IAF on high alert after PAF jets fly over Siachen
by R. Prasannan
Did Pakistan Air Force chief fly over Siachen? That's the big question in South Block now, and reminds many of General Parvez Musharraf's claim, though made many years after the incident, that he had crossed over to Kargil in 1999 and even spent a night on the Indian side of the Line of Control.
PAF has not officially claimed that its chief flew over Indian airspace; it has only claimed that it had carried out exercises over Siachen. An exercise was carried out from base Qadri, and Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman flew a sortie from there on a Mirage. There was no claim by Pakistan that the sortie flew over Saltoro Ridge, the heights of which are occupied by the Indian Army and overlooks Siachen.
There is, however, growing concern in South Block that Pakistan may now seek to put military pressure on the Siachen-Ladakh region. All the airbases in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, from where Pakistan's Siachen operations are controlled, have been put on “operational alert”.
This is now putting pressure on the Indian Air Force, which has been focusing on the eastern sector for a while now. Its frontline Sukhoi-30MKIs have largely been deployed in the bases that take care of the eastern sector with China, such as Bareilly, Kalaikunda and Tezpur and Chhabua.
The air defence of the western theatre was left to the older squadrons of MiGs and Mirages and Jaguars, with just Halwara hosting the Sukhois. Now there is a move to have another Sukhoi base in Sirsa in Haryana, and if tensions build up over the Ladakh sector, there may have to be more of them up north.
Only a couple of years ago, did India operationalise the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) which is located just about 15 km south of the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh, and begin upgrading the 255 km road from Darbuk to Daulat Beg Oldi.
Mukherjee gets ready to move out of Rashtrapati Bhawan
(File photo) President Pranab Mukherjee
by Rekha Dixit
President Pranab Mukherjee could not have been clearer when he, for the first time, made a statement on the 14th presidency. His term gets over in July and Mukherjee said he was now busy winding up his work and stay at Rashtrapati Bhawan, thus making it clear he was not interested in seeking a second term.
The president's staff has already started moving out—his press secretary Venu Rajamony bid farewell on Thursday. Rajamony goes as ambassador of India to The Netherlands. Gaitri Issar Kumar, his social secretary, is the new ambassador to Brussels.
The BJP had earlier said though it respected Mukherjee, it was not considering him for a second term. Incidentally, it was BJP leader L.K. Advani who had first proposed Mukherjee's name for president after Pratibha Patil vacated the post.
While Mukherjee makes retirement plans, New Delhi is crackling with excitement over Kaun Banega Rashtrapati. Although the NDA alliance does have numbers to be able to nominate a candidate without much ado, the opposition has united together to suggest a consensus candidate.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi had a luncheon meet on Friday for this, and decided to field a candidate if the BJP did not come up with consensus candidate. The BJP is upping the suspense, and refusing to even suggest any name at this stage.
