Failure of Army, RAW 8212; Experts

NEW DELHI, MAY 26: Operation Vijay is born out of the Army's failure to read the consistency with which Pakistan conducted its infiltrati...

NEW DELHI, MAY 26: Operation Vijay is born out of the Army8217;s failure to read the consistency with which Pakistan conducted its infiltration campaign in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Research and Analysis Wing8217;s inability to detect the training and movement of almost 1,000 armed militants and soldiers in occupied parts of Kashmir.

The Army8217;s negligence, say military observers, is not restricted to the field areas currently under occupation of Pakistani soldiers and militants, but runs all the way to the headquarters. 8220;They have still not understood the Pakistani way of conducting a war by other means8221;, they add. The inability of Army headquarters to put together a cohesive response until the return of General V P Malik from a foreign tour is a pointer to this attitude, they declared.

The Army is yet to account for the psychology of the Pakistan army and to factor that into its field posture and operational plans. 8220;The Pakistanis have displayed a remarkable consistency in their approach to the proxy war, and we too have been remarkable in consistently reacting to their moves8221;, said the observors.

When it became widely known that Pakistani army chief Gen Parvez Musharraf has had two tenures in the special forces, the Special Services Group SSG, it should have been taken for granted that General Headquarters Rawalpindi, would have attempted something extraordinary and unconventional. 8220;He has spent a total of seven years in the SSG, which has been in the forefront of all high-altitude and unconventional operations. It was natural that he would push for an audacious operation8221;, said the observers.

The other point raised relates to the continuous occupation and monitoring of the Drass-Kargil-Batalik sector. 8220;When our boys can sit on and fight from Bana Post on the Saltoro Range, then what prevents us from having a permanent presence in this sector?8221; is the question asked. While some local units have not conducted as many patrols as they should have, the posture adopted by Army HQ in this sector that is coming in for criticism.

Lt Gen retd V R Raghavan, former Director General Military Operations, confirmed recently in a television interview that even in his time as division commander at Leh in the latter part of the 1980s Pakistan had made repeated attempts to ingress in this area. They lost scores of soldiers, he declared. 8220;So when that is the case, Army HQ should certainly have been looking at this area with greater care. Sacrificing a couple of armoured regiments would have released enough funds to look after this area properly8221;, added the military observers.