ALERT for PAK: Bollywood Making Super Power Indian Army, Bollywood Strongly Support Indian Army

ALERT for PAK: Bollywood Making Super Power... by pakistanaffairs

ALERT for PAK: Bollywood Making Super Power Indian Army, Bollywood Strongly Support Indian Army

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Surgical strike by Indian Army: Bollywood reacts to India’s answer to Uri attack by Pakistan

Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Madhur Bhandarkar commented on the surgical strikes by the Indian Army. Cricketers like MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag also tweeted in support.

Mumbai, September 29: Right after the news of surgical strikes by the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC) was announced this morning, Bollywood as always expressed their support to the country and to the army on Twitter. Director Madhur Bhandarkar, known for his hard-hitting films, and acclaimed actor Paresh Rawal were among the first to tweet their support to the Army and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Actors Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Sonakshi Sinha, Nikhil Dwivedi, legendary singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, and filmmaker Hansal Mehta later commented on the strike. Many aam aadmi Indians and government officials also tweeted and the Indian Army Twitter handle posted a statement. The surgical strikes were in retaliation to the Uri attacks carried out by four militants in Jammu and Kashmir, who were allegedly Pakistan agents.

Starting 2 am IST on September 29, the Indian Army began surgical strikes at some terror launchpads along the LoC. The news, announced by Army Director General of Military Operations Lt General Ranbir Singh and confirmed by Ministry of External Affairs Spokesman Vikas Swarup, came as a shock to Pakistan, who initially denied that such an incident had happened. Pakistan termed it as cross-firing and not a surgical strike by India. But Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has now said that the country will retaliate and that their silence does not mean they will not act.

Social media of both India and Pakistan has been abuzz with an imminent Indo-Pak war after the Uri attack by Pakistan, with hate spewing over from both ends on Twitter and Facebook. After the Uran scare too, people were talking about a war or more acts of terrorism. But the Uran sightings of terrorists turned out to be a prank by school children of the Navi Mumbai port area, so did the news of four people being spotted in Pathankot in Punjab. The surgical strike is being touted as a befitting reply by Narendra Modi to his Pakistan counterpart.

Armed Forces short of more than 9,000 officers

India’s three armed services are short of over 9,000 officers and 55,000 personnel in other ranks, Parliament was told on Friday.

According to the data tabled in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, the Indian Army — the largest of the three Services — had on July 1 last year vacancies for 8,370 officers and 35,174 other ranks, followed by the Indian Navy, which had vacancies for 1,332 officers and 10,982 sailors on September 30.

The Indian Air Force had shortage of 29 officers on August 1 and 9,841 airmen on November 1.

The tabled data does not included the officers of the services’ medical and dental branches.

“A number of measures have also been taken to meet the shortage of manpower in the Armed Forces including by sustained image projection, publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth,” Bhamre told the house in a written reply.

“Force accretion of armed forces is an ongoing process dictated primarily by capabilities to be achieved and threat perception. Accordingly, Government has sanctioned a number of proposals for accretion of manpower in the recent years,” he said.

India Should Feel Fear The Power of Pakistan Air Force

Indian Air Force faces risk as Pakistan, China modernise: report

BENGALURU: As China and Pakistan modernise air force at a rapid pace, Indian Air Force (IAF) faces risk without new western warplanes or the lack of local defence contractors ability to keep up with military needs in a timely manner, said a report published on IBN Live.

According to experts, due to its reliance on a fleet of ageing Russian-made MiG and French Mirage fighters, India was vulnerable in the skies. Furthermore, half of India's fighters are due to retire in the start of 2015 until 2024.

The Tejas light combat aircraft, which is India's first homegrown fighter, will be finally delivered in March, 30 years after it was conceived. However, senior air force officers privately said they were unimpressed. A former fighter pilot said that the plane was "so late it is obsolete".

"It could lead to humiliation at the hands of our neighbours," AK Sachdev, a retired air force officer, wrote in the Indian Defence Review journal in 2014.

He further added that an attack by China or Pakistan could stretch the Indian military. Defence strategists in New Delhi were asked to plan for this scenario, however experts said it is unlikely to take place.

When it comes to India's ties with China, the relations are still crippled due to a dispute over their Himalayan border which led to war in 1962.

