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After Congress, Akhilesh Yadav jumps in to cast aspersions on India’s airstrikes

OpIndia Staff
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After Congress, Akhilesh Yadav jumps in to cast aspersions on India’s airstrikes

It appears that the opposition leaders in India are leaving no stone unturned to belittle our Armed Forces in the aftermath of the Balakot air strikes conducted by the IAF. Days after Congress’ Kapil Sibal questioned the authenticity of the air strikes, today it was Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who joined the bandwagon in doubting its veracity.


The SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav, while talking to the media, has sought proof determining the number of terrorists killed in India’s retaliatory airstrikes in the wake of the Pulwama attack. Attributing his politics to the people of India, Yadav asserted that the people of the country want to know about the details of the air strikes and the number of terrorists killed.

Akhilesh Yadav also alleged that the borders are unsafe under the Narendra Modi-led government. Dragging Rafale into the issue, Yadav alleged that the government is saying Rafales are good jets, but so are Sukhoi and Mirages, why they were not used? But as per Indian Air Force, Sukhoi and Mirage jets were indeed used in the dogfight when the PAF tried to intrude into the Indian airspace. Yadav should perhaps get acquainted with the full details before blatantly mouthing off lies.

It is also worth mentioning that Akhilesh Yadav is the same politician who had spread misinformation about two-seat Rafales being willy nilly converted to one-seat Rafales.

Earlier this week, while addressing the press conference, Air Chief Marshal had already confirmed that operation carried out by his Air Force against the terror camps in Pakistan have hit the intended targets. Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said, “If we plan to hit the targets, we hit the targets.” Even after the Air Chief Marshal’s assertion, Congress politicians Digvijaya Singh, MP CM Kamalnath and Kapil Sibal questioned the Balakot air strikes.

Today Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has used the air strikes to further his petty politics. The hatred for Modi seems to have transformed into contempt for Indian Armed forces for many politicians.

It is also notable to mention here that the opposition leaders have been asking the government and PM Modi to refrain from ‘politicising’ the Air strikes while falling over themselves to politicise the strikes in their bid to attack the government and question the authenticity of the strikes.

India made Pakistan live with the fear of ‘escalation’, while she went about her business as usual

Karan
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India made Pakistan live with the fear of ‘escalation’, while she went about her business as usual

The last one week has been an eventful week for many reasons- first the airstrikes, then the attempt to violate India’s airspace followed by the capture of our wing commander and his subsequent return with the Prime Minister of Pakistan requesting for a de-escalation of the current situation.

The irony, however, is that despite the Prime Minister of Pakistan asking for peace, his army continues with its ceasefire violations. The confused signals are indicating that either both the military leadership of our neighbour and its political leaders are not on the same page or perhaps, they both are on the same page and are attempting to send a signal to the world that it wants peace while it provokes the Indian leadership.

The message from India’s political leadership is clear, if there is an attempt of provocation, the political leadership will back whatever the military leadership deems as a befitting reply. This is significant as the Prime Minister in the run-up to 2014 campaign had stated categorically that the response of Indian Government after 26/11 was too weak and he would have responded differently. Over the last week, we’ve seen precisely what Prime Minister Modi meant but beyond that, we also saw what he managed to achieve over the last 5 years.

Through successful diplomacy and multiple outreach programs by India’s Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister have ushered in a new global political scenario whereby most nations view India as a key strategic partner. Our greater engagements have enabled us to help the entire world understand our concerns and it is this understanding that has led it to stand firm with India post-Pulwama attacks. In fact, for the first time since 1971 India violated the airspace of Pakistan and attacked their terror camps- for most countries air strike is the first response however India has refrained from using it until recently. Post the airstrikes, most nations recognized India’s legitimate right to undertake such preemptive strikes- this shows that time is now on India’s side.

Diplomatic pressure in itself was enough to ensure that despite the capture of one of India’s brave fighter pilot, Pakistan was bound to eventually return him to India but the fact that his return came within 48 hours after his capture combined with repeated unsuccessful attempts by Pakistan’s Prime Minister to talk to India’s Prime Minister indicate the growing diplomatic influence that India yields.

It is through this diplomatic influence that India has ensured that it changes its Pakistan policy and looks at the challenge of dealing with Pakistan in a more comprehensive manner. While Pakistan’s political leadership claims to broker peace, the military leadership is ensuring that a de-escalation of the current situation becomes a distant dream. Their continuous provocation has resulted in a befitting reply from the Indian armed forces across the LOC. It is clear from India’s side that talks and terrorism or provocation cannot simultaneously coexist.

