Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 25: Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said today that the Government has been keeping strict vigil on the presence of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
“We have asked China to cease all such activities in PoK,’’ Jaitley told the Lok Sabha in a written reply to Rayapati Sambasiva today.
“Government pays close attention to Chinese activities in PoK and it has conveyed its concerns to China and asked them to cease such activities,” he said.
He said issues are discussed by the Government in regular meetings with Chinese counterparts and “entire gamut of bilateral, regional and global issues are discussed.”
“There are regular meetings between India and China at various levels including the highest level in which all such issues are discussed,’’ the Defence Minister said.
The presence of Chinese Army troops has been witnessed in recent times and there numbers were estimated to be around 5,000 by the Army couple of years ago. They were mainly involved in construction activities there.
Replying to another question of PDP MP from Srinagar Tariq Hamid Karra on Tosamaidan firing range in Kashmir, Jaitley said a civilian was killed and three others were injured in an incident on July 16, 2014 due to littered shell at Tosamaidan meadows in Central Kashmir.
“No firing by the Army has taken place at Tosamaidan meadows since November 15, 2013. Unauthorized persons are prohibited from entering the Impact Area and sign boards and notices to this effect are prominently displayed. The notification of any field firing range or its shifting is subject matter of the State Government,’’ he added.
Replying to another question by PDP MP from Anantnag Mehbooba Mufti in Lok Sabha, the Defence Minister said the total number of Long Range, Field Firing Range and Air to Ground Firing Rangers in the country, which are operated by the defence forces, are 81.
However, he declined to disclose other details sought by Ms Mufti on the ground that they were not in the interest of national security.
Giving out the reasons for delays in execution of road projects by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Jaitley said delay in forest and environmental clearance, hard rock stretches and difficulty in availability of construction material are the main reasons behind it.
In response to another question of Om Prakash Yadav, Jaitley said 50 soldiers lost their lives in Siachen Glacier due to climatic conditions and avalanches in the last three years while 16 soldiers died while serving in UN peacekeeping operations during that period. Jaitley said the Government was aware of the “strategic importance” of Siachen Glacier and requisite forces have been deployed in that area on basis of the “threat perception, ground situation and other operational needs”.
50 soldiers were killed in the last three years up to July 20 in Siachen Glacier owing to landslides, floods and avalanches and climatic conditions, he said.
Siachen was once the world’s highest battlefield where Indian and Pakistani troops were constantly engaged in skirmishes till 2003 when ceasefire was declared.
India maintains more than 3,000 troops on the glacier where Indian posts have been built at altitudes up to 23,000 feet.
Jaitley said India has deployed 7,148 troops in UN peacekeeping operations. “16 troops have died there in the last three years.”
The Indian contingents are deployed in Congo, Lebanon, South Sudan, Golan Heights, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Iraq, East Timor and New York. Six Indian soldiers were killed in Congo, two in Lebanon and eight in South Sudan.
To another query, the Minister said the Government has ordered a study into the stress level encountered by young officers of the Army and has also asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop methods to mitigate it.
“A lab of DRDO undertook a study on ‘Factors Causing Distress among Young Officers of Indian Army’ with objectives to study the level of distress prevailing among the young officers; the casual factors that create distress among young officers and deplete their resources to cope with it and to suggest remedial measures to manage stress among young officers,” he said.
The Minister said the report was submitted in April 2014 and the DRDO lab has already developed ‘Suicide Risk Assessment Test’ to identify at-risk personnel which has already been handed over to the Army.
Meanwhile, answering another query on alleged attacks by Sri Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen, Jaitley said continuous efforts by the Government have led to the release of 536 of the 541 arrested by that country till July 18.
He said as per a 2008 agreement, the two Governments have agreed that there would be no firing on Indian vessels and Indian fishermen would not go to the “sensitive areas” designated by the Sri Lankan Government.
To a query on missile test range, the Defence Minister said the DRDO has proposed to set up such ranges in Rutland Islands in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Nagayalanka in Krishna district of Seemandhra State.
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