New Delhi is also wary of China's close relations with Pakistan and its increasing naval presence in the Indian Ocean.

Multiple crashes

A paramilitary committee had said in December that IAF's strength has fallen below the government's approved strength of 42. There are 34 operational squadrons, down from 39 earlier this decade. Furthermore, in recent decades more than half of India's MiGs have crashed, the then defence minister said in 2012.

On the other hand, China is flying locally built fourth-generation J-10 fighters and testing two fifth-generation stealth fighter jets.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is upgrading its Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) F-16 fighter planes and also using JF-17 warplanes that were developed with China.

According to Pakistani and Chinese industry sources, Pakistan is also in talks to buy J-10s.

If it comes to war, India would still be victorious over Pakistan due to the sheer size of its air force. However, the slow modernisation means the win would come with heavy casualties, according to Richard Aboulafia, Washington DC-based vice president of analysis at the Teal Group, a defence think tank.

India is buying more Su-30s and upgrading other existing fighters to keep up.

"We do need to increase our defence preparedness," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the opening ceremony of the Aero India airshow in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

A senior official at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) K. Tamilmani said that criticism of the Tejas was unfounded. DRDO is the defence ministry agency which designed and developed the plane.

"The Tejas has a safety record that is unbeaten," Tamilmani said adding it would provide a platform to develop more advanced fighters in the future.

Impasse over Rafale jets

The Rafale fighters are expected to replace some of India's existing Mirage jets and MiGs. However, defence military officials have said that India insists that Dassault takes full responsibility for production of the air-craft at a state-run facility in Bengaluru.

France has said it will help Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd with delivery schedules, however it cannot give guarantees of air-craft production at a facility that it has no administrative or expert control.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said at the airshow that India will make a decision on the fate of this deal after March, when a committee of the defence ministry will deliver a report on the issue.

Chairman at Indicia Research and Advisory (a New Delhi-based defence consulting firm) Deba Mohanty said that cancellation would be "disastrous".

"It's a really tricky situation in which the supplier is unhappy, the bureaucrats are unhappy and the end user is disappointed," said Mohanty.

Over the last few years, India successfully introduced Boeing's (BA.N) C-17 and P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft along with Lockheed Martin's C-130J. Experts said thiss hows off-the-shelf solutions work best.

On the other hand, under Modi's "Make in India" programme, building a domestic defence industrial base is emphasised to reduce dependence on foreign supplies which led to India becoming the world's biggest arms importer.

Pakistan’s ISI may be behind Kanpur train mishap, claims Bihar Police, seeks probe by IB, RAW

​Patna: The Bihar Police on Tuesday pointed to the involvement of Pakistan’s notorious spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in the recent train mishaps including Ajmer-Sialdah Express derailment near Kanpur.

Bihar Police also claimed to have busted a suspected ISI link to target the railways with arrest of three persons in East Champaran district of the state. Addressing a press conference, East Champaran Superintendent of Police Jitendra Rana said that the arrested persons have confessed to having worked for a Nepalese contact supposedly linked to Pakistan’s ISI to target the railways.
Rana told that the Motihari unit of the Bihar Police, which was investigating a terror-related incident, recently arrested one person who had made startling disclosures confirming that Kanpur train tragedy was actually an act of terror, sponsored by the ISI.

Also Read: Over 60 injured in Ajmer-Sealdah Express derailment near Kanpur Moti Paswan – the man in question – had revealed that he was paid by the ISI to plant bomb along the rail tracks to trigger derailment of trains, he added.

Rana told reporters that based on the information provided by Moti Paswan, police later arrested Uma Shankar Patel and Mukesh Yadav from Adapur Police Station area of the district.
The three are “professional criminals” allegedly involved in more than a dozen criminal cases, he said.

During interrogation, police claimed that they have confessed to having been paid Rs three lakh by a Nepali citizen identified as Brajesh Giri allegedly connected with the ISI for planting a bomb on railway tracks at Ghorasahan in East Champaran district in October 1 last year to cause an accident.

“Fortunately, the bomb was detected with the help of villagers at Ghorasan and defused which prevented the sinister designs of the terror elements,” Rana said.

While three persons were arrested from East Champaran district, three others have been nabbed at Tailaya in Nepal for targeting railways on behalf of suspected terror elements in this country, the SP added.