It is worth mentioning that while Pakistan lives in fear of escalation from the Indian side, India has continued with business as usual approach. Despite the Opposition, political analysts and certain sections in the media going all out against the Prime Minister of India, he has remained calm as he continued to work towards ensuring that our pilot comes back to India as soon as possible. While launching the Khelo App, as soon as the Prime Minister was informed of the attempt by Pakistan to target our military base, he cut the program short and rushed back to get a hold of the situation. He continued with his work, while he ensured that all necessary measures were taken to ensure a swift return of our hero but the fun part is that he was criticized for this too! Some people just love to hate Modi because they love to love “Gandhi’s”.

India has just unleashed a prolonged period of economic hardships on Pakistan due to the increase in duties and decision to speed the process of ensuring that India’s share of water as per Indus Water Treaty no longer goes to Pakistan. While Pakistan digests the impact of these measures, their immature decision to send in an F-16 will result in more trouble as the US sold them under the condition that they were to be used for the sole purpose of anti-terrorism activities. Add to this the decision to completely diplomatically isolate Pakistan and we would have perhaps managed to ensure a complete and systematic collapse of the Pakistani Economy. The new approach towards dealing with Pakistan combined economic, political and diplomatic might of India with its military might and this must be viewed by Pakistan as a stern warning should it not change it ways and stop supporting terrorist groups.

It is in the interest of Pakistan’s political leadership to curtail the military leaders and mend their ways. Handing over India’s most wanted should be the only acceptable peace gesture and Pakistan must surely contemplate it. Pakistan can no longer afford hostilities with India- India has always wanted peace and stability in the region. It is time, that Pakistan takes charge and delivers on its promises on terrorism.

What the military leadership of Pakistan doesn’t understand is that the war is already over and they’ve already lost it- time is on India’s side and it is business as usual in India while Pakistan continues with blackouts every night. We’ve struck them hard and they’re scared as they live in fear and despair. India has won already, but the war isn’t over unless they dismantle all their terrorist camps. There may be casualties as we tread on this path, but we shall emerge victorious- for time is on our side.

BEL signs agreement with Israel to manufacture Helmet Mounted Display System for Indian armed forces pilots

OpIndia Staff
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BEL signs agreement with Israel to manufacture Helmet Mounted Display System for Indian armed forces pilots

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed a technology collaboration agreement (TCA) with an Israeli firm Elbit Systems Ltd for licensed manufacture of Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS)/ Helmet Pointing System (HPS) Version 02 to be used by Armed Forces pilots. The two companies signed the agreement at the Aero India 2019 which took place between February 20-24 in Bengaluru.

As per reports, under the agreement, BEL will make and integrate HMDS with night-flying vision goggles, Colour day and night display, 3D symbology, head-tracking, sensors and weapon cuing. “We have signed an agreement with Elbit to make helmet-mounted display system and helmet-pointing system under license for Indian Naval and rotary wing platforms of the armed forces,” the statement said.

The HMDS will be manufactured for Indian Naval and rotary wing platforms (helicopters).

It is notable here that under India-Israel defense agreements, Elbit Systems Ltd had opened India’s first UAV manufacturing factory in Hyderabad’s Adani Aerospace Park last year. An Adani-Elbit joint venture will produce the Hermes 900 medium altitude long-endurance UAVs for the Indian and global markets.

The HDMS will be helpful in the day as well as night flying. As per reports, it has the capability to display helicopter’s flight and platform information, mission data, target information and additional enhanced capabilities such as Low Visibility Landing and Take-off, flight within Degraded Visibility Environment, Optional Weapons Management and Synthetic Vision.

It has a ‘Heads-UP- Eyes Out’ concept which reduces the need for ‘Heads-Down’ in-cockpit instrumentation observation for critical information as altitude, velocity, engine performance, warning indications and also allows the crew to concentrate on mission performance which will increase the situational awareness and survivability in all naval operations.

