DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: India Launches Indigenously Built Aircraft Carrier

Asian Defense News: DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: India Launches Indigenously Built Aircraft Carrier

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith 
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 12, 2013: India has launched an indigenously built aircraft carrier, joining a small group of countries capable of building such a warship.The project is part of India's efforts to enhance its naval capabilities amid a growing regional rivalry with the other Asian giant, China.

Standing in front of the 37,500 ton warship decorated with flags and buntings in the southern city of Kochi on Monday, Defense Minister A.K. Antony called it a “red letter day [a day of special significance] for the nation.”

There was an outpouring of national pride at the carrier's launch. India's biggest warship has been designed and built locally, making it the fifth country after Britain, France, Russia and the United States to do so.

The aircraft carrier is not yet operational. It will be fitted with advanced weaponry and undergo extensive sea trials before being put into service sometime around 2018. 

But defense analysts point out that New Delhi has beaten its regional rival, China, in building an indigenous aircraft carrier.

Uday Bhaskar, former director of the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi, said it is the first time India has embarked on such an ambitious project. “For a country that does not have any significant indigenous capability, we don't make a main battle tank, we don't make an artillery gun, we don't even make a personal weapon. Forget about trainer aircraft and jet aircraft. So against this backdrop, to come to a point where you are able to design a carrier, and bring it from keel to launch is, for India, a technological and industrial accomplishment of considerable significance,” said Bhaskar.

Defense Minister Antony said India needs a strong navy to defend itself and will press ahead with developing its maritime capabilities.

Vikrant's launch comes just two days after India announced that its first indigenously built nuclear submarine was ready for war trials. That was described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “giant stride” for the nation.

India's efforts to boost its naval capabilities come amid a growing rivalry with regional power, China.  One of the critical areas where they are competing for influence is the Indian Ocean region, a busy sea lane. 

Rahul Bedi in New Delhi is a defense expert with Jane's Defense Weekly. He said an aircraft carrier will help India project its power in the Indian Ocean, which he calls a potential zone of conflict between major powers. “The navy is one of the principal riders and game changers in this whole region. So this will significantly add punch to the Indian navy in the Indian Ocean region, which is going to be a zone of competition for many, many years to come,” he said. India has one aircraft carrier in operation, and Russia is due to deliver another one later this year. 

 The launch of INS Vikrant has raised hackles in China, with Chinese defence experts saying the aircraft carrier would have great significance for India as it would allow the Indian Navy to wade into the Pacific Ocean - which Beijing considers as its backyard.

"This bears great significance to Indian Navy. It makes India only the fifth country after the US, Russia, Britain and France to have such capabilities," senior captain Zhang Junshe, vice-president of China's Naval Research Institute, told the state-run CCTV on Monday.

The Indian Navy will have lead over China as it will have two aircraft carriers by the end of this year with INS Vikramaditya, the refitted carrier from Russia joining INS Viraat, which is already in service even though Vikrant was expected to be operational by 2018, he said.

"Which means by the end of this year India will become the only country in Asia to have two aircraft carriers. This will enhance the overall capabilities especially the power projection capabilities of the Indian Navy," Zhang said.

Ruling out any race for more carriers in the region, Zhang defended India and China having more carriers since they have vast coasts and huge populations and the importance of defending the sea lanes far from home due to dependence on external trade.

Last year China has launched its first aircraft carrier, Lioning. Its hull was imported from Ukraine and refurbished in China.

China also subsequently launched J-15 aircraft to operate from its deck. The ship with over 50,000 tonnes displacement will have about 30 aircraft on its deck.

China is reportedly building two more aircraft carriers but their schedules are not known yet.

Zhang earlier told the state-run China Daily that with Vikrant, the Indian Navy will be more capable of patrolling distant oceans.

"India's first self-made carrier, along with reinforced naval strength, will further disrupt the military balance in South Asia," he said.