Must Read: Kanpur train accident: 

What actually led to Indore-Patna Express mishapPaswan had told interrogators that besides him, several others from Kanpur including Zubair and Zia-ul, who were nabbed from Delhi, were also involved in the Ajmer-Sealdah Express train derailment near Rura railway station in Kanpur dehat district last month.

Paswan had revealed that the ISI had hatched a conspiracy to blow the track at Ghorasahan Station for which its agent Brajesh Giri – the man who was later arrested from Nepal – had given Rs 3 lakh to Arun and Deepak Ram, both residents of Adapur in Bihar.

Paswan further told that both Arun and Deepak Ram were later called to Nepal and murdered by Giri as ISI was upset with them for not triggering the IED device even after planted it on the track.
Their bodies were thrown in the river, he claimed.

Don’t Miss: Kanpur train accident: Shaken survivors burst into tears on reaching Patna
Based on its findings, the East Champaran Police intensified its probe and arrested Uma Shankar Patel and Mukesh Yadav and confirmed their links with ISI.
Arrested persons were given more targets and a probe is underway to find their links with Kanpur train accident, said the East Champaran SP.

The Nepal Police had also confirmed to Bihar Police that Pakistan’s ISI had paid Rs 30 lakh to its agent Brajesh Giri for triggering blasts on rail tracks targeting popular trains in Bihar.

Accused were paid to blow rail tracks at Ghorasahan. Their links in Nepal, Dubai and other places are being probed, SP Jitendra Rana added.

Efforts are on to arrest in this connection two others identified as Gajendra Sharma and Rakesh Yadav who are “hiding” in East Champaran area, he said.

All the accused have been interrogated by the Intelligence Bureau and the information extracted by them has been passed on to the RAW and military intelligence for further verification.

At least least two people were. kill killed and 43 injured when 15 coaches of the Ajmer-Sealdah Express train derailed near Rura railway station in Kanpur dehat district in December last year.

Fourteen coaches of the train, 12987 Ajmer-Sealdah Express, derailed when it was crossing a bridge over a dry canal in the area.

Earlier, a major train accident involving Indore-Patna Express took place which claimed the lives of at least 150 people at Pokhrayan near Kanpur.

Bad News for India’s Deadliest Sub: Nirbhay Cruise Missile Fails Test (Again)

Bad News for India’s Deadliest Sub: Nirbhay Cruise Missile Fails Test (Again)

A test of the nuclear-capable Nirbhay cruise missile failed for the third time.

A December 21 test launch of India’s nuclear-capable Nirbhay long-range cruise missile has reportedly been unsuccessful, according to local media reports.  It is the third time that a Nirbhay missile trial has allegedly failed to achieve its test perimeters since March 2013.

The December 21 launch, like previous tests, took place at the Integrated Test Range–the Indian military’s primary missile test facility–on Abdul Kalam Island, off the coast of Odisha and was overseen by the Indian military’s Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO).

According to the Times of India, the missile had to be destroyed mid-air after it deviated from its course. “The booster engine in Nirbhay’s first stage started working. The missile lifted off from its launcher. But it started veering dangerously towards one side in less than two minutes of its lift-off,” DRDO sources told The Hindu.

“This is a hardware element issue. This is a reliability issue with a component,” the sources added. “It is a big failure. We should have a thorough re-look at what has been done so far. Out of four Nirbhay missions, three have ended in failure.”

So far, only a flight trial of the missile conducted on Octobe4 17, 2014 met all test criteria. The missile reportedly travelled 1,010 kilometers while being monitored by the ground station and an Indian Air Force fighter jet.

The Nirbhay is a subsonic land attack cruise missile armed with a 300-kilogram warhead and capable of reaching speeds of 0.6-0.7 Mach. It is designed to be highly maneuverable and has loitering capabilities.  It is designed to be launched from air, sea, and land.

The failed missile test is particularly bad news for India’s first domestically developed and built ballistic missile nuclear submarine (SSBN) class, the Arihant-class, which, according to some military experts, will be armed with the Nirbhay cruise missile.

