the US Air Force that, so far, has placed an order for 104 units.

Trump’s possible ‘aircraft-for-Pannun’ gambit would eventually depend on the culpability levels of India’s security establishment in the Sikh activist’s intended killing, and the credibility of its denials which, so far, has been somewhat questionable. If so, it’s conceivable that Trump’s scheme could prevail and perhaps lead to the IAF spending $25 billion to acquire a US-origin fighter.

Manipur: Congress Calls For Resignation of Amit Shah, Says Modi Has ‘Done Nothing But Protect’ CM

The party accused the BJP of prioritising chief minister N. Biren Singh’s political survival over Manipur’s welfare.

New Delhi: At a press conference held at the All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s headquarters in New Delhi, the Congress demanded the resignation of Union home minister Amit Shah, citing his failure to stop the ongoing violence in Manipur, as well as the resignation of Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh.

The press meet on Tuesday (November 19) was addressed by the Congress’s Manipur president Meghachandra, its general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh and its Manipur in-charge Girish Chodankar.

Addressing the media, Keisham Meghachandra recalled a statement Prime Minister Narendra Modi made in 2017, in which he said that “those who cannot ensure peace in the state have no right to govern Manipur”.

Meghachandra asked whether this principle applied to the current ‘double-engine’ government in Manipur.

A state in distress

Violence escalated in Jiribam, a new hotspot of the Manipur violence, where ten people apparently from the Kuki-Zo community were killed in a gunfight with security forces last week. The Manipur police identified them as armed militants.

Jiribam shares its boundary with Assam’s Cachar district. On the day the ten Kuki-Zo individuals were killed, six people reportedly from the Meitei community went missing – some alleged they were abducted by militants. Within the last week, it has been reported that five of their bodies have been found, with a sixth one possibly belonging to the group also discovered.

Figures provided by the AICC said that over 300 people were killed in the Manipur violence and “nearly a lakh” people rendered displaced. The Wire could not independently corroborate these figures. The state government has claimed that 226 people died in the violence and close to 60,000 were displaced.

Retail inflation in the state has hit 10%, the AICC claimed, adding to say that “business are closed down, jobs are getting lost”, “essential food items, medicines [and] essential commodities are in scarcity” and that schools and educational institutes were shut.

Meghachandra also spoke of the situation in Jiribam, saying, “Sisters, brothers, even babies are unsafe. Mobs are attacking politicians, including Congress MLAs. This is a direct result of poor administration.”

Party announces five demands of the government

In its press conference, the Congress laid out a five-point charter of demands. First, it insisted Modi visit the state before the next parliamentary session – the winter session will begin on November 25 – meet relief camp residents and consult local leaders.

Second, the Congress demanded that Modi engage with delegates from all parties, including the BJP and the Congress, as the homes of legislators from both parties were being targeted in the state.

Third, it demanded that a new governor be appointed specifically for the state. Former governor Anusuiya Uikey left office in July and Assam governor Laksman Acharya currently bears additional charge as governor of Manipur.

Fourth, the party called for accountability from Shah, questioning the alleged “jugalbandi” between him and Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh. It also alleged favouritism on Shah and Singh’s part as well as a failure to prosecute drug-related cases.

Its fifth demand was immediate action on the Supreme Court’s concerns relating to the state. The party cited an observation by the apex court last year that the constitutional machinery in the state had collapsed.

‘Prime minister has done nothing but protect Biren Singh’

Chodankar, the Congress in-charge for Manipur, accused the BJP of prioritising the chief minister’s political survival over the state’s welfare.

“For the past 18 months, the prime minister has done nothing but protect the chief minister of Manipur,” Chodankar said.

The Congress said it was committed to restoring peace in Manipur. “We tried every possible way to bring stability, but this government has failed. The prime minister must respond immediately,” Chodankar added.

At least twenty people have been killed in a spike in the violence in Manipur just this month, as per some estimates.

Shah last year promised compensation to the kin of those who lost their lives to the violence. The Union home ministry has not disbursed enough money that would cover all 226 people officially estimated to have lost their lives.

After tensions in the Imphal valley over the six people who went missing from Jiribam escalated into violence last week, the authorities imposed an indefinite curfew across multiple districts of the valley and curbed internet services in these districts as well as two Kuki-Zo-dominated hill districts to curb the unrest.