India is very likely to quicken its pace to steer eastward to the Pacific, where the US and China are competing to dominate.

The launch of the Vikrant as well as the first nuclear submarine Arihant also aroused the curiosity and concerns among analysts from different state-run thinktanks in China.

"The new indigenous carrier will further strengthen India's naval power and also add some bargaining chips with the world's major military vendors such as Russia," Wang Daguang, a researcher of military equipment based in Beijing said.

Song Xiaojun, a military commentator in Beijing, said the Vikrant uses technology from the 1980s and thus serves as an experiment for the Indian Navy to set technical standards for future vessels.

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DTN News - UK DEFENSE NEWS: Recruiting Former Gurkhas Into The Army Reserves Is A No-Brainer

Asian Defense News: DTN News - UK DEFENSE NEWS: Recruiting Former Gurkhas Into The Army Reserves Is A No-Brainer

*The MoD must do more to retain the Gurkhas’ unique skills, writes Nick Harvey

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Nick Harvey
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 8, 2013: Gurkhas are a widely admired, loved and revered part of the British Army. But strangely, five years after allowing them to settle here after completing their service, we still don't routinely recruit them to the reserves when they leave, despite their desire to continue to serve. At the same time, there are serious concerns about whether we can meet the ambitious new targets as part of the Army 2020 vision and restructure in which the reserves will play a vital role. It seems a no-brainer that we should retain some of the toughest and bravest fighters we have, and instead help them lead the way for the future reserves.

The 2010 defence review, which I was involved in as a minister, triggered a mass restructure of our Armed Forces. What we have now is an ambitious plan for a future Army that relies in part on a highly-trained and deployable reserve force. In practice, it means that we need to double the number of trained and ready reserves from what we currently have in the Territorial Army.

The 2010 defence review, which I was involved in as a minister, triggered a mass restructure of our Armed Forces. What we have now is an ambitious plan for a future Army that relies in part on a highly-trained and deployable reserve force. In practice, it means that we need to double the number of trained and ready reserves from what we currently have in the Territorial Army.

A huge recruitment drive and massive rejuvenation of the reserve forces will be far from easy. We’re already lagging behind: we will need a serious culture change within the Ministry of Defence and the Army of how we view the reserves if we’re achieve our targets. Currently, public concerns persist that reserves are simply "making up numbers" after troop redundancies, that they are just an add-on to the "real" Army. Countering such perceptions is essential and the Gurkhas can lead the way. That is why I am asking that we begin signing up our former Gurkha soldiers as part of the culture shift towards a battle-ready, fully integrated reserve force rather than losing them completely as we currently do.

Gurkhas have been an integral part of the British Army for almost 200 years, characteristically loyal, courageous and dedicated – earning 13 Victoria Crosses between them, and they lost 45,000 lives during the two world wars. More recently, their contribution in Afghanistan highlighted not only their bravery, but also a unique affinity with our Afghan partners culturally and linguistically. Above all, these fierce fighters are one of the most highly regarded, robust and respected elements of our Army.

At the moment, unlike most ex-service personnel who have a reserve liability on leaving the forces, former Gurkhas are not routinely recruited into the reserves. As Nepalese citizens, they can only join the voluntary reserves – the Territorial Army (TA). By and large they don’t join the TA: there isn’t a culture of them joining as they could not stay in Britain until the Liberal Democrats led the campaign to change that.

Sadly, just like the rest of the regular Army, the Gurkhas have faced the bitter pill of forced redundancies as we bring down our record budget deficit. Their much-sought-after talents are currently helping private security companies, but their willingness to continue serving this country does not disappear. Instead of allowing this loss of talent and dedication to happen, the MoD must do more to retain the Gurkhas’ unique skills. We should start by giving them the reserve liability, recognising the contribution they still have to offer.

As regular reserves they can lead the way in building the Territorial Army and the regular reserve into the new future reserves. This will send a strong signal that the new, rejuvenated reserve force is more robust and battle-ready than ever.