Wing Commander Abhinandan was beaten up, choked, tortured in first 24 hours of Pakistan captivity

OpIndia Staff
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Wing Commander Abhinandan was beaten up, choked, tortured in first 24 hours of Pakistan captivity

In his debriefing, Wing Commander Abhinandan reportedly also mentioned how Pakistani interrogators tried to extract crucial information regarding Indian troops’ deployment, high-security radio frequencies and sensitive logistics in the initial 24 hours he spent in Pakistani captivity. As per the Hindustan Times report, was also beaten up, choked and left sleep deprived subjecting him to physical and mental harassment. He was also reportedly made to listen to loud music to confuse, disorient him and to cause him further discomfort.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who shot down Pakistan’s F-16 jet with a short-range Vympel R-73 air to air missile fired from his MiG-21 Bison, has stated in his debriefing that he saw the Pakistan Air Force F16 going down on the other side of the border. However, Pakistan Air Force has denied that it had used F-16 for air intrusion in India and that it was shot down.

During the air-fight, Abhinandan’s MiG-21 Bison was also shot down by Pakistan, which had led him to eject from the jet, landing him in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. He was released by Pakistan, last Friday. He is going through recuperation and also taking part in debriefs conducted by forces to know more about his air encounter with Pakistan Air Force and further happenings.

The Economic Times report says that Wing Commander has corroborated that he got a lock onto Pakistan’s jet with his R73 missile, that he had confirmed with ground controllers. In fact, the last message that he had sent from his jet was “R-73 is selected”. He also added that this was the missile which brought down enemy’s jet.

“The use of F16 by PAF and multiple launches of AMRAAM were conclusively observed during the combat. Prompt and correct tactical action by Su30 aircraft, in response to AMRAAM launch, defeated the missiles,” the Indian Airforce had said. PAF had used AIM-120 AMRAAM missile on Indian jets to take them down, though, none of them could hit targets due to evasive measures employed by Indian jets. However, the PAF had denied using any AIM-120 AMRAAM on Indian jets, a lie that was busted by IAF.

The air intrusion by Pakistan was part of its retaliation to Indian airstrikes on the terrorist camps of Pakistan backed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot in Pakistan by deploying F-16s, JF-17s and Mirage-5 fighter jets to attack Indian military installations across the LoC. But its transgression was aptly dealt by IAF which deployed Sukhoi-30MKIs, Mirage-2000s, MiG-29s and six MiG-21s jets.

UK NSA speaks to Ajit Doval, promises to extend all support to combat terrorism

OpIndia Staff
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UK NSA speaks to Ajit Doval, promises to extend all support to combat terrorism

The UK’s National Security Advisor, (NSA) Mark Sedwill, spoke to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Thursday and expressed solidarity with India in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. In the telephonic conversation between the two NSAs, Sedwill offered all assistance, including intelligence-sharing, in dealing with any form of terrorism, official sources said.

UK NSA Mark Sedwill said that all assistance in dealing with any form of terrorism will be extended to India bilaterally through counter-terrorism cooperation, intelligence sharing and by bringing the perpetrators of terrorist attacks to justice.


The conversation transpired amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistan sparked by the cowardly Pulwama attack, carried out by Pakistan supported terror organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammad, which claimed the lives of 44 CRPF soldiers.

India, suffering the continous terrorist attacks by Pakistan-based terror groups, retaliated against the ghastly act by striking a JeM camp in Balakot, a town in Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

On February 26, the IAF fighter jets had pierced deep into Pakistan territory with their Mirage 2000 fighters and bombed six different locations in the area spread over several acres in Balakot wrecking the terror camps into shambles. Petrified by India’s quick and strong retribution Pakistan had tried to attack India’s military installations.

Following repeated terror attacks by Pakistan based terrorists, the bilateral ties between India and Pakistan stand further worsened. Several countries have expressed solidarity with India and condemned Pakistan for breeding terrorism.

While the US ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster, was the first to offer his condolences, all other countries eventually extended their support to unite in the fight against terrorism. The US issued a warning to its people against traveling to Pakistan after the incident that took place on February 14.

Following the deadly attack in Pulwama, the US National Security Adviser, (NSA) John Bolton had on February 16 assured Indian NSA Ajit Doval that America supports India’s right to self-defense. Again on February 28, Bolton dialed up Ajit Doval to discuss the current situation in the region.

In fact, as per reports around 48 countries across the world have condemned the Pulwama attack and have extended their support to India to fight terrorism.

UN rejects Hafiz Saeed’s plea requesting removal of his name from the list of banned terrorists

OpIndia Staff
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UN rejects Hafiz Saeed’s plea requesting removal of his name from the list of banned terrorists

The United Nations has rejected the appeal of Pakistan based terrorist Hafiz Saeed and chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jamat-ud-Dawa, requesting the removal of his name from the list of banned terrorists. Hafiz Saeed, who was the mastermind of 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai, was banned by the UN in December 2008 after the 26/11 attack which claimed the lives of around 166 people. Saeed’s request was opposed by India, the US, the UK and France.