The ethnic violence in the state erupted in May last year, following which segregation between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zos reached near-complete levels. The two communities are physically separated by buffer zones patrolled by security forces.

Manipur: NPF Denies Exit Rumours From NDA, Govt Orders Probe in Clash Between Police, Protesters

The Manipur government also extended the ban on mobile data and internet in seven districts till November 20.

New Delhi: The Manipur government on Monday (November 18) formed a panel to probe an alleged confrontation between special commandos and protesters in Jiribam which led to the death of a 20-year-old man and injured one other.

Shortly after the probe was announced, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office bearers tendered their resignations en masse over the “helpless” situation in the state.

Manipur has been in the throes of ethnic violence since May 3, 2023. The communal strife has claimed over 200 lives, displaced thousands and led to a near-complete segregation between the Meitei and Kuki communities.

The latest development comes after BJP and Congress offices were attacked by a mob in Jiribam on Sunday night (November 17). The police reportedly opened fire on the mob, killing Khundrakpam Athouba and injuring 26-year-old K. Bishan.

NDA meeting

A day after the National People’s Party (NPP) withdrew support from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), chief minister N. Biren SIngh chaired an NDA meeting in Imphal on Monday.

Speculations were rife that other allies would follow suit and withdraw support to the BJP-led government.

A Naga People’s Front (NPF) legislator told the Hindu that he did not attend the meeting on Monday, indicating that not all MLAs were present. However, NPF leader and water resources minister Awangbou Newmai extended his support to the government.

“There is no question of withdrawing support. The government is doing its best but unfortunately, it could not save lives. We appeal to people to exercise restraint and not take the law into their hands. Such acts will not solve the problem but aggravate it,” he said, condemning the renewed violence in the Jiribam area.

Internet ban extended, government offices shut

The Manipur government also extended the ban on mobile data and internet in seven districts till November 20. The curfew in three districts of Imphal Valley – Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur – was also extended, the Hindu reported.

Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, a Meitei group, which launched a civil disobedience movement last week, defied the curfew to shut down government offices including the GST Bhawan and the election department.

The situation in Imphal Valley has reportedly calmed down following two days of unrest over the alleged killing of six people from the Meitei community who are said to have been abducted from a relief camp in Jiribam during an encounter with CRPF personnel on November 11.

The attack came days after a tribal woman from the Hmar community was reportedly burned alive by a Meitei mob on November 8.

The Manipur government has handed over both these cases and the attack on the CRPF camp to the National Investigation Agency.

Manipur Asks Union Home Ministry to Withdraw AFSPA Notification ‘In Public Interest’

The state government did not say why withdrawing the notification, which applies to areas in the Imphal valley and Jiribam, would be in the public interest.

New Delhi: Manipur’s cabinet has asked the Union home ministry to “review and withdraw” its November 14 notification declaring six police jurisdictions in the state’s Imphal valley and Jiribam as disturbed areas under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA.

Signed by Mayengbam Veto Singh, a joint secretary in Manipur’s home department, the letter dated Saturday (November 16) said the state cabinet met on Friday to discuss the notification and decided to ask the Union government to withdraw it “in public interest”.

It did not elaborate on why the cabinet decided withdrawing the notification would be in the public interest.

In areas declared disturbed under the AFSPA, the armed forces can conduct searches and arrest people without warrant, as well as shoot people dead if deemed necessary. The Union government’s sanction is needed to prosecute soldiers operating in these areas.

While Thursday’s notification was issued by the Union government, The Hindu has previously noted that disturbed area notifications in Manipur are generally issued by the state government.

Saturday also saw violent protests in Imphal, Manipur’s capital city, against the alleged abduction – some have said by ‘militants’ – of six people from Jiribam earlier this week.

Mobs vandalised the homes of multiple legislators living the city and were dispersed using tear gas, state police said. Chief minister N. Biren Singh’s personal residence in the outskirts of the city was among those targeted, the Indian Express reported.

Tensions had flared after three bodies, believed to be of the abductees, were reportedly located along the Assam-Manipur border on Friday and intensified after three more bodies were reportedly found on Saturday, as per The Hindu.