Recruiting Gurkhas into the reserves is not only good for defence, but good for the Gurkhas too. Gurkha communities continue to feel a huge sense of prestige about the legacy of Gurkha regiments. That was why the successful campaign to give them residency rights was such a proud moment for the Liberal Democrats. It remains as important as ever that we look out for them in return for the sacrifice they have made for Britain.

A reserves White Paper is due to be published this summer. How better to build on the Gurkhas’ heritage in that White Paper than to extend reserve liability to the Gurkhas, re-form some of them as reserve regiments and offer a pathway into a second Army career as a reservist?

Nick Harvey is the Member of Parliament for North Devon and a former Minister of State for the Armed Forces

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Nick Harvey
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DTN News - U.K. DEFENSE NEWS: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - Simply A Penomenal Flying Machine

Asian Defense News: DTN News - U.K. DEFENSE NEWS: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - Simply A Penomenal Flying Machine

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Con Coughlin, Defence Editor, at Patuxent River Naval Base, Maryland 8:0AM BST 04 May 2013
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 4, 2013: The smile on the face of the test pilot as he completed a successful vertical landing of Britain’s newest generation of fighter jets said it all. “This is simply a phenomenal flying machine.”

After all the bitter controversy over the Government’s decision to scrap the iconic Harrier jump jet in 2010 as part of the defence cuts, a team of Britain’s top gun fighter pilots has now arrived in the U.S. to begin testing its successor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Under the Government’s plans to build two new aircraft carriers equipped with state-of-the-art fighters, the role of the F-35 is crucial to the programme’s success. Like the Harrier before it, the F-35 has the ability to conduct vertical landings.

And last week at the American military’s Patuxent River naval air base in Maryland, I became the first British journalist to see one of the British pilots conducting a perfect test landing of an aircraft that is set to become one of Britain’s leading strike fighters for the next generation.

One of the most impressive aspects of Britain’s first stealth warplane is its Rolls Royce vertical landing system, which will enable the aircraft to land on the deck of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers that are currently under construction in Scotland.
During last week’s test flight I watched as one of Britain’s prototype F-35 fighters approached the landing area at around 150mph, before the aircraft slowly came to a complete halt. It then hung perfectly motionless in the sky for a full minute at around 100 feet before making a gentle landing on the tarmac.

“This aircraft is light years ahead of the Harrier in terms of what it can do,” said Peter Wilson, 47, the British test pilot who conducted the landing. A veteran Harrier pilot who has flown combat missions in Iraq, Bosnia and Sierra Leone, Mr Wilson, who is now one of Britain’s leading test pilots, said the Harrier was a difficult plane to fly, and required immense skill on the part of the pilot to conduct vertical landings. “We have learnt our lessons and the F-35 has all the Harriers faults designed out of it,” said Mr Wilson, from Whalley, Lancs.

A key element in the versatility of the Harriers, which played a vital role in the campaign to liberate the Falkland Islands and more recently saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, was their ability to make vertical landings in the most challenging conditions, whether on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a driving gale or at a remote desert airstrip.

Now the team of British pilots and technicians working on the F-35 are making sure the new aircraft has the same capability. If all goes according to plan, and the new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers are built on time, then the F-35s will available to fly off the decks on combat operations by 2020.

Apart from its flying capability, the F-35 is also fitted with the latest intelligence-gathering and stealth technology. Named Lightning II in honour of Britain’s supersonic jet fighter during the early Cold War era, the F-35 can fly at nearly twice the speed of sound and its stealth capability means it can penetrate deep into enemy territory without being tracked by radar. “The stealth factor means you can detect enemy aircraft but they cannot detect you,” explained Mr Wilson.

“It is a joy to fly,” said Lt. Commander Ian Tidball, 43, a former Royal Navy Harrier pilot who arrived in the U.S. four weeks ago to begin test flights. “It is very responsive compared to the Harrier, and has a far wider range of capabilities.”

