Senate Standing Committee on Defence Weekly Highlight of Stories and Events
4th Weekly Report
13th-17th of July, 2015

1- Pakistan military shoots down ‘Indian spy drone’.

• ISPR issued a statement, saying that an Indian spy drone was shot down at the LOC in Azad Kashmir.
• The drone was said to be in violation of Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty.
• Islamabad has summoned the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan to lodge a formal protest over the violation of its air space.

2- NATO plans biggest military exercise in over a decade to counter the Islamic State.

• NATO is deploying 36,000 military personnel across the Mediterranean to counter Islamic State’s growing influence on the southern flank.
• The training exercise comprises of an ‘artificial threat scenario’ in which militants attack from land, air and sea.
• More than 30 countries, including some non-NATO members, will take part in the exercises from October 3 – November 6.

3- China gives $10 million for FATA resident’s rehabilitation.

• A special grant was dedicated to improve infrastructure and social development of FATA residents.
• China has also earlier approved a special grant amounting to $129 million for the development and rehabilitation of FATA region.
• Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the special grant was a sign of improving economic relation between the two countries.

4- Kashmir leaders irked by omission of Kashmir from Ufa statement.

• On July 10 Prime Minister Sharif and Modi met at the SCO summit in the Russian city of Ufa.
• Freedom leaders in Indian-held Kashmir were disappointed that PM Sharif did not raise the issue of Kashmir.
• Both the prime ministers agreed to revive track II diplomacy on long standing issues, including Kashmir.

5. Militants and key commanders surrender in Baluchistan’s Sui.

• An official ceremony was held where militant commander Tota Khan Bugti along with three other militants surrendered
• The militants also surrendered 4 SMGs, 20 SMG magazines, a satellite phone and other combat equipment to security forces.
• The ceremony comes after the Baluchistan government amnesty and a compensation policy for youths surrendering their weapons.

6- Iran has offered India a bigger role in a strategic port.

• Iran is discussing an $8 billion project in developing a strategic port that will open trade access to Central Asia.
• The Port of Chabahar in southeast Iran can help India open up to land locked Afghanistan, thus circumventing Pakistan.
• Agreement to build the port was first discussed in 2003, but US sacntions put the project on indefinite delay.

7. India clears $4.7 billion defence purchase.

• The budget includes 4 long-range patrol aircraft from US aerospace giant, Boeing and 428 artillery guns.
• India last year lifted a cap on foreign investment in defence as the government is seeking to improve its ageing military equipment.
• The current BJP government is also hoping to improve domestic production and thus end its status as the world’s largest arms importer.

8- Iran and other big powers clinch deal on N-plan after 13 years.

• The deal ensures that Iran will not develop a nuclear bomb.
• Decades long US backed sanctions will be lifted, thus reviving Iran’s weak economic sector.
• This deal comes just as Iran and US are faced with the shared threat of Sunni terror group, Islamic State.
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9- Four killed in Indian BSF firing.

• ISPR issued a statement saying that three people were killed and five injured in Sialkot as a result of unprovoked firing by the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF).
• The incident was carried out on the morning of 16th July 2015.
• Similar incidents in the past have affected local farmers, whose livestock and houses have come in the line of fire.

10- Indian troops violate ceasefire on Eid-ul-Fitar.

• ISPR stated India’s BSF carried out unprovoked firing along the LOC at Azad Jammu Kashmir.
• No casualties were reported.
• Pakistan Army registered India’s ceasefire violations with the UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).