Authorities responded by implementing an indefinite curfew in five districts of the Imphal valley – which is dominated by Meiteis – and curbing internet services in these districts as well as the Kuki-dominated districts of Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, PTI reported.

The six bodies were sent to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital in Assam’s Cachar district bordering Jiribam for post-mortem, the news agency also cited officials as saying.

Violence was also reported from Jiribam on Saturday, with the Express reporting that mobs set fire to properties belonging to the Hmar community, who are ethnically related to the Kukis.

Jiribam became the flashpoint for a spike in violence in Manipur earlier this month. A Hmar woman was allegedly fatally burnt by suspected militants on November 7, and three days later suspected militants fired at a police station and a Central Reserve Police Force post in the district.

The six people – whom PTI identified as Meiteis – were abducted on the same day. The Union home ministry issued its AFSPA notification three days after the incident.

Police said ten of the suspected militants were killed in a shootout with security forces. Their bodies were airlifted to Churachandpur from Cachar on Saturday, PTI reported.

Over 220 people have been killed during the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur since May last year and 60,000 people rendered displaced.

Segregation between the Meiteis and Kukis reached near-complete levels after the violence and the two communities are physically separated by buffer zones patrolled by security forces.

Manipur on the Boil as Six Bodies – Reportedly of Missing Meiteis – Found; Internet Suspended

Among the six dead are three children, it has been reported.

New Delhi: Internet has been suspended in five districts and the Imphal West district of Manipur has come under curfew from 4.30 pm on Saturday, November 16, following protests in the Imphal Valley regions after six bodies were recovered.

The bodies were suspected to be of those belonging to the Meitei community who went missing from a shelter camp in the Jiribam district on November 7. Among the six dead are three children, Deccan Herald has reported. Some reports have it that one is an eight-month-old child’s body.

At 5.15 pm on November 16 (today), the state’s chief secretary Vineet Joshi issued an order calling for temporary suspension of internet and mobile data services in the “currently affected districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching, Kangpokpi, and Churachandpur of Manipur” for two days.

Three bodies were found floating in the Jiri river a day ago, on November 15.

Protests had begun a day ago as Meitei people alleged that the N. Biren Singh government, its police and the security forces had failed to rescue the missing – who they alleged had been abducted by “Kuki insurgents.”

The six were realised as having gone missing after a gun battle between CRPF and a group of presumably Kuki fighters whom police identified as “armed militants”. Ten suspected Kuki militants were killed, and later, the bodies of two Meitei men were discovered.

The curfew orders came after the Union government asked security forces deployed in Manipur to restore law and order and take all steps towards that end.

India to Seek Extradition From Canada of Arshdeep Gill, Alleged Associate of Hardeep Nijjar

The external affairs ministry made the announcement after it was reported that Gill had been arrested in Canada last month.

New Delhi: After Arshdeep Singh Gill, a man whom the Union government has designated a terrorist and accused of being close to Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was reportedly arrested in Canada, the external affairs ministry has said it will seek his extradition to India.

“In view of the recent arrest, our agencies will be following up on an extradition request,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday (November 14).

Referring to Gill’s alias Arsh Dalla, Jaiswal added: “Given Arsh Dalla’s criminal record in India and his involvement in similar illegal activities in Canada, it is expected that he will be extradited or deported to face justice in India.”

Canadian news outlet CTV News said an investigation it conducted showed that 28-year-old Gill was one of two men arrested late last month by police in Ontario’s Halton and charged with discharging a firearm with intent.

Jaiswal said on Thursday that the MEA “[understood] that the Ontario Court has listed the case for hearing”.

In January last year, the Union home ministry designated Gill a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, alleging his involvement in murder, extortion, financing terror, smuggling drugs and weapons, and disturbing communal harmony.

The number of cases against him exceeds 50, the MEA has said.

Gill was also “very close to” Nijjar – a man also proscribed as a terrorist by the government – and ran terror modules on Nijjar’s behalf, the home ministry had alleged while designating him a terrorist.

Nijjar, who headed the pro-Khalistan outfits Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and the Canadian wing of the Sikhs for Justice group, was shot dead in June last year by men Ottawa has claimed were agents of the Indian government.

The allegations, which India has vigorously denied, sent diplomatic relations between the two countries into a downward spiral.