These include a specially designed helmet that gives the pilot a 350 degree view around the aircraft simply by tilting his head, while the cockpit is filled with a multi-screen display consol that enables the pilot to collect and assess intelligence collected by the aircraft’s advanced sensors will assessing which targets to attack. In all the most advanced combat aircraft ever flown by the British military contains around eight million lines of software code.

“The helmet is like wearing a laptop on your head, while the cockpit has been designed with its own in-built i-Pad before the i-Pad had even been invented,” explained Group Captain Harv Smyth (correct spell), 41, another veteran RAF Harrier pilot who won the Distinguished Flying Cross during the Iraq War in 2003 and is overseeing the project. “The main problem we face is that the technology is now so advanced that we have to make sure it fits in with our air worthiness requirements.”

At $110 million (around £71 million) a piece, the Lightning does not come cheap and, like the previous Eurofighter project that produced the RAF’s Typhoon interceptor, the development programme has been beset by spiralling costs and serious equipment setbacks. During early trials pilots found that the helmets – which cost around £300,000 each – did not function when the plane hit turbulence, a potentially fatal failing in a combat environment, while more recently the entire test fleet was grounded earlier this year when cracks were found in the engine turbine blade.

Critics of the ambitious plan to provide a new generation of aircraft carriers with top-range fighters also say that at a time when the Government is trying to cut the deficit Britain simply cannot afford to continue with the most ambitious military project undertaken in recent British history.

But Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, who visited the American test site last week, said he remained committed to maintaining the £10 billion programme. He said Britain’s participation in the American-led F-35 venture will create 25,000 jobs and has the potential to earn an estimated £35 billion in exports during the life of the programme. In addition it will help to strengthen the transatlantic alliance.

“It’s great to be back in the business of vertical landing aircraft again,” said Mr Hammond. “This aircraft will enable Britain to have one of the world’s leading war-fighting capabilities for many years to come.”

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Con Coughlin, Defence Editor, at Patuxent River Naval Base, Maryland 8:0AM BST 04 May 2013
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DTN News - CANADIAN HISTORY: War of 1812 ~ Violence, Glory And A New Canadian-Ness

Asian Defense News: DTN News - CANADIAN HISTORY: War of 1812 ~ Violence, Glory And A New Canadian-Ness
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources BBC News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 20, 2012: Canada today is seen as a harmonious nation of hockey, mounties and maple leaves, in peaceful contrast to its often fractious and noisy neighbour to the south. But Canadian-ness itself was born amid the blood, gunpowder and glory of the War of 1812, writes Grant Stoddard.

As a British-born newcomer to Canada, I've noticed Canadians see their Canadian-ness as the sum total of their shared values, interests and beliefs.

By contrast, in other places national identity is more typically linked to battles, popular uprisings and improbable triumphs in the face of adversity: the Boston Tea Party, the storming of the Bastille, the October Revolution.
This led me to assume that while Canada is a wonderful place to live, it lacked a rousing origin story.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the story of the birth of Canadian-ness - which began 200 years ago this week - is as rollicking, bloody, stirring and inspiring as they come.

Canadians famously cannot bring themselves to brag, so I am taking it upon myself to recount the series of events that paved the long road to Canadian nationhood. Hold on to your toque!

Challenges and disunity

De Salaberry led a combined forced of 1,350 that drove off 4,000 US troops.

In the years after the American Revolution, Britain set about creating a mirror-state to the north of the 13 rebellious former colonies.

Hoping in part to entice the US back into the empire, Britain aimed to demonstrate that life in North America could be happier and more stable under her administration.

There were challenges: the territory in what is now Canada was rugged, under-developed and thinly populated.

Furthermore, the main groups of people living there did not like each another very much.

First Nations tribes resented the unrelenting European expansion into the heart of the continent. Disaffected French Catholics had settled along the St Lawrence River in the early 1600s and remained after Britain finally wrested control of Canada from France in 1763. British inhabitants of Nova Scotia, known as the "14th Colony", had not joined their sister colonies in revolt.

