Friday, January 5, 2018

India's Ex Intelligence Officers Blame Kulbhushan Jadhav For Getting Caught in Pakistan

India's former RAW officers, including one ex chief, have blamed Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, arrested by Pakistan in 2016, for getting caught in Pakistan as a "result of unprofessionalism", according to a report in India's "The Quint" owned and operated by a joint venture of Bloomberg News and Quintillion Media. The report that appeared briefly on The Quint website has since been removed, apparently under pressure from the Indian government.

The Quint Story:

Indian Agent Kulbhushan Jadhav
The story quotes a former RAW chief as saying that the “proposal to recruit Jadhav for operations, whatever it’s worth, was ridiculous.”  However, the report said that "(Jadhav's) recruitment was approved by a joint secretary as the supervisory officer.  The RAW has a special unit which also undertakes parallel operations in certain crucial target countries for which it seeks out its own recruits".

Several experienced RAW hands told the Quint that the usual practice is to “have a Baloch or a Pakistani national” do the “intelligence gathering job for us", adding that it was “foolish for to set an Indian the task to obtain intelligence from a country as hostile as Pakistan.”

This is only the second story in the Indian media to acknowledge Jadhav's status as a covert RAW operative in Balochistan.

Karan Thapar's Questions: 

An earlier story by Indian journalist Karan Thapar pointed out several flaws in the Indian narrative claiming that Jadhav was an innocent Indian businessman kidnapped from Chabahar by Pakistani agents.

Writing for the Indian Express, Thapar debunked the entire official story from New Delhi  by raising the following probing questions:

1. Jadhav's Two Passports:

Thapar asks why does Jadhav have two passports, one in his own name and another in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel?

According to The Indian Express, the second passport was originally issued in 2003 and renewed in 2014. The passport numbers are E6934766 and L9630722. When asked, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson would only say that India needs access to Jadhav before he could answer. But why not check the records attached to the passport numbers? Surely they would tell a story?

Additionally, The Times of India claims that since 2007, Jadhav has rented a Bombay flat owned by his mother, Avanti, in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel. Why would he use an alias to rent his own mother’s flat? Perhaps Jadhav changed his name after converting to Islam? But then, why did he deliberately retain a valid passport in his old name? Indeed, why did the government let him, unless he deceived them?

2. Abduction From Iran:

If Pakistan did abduct Jadhav, don’t we need to ask why, asks Thapar? Doesn’t that raise the question of what was so special about him that made them do this? After all, there are 4,000 Indians in Chabahar, Iran — and no one else has been abducted.

If Jadhav was indeed abducted from the Iranian soil, then why did India not pursue the matter with Iran, but, as the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson admitted, they don’t seem to have responded or, perhaps, even conducted an investigation yet. India seems to have accepted that. Odd, wouldn’t you say, asks Thapar?

3. Timing of Jadhav's Arrest:

Both The Indian Express and Asian Age suggest that Jadhav has links with the Pakistani drug baron Uzair Baloch who's also accused of terror in Pakistan.  Did Jadhav play dirty with him and get caught in a revenge trap set by the drug mafia? Given that Jadhav was arrested a month after Baloch was taken into custody by Pakistan, this could be part of the explanation?

4. Jadhav's Pursuit of RAW Employment:

The Indian Express has reported that between 2010 and 2012, Jadhav made three separate attempts to join the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The paper suggests he also tried to join the Technical Services Division. What more do we know about this? Even if the media doesn’t, surely the government does? A. S. Dulat, a distinguished former chief of RAW, has unhesitatingly said Jadhav could be a spy. As he put it, if he (Dulat) was in the government, he would hardly admit it.

Summary: 

The Quint story and Karan Thapar's article dismantle the false narrative that the Indian and western media have been pushing since Kulbhushan Jadhav's arrest in Balochistan in March, 2016.  These reports are beginning to essentially confirm that Jadhav's confession on orchestrating murderous attacks in Pakistan is factual.

Here's Kulbhushan Jadhav's video confession:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVp62OinTeU




Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Karan Thapar Dismantles Official Indian Narrative on Kulbhushan Jadhav

Why is India Sponsoring Terror in Pakistan? 

Indian Agent Kubhushan Yadav's Confession

Has Modi Stepped Up India's Covert War in Pakistan?