According to the MEA – which described Gill as the “de facto” chief of the KTF – the Union government asked Ottawa to provisionally arrest Gill but had its request denied, following which it provided Canada with additional information.

It also requested Canada under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty to verify Gill’s “suspected residential address, his financial transactions to India, moveable/immovable properties, details of mobile numbers etc,” which it said it provided Canadian authorities with in January 2023.

“In December 2023, the Department of Justice of Canada sought additional information on the case. A reply to these queries was sent in March this year,” Jaiswal said.

On Sunday, the Punjab police announced it had arrested two alleged associates of Gill’s near Chandigarh, adding to accuse them of killing a man in Madhya Pradesh on Gill’s directions.

The Globe and Mail cited Nijjar’s lawyer and friends as disputing the alleged link between him and Gill, and reported that Gill said in an April interview to a Punjabi journalist that he did not support the Khalistani militancy but had killed a Hindu leader for alleged desecration.

Six Imphal Valley, Jiribam Police Jurisdictions Re-notified as ‘Disturbed Areas’ Under AFSPA

The home ministry’s notification comes days after Manipur witnessed a spike in violence starting Monday.

New Delhi: The Union home ministry has declared the jurisdictions of six police stations in Manipur’s Imphal valley and Jiribam as ‘disturbed areas’ under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA on Thursday (November 14).

Its announcement comes days after Manipur witnessed a spike in violence starting Monday, when security forces said they killed ten militants in retaliatory fire in Jiribam.

The Hindu cited a senior government official as saying the suspected militants also allegedly abducted six people and fatally burned two others during the incident on Monday. It reported on Thursday that the six remained missing.

PTI reported on Tuesday that following the violence in Jiribam, incidents of armed groups firing at each other were reported from multiple places in the Imphal valley, as per police.

The six jurisdictions named by the home ministry on Thursday were denotified as disturbed areas starting in 2022. But the ministry said that the need to carry out coordinated security operations and “contain the activities of insurgent groups” here warranted the reimposition of disturbed area status.

In its notification, the ministry said that the “situation continues to remain volatile amidst ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur and intermittent firing in violence-prone areas continues in the fringe areas” of the districts where the six police stations are located.

There were also “several instances of active participation of insurgent groups in heinous acts of violence” in these areas, it added.

The six police stations are Sekmai and Lamsang in the Imphal West district, Lamlai in Imphal East, Jiribam in the district of the same name, Leimakhong in Kangpokpi and Moirang in Bishnupur.

A total of 19 police station jurisdictions in the Imphal valley and Jiribam saw the removal of disturbed area status by April 2023, a month before violence between the state’s Meitei and Kuki-Zo ethnic groups erupted.

The state’s hill regions have remained under disturbed area status.

The Hindu has previously noted that while both the Union and state governments can issue disturbed area notifications under the AFSPA, the practice has been that only the Manipur government issued these notifications as far as the state was concerned.

Thursday’s disturbed area notification was issued by the Union home ministry and not the state government.

Over 220 people have been killed during the ethnic violence in Manipur since May last year and 60,000 people rendered displaced.

Segregation between the Meiteis and Kukis reached near-complete levels after the violence and the two communities are physically separated by buffer zones patrolled by security forces.

The Kuki-Zo Council body claimed the suspected militants in the Jiribam incident were ‘village volunteers’ and enforced a shutdown in Kuki-dominated hill districts in the state on Tuesday. Meitei organisations called for a separate shutdown in the valley in response to the alleged abductions.

According to PTI, the number of suspected militants killed in Jiribam on Monday is 11.

Former Bureaucrat Urges Caution Over Govt’s Satellite Spectrum Allocation to Elon Musk’s Starlink

“Once allotted satellite spectrum, a foreign player like Starlink can have unlimited access to personal and public data systems in India, with no bar on the company using the same across geographic borders,” E.A.S. Sarma noted.

New Delhi: E.A.S. Sarma, former secretary to the Union government, has raised concerns in an open letter addressed to Neeraj Mittal, secretary of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), regarding the department’s recent steps toward administratively allotting satellite spectrum to foreign companies, specifically Elon Musk’s Starlink.