And tens of thousands relocated north after the American War of Independence: refugee crown loyalists and former black slaves rewarded with their freedom for fighting alongside the British.

The new arrivals were so numerous that Britain carved a new colony - New Brunswick - out of Nova Scotia to accommodate them. Yet even after the influx, the US still had about 20 times the population of what was now called British North America.

The British government encouraged even more immigration from the US by offering free land and low taxes. These opportunist migrants, who had little loyalty to the British crown, were euphemistically called the Late Loyalists.

At the dawn of the 19th Century, what is now Canada was no melting pot or even patchwork quilt but rather a hodgepodge of disparate groups who held wildly varying opinions on British rule and American republicanism and a deep distrust of one another.

By 1812, with the British embroiled in war with France, US hawks moved to take advantage of their northern neighbour's disunity, finish the job of the revolution and kick the British off the North American continent once and for all.

Proponents of war were confident that the fractious Canadians would greet US forces as liberators, with former President Thomas Jefferson quipping that annexing the vast territory would be "a mere matter of marching" and could be completed within a few months.

Native leader Tecumseh was killed by a US soldier at the Battle of the Thames in Ontario, shown in a detail from an 1833 lithograph

One of the leaders of the invasion force was US General William Hull, a 58-year-old veteran of the revolution who had been reluctant to take part.

He promised the Canadians liberty and prosperity, while also threatening "instant destruction" and a "war of extermination" at the first whiff of collusion between the Canadians and the natives.

Though some Canadians took heed, others, regardless of their allegiances, were uninterested in receiving liberty and prosperity at the point of an American sword. So they took up arms.

Bravery and patriotism

In battles on both sides of the border, vastly outnumbered Canadian militiamen, British regular troops and First Nations warriors inspired by Shawnee warrior Tecumseh overcame the Americans.

Canada never rejected the British Crown as America did, and remains a loyal part of the Commonwealth

A force led by British Maj Gen Isaac Brock and Tecumseh captured Detroit from Gen Hull, taking almost 2,500 American regulars and militiamen captive with only 300 hundred British regulars, 400 Canadian militiamen and 600 natives.

At the Battle of the Chateauguay near Montreal, French Canadians repelled a US attack. Under the leadership of Charles de Salaberry, 50 regulars, 400 volunteers, 900 militiamen and 180 Mohawks drove off 4,000-strong US force.

Despite their difficult history with British rule, Les Canadiens had proved their bravery and patriotism beyond a doubt.

Their victory inspired yet another improbable defence of Canada just over two weeks later at the Battle of Crysler's Farm, in which 900 British regulars and Canadian militiamen repulsed 8,000 US troops.

By the war's end, both York (now Toronto) and Washington DC had been put to the torch by invaders; the British bombardment of Ft McHenry in Baltimore had inspired a new national anthem; and Gen Andrew Jackson had routed the British Army at the Battle of New Orleans.

But the map of North America had hardly changed.

Canada's First Nations tribes' hopes for an independent state died after the War of 1812; above, three men who fought with the British, photographed in 1882

The US withdrew to well within the boundaries of the 13 colonies. Inexperienced British diplomats gave away her territorial gains at the negotiating table, while bullish and skilled US negotiators rejected the British-backed idea of an independent "buffer state" for the indigenous tribes between the US and British North America.

This betrayal of the natives hastened the demise of native autonomy in North America, as the US turned its attention from annexing lands in the north to pushing west toward the Pacific Ocean.

The War of 1812 was declared in Washington 200 years ago yesterday.

The British and Americans drew and the natives lost, leaving the fledgling Canadians with the best claim to victory.

In the spirited defence of their way of life, they surprised both the invaders and one another with their resourcefulness, co-operation and tenacity in the face of an invasion force with an overwhelming numerical advantage.

