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Defence Notes

	January 03, 2005

India, Pakistan exchange list of nuclear facilities



India and Pakistan exchanged lists of nuclear installations and facilities in each other’s territory on January 1 under an agreement signed 17 years ago.

This was the 14th consecutive year that the lists were exchanged through diplomatic channels under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack Against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between India and Pakistan.



The agreement, which was signed on Dec 31, 1988, and made operational on Jan 27, 1991, requires the two countries to inform each other every year about the nuclear installations to be covered under it. The first such exchange of lists took place on Jan. 1, 1992.



S.P. Tyagi is new Air Force Chief



Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, a highly decorated veteran of the 1965 and 1971

wars with Pakistan, has taken over as Chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF).



He took over from Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, also a highly decorated pilot who played a key role in the research and development of missiles and aircraft. Krishnaswamy retired on Friday after 43 years of service.

During his long service of over 40 years, Tyagi has held a variety of command, staff and instructional appointments. He has the distinction of heading three strategic air commands responsible for guarding the frontier with Pakistan - the Central Air Command, the South Western Air Command and the Western Air Command.



Tyagi has the experience of flying a variety of fighters, including Gnats, MiGs, Jaguars and SU-30s, as well as transport aircraft and helicopters.

Born on March 14, 1945 at Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Tyagi was commissioned in the fighter stream of the IAF in December 1963.



A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, he has attended a variety of courses in India and abroad. He has also held prestigious appointments abroad.

Awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2003 and the Ati Vishist Seva Medal (AVSM) in 1994 for distinguished service, Tyagi is one of the honorary ADCs of the President, the Supreme Commander of India’s armed forces.



Lt. Gen. B.S. Thakur is new Army Vice Chief



Lt. Gen. B.S. Thakur, an Armoured Corps officer with wide-ranging experience, has been appointed the new Vice Chief of the Indian Army.

Thakur will replace Lt. Gen. Shantonu Choudhary, who retired after 41 years of service. Thakur will assume his new charge on Jan 5.



Commissioned into the Central India Horse regiment in June 1967, Thakur was the first Army officer to head the Tri-Services Command in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.



In a career of over 39 years, Thakur has held instructional, staff and command appointments in India and abroad. He has commanded his own regiment, an armoured brigade and an armoured division.



In addition to a stint with the Nigerian Defence Academy, Thakur was Additional Director General in the Military Operations Directorate at the Army Headquarters and Commander of a strike corps, one of the formations that is mobilised in the event of hostilities with Pakistan.



The Army also announced other appointments, with Lt. Gen. Arvind Sharma taking over as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Kolkata-based Eastern Command.



Commissioned into the Fourth Gorkha Rifles in June 1966, Sharma has commanded a mountain division in eastern India and a corps in a high altitude area. He is a recipient of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service.



Lt. Gen. S. Pattabhiraman will be the next General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command. Commissioned in the Engineers Regiment in December 1966, Pattabhiraman has led an infantry division and a corps in the western sector opposite Pakistan.



Lt. Gen. Aditya Sinha will be the new Commander-in-Chief of the Tri-Services Command at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and will assume office on February 1.



Lt. Gen. Charanjit Sinha on Friday assumed the office of Director General of Artillery at the Army Headquarters.



Weather, not bullets, took its toll in Siachen



The Siachen glacier, the world’s highest battlefield, has not been casualty-free despite a yearlong India-Pakistan truce - but most of the deaths have been ascribed to the weather and treacherous terrain.



Against about 100-odd casualties every year since Indian and Pakistani troops were deployed on the glacier in 1984, the fatalities during 2004 have been a little over two dozen, Indian Army sources said.



It was also the first time since 1984 that the booming of guns has not been heard for a full year on the glacier where Indian troops serve at heights of up to 21,000 feet braving temperatures which plummet to minus 50 degrees Celsius.



But the cold weather and dangerous terrain on the glacier continued to take their toll.



The casualties were mostly due to lung diseases or soldiers falling into crevices, the sources said.



“Nature was cruel as ever before. It didn’t understand the virtue of a ceasefire,” a source said, attempting to be poetic over what he termed “nature’s injustice”.



The guns fell silent on the glacier on Nov 26, 2003 when Pakistan announced a unilateral truce along the frontiers in Jammu and Kashmir that India immediately accepted.



The positive side is that the ceasefire has lessened the pressure on Indian troops to defend their positions against the “enemy”.



Earlier, there would be pressure to watch troop movements on the other side and “preserve the positions at the heights and the all-looming danger of getting caught in the crossfire”, a source said.



Indian troops currently hold advantageous positions along the Saltoro ridge in Siachen that overlook Pakistani posts. The troops are arrayed along the 110-km Actual Ground Position Line that cuts across the glacier.