Ex India Spy Documents Successful RAW Ops in Pakistan

London Police Document Confirms MQM-RAW Connection Testimony

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Ajit Doval Lecture on "How to Tackle Pakistan" 

Chabahar Port

14 comments:

Haris said...

There was another story on this, u may have missed it. It's quite damning https://www.ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/news/india//amp_articleshow/51588961.cms …

Riaz Haq said...

Harris: " There was another story on this, u may have missed it. It's quite damning https://www.ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/news/india//amp_articleshow/51588961.cms"


Saw same or similar story as follows:

How did #Pakistan arrest #India #RAW agent Jadhav? They heard him speak #Marathi - Mumbai Mirror. http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/cover-story/How-did-Pak-arrest-Jadhav-They-heard-him-speak-Marathi/articleshow/51579077.cms …

Jadhav, who last visited Mumbai some four months back, was under watch by the Pakistani agencies during his movements in Iranian cities in the course of his work, his close friends from Mumbai police told this newspaper. Jadhav could have been honey-trapped before his arrest and then subjected to ruthless methods of interrogation and torture to extract information from him over a period of several weeks, they feel. The family had lost contact with Jadhav since February leading to the suspicion that he was in the custody of Pakistan for a while now.

As a result, two other local contacts who were supposed to provide back-up assistance to Jadhav are also reportedly missing for over a month. The standard operating procedure is to always have some 'contacts' on standby to be the contact persons in times of emergency or when there is total blackout of communications and inaccessibility of the person of interest. Both the Indian contacts are inaccessible and have probably gone underground or are on the run - unless they have already been arrested and thrown behind bars -- disclosed officers from the Mumbai police.

The fallout of the Jadhav's arrest is the frantic counterwinding operations launched by the Indian agencies in India as also in Pakistan. According to experts, the operations which are connected to an operative have to be immediately erased or folded up soon after he is outed so that there is always a plausible deniability.

Shirish Thorat, New York-based security expert and former Indian police officer said, "In the event of an asset getting arrested the handlers immediately secure other related assets like Agents in Places (AIP) or regroup their operations and fold up all the ongoing or future tasks. This discontinuation of operations is far monumental a disaster than the arrest of an operative." In Jadhav's case too, the agencies have launched an expeditious exercise to retrace his footsteps and shut down all of his possible ongoing operations. The first step is to disown Jadhav as their operative and also ask the family to disassociate with him. Jadhav's family wanted to approach the top echelons of the government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, to exert pressure on Pakistan to release him.

When asked whether the ministry of external affairs has officially informed the Mumbai police so that the Jadhav family can be intimated about his arrest in Pakistan, Deven Bharti, joint commissioner of police (law and order), replied in negative.

Imran said...

Original Quint story on Kulbhushan Jadhav by Chandan Nandy posted here:

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/two-ex-raw-chiefs-did-not-want-kulbhushan-jadhav-recruited-as-spy.537435/

Riaz Haq said...

What the Kulbhushan Jadhav Saga Reveals About India and Pakistan’s Balochistan Problems
India’s Quint published and deleted a story alleging that Jadhav was indeed spying for India. What does that tell us?

https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/what-the-kulbhushan-jadhav-saga-reveals-about-india-and-pakistans-balochistan-problems/

This weekend, a report in India surfaced that confirmed Kulbhushan Jadhav was an asset of Indian intelligence. Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, is currently on death row in Pakistan for spying, having been captured in Balochistan in early 2016. Until now, New Delhi has publicly denied that Jadhav had any relationship with the Indian state since his retirement from the navy. To the contrary, New Delhi alleged that Jadhav was a legitimate businessman kidnapped from Iran by Pakistan’s intelligence services.

The “legitimate businessman” façade has slowly been chipped away over 18 months. Leaving aside major complications in India’s story, such as Iran’s silence in the face of this ostensibly daring violation of its sovereignty, even reporters closely tied to India’s security establishment revealed that Jadhav offered to spy for Indian intelligence “several times” between 2010 and 2012, only to be rebuffed. What was new about this weekend’s report, however, was that for the first time, an Indian outlet essentially confirmed Pakistan’s version of events. In the report, both serving and retired Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officers claimed that Jadhav was indeed spying for India in Balochistan.