In his letter, Sarma highlighted the public interest risks of permitting foreign companies like Starlink to access satellite spectrum without a competitive process, noting the security implications tied to the company’s alleged connections with the US military. According to Sarma, Starlink’s satellite technology, branded as Starshield, possesses advanced capabilities for accommodating diverse payloads which include military-grade radar, infrared missile detection and optical surveillance systems. Given these capabilities, Sarma cautioned that any spectrum allocation to Starlink could risk exposing Indian data systems and sensitive communications infrastructure to foreign surveillance.

“It is important to understand that Starlink is not so much a means of satellite communication, but a time-tested reliable satellite bus technology that can accommodate various payloads as needed, including radars, optical cameras, and infrared (IR) missile launch signaling systems. It is obvious that the Pentagon is interested in getting the most it can out of the functionality provided by Starshield satellites,” he noted, referencing reports about the US defence department’s involvement with SpaceX’s Starlink. “Once allotted satellite spectrum, a foreign player like Starlink can have unlimited access to personal and public data systems in India, with no bar on the company using the same across geographic borders.”

Sarma refers to an earlier letter he wrote on the “illegality involved in the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) administratively allotting strategic satellite spectrum to telecom service providers, especially the public interest implications of allotting it to foreign players.”

He argues that the DoT’s actions bypass the auction-based allocation procedure, which was mandated by the Supreme Court to ensure transparency and fair market value in the allocation of spectrum, a highly valuable national resource. Sarma warned that circumventing this procedure could amount to contempt of court, undermining the transparency that the Supreme Court called for in its landmark 2G spectrum judgment.

Also read: Russia-Ukraine War: Starlink Row Offers a Cautionary Tale on Role of Private Space Industry in Wars

“I am surprised that the DOT should obstinately go ahead allowing Elon Musk’s Starlink to have access to satellite spectrum without going through the apex-court-prescribed transparent auction procedure… It defies all economic logic of discovering the price of a valuable natural resource like spectrum through competitive means,” wrote Sarma.

Union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced on Tuesday, November 12, that the decision to launch Starlink would depend on recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which was conducting a consultation process, according to a report in the Hindu.

Sarma’s letter also emphasised that allocating spectrum to foreign players, particularly those tied to foreign powers, could open doors to security vulnerabilities and misuse of data. “It will be prudent for DOT to reserve satellite spectrum for purely strategic purposes that subserve the national interest, such as use by ISRO, the Indian defence forces and CPSEs involved in strategic communications activity for such organisations,” he added.

Sarma appealed to the government to exercise caution and reserve this spectrum for strategic, nation-serving purposes.

Two Bodies Found After Manipur Police Says 10 ‘Armed Militants’ Killed by Security Forces in Jiribam

The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council has said in a statement that 11 of its volunteers were “mercilessly shot dead” by CRPF and has demanded action against the forces.

New Delhi: The bodies of two Meitei men were found a day after 10 people belonging to the Kuki-Zo community in Manipur, whom police identified as “armed militants” were killed by security forces while allegedly leading an attack on a police and CRPF station on November 11. The incidents took place in the Jiribam district.

On the morning of November 12, the bodies of two men, identified as Laishram Barel Singh (63) and Maibam Keshwo Singh (71), were recovered by police from houses in the Jakuradhor area, according to a report by Indian Express.

The two had reportedly been staying at a relief camp at Borobekra police station. Ten people from the camp have reportedly gone missing since the shooting on November 11.

Manipur Police noted that police and the CRPF “retaliated strongly” against the November 11 attack on the Borobekra police station and Jakuradhor CRPF post.

“After about 40-45 minutes of heavy exchange of fire, the situation was brought under control,” the statement said.

The bodies were discovered after firing ended, police said. Police have claimed that three AK-47 rifles, four self-loading rifles, two INSAS rifles, an RPG, one pump-action gun, bullet-proof helmets and magazines were also discovered.

A criminal case has been registered and is being investigated, police further said.

Police said that operations in and around Jakuradhor, under the Borobekra police station’s jurisdiction, have continued “to flush out armed militants.”

Reinforcement teams of personnel from the Assam Rifles, CRPF and civil police have been rushed there.

A CRPF constable, Sanjeev Kumar, suffered a bullet injury and has been taken to Silchar Medical College and Hospital in Assam, the police added.

