[sacw] IPARMW No.16 (3 June 00)

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Sat, 3 Jun 2000 13:44:11 +0200


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INDIA PAK ARMS RACE & MILITARISATION WATCH No.16
(3 June 2000)
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[information & news for peace activists on Arms sales to the region,
defence budget figures, acquisitions & updgrades of weapons systems,
development and deployment of new weapons, implications of militarisation;
the developments on the Nuclearisation front and the doings of the
'intelligence' agencies. Bringing this information to wide public knowledge
is our goal here. No to secretive & exclusive control of this information
by technocrats, planners who plot national security hidden from public
scrutiny.
Please help us in the information gathering work for wide public
dissemination in South Asia.
Send Information via e-mail for IPARMW series to: aiindex@m... for
inclusion in the Emailings]

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I INDIA

"Chemical weapons bill introduced"
http://www.the-hindu.com/2000/05/16/stories/0216000v.htm
"Ministry's concern over Pak. modernisation of armed forces"
http://www.the-hindu.com/2000/05/16/stories/0216000w.htm
"Crashed MiG-23 missed missile base"
http://www.timesofindia.com/120500/12indi21.htm

India placed orders for three Russian battleships under a US$1 billion
contract to be completed by 2003. In response to a question in
Parliament, Defense Minister George Fernandes said that India will
"soon" acquire 300 T-90 tanks and several advanced jet trainer
aircraft. The Defense News reported that the Indian army immediately
plans to spend $200 million to replace ammunition lost in a fire last
month. The fire destroyed missiles, artillery shells of all types,
including 155mm and 130mm ordinance, tank and personnel carrier
ammunition, small arms ammunition, and mines and explosives. [Note.
Estimates of losses from the fire range from $300 million to $1.5
billion.]

Jane's Defence Weekly
Vol 33 No 21, 24 May 2000

"Indian delays Army MBTs"
The Indian Army's planned purchase of around 300 Russian T-90S main
battle tanks (MBTs) has suffered a setback after the all-party
Standing Committee on Defence questioned the lack of transparency in
the deal worth over Rs 50 billion ($1.1 billion).

"Indo-Russian Naval Cooperation"
http://www.the-hindu.com/2000/05/10/stories/05102512.htm
"T-90 tanks, AJTs soon: Fernandes"
http://www.the-hindu.com/2000/05/16/stories/01160007.htm
"Army scrambling to replace munitions lost in inferno"
http://www.timesofindia.com/110500/11indi7.htm

"Exodus from Karnah after Pak shelling"
http://www.timesofindia.com/120500/12indi1.htm
"Gunship 'copters used in held Valley;18 militants killed"
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/may2000-daily/15-05-2000/main/main8.htm
"Asian gun-runners find market in Northeast"
http://www.timesofindia.com/120500/12indi26.htm
"New Indian corps at Kargil"
http://www.dawn.com/2000/05/22/top6.htm

The News International
20 May 2000
Wide scope for Indo-French mly cooperation seen

NEW DELHI: French Defence Minister Alain Richard on Friday said that
=46rance and India had a wide scope for industrial military cooperation.
Wrapping up a two-day visit to India, Richard told a news conference
that India and France were strategic partners in defence.

The French minister, who met his Indian counterpart George Fernandes and
Prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, said that the two sides had
discussed industrial cooperation programs. But he said his visit was
"basically political" and he was not in a position to announce any new
contracts.

=46rance has been in talks with India for the sale of 10 Mirage 2000-H
aircraft to complete a fleet of 45 planes for the Indian air force.
India, which regularly loses ageing Russian-made MiG planes in
accidents, also wants to buy 66 trainer planes for about $1.6 billion
and has said it would choose between Dassault's Alphajet and the Hawk
from Britain. No decisions have been reached. Dassault has suggested
that production facilities for the Alphajet be transferred to India,
from where the aircraft could be exported.

The trainer plane "is certainly not the main project" between France and
India, Richard said. "It is a very wide range of potential cooperation"
given the level of Indian industrial development, he said. "What we're
interested in is a long-term agreement with the Indian industry."

The joint committee on Indo-French defence ties will meet in Paris on
July 7 to discuss these projects and develop inter-army relations.
Richard said both countries shared the same vision of a multi-polar
world and the same security concerns, in the Indian Ocean region, where
he said piracy and drug-trafficking were potential factors of
instability. He said that France was interested in cooperation in the
civil nuclear field but stressed that India had to give "concrete
signals" for non-proliferation. France would like to see India endorse
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, but Richard stressed that Paris
didn't want to "try to influence" the debate on this treaty in India.
--

AFP
=46riday, May 26 10:06 PM SGT a
India signs 170 million-dollar helicopter deal with Russia
NEW DELHI, May 26 (AFP) -
India has signed a 170 million-dollar deal with Russia to buy 40 MI-17-1B
helicopters, defence spokesman Pramod Bhatnagar told AFP on Friday

"The agreement was signed here yesterday between the ministry of defence
and Russia's AviaExport." he said

Sources said four of the helicopters were ready for delivery.
Russia and India maintain close ties through defence treaties, long-term
trade, and diplomatic exchanges.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit Indian Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in early October.
Both India and Russia have said they attach great significance to the
visit, during which they are expected to sign a strategic partnership.

After the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia remained the largest
supplier of military hardware to India, and 70 percent of India's arsenal
of warplanes, tanks and naval ships is of Soviet or Russian origin.