The reaction was swift. Minutes after being published, the article was vociferously denounced by Indian journalists and analysts on social media, and in the comments section by readers, as being irresponsible and treacherous. Hours later, the article was taken down entirely. Though an archived version of the article still exists, there is otherwise no trace of it ever being written. The author and editor in question have not publicly explained why or how the article was published or taken down. There has been no follow up to the article’s startling admission by major newspapers or television channels.
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South Asia is no stranger to the phenomenon of external actors intervening in their neighbors’ domestic conflicts. Most famously in 1971, during Pakistan’s civil war, India corralled, trained, and supplied the Mukti Bahini, which became strong enough to be one of the very few rebel groups to win a secessionist war and change an international border. Pakistan, for its part, has repeatedly sought to spark or fuel rebellion in Kashmir, most prominently in the early 1990s, as well as other secessionist hotspots, such as Punjab in the 1980s or the Indian northeast in the 1960s. Bangladesh and Myanmar have hosted militants targeting India’s northeast. India has returned the favor with each, and supported Tamil militants taking on the Sri Lankan state in the 1980s too.


-----------------
Unlike India, the country most beset by secessionism, Pakistan does not have manifold separatist movements threatening its territorial integrity today. With the loss of East Pakistan in 1971, and the dampening of Sindhi and Pashtun nationalism in the last four decades, Pakistan finds itself much closer to Sri Lanka than its eastern neighbor: facing one, and only one, major separatist movement.

Riaz Haq said...

How #KulbushanJadhav led #India’s covert war in #Pakistan: Jadhav and #PPP affiliated #Karachi gangster Uzair Baloch developed a pivotal relationship 2014 onwards. Uzair's #Iranian passport enable him to freely move in and out of #Chahabar.


https://tribune.com.pk/story/1624582/1-kulbushan-jadhav-led-indias-covert-war-pakistan/

Indian magazine Frontline, a publication of renowned newspaper The Hindu has revealed detailed accounts of India’s secret war inside Pakistan involving terrorist Kulbushan Jadhav, National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Kumar Doval and chiefs of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW).

How it all started

Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav bearing service number 41558Z was inducted into the Indian Navy in 1987, according to The Gazette of India which records promotions, commissioning and retirement of military officials.
Two Indian navy officials relay that Jadhav’s transition into the notorious spy world began after the parliament house attack in 2001 when the Indian navy was setting up nine naval detachments to monitor the Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts but they lacked an independent intelligence capacity to monitor threats from across the sea.

---------------

In 2006, the Balochistan insurgency exploded and the Indian intelligence community pressured their stations in Afghanistan to develop more contacts in the region.

“Our new asset in Chabahar soon began to be drawn into counterterrorism work for the Intelligence Bureau – raising fears that the fact that he was still on the organisation’s payroll could lead to embarrassment,” stated Indian Naval Intelligence officials.

According to sources, the Indian Navy Chief, Admiral Arun Prakash’s resistance to these efforts was overruled by the Indian Intelligence bosses because they were desperate for assets.

“The Navy was extremely worried about the possible consequences of the tasks being assigned to Jadhav by the Intelligence Bureau. However, we were basically told that since he was there, that was how it needed to be,” said one officer.

“The push to draw Jadhav into front-line intelligence work was driven by the IB’s ambitions to have an independent overseas role. RAW’s own intelligence capacities in the region, they argued, were more than adequate to address emerging threats,” stated former RAW officials.

Sources said that Jadhav gave an idea about a reprisal attack on Karachi in case another 26/11 attack takes place which grasped the attention of top Indian intelligence officials.


-----------


Relationship with Uzair Baloch

Sources confirmed that Jadhav and Uzair Baloch, a Karachi-based ganglord developed a pivotal relationship 2014 onwards. Due to the latter’s Iranian passport, he was able to freely move in and out of Chahabar.
Jadhav’s next door neighbour was Jaleel Baloch who happened to be Uzair Baloch’s nephew. He used to take cash from Jadhav in return for useful information.

Pakistan military sources insist that Jadhav made at least five deliveries of a huge cache of weapons to terrorists supporting the Baloch liberation movement.

“Baloch was involved in espionage activities, by providing secret information/sketches regarding Army installations and officials to foreign agents,” reiterates an official Pakistani investigation document. However, the material he handed over appeared to be low grade.

