Army begins de-induction of troops from Kashmir Valley

The process of de-inducting four battalions about 4,000 soldiers along with a Brigade commenced last month and is under way in a phased manner. 8220;The de-induction will be completed by mid-summer this year,8221; said Maj Gen AS Sihota, Officiating Commander of the 15 Corps.

Once seen as a 8220;bloated8221; Corps comprising five oversized divisions, the Army8217;s 15 Corps has worked over the last two years towards the principle of maintaining minimum adequate troops and weapons.

8220;The 13 units moved out will not be relieved by fresh units coming into the Valley. The Army is withdrawing from selected regions, urban areas and road-sanitising tasks. The Army battalions will be replaced by para-military forces and the police. The remaining Army units will take over the more difficult rural areas, the hinterland, forests, mountains etc,8221; said Maj Gen Sihota.

The process of de-induction of the Army battalions commenced in September 1997 and till the spring of 1999, nine battalions worth of troops 8,000 soldiers along with a Brigade were moved out of the Kashmir Valley. 8220;By the time the two-year de-induction phase is completed this summer, 12,000 Army troops will have been moved out of the Valley in view of the improvement in the situation,8221; said Maj Gen Sihota.

Excluding the troops deployed in the Ladakh and the Siachen sectors under the 15 Corps, the de-induction will mean that the Army8217;s strength in counter-insurgency operations 8212; comprising deployment in the Valley8217;s plains and along the Kashmir LoC 8212; will decrease to 85,000 troops. 8220;These include 60,000 combat troops along with 25,000 logistic troops,8221; said the Officiating Corps Commander.

Predictably, separatist leaders are quick to scoff at the programme. Says Yasin Malik, chairman of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front JKLF: 8220;This is just propaganda for the international community8230;Claims of normalcy cannot be justified by troop levels up to seven lakh in the Jammu and Kashmir sectors.8221;