--------
http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/may/29fire.htm
NEWS | AFP | REPORT May 29, 2000

BLAZE AT KANPUR ARMS DEPOT

A fire broke out Sunday in a large army ammunition depot in Kanpur in Uttar
Pradesh, an army official said.
He said 12 fire engines tackled the blaze which engulfed an Army storehouse
with 130 mm long-range shells, grenades, detonators and other explosive
material.
"The fire fighters took about three hours to bring the blaze under control.
There is no cause for alarm. We still have to look into the exact cause of
the fire. I can offer no instant answers," he said.
He said a team of specialists had been sent from New Delhi for an
on-the-spot assessment of the situation.
The fire triggered panic in Kanpur but there were no immediate reports of
casualties.
It follows a devastating blaze last month at a giant ammunition depot in
Bharatpur, Rajasthan, where India lost over 86 million dollars worth of
ammunition. It killed two people, injured seven and caused extensive damage
in villages within a 10-kilometre radius.
India's defence establishment came under attack from the media and
Opposition parties for the fire in the ammunition depot.
AFP
----

Jane's Defence Weekly
Vol 33 No 22, 31 May 2000

"Indian Navy looks to Russia for successor to Sea Eagle"

The Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force are negotiating the purchase
of Russian air-launched anti-ship missiles to replace their existing
inventory of UK-supplied Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles. The move comes
in the wake of the withdrawal of the Sea Eagle from UK Royal Air Force
and Royal Navy service.

----
"France to set up Mirage shop in India"
http://www.the-hindu.com/2000/05/25/stories/01250004.htm
----
The Tribune
31 May 2000

Grant for border farmersCentre accepts Punjab demand
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, May 30 =97 The Centre today agreed to Punjab=92s request for
extending special grant providing compensation to farmers on Indo-Pak
border for the current year while providing relief on several other issues
to mitigate problems of people residing in those areas.
At the end of a 90-minute high-level inter-ministry meeting called by the
Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to discuss the issues, the Punjab
Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, said the Planning Commission had
agreed to provide compensation this year, too, while promising to look into
the possibility of converting the same into a regular provision.
Last year the Centre had released a special grant of Rs 8 crore to
compensate farmers who had suffered as their land was beyond the fence on
Indo-Pak border. He said cultivation was affected in nearly 30,000 acres
and last year the grant was paid at the rate of Rs 3000 per acre.
Apart from Mr Advani, the meeting was attended by the Defence Minister, Mr
George Fernandes, the Rural Development Minister, Mr Sunder Lal Patwa, the
Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Mr K.C. Pant, the Home Secretary,
Mr Kamal Pande, the Director-General of Border Security Force, Mr E.N.
Rammohan, and other senior officials.
The meeting also agreed to provide more women Home Guards at
border to frisk women labourers who work in the fields beyond the fence,
construction of toilets for women, issue identity cards to all members of
families who cultivate across the fence and need to adhere to curfew timing.
Briefing correspondents after the meeting, Mr Badal expressed happiness
that the Centre had responded to problems being faced by people residing in
border areas of Punjab and it was for the first time that such a high-level
meeting was called to address these issues.
It was decided that the Punjab Government and the BSF would conduct a joint
survey to determine the areas where bridges were required especially in the
riverine areas to enable farmers cultivate lands across the fencing. Mr
Badal had demanded a special grant to construct village road bridges on
defence drains under the Punjab Action Plan.
Regarding the problem of maintenance of border roads used by the security
forces, the Home Minister said a way had to be found so that the Defence
Ministry could look after the issue.
Mr Badal claimed that Punjab had to suffer due to discrimination in the
past in the process of notification of border roads. He said of the 20,000
km border roads maintained by the Border Roads Organisation only 52 km fell
in Punjab while neighbouring states like Jammu and Kashmir (5862km),
Himachal Pradesh (1108km) and Rajasthan (3150km) had more.
The Rural Development Minister, Mr Patwa, said he would personally visit
the border areas to acquaint himself with the problems being
faced by people residing there. This was in response to the state=92s demand
for Rs 50 crore assistance for improvement of facilities in border villages.
Referring to Mr Badal=92s request for higher loan assistance for
counter-protective measures along the border on Ravi and Sutlej rivers, it
was pointed out that the report of a committee which had gone into the
matter need to be studied first and it might require consultation with the
Water Resources Ministry, an official release said.
Punjab had demanded that funds should be released as the
recommendations of the Committee on Remedial Measures to increase the
Central loan assistance from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 5 crore every year for
counter-protective river training works in border areas.
Mr Badal also highlighted the need for a grant-in-aid for protection of
vital defence installations and flood protection embankments
------------------------------------------------------------------------

II PAKISTAN:

"Pak. to deport foreign mercenaries"
http://www.the-hindu.com/2000/05/15/stories/02150007.htm
"Defence budget draws attention of experts"
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/may2000-daily/10-05-2000/main/main4.htm

Jane's Defence Weekly
Vol 33 No 22, 31 May 2000

Pakistan in talks to buy Chinese F-7MGs
Pakistan is negotiating the purchase of up to 50 Chinese CAC F-7MG
fighter aircraft, said Pakistan Air Force ACM Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi.

----
"'Armed groups in Pak. a threat to regional peace'"
http://www.the-hindu.com/2000/05/26/stories/03260007.htm

Hina Jilani, a leading Pakistani Civil Rights activist, alleges that the
Pakistan military government's agenda includes supporting militant groups
in Kashmir. She argues that, "as long as this nexus exists, Pakistan
cannot play any meaningful role in realizing the goals of regional or
internal security."