The decision of the UN to reject Saeed’s appeal filed by him through his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza came after detailed evidence including highly confidential information about his activities was provided by India.

UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee had recently received a fresh request to ban Masood Azhar, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad which had claimed the responsibility of Pulwama terrorist attack. The bid was made by the US, the UK and France. The decision of the UN to reject Saeed’s appeal filed by him through his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza came after detailed evidence including highly confidential information about his activities was provided by India.

Interestingly Pakistan did not oppose the appeal of Hafiz Saeed despite tall claims of Pakistan taking action against terrorist organisations. However, this was expected from Pakistan considering that it’s Prime Minister Imran Khan who talks of “Naya Pakistan’ did not even condemn the Pulwama terrorist attack and rather threatened with dire consequences if India attacked it.

UN-appointed independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipler Fasciati who examined all the reports recommended that the decision to ban Saeed would continue as there was sufficient information to provide a reasonable and credible basis for continuing the listing.

‘IAF is in a high state of preparedness’: Indian Air Force issues statement on Pakistan airspace shutdown

OpIndia Staff
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‘IAF is in a high state of preparedness’: Indian Air Force issues statement on Pakistan airspace shutdown

The Indian Air Force has issued a new statement on Thursday over the decision of Pakistan to shut down its airspace.


In its statement, the IAF said, “The Indian Air Force is in a high state of preparedness, to proactively engage any perceived threat in the present security scenario. A strict vigil in the skies to detect and thwart any state of aggression from Pakistan Air Force is being maintained. As per NOTAM No. A0234/19 issued by CAA Pakistan, it has opened their airspace with Oman, Iran, Afghanistan and China only. The eleven Entry/Exit points located along Indo-Pak airspace boundary are still closed.”

We had reported yesterday that Pakistan has extended the shutdown of its airspace till Thursday although limited flights have been permitted in Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta.

Pakistan, on the 5th of March, had announced that their airspace had fully reopened only to extend it to Tuesday, then again till Wednesday and now it has been announced that it has been extended till Thursday. Although things appear to have deescalated, for now, Pakistan still remains wary as ceasefire violations continue at the Line of Control.

After ’eminent journalists’, Rahul Gandhi lies about the martyr status of CRPF and BSF soldiers

OpIndia Staff
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After ’eminent journalists’, Rahul Gandhi lies about the martyr status of CRPF and BSF soldiers

Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a rally at Kangra, Himachal Pradesh claimed that paramilitary forces do not get the status of martyrs. He said that when his government comes to power, he will ensure that whenever someone gets martyred in the line of duty, he will get the status of a martyr.


As it turns out, the Congress President is spreading misinformation once again. According to the official stand of the Government on the matter, the term ‘martyr’ is not an official designation for any of the Armed Forces.

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The word ‘martyr’ may be used in everyday usage to describe soldiers who sacrifice their lives in the line of duty, however, it is not an official designation in the books of the government

The stand was again reiterated in response to an RTI query in 2017.

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Thus, it’s clear that the term ‘martyr’ although used abundantly to describe soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the country, it is not an official term. Under such circumstances, it is highly deplorable that Rahul Gandhi is using the sacrifice of Indian paramilitary troops for political gains.

Not too long ago, propagandists in the mainstream media had peddled the same narrative as well. That the Congress President is echoing a false narrative conjured by the mainstream media perhaps where he is receiving his coaching from.

Rahul Gandhi goes back to Indira Gandhi’s ‘gareebi hatao’ punchline while lying about Modi’s track record

Shashank Bharadwaj
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Rahul Gandhi goes back to Indira Gandhi’s ‘gareebi hatao’ punchline while lying about Modi’s track record

Five decades since former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, grandmother of Rahul Gandhi promised to end poverty with ‘Garibi Hatao’ (eradicate poverty), no major changes have happened on the lives of the poor even after being in power for most of these five decades. However, Rahul Gandhi is still promising to ‘end poverty’ if at all Congress comes to power in 2019.

Addressing a rally at Moga, Punjab, Rahul Gandhi, just like his father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi, declared that their party will end poverty once he comes to power. Rahul Gandhi also claimed that poverty has increased after the Narendra Modi government came to power.