The Indian Navy commissioned the lead boat of the class, the INS Arihant in August. As I explained (See: “India Quietly Commissions Deadliest Sub”):

The INS Arihant will serve as a blueprint for India’s future fleet of four to five Arihant-class SSBNs to be built under the so-called Advanced Technology Vessel project. The ship building center at Vishakhapatnam is reportedly currently working on the second and third submarine of the class. The second Arihant-class SSBN, INS Aridhaman, is expected to be commissioned in 2018. In comparison to the lead ship of the class, subsequent boats will be larger (e.g., they will boast eight rather than four launch tubes), operate a more powerful reactor, and feature a host of other technical improvements.

There are also other missile systems under consideration for the future Arihant-class of SSBNs including the submarine-launched variant of the BrahMos short-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile, as well as the K-4 and K-15 intermediate-range nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM).

The Nirbhay missile, once operational,  will also likely be deployed aboard surface warships of the Indian Navy.

DRDO is reportedly also working on developing an air-launched variant of the weapon system for the Indian Air Force.  It is unknown when DRDO will conduct the next test of the Nirbhay.

Indian soldier exposes corruption, food shortage in Indian Army

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier’s video exposed the ‘high standard’ of the food given to soldiers in the neighbouring country which went viral on social media.

The BSF soldier Tej Bahadur maintained that rampant corruption in Indian army has led the BSF soldiers to a position where they are forced to eat badly cooked food or stay hungry all day in chilling weather on the border.

The soldier maintained that funds and ration provided by Indian government goes in the pockets of the high and the mighty, leaving little for the soldiers.

Towards the end, Bahadur also showed the food Indian BSF is providing its soldiers, leaving little room for anyone to suspect his allegations or purpose

Why India is Scared of China Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is expected to add over 2 million direct and indirect jobs to Pakistan’s economy and boost the country’s GDP growth rate to 7.5%.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is expected to add over 2 million direct and indirect jobs to Pakistan’s economy and boost the country’s GDP growth rate to 7.5%.

Jobs & Economic Growth in Pakistan:

US-based consulting firm Deloitte and Touche estimates that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects will create some 700,000 direct jobs during the period 2015–2030 and raise its GDP growth rate to 7.5%, adding 2.5 percentage points to the country’s current GDP growth rate of 5%.

An additional 1.4 million indirect jobs will be added in supply-chain and service sectors to support the projects. An example of indirect jobs is the massive expansion in Pakistan’s cement production that will increase annual production capacity from 45 million tons to 65 million tons, according to a tweet by Bloomberg’s Faseeh Mangi. Other indirect jobs will be in sectors ranging from personal services to housing and transportation.

CPEC Benefits for Pakistan & China:

The CPEC will open doors to immense economic opportunities not only to Pakistan but will physically connect China to its markets in Asia, Europe and beyond, according to the Deloitte report.

Almost 80% of the China’s oil is currently transported from the Middle East through the Strait of Malacca to Shanghai, (distance is almost 16,000 km and takes 2-3 months). With Gwadar port in Pakistan becoming operational, the distance would reduce to less than 5,000 km. If all goes well and on schedule, of the 21 agreements on energy– including gas, coal and solar energy– 14 will be able to provide up to 10,400 megawatts (MW) of energy by March 2018. According to China Daily, these projects would provide up to 16,400 MW of energy altogether.

India’s War on CPEC:

The biggest challenge that CPEC faces today is India’s well-orchestrated effort to sabotage it. Not only are Indian leaders on record as opposing CPEC, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-hand man Ajit Doval have unleashed a concerted effort to try to make it impossible.

Mr. Modi has openly expressed support for Baloch separatists and Ajit Doval has talked about Pakistan “losing Balochistan”. A serving Indian Navy commander Kulbhushan Yadav has been arrested working undercover to wage covert war in Pakistan.

RAW Money Flow:

India has opened up a big money money spigot to use its agents to destabilize Pakistan. RK Yadav, an ex intelligence official of RAW, has in a TV interview (Siyasat Ki Baat with RK Yadav video 6:00 minutes), talked about RAW agents with “suitcases and cupboards full of money”.

Ex RAW chief A.S. Dulat has said “money goes a long way” in intelligence operations.

Current National Security Advisor has talked about RAW recruiting terrorists with one-and-a-half times the money they are making from other sources.

