Army ready with J&K downsize plan

Moving on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s announcement of troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir, Army Headquarters is all set with modal...

Moving on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s announcement of troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir, Army Headquarters is all set with modalities for pulling out nearly 9,000 troops from the state. Executive orders for downsizing troop presence are expected this week.

Official sources indicated that two infantry formations, engaged in counter-insurgency operations, will be withdrawn from the state along with elements of engineers and artillery.

The J&K troop withdrawal will be accompanied by a ‘‘readjustment’’ of the counter-insurgency grid in the state with certain formations being redeployed to plug gaps left by withdrawing troops.

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There will be no readjustment or withdrawal of troops from the Line of Control (LoC) where Army deployments mirror the troop strength of Pakistan.

Advance parties from the two formations being pulled out have already visited areas to which they will be relocated. While the Defence Ministry is tightlipped on the movement, it’s learnt that these formations will be relocated to Himachal Pradesh this month.

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Sources said that the Army had been sounded by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the issue of troop cut in J&K a week before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting last Thursday. The exercise on the proposed troop reduction had been largely completed at the time the CCS met. The CCS meeting was attended by Army Chief General N C Vij.

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As soon as the CCS okayed troop reduction, Army Headquarters forwarded the proposal to Northern Command for its recommendations. It’s learnt that the Northern Command’s recommendations have already reached Army Headquarters and the stage is set for troop withdrawal during the winter months.

Top sources said that even the Army is comfortable with Singh’s announcement on troop reduction — a significant CBM for the political process — as it will help maintain the peace-field posting cycle of formations. The withdrawing formations had been in J&K ever since the Kargil war. Although the Pakistanis claim that as many as 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in J&K, the troop strength is around 240,000. Of these, 120,000 troops are on on the international border and the LoC. In the Kashmir Valley, the Rashtriya Rifles has Victor, Kilo and Uniform force for CI operations.

Both the Government and Army are making it clear that the troop cut will be reviewed constantly by the Unified Headquarters and will depend on the level of infiltration across the LoC.

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