“Hindustan main jo Narendra Modi ji ne garibi badhai hai, jin logon ko berozgaar kiya hai, hum Hindustan se garibi ko mita denge,” said Rahul Gandhi.

Interestingly, however, despite Congress being in power for most of the period in these five decades, they could not bring much change on the ground. Rahul Gandhi today once again resorted to false claims about the increasing level of poverty in the country since Modi came to power after the scam-ridden ten years of UPA. But, in reality, Narendra Modi led government has been phenomenal with respect to targetting poverty through their various poverty alleviation programmes.

Human development is often considered to be the most basic premise to tackle the socio-economic issue of poverty. As poverty alleviation programmes directly target the livelihood of the poor people of the country, the transformations are often visible through the change in social indicators of the poor. Interestingly, Human Development Indicators of the country have seen a rise in the country since 2014 contrary to the claims of Rahul Gandhi, who often says otherwise.

The United Nations Development Programme which releases the Human Development Index, which ranks countries based on a few socio-economic indicators suggests that India has experienced growth in social indicators post-2014 after Narendra Modi came into power.

According to the Human Developmental Index, a composite index of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, India was ranked at 135 with a score of 0.586 in 2013 i.e during the UPA days, while it improved 5 positions to reach 130 with a score of 0.640 at the end of 2018. The Life Expectancy of the country has also raised from 66.4 years in 2013 to 68.8, an increase in 2.4 years by the end of 2018, which indicates that health indicators of Indians are indeed improving.

The Mean years of schooling and the expected years of schooling indices are also on the rise indicating the growth of standard in the social indicators of the country, which has a bearing on fighting poverty. The mean years of schooling have increased to 6.4 years from 4.4 years in 2013, while expected years of schooling has increased from 11.7 years in 2013 to 12.3 years in 2018. The per capita income of the country has also seen a rise from $5150 in 2013 to a 20 per cent growth to $6353 in 2018.

In 2018, 5 crore people had been lifted out of poverty since the Prime Minister came to power.

The data suggest that the socially disadvantaged groups in these states are starting to share benefits of the process of human development leading to direct targeting of poverty. The data also suggest that there was growth in not the only economic well being of the poor but also they had received better social benefits with respect to Health and Education.

Rahul Gandhi, the scion of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty seems to be banking on the legacy of the family to create a new political narrative to defeat the Narendra Modi government. With just months left for general elections, it is expected that Congress President Rahul Gandhi will resort to further lies and false narratives to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meerut: Violent mob attacks police for carrying out anti-encroachment drive, houses and vehicles gutted in fire

OpIndia Staff
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Meerut: Violent mob attacks police for carrying out anti-encroachment drive, houses and vehicles gutted in fire

An unruly mob in the town of Meerut resorted to vandalism to hinder a joint anti-encroachment drive led by the Cantonment Board and the police. The Meerut police had to recourse to lathi charge in order to contain the mob that set ablaze 10 private vehicles and 8 UP Roadways buses during their protest.

In the Bhusa Mandi area under the jurisdiction of Sadar police station area of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, on March 6, 2019, the anti-encroachment drive resulted in people protesting against the Cantonment Board and the police team which had gone to demolish illegal constructions. Not only this, the fierce mob beat the police team, snatched their equipment and weapons.

The mob reportedly also pelted stones. A fire ensued and about 200 huts in the slum were engulfed in the fire. As per reports, some locals objecting to the anti-encroachment drive had spread the rumour that the police team had demolished a religious place, following which, the mob became violent.

Police superintendent Akhilesh Narain Singh claimed that fearing that the situation may get out of control, the police resorted to mild lathi-charge. In this case, Prashad Chavan, CEO of Cantonment board has lodged a case against 250 people, including Nasim, Samar, Mumtaz, Rahsudin, residing in the Maseran area. In addition, 7 people were also detained. It is being told that many people including Cantonment board Supervisor Rajkumar and several other policemen have been reportedly injured.

According to some news reports, there are a large number of houses and huts in the Bhusa Mandi area built over encroached land. The clashes had started after the police team and cantonment board officials went there to demolish houses built on encroached land. Initially, the police team had pacified the agitators but soon, a large mob reportedly rushed in to attack the policemen.

After it, the angry mob thrashed an employee of the Cantonment Board. As the commotion intensified, the Sadar police reached the place. A large number of goats have also perished in the fire. The entire district police-administrative staff, including DM-SSP, rushed to the spot and tried to douse the fire.

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