RK Yadav has, in his book “Mission R&AW“, written about RAW money paid to late Pakistani politician Khan Abul Wali Khan in 1970s. He’s also confirmed the existence of RAW-inspired 1960s Agartala Conspiracy that recruited Shaikh Mujib ur Rehman’s Awami League to work for Indian intelligence.

More recently, London Police documents have revealed the testimony of MQM leaders Muhammad Anwar and Tariq Mir confirming that Altaf Husain received money from Indian intelligence.

Modi’s Campaign to Isolate Pakistan:

While RAW is busy funding terror in Pakistan, the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi has launched a diplomatic offensive to have Pakistan declared a “state sponsor of terror”. It’s intended to deflect attention from Indian Army’s brutality against innocent Kashmiris and to cover up his own proxy war of terror to sabotage CPEC in Pakistan.

Summary:

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a game-changer for Pakistan. It will build power plants and other infrastrastructure, boost Pakistan’s GDP growth to 7.5% and add millions of new jobs to bring prosperity to Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Modi is very unhappy about it and he has launched a multi-pronged concerted effort to sabotage CPEC by using covert wars and diplomatic offensives to hurt Pakistan. Can Pakistan defeat Indian plans and succeed in building a prosperous future? That is the big question. The answer depends on how well Pakistanis can unite to make it happen.

Demonetisation: Russia warn India over cash withdrawal limit

Demonetisation: Russia lodges protest on cash crunch faced by embassy, threatens 'retaliatory action'

New Delhi: Demonetisation is taking a toll on Indian diplomacy, with Russia lodging a strong protest over cash shortage affecting the functioning of its embassy in Delhi and threatening retaliatory action.
Pressing the External Affairs Ministry to intervene to get restrictions on cash withdrawals by Russian diplomats lifted, its Ambassador Alexander Kadakin has written to it saying embassy's normal functioning was getting impacted with the "inadequate" amount limit of Rs 50,000 per week.

State Bank of India has informed the Embassy that the cash withdrawal limit available to the Embassy is now Rs 50,000 per week under the government of India directives with no exceptions unless otherwise advised by the RBI, his letter said. "Such an amount is totally inadequate as regards the embassy's salary and operational expenditure requirements," the letter added.

"We are awaiting a reply from the MEA and hope that this is resolved quickly. Otherwise, we will be forced to explore other options which may include raising the issue in Moscow with your Embassy by summoning Indian Minister Counsellor," a senior Russian embassy official said in Delhi.

Other retaliatory options may include restriction on the cash withdrawals for Indian diplomats posted in Russia, the official indicated. Sources said MEA has "taken note" of the concerns raised by several diplomatic missions including Russia. "The matter has once again been conveyed to Department of Economic Affairs and we are awaiting a direction from it," a source said.

There are approximately 200 staffers in Russian diplomatic mission in the national capital.
Russia is not the first one to complain about the demonetisation-induced restrictions. Earlier, the Dean of Diplomatic Corps had also raised the issue with the External Affairs Ministry.

It is also understood that some other countries like Ukraine and Kazakhstan have also raised the issue with the ministry. After the demonetisation last month, MEA had said it has approached Department of Economic Affairs over issues including those related to maintaining sufficient flow of funds to diplomatic missions following demonetisation and was awaiting a decision by the finance ministry regarding it.

Mega Accident, Warship INS Betwa (F39) Flips Over, 2 Sailors Dead

MUMBAI: India's prized warship INS Betwa, a guided missile frigate, tipped over and crashed to its side while undocking in Mumbai on Monday, in what the navy described as an "unprecedented and sad" incident. Two sailors have died while 14 others have been rescued with minor injuries.

The 3,850-ton ship is lying on its side at the naval dockyard. It was docked for underwater repairs. Around 2 pm, while the ship was being returned to the water - a process that involves tipping it - the system snagged and the entire ship fell sideways. The main mast of the ship broke.

One of the sailors who died fell off the frigate and drowned while the second had been inside the ship when it tipped over.

"This is a very big situation for the navy as this has never happened before... The incident occurred during undocking ...it is suspected that dock blocks mechanism failed," said navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma. Navy chief Sunil Lanba left for Mumbai to take stock of situation.

It is not clear yet how the massive 126 m long vessel, commissioned into the navy in 2004, will be set right again.