Fighting has continued in the ethnically divided state since May last year.

At Jiribam, on the same day, at least 10 shops belonging to the Meitei community were reportedly set on fire by suspected militants, according to a report.

The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council has said in a statement that 11 volunteers were “mercilessly shot dead” by CRPF and has demanded action against the paramilitary forces.

Indian Express has reported that the 10 killed belonged to the Hmar community.

Note: This report has been updated since publication with news on the two deaths.

Soldier Killed, 3 Hurt in Another Targeted Militant Attack in Jammu

Security agencies were on the lookout for a group of militants, who were involved in the killing of two village defence guards in Munzla Dhar forests of Kishtwar district last week.

Srinagar: In a third targeted attack in Jammu, a junior commissioner officer (JCO) of the army was killed while three more soldiers were injured in a targeted attack by militants in Kishtwar district of Chenab valley.

Security agencies were on the lookout for a group of militants, who were involved in the killing of two village defence guards (VDG) in Munzla Dhar forests of Kishtwar district last week.

A senior police officer said that during a counter-terrorism operation by a joint team of J&K Police and Army on Sunday morning in the forests of Keshwan area, a group of militants opened fire on security forces, resulting in injuries to four army personnel.

Among the victims, a paratrooper identified as Rakesh Kumar of 2 Para, succumbed to injuries. The slain soldier was a junior commissioner officer (naib subedar). The army’s strategic White Knight Corps based in Jammu confirmed his death.

“#GOC #WhiteknightCorps and all ranks salute the supreme sacrifice of #Braveheart, Nb Sub Rakesh Kumar of 2 Para (SF). Sub Rakesh was part of a joint #CT operation launched in general area of # Bhart Ridge #Kishtwar on 09 Nov 2024. We stand with bereaved family in this hour of grief,” the White Knight Corps posted on X.

The condition of the other three injured soldiers is believed to be stable and they have been shifted to a hospital, reports said.

The officer said that additional security forces have been deployed in the area and surveillance has been mounted around a forested area where the militants are believed to be hiding, “The operation is underway,” the officer said.

Amid reports that Sunday’s attack was carried out a few kilometres from the spot where the bullet-riddled bodies of two VDGs were recovered by security forces on November 7, the army said that it was the same group of militants who were involved in the abduction and killing.

The attack took place three days after two VDGs – Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar – who had gone to a forest in the higher reaches of Kuntwara in Chatroo tehsil on November 7 were shot and killed by militants affiliated with Kashmir Tigers outfit, which is believed to be an offshoot of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The Chenab valley which comprises the hilly Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban districts has witnessed an uptick in militant activities in recent months.

According to officials, nearly a dozen groups of militants in twos and threes have been operating in Chenab Valley and the adjoining Pir Panjal region who have inflicted heavy body blows on security forces over the last three years.

The attack in Kishtwar was the third militant attack in a fortnight in Jammu division which has emerged as a new theatre of conflict in J&K after a division of the army in Pir Panjal region was shifted to the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh in 2020 to tackle the Chinese aggression after the Galwan clashes.

On October 29, an army ambulance was unsuccessfully ambushed in Battal area of Jammu by a group of three militants, who had recently infiltrated into Jammu from Akhnoor sector along the Line of Control.

All the three militants involved in the attack were gunned down in an anti-insurgency operation which lasted for more than 15 hours in the area. An army dog identified as Phantom was also injured in the encounter. The canine later succumbed to its injuries.

Meanwhile, in a fifth encounter in Kashmir Valley in the past three days, security forces and suspected militants exchanged gunfire in the capital Srinagar on Sunday morning. Reports said that a search operation was launched by a joint team of security forces in the Zabarwan forest flanking Srinagar city when suspected militants opened fire at them.

According to reports, security forces retaliated to the fire, which resulted in a brief gunfight in the area between the two sides. Zabarwan mountains fall on the periphery of Sindh and Lidder valleys which have witnessed heightened militant activity following the reading down of Article 370 by the Union government in 2019.

Additional security forces have been deployed in the area after the militants reportedly slipped into a nearby forest following a heavy exchange of fire. “Firing has stopped but searches are underway,” reports said.