Last year Uzair Baloch was arrested in Abu Dhabi by the Interpol and handed over to Pakistani authorities.

“Baloch’s interrogation, eventually led the ISI to the Indian whose operations in Chahbahar had gone undetected for over a decade,” Pakistani official sources confirmed.

Subsequently, in April 2017, Baloch admitted in his testimony that he was in touch with terrorist Kulbushan Jadhav and Iranian intelligence.

Riaz Haq said...

#Balochistan Separatist Leader Jumma Marri Says in #Moscow He Now Supports #Pakistan and Blames #India for Hijacking Struggle: #CPEC #China #Russia #Afghanistan https://sputniknews.com/interviews/201802231061939477-balochistan-korybko-jumma-marri-baloch/ … via @SputnikInt

Dr. Jumma Marri Baloch, a prominent leader of the Baloch independence movement and designer of the separatist flag, recently renounced his decades-long campaign against Pakistan while attending a Pakistani Unity Day event last weekend in Moscow, where Sputnik’s Andrew Korybko had the chance to conduct a brief interview with him.

Sputnik: Tell us little about yourself: how and why did you come to Russia, how long have you been here and what do you do presently?

Jumma Marri Baloch: I think everybody who was interested about the Baloch affairs might know my struggle to free Balochistan, which is not hidden from anyone. I will not be wrong if I say that I am from those people who were always on the forefront of the Baloch freedom struggle — many of the readers might know the fact that the Free Balochistan flag, which is currently very popular and is in use, was designed by me.
----
For the sake of Free Balochistan I left my home, Pakistan, province, tribe and even my father and brothers. In 1979, due to the Balochistan movement I, along with my family, left for Afghanistan and settled there. Since 2000 I am in self-exile in Moscow.

--


Sputnik: Who is behind the so-called "Free Balochistan" Campaign, what are they aiming for, and how do they operate?


Jumma Marri Baloch: There are no doubts that India is squarely behind the unrest in Balochistan. I am a witness to it from within: India tries to counter Pakistan's support for Kashmir and India wants to pay Pakistan in the same coin by supporting a few so-called Baloch leaders who are enjoying very luxurious lifestyles in such expensive cities as Geneva and London. These people are sending some money to create unrest in Balochistan like blowing electricity supplies, mining bridges and putting mines in the roadside to keep the money supplies open from Delhi.

---

Sputnik: What is the reason why some international media have been repeating the claims of Baloch separatists and sometimes even lobbying on their behalf, and how does this relate to global fake news industry?


Jumma Marri Baloch: No international media pays any attention to these Baloch separatists except Indian media that are working closely with the Indian intelligence who are paid to cover their paid agents working as Baloch freedom fighters. These are all Indian attempts to silence the voices of the Kashmir struggle for freedom. I guarantee if Pakistan gives even the slightest hint to the Indians that they will stop supporting the Kashmiri, the Hindus will dump the Baloch next day down in a sewage canal.


Sputnik: What is the most effective way to debunk these falsehoods and show people the truth about Balochistan and its native people's relationship to the rest of Pakistan?


Jumma Marri Baloch: Develop the awareness of people about the negative propaganda, through education and empowering the local people to run their affairs without intervention. The Baloch must be respected, first of all, on their own soil, then such negative propaganda will have no effects. The majority of the Baloch people have no problem with Pakistan, but they have questions to the government as every normal citizen of any country around the world.

Riaz Haq said...

RAW and Tamil Tigers: According to the Jain Commission, which was set up by PM Narasimha Rao, India trained five extremist organisations using the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) – the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Fron (EPRLF), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) and Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS).

The Indian Air Force undertook ‘Operation Poomalai’ to help the besieged Tamil Tigers in the town of Jaffna. The Jain Commission says that RAW provided camps across Tamil Nadu to each of the five extremist organisations where they learned the deadly tactics of suicide bombing. For the record, one hundred thousand Sri Lankans were killed during the course of the Sri Lankan civil war.

RAW and Balochistan: According to WikiLeaks, “Foreign powers have dangerous designs in Balochistan”, “KGB along with RAW and KHAD had supported insurgency in Balochistan”, and India “is striving hard to destabilize and possibly detach Balochistan from Pakistan.”

