archive: Government blames UF regime for defensive lapse
Government blames UF regime for defensive lapse
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
Rediff on Net
July 6, 1999
Title: Government blames UF regime for defensive lapse
Author: Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: July 6, 1999
With the Opposition alleging that defensive lapses were the root cause
of the Kargil conflict, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government is
preparing the ground for its predecessors to share the blame.
Top defence ministry officials told rediff.com on condition of
anonymity that the government had decided to come out with the truth
about the causes of the conflict.
According to these officials, when the United Front government led by
H D Deve Gowda was in power, India and Pakistan reached an agreement
that their troops would not man the high positions along the Line of
Control in the Kargil sector during the winter months. The successor
UF government of Inder Kumar Gujral endorsed this agreement. The
reasoning was that heavy snowfall in these areas makes it almost
impossible for the troops to stay there in any case.
The officials pointed out that this was not the first time Pakistani
forces had sneaked onto Tiger Hill, Tololing Ridge, and other peaks in
the Kargil sector. Earlier too, they had sneaked into these areas and
built makeshift bunkers, which eventually took concrete shape.
Taking advantage of the Indians' trust, the Pakistanis sneaked into
the areas again last November. Thereafter, they began providing
guidance through radio transmitters to the artillery guns in
Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. This is why the intruders were reluctant to
abandon the high positions on the Indian side of the LoC.
But the officials stressed that the conflict had taught India some
valuable lessons.
A.From now on, any peace overtures by Pakistan will be taken with a
handful of salt. Indian troops will remain in a state of high alert
all along the LoC at all times.
B.Round-the-clock security will be provided for the Srinagar-Leh
highway.
C.In diplomatic terms, India has succeeded in making the world
acknowledge Kashmir as a bilateral problem to be resolved by New Delhi
and Islamabad without third-party mediation.
D.The battle-readiness of the Indian armed forces has been tested anew
with good results. There had been speculation in some quarters that
the fighting capacity of the forces had not been tested for nearly
three decades, with the last war having taken place way back in 1971.
E.Lastly, Indian defence expenditure is bound to increase. Already,
New Delhi has sent experts to various countries to shop for military
hardware.
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