The INS Betwa, one of the key warships of the Western Naval Command, is armed with Uran anti-ship missiles, Barak 1 surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes. It is the third Indian warship involved in a major accident while docked since 2011.

India's New Vikrnat Aircraft Carrier a DUD, says US Officials

U.S. Effort to Help India Build Up Navy Hits Snag

Setbacks for New Delhi’s first homemade aircraft carrier slows efforts to face China on high seas

NEW DELHI–When top American naval engineers recently inspected India’s first locally made aircraft carrier they expected to find a near battle-ready ship set to help counter China’s growing sway in the Indian Ocean.

Instead, they discovered the carrier wouldn’t be operational for up to a decade and other shortcomings: no small missile system to defend itself, a limited ability to launch sorties and no defined strategy for how to use the ship in combat. The findings alarmed U.S. officials hoping to enlist India as a bulwark against China, people close to the meeting said.

“China’s navy will be the biggest in the world soon, and they’re definitely eyeing the Indian Ocean with ports planned in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” said retired Admiral Arun Prakash, the former commander of India’s navy. “The Indian navy is concerned about this.”

The February carrier inspection, in the port of Kochi, formed part of U.S. plans to share aircraft carrier technology with India. Indian naval officials followed up with a tour of an American shipbuilding yard in Virginia and strategy briefings at the Pentagon in September, the people close to the meetings said.

The U.S. and India are drawing closer politically and militarily. The two have participated in joint naval exercises with Japan. The U.S. has agreed to sell New Delhi everything from attack helicopters to artillery. Washington has approved proposals by Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co. to make advanced jet fighters in India. And in August, the two countries signed a military logistics-sharing accord.

India signs 5 Billion Dollars Deal With US

NEW DELHI: India has signed a $750 million agreement with the United States to buy 145 howitzer artillery guns from BAE Systems, an official said on Thursday, its first such deal in three decades. India, the world’s number one defence importer, is updating its military capabilities with hardware worth tens of billions of dollars in the face of long-standing tensions with China and Pakistan.

It has been in discussions since 2012 to buy BAE Systems’ M777 ultra-lightweight guns through the US Foreign Military Sales programme. “India has signed the letter of acceptance which formalises the contract between India and the US for the howitzer guns,” a defence official said in New Delhi.

The deal, worth nearly 50 billion rupees, will see 25 guns being delivered in ready-to-use condition with the rest being assembled in India, the official said. The howitzers, with a maximum range of 30 kilometres, will be used by the army’s mountain artillery divisions along India’s high-altitude frontiers.

India has fought three wars with arch-rival Pakistan since independence in 1947, but China is increasingly seen as the main focus of its ambitious military modernisation and procurement policy.

India last purchased howitzers for the army in 1986, when it bought 410 field guns from the Swedish arms giant AB Bofors. The Bofors deal became mired in corruption allegations and cost then Congress Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi the 1989 national elections.

BAE Systems said in February it had chosen India’s Mahindra group to build a plant for assembling the artillery guns. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he wants foreign manufacturers that win lucrative hardware deals to invest in India by partnering with local firms. “The first two howitzers should be delivered within the next six months,” the official said.

Talking to India is our strength, not a weakness. high commissioner Abdul Basit

Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit has said that Pakistan was ready to hold unconditional dialogue with India, however made it clear that “holding talks would be Pakistan’s strength, not weakness”.

In an interview with BBC on Wednesday, Abdul Basit said, “After fought wars [with India], we want resolution of issues through dialogue. If we are ready for dialogue, it is our strength, not weakness.”

He said that Pakistan in last many decades had worked out several frameworks to hold talks with India on all issues. Abdul Basit further said that the basic thing was that dialogue should be a comprehensive one, including all issues.

Commenting on Indian External Minister Sushma Swaraj’s statement that dialogue and terrorism cannot go side by side, the High Commissioner said that Pakistan could also put up similar conditions such as situation in Jammu and Kashmir and withdrawal of troops from Siachen.

However, he said problems could only be resolved at the dialogue table.
Abdul Basit said due to confrontation, both Pakistan and India were not making progress.

“Negotiations are the need of South Asia and the entire world…We waited for it earlier and would continue to do so,” he said.

To a question on Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Maulana Azhar, the High Commissioner said the cases were in the courts, adding that Pakistan was ready to take action if provided any proof against them.