On February 27, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing ‘The Global Intelligence Files’ whereby five million emails were exposed. According to WikiLeaks, militant organisations such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) etc are materially and financially funded by CIA, RAW, MI-6, RAAM and Mossad to keep Balochistan destabilised through acts of sabotage and subversion. The BLA alone received Rs50-90 million per month. According to The Hindu of October 8, 2015, “India is preparing to take an aggressive position on Balochistan, in a marked departure from South Block’s Pakistan policy of the past.” The Hindu continues, “The new Indian position over Balochistan became public when Balochistan Liberation Organization (BLO) representative Balaach Pardili addressed a gathering in New Delhi….reading out a statement from BLO’s exiled leader Nawabzada Hyrbyair Marri.

RAW and Mukti Bahini: On May 15, 1971, Indian Army’s Eastern Command officially initiated ‘Operation Jackpot’. RAW had set up training camps in the Indian states of West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura. RAW equipped the Mukti Bahini with Italian howitzers, Dakota DC-3 aircraft, Otter DHC-3 fighter planes and Allouette helicopters.

For the record, the Mukti Bahini killed anywhere from 1,000 Biharis (according to the ‘Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh’) to 150,000 Biharis (according to the ‘Encyclopaedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict’; page 64).

RAW and the TTP: According to leaked WikiLeaks cables, “On December 15, 2009, Treasury Department Acting Assistance Secretary of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis met with senior officials from the United Arab Emirates State Security Department (SSD) and Dubai’s General Department of State Security (GDSS) to discuss suspected Taliban-related financial activity in the UAE.” According to the cable, “GDSS believes that India also has supported Pakistani Taliban and Pakhtun separatists.”

India has six neighbours – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Nepal and Pakistan. India has had border disputes with China, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In 1974, India and Sri Lanka resolved their border dispute through an agreement. In 2015, India and Bangladesh resolved their border disputes when the Indian Parliament passed the 100th Amendment Act. India’s border disputes with China, Pakistan and Nepal are yet to be resolved. History is witness that in this part of the world the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) laid the foundation of cross-border terrorism.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/108263-RAW

Riaz Haq said...

From Wikieaks:



https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/70/703080_pakistan-security-foreign-powers-have-dangerous-designs-in.html



PAKISTAN/SECURITY- Foreign powers have dangerous designs in
Balochistan


[Some are true and some are Conspiracy theories. But a good read-Animesh]

Foreign powers have dangerous designs in Balochistan




Thu, 2011-09-08 03:56 =E2=80=94 editor

Article


http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/09/07/foreign-powers-have-dangerous-d=
esigns-balochistan

By Asif Haroon Raja=20

Balochistan has figured high on the agenda of USA because of its geo-strate=
gic importance. Former USSR too had toyed with the idea of Balochistan gett=
ing separated and coming under its influence since it provided the shortest=
route to warm waters.
=20
KGB along with RAW and KHAD had supported insurgency in Balochistan from 19=
73 to 1977. Landlocked Afghanistan too evinced interest in Balochistan and =
always welcomed dissident Baloch Sardars and gave them asylum. Currently US=
A and its close allies are eying at Balochistan and Central Asian-Caspian S=
ea mineral resources.
=20
The hungry eyes of USA are transfixed on the hidden treasures of Balochista=
n, laden with oil, gas, coal, black diamond, gold, silver, copper, zinc and=
precious stones. Reportedly, the province has 19 trillion cubic feet of na=
tural gas reserve and 6 trillion barrels of oil reserve. Huge quantity of g=
old and copper found in Riqo Deq in Chaghai region has watered the mouths o=
f several foreign companies and are desperate to clinch the mining deal.=20

Like USA, India too has deep interest in Balochistan. RAW had established c=
ontacts in this province in early 1970s and had played a significant role i=
n Marri-Mengal led 1973 insurgency. Taking advantage of its closeness with =
USA, India is anxious to keep Pakistan deprived and draw maximum benefits f=
rom Central Asian markets. While it is overly eager to gain land route thro=
ugh Pakistan=E2=80=99s Wagah border to Afghanistan and Central Asia, it is =
striving hard to destabilize and possibly detach Balochistan from Pakistan =
so that the economic activity generated by USA in Central Asia doesn=E2=80=
=99t benefit Pakistan. It established 26 consulates/intelligence offices al=
ong Balochistan border in Afghanistan. Indian consulate in Zahidan was also=
Balochistan specific.=20