In that sense, their struggle was not unlike the American Revolution a generation earlier.

What Canadian-ness actually means continues to evolve and remains a perennial topic of discussion both domestically and internationally.

Nevertheless, its beginnings can be traced back to 18 June 1812, when her fractious inhabitants stood together against subjugation by a foreign power.

The 33.5 million people living in Canada today - fully one-fifth of whom are foreign-born - have this patchwork vanguard to thank for their country's steady path to progressive prosperity.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources BBC News
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DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Why India Chose Rafale

Asian Defense News: DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Why India Chose Rafale
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By K. P. Nayar - The Telergraph Calcutta India   

 (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 6, 2012: When Pratibha Patil travelled to Europe last October, she and others in her entourage had a pleasant surprise in the sky. At one point along the air space that the President’s flight was using, half a squadron of Eurofighters appeared on both sides of her Air India plane.

In the graceful style of these sleek war machines, they escorted the presidential aircraft to its safe landing at Patil’s next destination. Even so, those manning the Eurofighters could not resist showing off.

When the Eurofighters displayed the prowess of this advanced new-generation, multi-role combat aircraft to the President, members of Parliament and senior officials accompanying her, New Delhi’s quest for 126 planes of its kind could not have been far from the minds of their pilots.

The competition for the biggest military aviation deal in history, which began 11 years ago when the defence ministry initiated its “request for information” or RFI, had just entered its final and decisive phase.

But the impromptu decision to send the Eurofighters across European skies to impress the President was typical of what cost some rivals of Dassault Aviation — last week’s winners — the lucrative Indian Air Force contract.

It was somewhat reminiscent of Henry Kissinger’s disastrous invitation to defence minister Jagjivan Ram to visit Washington in 1971 as the sub-continent was heading into war, as recounted by Rukmini Menon, who was then joint secretary for the US in South Block.

“Why should I visit Washington?” Ram asked a non-plussed Kissinger and proceeded to tell him how American arms supplies had emboldened Pakistan to ruthlessly suppress East Pakistanis.

Partly, it was a similar approach that resulted in Boeing’s F-18E and Lockheed Martin’s F-16E being turfed out of the competition for the IAF deal earlier in the race. Not solely with the multi-role combat aircraft deal in mind, the Obama administration had made too much noise bereft of substance about the first state visit of his administration and Barack Obama’s first state dinner in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

There was a time when India’s rulers could solely be influenced by gimmicks. But theatrics and atmospherics can no longer substitute hard policy options. This is one lesson New Delhi has hopefully absorbed firsthand from intense, albeit under the radar interaction with Israelis — especially in defence matters — in the last 20 years.

Then there was A.K. Antony, whom the losers in the bid for the IAF deal had not reckoned with. Antony, by nature, is averse to being the public face of decision-making. This has been the case throughout his tenure as defence minister, especially during scandals such as the Adarsh housing scam that rocked the army. Each time it was clear that the defence minister had made up his mind, but the decisions were put out as if they were taken elsewhere, along the proper channel.

Such an approach came through clearly in his most detailed statement on January 31 on the controversy about the army chief’s age. Ending months of virtual silence in the matter, Antony blamed the army for sitting on the problem for 36 years and then dealing with it in its own wisdom. So much so the army chief Gen. V.K. Singh had to agree with the minister.

Antony has maintained in public throughout that the multi-role combat aircraft acquisition process is a technical matter that would be decided by professionals in uniform. But such a public position overlooks the reality that Antony’s core support team in his ministry is much more ideological than in any other wing of the present government. Like civil servants, men in uniform are not immune from ministerial winds blowing in a particular direction.

Ideological considerations have prevented Antony from visiting Israel and from signing at least three defence agreements with the Americans which his core team views as compromising India’s strategic autonomy.

If the Russian plane on offer, MiG-35, had not clearly failed the tests, it was conceivable that it would very much have been in the reckoning. With the Russians out of the way, it did weigh with the political leadership in the defence ministry that France favours a multi-polar world and that India is a beneficiary of such an approach.

