Indian Army organises commemorative trek to mark 20 years of Kargil war

A trekking expedition to Khalubar was undertaken by the 1st Battalion of the 11 Gurkha Rifles.

The 20th anniversary of the Kargil War was celebrated in a grand manner by the Indian Army with a commemorative trek to Khalubar.

Army said that the year 2019 witnesses the 20th anniversary of the Kargil War and this important milestone was celebrated in a grand manner by the Indian Army with a view to rekindle the pride and valour of all the gallant soldiers who took part in Operation Vijay.

One of the severest battles fought during the Kargil War was the Battle of Khalubar in the Batalik Sector. Despite the harsh terrain, the valiant soldiers of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles were successful in forcing the enemy to evict from his positions thus contributing a victory which will be remembered till times to come.

The battalion was awarded the Battle Honour "Batalik" and Theatre Honour "Kargil" and gallantry awards to include one Param Vir Chakra and three Vir Chakras.

To commemorate this victory as part of the 20th anniversary of Operation Vijay, a trekking expedition to Khalubar was undertaken by the 1st Battalion of the 11 Gurkha Rifles. The objective of the trek was to celebrate the triumph of the Battalion as also to pay homage to the brave 'Kirantis'.

After inducting into Leh, the team completed its mandatory acclimatization and necessary preparations by July 5.

A strength of two Junior commissioned Officers and eight Other Ranks participated in this trek which was flagged off on July 8. The team covered a distance of about 10 kilometres before summiting Khalubar.

During their journey, the team traversed through the harsh inhospitable terrain at altitudes varying from 9000 feet to 17000 feet.

Business Standard

Pak, China share the blame for Pulwama attack but India must introspect too

It's possible Pakistan may want to stir up trouble in Kashmir. But, if it succeeds, then it is New Delhi that will have failed.

Millions of Indians will by now have seen the twisted wreckage of buses carrying dozens of Indian paramilitary soldiers from the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF; at least 40 of them died when a car loaded with explosives rammed into their convoy as it passed through Pulwama district of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state. Jaish-e-Mohammed, a group of militant Islamic extremists who pioneered suicide bombings in the disputed region of Kashmir, claimed responsibility for the attack. As one Kashmiri politician wrote on Twitter, it was “reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre 2004-05.”

Jaish-e-Mohammed is based in Pakistan. Its leader, Masood Azhar, gives speeches freely and the group has built a sprawling training complex in the city of Bahawalpur, which features a wall painting of suitably militant-looking horses bearing down on Delhi’s Red Fort. Periodically, the Pakistani government pretends to crack down on militant Islamists such as Azhar; in fact, the terrorists continue to raise funds, recruit and strike at will across Pakistan’s borders. Nor is it just India that suffers. The Afghan government tells all and sundry that it cannot defeat the Taliban as long as the militants are supported by Pakistan. Just a day before the Kashmir attack, the Pakistan-based Sunni extremist group Jaish al Adl killed 27 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, also using a car bomb.

(Business Standard)

Pakistani officials often like to say that their country is among the foremost victims of Islamist terrorism. Perhaps. But, their response has been at best to accommodate extremism, and at worst to try and convince terrorists that their efforts are best turned outwards, towards India, Afghanistan or Iran. Indian government officials -- like the Afghans -- are caught in a bind. They have little leverage over the militants’ patrons within the Pakistani military establishment. Nor are the Americans any longer influential enough to help: Jaish-e-Mohammed went quiet in the mid-2000s at American insistence but reemerged soon enough.

The Pakistani military has found a new patron: the People’s Republic of China. Beijing has repeatedly blocked attempts by India at the United Nations to declare Azhar a “global terrorist,” freeze his assets and prevent him from travelling. Nobody can quite understand why the same country that runs prison camps for ordinary Muslims in Xinjiang is protecting a self-confessed jihadi militant. Earlier, only the generals in Rawalpindi were held responsible for attacks such as this one in India. Today, Beijing’s leaders will have to accept their share of the blame.

The India of the past would grit its teeth and absorb a blow like this. But Indian public opinion is no longer as patient as it was during the attack on Parliament in 2002 or the siege of Mumbai in 2008. The big box-office success of the past year in India has been a dramatization of the cross-border strikes on militant camps in Pakistani Kashmir launched in retaliation for a similar (albeit less bloody) Jaish-e-Mohammed attack a few years ago.

Indian army surgical strike video released, shows ops against terror camps: TV channels

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army announced that it attacked terrorists' camps along the Line of Control using ground forces.

Purported visuals of the Indian Army's cross-border operations against terrorists about two years ago were broadcast by television channels on Wednesday night.

News channels said the grainy footage on air showed gunfire and explosions targeting enemy camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, an operation that came in retaliation to a terrorist strike on an Indian Army camp and is widely known as surgical strikes.
The reports also said these videos, provided to TV channels by sources, were shot by drones using thermal imaging cameras.

Business Standard could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos but an official who was directly in charge of the operation confirmed that they were real.

“When the surgical strikes happened, my view was that the videos should have been released as proof. It is good that they have come out now,” Lt General D S Hooda (retd) told The Indian Express.

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army announced that it attacked terrorists' camps along the Line of Control using ground forces. The act, which officials said inflicted “significant casualties” on terrorists, came after a deadly attack on a military base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year.

Pakistan rejected India's claims of having launched a surgical strike on terrorist camps in Pakistani territory.

In a book launched on the first anniversary of surgical strikes, an Army Major, who reportedly led the mission, said the return was the most difficult part and bullets fired by the enemy were so close that these were whistling past the ears.