Terrorists being trained to carry out operations through sea: Navy chief

'We have seen how quickly terror groups evolve across the globe', said Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba.

Weeks after the Pulwama attack, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Tuesday warned that there are reports about terrorists being trained to carry out operations through the sea.

Addressing a gathering of global experts at the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue here, Lanba said the Pulwama attack was perpetrated by extremists that were "aided by a State" that seeks to destabilise India.

"We also have reports of terrorists being trained to carry out operations in various modus operandi, including through the medium of the sea," he said.

The 26/11 attack was carried out by 10 sea-borne terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, who hijacked an Indian fishing trawler to reach Mumbai and unleash mayhem.

The Navy chief said this part of the world had witnessed multiple forms of terrorism in recent years and few countries in the region had been spared.

ALSO READ: Balakot: India's strategic restraint has given way to 'assured retaliation'

The global nature that terrorism has acquired in the recent times has further enhanced the scope of this threat, Lanba said.

India, however, faces a "far more serious" version of "state-sponsored" terrorism, he said.

"We recently saw the horrific scale of the extremist attack in Jammu and Kashmir about three weeks ago. This violence was perpetrated by extremists aided and abetted by a State that seeks to destabilise India," the Navy chief said without naming Pakistan.

On February 14, a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, killing 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

"We have seen how quickly terror groups evolve across the globe. A particular brand of terror can well become a global problem in near future," Lanba warned.

The Indian security establishment is continuously working to address this menace, he said, noting that "it is imperative that the global community works in concert to contain and eliminate terrorism in all its forms".

IAF hit the target in Balakot; we don't count kills: Air Chief BS Dhanoa

Air Chief said it was up to the goverment to calculate the number of casualties in the strike.

Speaking on air strikes carried out by Indian Air Force (IAF) across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan, Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa on Monday said that the IAF had hit the target in Balakot, otherwise why would Pakistan Prime Minister have responded.

"If we dropped bombs in the jungles, then why would he respond?", said Dhanoa.

He further added saying, "Death toll depends on the number of people present in the target, IAF doesn't count the number of dead", said the IAF chief.

"IAF is not in a position to clarify the number of casualties. The government will clarify that. We don't count human casualties, we count what targets we have hit or not", clarified Dhanoa.

Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said that MiG21 used in shooting down Pakistan F-16 is an upgraded aircraft with advanced weapons system and the casualty figure in air strike on Balakot camp will be given by the government.

When asked when IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be back his fighter jet cockpit, IAF chief Dhanoa said, "Whether he (Wing Commander Abhinandan) flies or not depends on his medical fitness.

That's why post-ejection, he has undergone a medical check. Whatever treatment required, will be given. Once we get his medical fitness, he will get into fighter cockpit," he said.

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India-Pakistan tensions: Getting arrested IAF pilot back may not be easy

P D T Acharya, a constitutional expert and a former secretary-general of the Lok Sabha, said it was unlikely the pilot would be repatriated soon.

Bringing back the Indian Air Force pilot captured by Pakistani forces on Wednesday will not be easy and depend on formal and back-channel negotiations between the two nations and international intervention, experts say.

Thee Indian government on Wednesday said IAF had shot down a PAF F-16 in engagements over the Line of Control, and added that India had lost a MiG-21 Bison and a pilot was missing in action.

Pakistan officially said the pilot was in its custody. Pakistani media and social media was circulating videos of him being questioned. In the absence of formal declaration of hostilities, the Geneva Convention governing the treatment and repatriation of prisoners of war (PoWs) do not apply. “The Geneva Convention is applicable to a war or a war-like situation. And, there is no declaration of war yet,” said retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak of the Center of Air Power Studies.

(Business Standard)

The convention clearly states PoWs must be treated humanely, cannot be prosecuted for taking part in hostilities, and should be released and repatriated without delay after the end of hostilities. None of these apply to the IAF pilot.

“There are always channels of communication for such situations. Since this time an Indian pilot has been captured, we should initiate talks to get him back,” said Kak, putting the onus on the Indian government to begin the process.

P D T Acharya, a constitutional expert and a former secretary-general of Lok Sabha, said it is unlikely the pilot will be repatriated soon, and a lot will depend on intervention by other global powers.

“They will keep him there for quite some time. There are no easy options. It won’t be unusual for a foreign power to intervene and get him released after some time, but not immediately,” said Acharya. “Once the temperature between the nations comes down, we can see some movement. Pakistani PM (Imran Khan) has already talked about dialogue. He seems to be in a conciliatory mood. That only shows there has been intervention by foreign countries.”

Retired Wing Commander Praful Bakshi, a security expert, said: “If we escalate, you can forget about this boy. There can be talks between the two high commissions and foreign ministries, the two directors general of military operations, even the Prime Minister’s Offices.”

All three analysts agreed on one thing, though: That the IAF pilot won’t be mistreated or tortured. He was declared by the Pakistani channels and establishment as being in their custody -- his videos were being circulated -- and that showed Pakistan was responsible for him now and that gave him some kind of protection from any mistreatment, they said