France won the bid for the entire order because it supplemented the requirements of the global tender with sweeteners that in the real world of strategic engagement, only three countries can offer India: Russia and Israel, in addition to France itself.

The collaborations that France has offered India in recent years in the field of intelligence sharing and upgrade are without parallel. Naturally, this is an area where co-operation cannot be publicised by the very nature of such engagement.

India and France face somewhat similar threats of domestic terrorism, vastly different from the threats faced by the US, Russia or even Israel. The assistance that Paris has offered New Delhi in preparing the country against such threats and the constant upgrading of their assistance went a long way towards creating an environment that favoured the French on the aircraft deal.

It was in direct contrast to Washington’s approach: the bulk of India’s intelligence community and key bureaucrats at decision-making levels believe that the Americans two-timed New Delhi on David Coleman Headley, their double agent in Chicago who played a major role in the Pakistan-supported terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008.

In addition, spread across India’s entire political spectrum that includes much of the Opposition, is a firm conviction that India would not have come out unscathed from the decision to conduct the 1998 nuclear tests if it were not for the steadfast backing that President Jacques Chirac — and Nicolas Sarkozy after him — offered India in an hour of great need.

It is not widely known that during the Kargil war in 1999, the French approved with lightning speed the adaptation of Indian Air Force Mirages in tandem with equally speedy Israeli supplies of laser-guided bombs which they delivered in Srinagar: without such French and Israeli support, India could have lost Kargil to Pervez Musharraf’s perfidy.

No honourable Indian in uniform can forget that in such a situation, the US or Britain would have probably suspended all military supplies to the combatants to prove their bona fides as honest brokers for peace.

Policies may be the result of collective decision-making in governments, but within that framework, individuals do matter. One such individual who has left a mark on Franco-Indian relations is Jean-David Levitte, whose critical role in securing the Rafale deal for his country will never become a matter of public record because of the nature of his job.

Levitte is diplomatic adviser and “Sherpa” to Sarkozy, who made amends for the temperamental mistakes during his President’s first visit to India as chief guest during Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi and organised a second trip that turned out to be one of most productive and substantive visits by any head of state to India.

Levitte was senior diplomatic adviser to Chirac too when Brajesh Mishra, the then principal secretary to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, flew to Paris as his first stop abroad seeking diplomatic support after the Pokhran II nuclear tests. Mishra found such support in Paris before he extracted reluctant support from Moscow.

Soon afterwards, Levitte became French permanent representative to the UN in New York where he led, along with Russia, a split among the five permanent members of the Security Council on the issue of punishing India through sanctions on the nuclear issue. Later he was ambassador in Washington.

Two of the countries which have been after the multi-role combat aircraft deal, the US and Britain, were at that time in the forefront of efforts in the Security Council to choke India into submission and roll back its nuclear programme.

Within the political and civilian leadership of India’s defence establishment, there has been no doubt that other things being equal, India should reward a friend in need, in this case, France.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By K. P. Nayar - The Telergraph Calcutta India   
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DTN News - ROYAL FAMILY NEWS: Kate Middleton Will Celebrate Her 30th Birthday On January 9

Asian Defense News: DTN News - ROYAL FAMILY NEWS: Kate Middleton Will Celebrate Her 30th Birthday On January 9

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Mirror -UK

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 8, 2012: Kate Middleton will celebrate her 30th birthday tomorrow quietly at home with William.

There had been ­rumours Kate would have a lavish party in a teepee in her ­parents’ garden organised by her sister Pippa.

But a royal insider said: “It’s made up. Any celebration will be ­incredibly low-key and private.”
  
Tonight the couple will be guests of ­honour at the London premiere of Steven Spielberg’s War Horse. It’s thought they will then head home to ­Anglesey, N. Wales.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources  Mirror -UK
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