If one browses the US official website (US Citizenship & Immigration Servic=
e), one finds a form showing Balochistan as a separate state. Several US of=
ficials and US media have been projecting Balochistan as an independent and=
sovereign state and have circulated map of a truncated Pakistan minus Balo=
chistan, FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In some maps Jinnahpur has also been =
shown. The US think tanks have been propagating creation of Greater Balochi=
stan, which includes Sistan province of Iran.
=20
CIA and MI-6, later joined by RAW and Mossad bribed and induced the Baloch =
Sardars of Bugti, Marri and Mengal tribes in 2002 and promised them all out=
support to make Balochistan a self-governing state. They were advised to k=
eep airing their grievances about greater political rights, autonomy and co=
ntrol over natural resources and at an opportune time launch armed insurgen=
cy. All arrangements for funneling funds, weapons and equipment from Afghan=
istan, India and Zahidan and setting up training camps in interior Balochis=
tan for training of rebels as well as communication network were tied up. 6=
0 Farari (training) camps were setup in interior Balochistan to destabilize=
the province.=20

Riaz Haq said...

Karan Thapar broke the cardinal rule of journalism and is too entitled to admit it
MANEESH CHHIBBER 23 July, 2018

https://theprint.in/opinion/karan-thapar-broke-the-cardinal-rule-of-journalism-and-is-too-entitled-to-admit-it/87167/

Now that he has done it, the only way for Thapar to redeem his lost prestige is by apologising to those he has wronged.

I don’t know Karan Thapar that well to understand why he did what he has done: break the cardinal rule that every young journalist is taught, which is to never disclose a source, whatever be the price.

If access, or the lack of access, could define a journalist, a majority of the journalists in India today would be out of their cushy jobs. Access, especially in these times, gets one only plants or the news that the government wants to be published.

Give me one instance of an anti-government story that a minister in the current government will give a journalist. Yes, the fact that the Narendra Modi government has constructed ‘x’ number of toilets is a story. But, the bigger story is how many of these toilets remain un-operational due to the absence of water or electricity. The second story is what every journalist should be looking for and that is where their sources could point them in the right direction.

Journalism, for Thapar, seems to be all about getting the interview. He revealed his source, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, who Thapar says, told him things in confidence. Patra asked him if he “could keep a secret” and Thapar “gave him the necessary assurance”. Thapar also outed politician and former diplomat Pavan K. Varma, who had told him something (I presume) in confidence.

Pavan K. Varma has denied having had any conversation on the issue with Thapar.


Pavan K. Varma

@PavanK_Varma
Surprised to see Karan Thapar quoting me, and citing Prashant Kishor, in his book ‘The Devil’s Advocate’. Such a conversation with me did not take place as Karan recalls it, nor has Prashant ever spoken to me about Karan. The record must be set straight.

3:50 AM - Jul 21, 2018
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Thapar appears churlish. It is simply not done.

Now that he has done it, the only way for him to redeem his lost prestige is by apologising to those he has wronged. Even if they pardon him, fans like me, who have watched him grill his guests in his excellent Cambridge English, may not.

As a young reporter with Hindustan Times, I got embroiled in a contempt of court case when the Punjab and Haryana high court judges asked me (through my lawyer) on at least two occasions who my source was.

I refused point-blank, a decision that was backed unequivocally by my editor Kanwar Sandhu as well as the HT proprietor Shobhana Bhartia. I got away even though I refused to apologise unconditionally asserting that I had not done anything wrong. But for over two years, it proved to be a difficult period for me. It was made worse because my counsel told me to stay away from the high court – my beat – till the pendency of the case.

But, never once did the thought of giving away my source arise in my mind.

It is not the government’s job – be it a BJP-led government or a Congress-led government – to give scoops to journalists. We have to make our own rounds, cultivate sources, get information, cross-check the same and then, if there is a report worth writing, write it. Even after all this rigour, the editor may not see merit in the report and choose not to publish it.

When Thapar bemoans the loss of access (BJP ministers and spokespersons refusing to appear on his show) and also offers to apologise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi “if I [Thapar] had unwittingly done something to upset” him, he shows that he is, after all, just a wonderful interviewer.

Riaz Haq said...

#Indian General H.S. Panag believes #India's aggressive assertion of claims on #GilgitBaltistan are making #China extremely suspicious of Indian threat against China-#Pakistan Economic Corridor (#CPEC) of great strategic importance to #Beijing. https://theprint.in/opinion/china-believes-india-wants-aksai-chin-back-thats-why-it-has-crossed-lac-in-ladakh/430899/

China is extremely suspicious of India. It believes that in the long term, India’s strategic aim is to restore the status quo ante 1950 by recovering Aksai Chin and other areas captured/secured by China. India’s alignment with the US, the presence of Tibetan government-in-exile in India, and the aggressive claims on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit Baltistan — through which the prestigious China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes — only strengthen China’s suspicion.

--------

In the absence of any government or military briefings, there are speculations galore about the details of the incidents on the LAC and the political/military aims of China. More so, after the two informal summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi — at Wuhan in 2018 and Mamallapuram in 2019 — wherein both leaders had committed to maintain peace and tranquility on the LAC and give strategic directions to their militaries on border management.

The starting point of any conflict between two nations is the political aim. Military actions are merely the means to achieve that aim. I will reverse the process and analyse the military situation and strategic importance of the areas of the India-China ‘face-offs’ to derive the political aims.

At the outset, let me be very categoric — just like in 1962, 1965, and 1999, we have once again been surprised both at the strategic and tactical levels. The manner in which we had to rush reinforcements from other sectors gives a clear indication that we were surprised. At the strategic level, it was the failure of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) to detect the build-up of the PLA formations from the rear bases to replace the border defence units. Our tactical surveillance with UAVs and patrols has been inadequate to detect this large-scale movement close to the LAC. The ITBP mans the border and ironically is not under the command of the army.

As per unconfirmed reports, the PLA has crossed the LAC and physically secured 3-4 km of our territory along Galwan River and the entire area between Finger 5 and Finger 8 along the north bank of Pangong Tso, a distance of nearly 8-10 km (the areas are marked in this Indian Express sketch in its 2017 report). There also seem to be minor incursions in the area of Hot Springs, in Ladakh’s Chang Chenmo River valley and at Demchok.

My assessment is that the PLA has deployed maximum one brigade each in Galwan River valley and along the north bank of Pangong Tso. Precautionary deployment would have been done at likely launch pads for offensive and other vulnerable areas along the LAC. Reserves would be on short notice to cater for Indian reaction/escalation. The airfield at Ngari has been upgraded and fighter aircraft have been positioned there. It is likely that additional troops have been deployed at Depsang plains, Hot Springs, Spanggur Gap, and Chumar.

It is pertinent to mention that the intrusion by regular troops is not linear like normal border patrols going to respective claim lines. If a brigade size force has secured 3-4 km in Galwan River, it implies that the heights to the north and south have been secured, thus securing a total area of 15 to 20 square km. Similarly, along Pangong Tso, the PLA brigade having secured 8-10 km on the north bank would have also secured the dominating heights to the north to physically control 35-40 square km. And if China subsequently realigns its claim line based on the areas secured, the net area secured would increase exponentially.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi accused India of spreading terrorism, Qureshi claimed that RAW had given 80 billion rupees to ruin China’s dream project. Presentation of the Islamabad dossier
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and army spokesman, backed by sharp retaliation from the army in Jammu and Kashmir, accused India of spreading terrorism in Balochistan. Qureshi claimed that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, Indian intelligence agency RAW donated Rs 80 billion and prepared 700 terrorists to destroy the Dream Project’s China-Pakistan economic corridor.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, who referred to terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir, presented the dossier on alleged Indian terrorism on Saturday. Qureshi said India gave 80 billion rupees to ruin the CPEC. India has formed a militia of 700 who will continue to target CPEC in Balochistan. India tried to spread nationalism there ahead of the Gilgit-Baltistan elections. Even after the elections, India’s intention is not noble.



https://bcfocus.com/pakistani-dossier-on-indian-terrorism-india-gave-80-billion-rupees-to-destroy-cpec-raw-prepared-700-terrorists-pakistan-pakistan-shah-mehmood-qureshi-presents-dossier-on-indian-terrorism-attribut/

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan says India was behind June bomb blast in #JoharTown #Lahore. It killed 3, hurt 24. #Probe finds that the man who carried out the attack is an Indian citizen living in #India and works for that country’s #RAW intelligence agency. #terrorism
https://apnews.com/article/india-pakistan-lahore-0628c7d26e00e7d8a419c9d8cbd68f17

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s national security advisor has accused India of orchestrating last month’s deadly car bombing in the eastern city of Lahore, saying Sunday that an investigation has shown it was organized by an Indian intelligence operative.

In a news conference in Islamabad, Moeed Yousuf said the probe showed that the man was an Indian citizen living in India who works for that country’s RAW intelligence agency. He did not name the alleged mastermind.

“Through the forensic analysis, electronic equipment, which has been recovered from these terrorists, we have identified the main mastermind and the handlers of this terrorist attack. And we have no doubt in informing you that the main mastermind belongs to RAW, lives in India and is an Indian citizen.” He said Pakistan will continue its efforts to expose India’s sponsorship of such attacks internationally.

The explosion took place outside the residence of anti-India militant leader Hafiz Saeed, who himself has been designated a terrorist by the U.S. Justice Department and has a $10 million bounty on his head. India accuses Saeed of helping mastermind the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed nearly 170 people at several occasions including the luxury Taj Hotel. He was unharmed in the powerful explosion in Lahore’s Johar Town neighborhood that killed three and wounded 24.

India and Pakistan routinely accuse the other of carrying out clandestine attacks on the other’s territory. Saeed is a highly wanted suspect in India, and Pakistan has been criticized by India and the United States for not taking stronger actions against him.

Punjab police chief Inam Ghani said all those involved in the bombing have been arrested, including an Afghan who lived in Pakistan and actually parked the explosives-laden car at the site of blast.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi couldn’t be reached for comment.

___ Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed.

Riaz Haq said...

The authors (Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark of Spy Stories) also conclude that Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Naval commander accused of planning terror attacks and awaiting an appeal on a death sentence in Pakistan, was an “asset” but not an “officer” for the Indian intelligence agencies, who had been “trapped” by Pakistan’s ISI. India has flatly denied those charges, and said that Mr. Jadhav retired from service in 2001 and was kidnapped by Pakistani agencies in Iran. However, the book says many Indian intelligence agencies had shown interest in recruiting Mr. Jadhav due to his access from Iran to Pakistan, and that he was lured by the ISI to Karachi to meet a Baloch contact.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/two-foreign-journalists-had-post-pulwama-back-channel-role-between-india-pakistan-says-book/article35861441.ece


“According to some of those we interviewed in IB (Intelligence Bureau), R&AW and Indian Navy as well as ISI and military intelligence in Pakistan, many agencies were suddenly interested in a man like [Jadhav] who had the wherewithal to travel with cover….There was already plenty of R&AW investment in terms of assets and officers in Iranian Baluchistan and at Chabahar, but to have Jadhav, who could travel widely, and even to get down to Karachi, would make him exceptional,” Mr. Levy said in an interview. “Not as an officer, trained, deployed and backed up by an institution — but as an asset, we were told, a person who reported back to handlers and supervisors, with [his] insights,” he added.

Riaz Haq said...

The I.S.I. also reported that it caught sight of R.A.W. operating in Karachi, infiltrating the Mujahir Qaumi Movement (M.Q.M.), the political party founded by Muslims who migrated from India after Partition. In the 1990s, the M.Q.M. leadership, facing multiple murder and extortion allegations, fled into exile in the U.K. and South Africa. In both places the British security services and the R.A.W. went to work recruiting, including the R.A.W. chief Samant Kumar Goel, seen by the I.S.I. as the most aggressive and capable Indian conduit in the Karachi operation. A window into this world opened-up after a brutal murder in Edgware, in North London, in 2010. Dr Imran Farooq, 50, an M.Q.M. leader, was ambushed walking home, and repeatedly stabbed and bludgeoned with a brick. During the inquiry that followed Scotland Yard detectives were told in sworn witness statements that millions of dollars was delivered by the R.A.W. to the M.Q.M. via diplomatic missions in Vienna and Johannesburg.246 When India required chaos in Karachi, M.Q.M. was paid by Lodhi Road to make it happen in a mirror of B. Raman’s equivalence operations. •


Levy, Adrian. Spy Stories: Inside the Secret World of the RAW and the ISI (pp. 215-216). Kindle Edition.