If Pakistan gets isolated, our purpose is served8217;

n Why did Kargilhappen?
I remember when the Line of Control LoC was so painstakingly demarcated after the 1971 war. Pakistan8217;s brazen questioning and violation of the LoC after 28 years should come as a major surprise. But then, we should always judge our enemy through its past record. See, things had started looking up in Kashmir on the military front; we should have anticipated them to open a new front. It was time for us to look into the grey areas of our security. We should have done aerial reconnaissance of the LoC and later verified the information on ground8230;. Another thing we should have kept in mind8230;was that there was less snowfall this year. They simply made use of the winter. A well-coordinated intelligence network on ground could have helped us a lot. Today all agencies work on their own without much ground coordination or instant sharing of facts.

Is there some problem with our intelligence set-up itself or is it simply a mind-set of the people holding positions in these agencies?
Thesystem is quite satisfactory. Those of us who work in different parts of the system must learn to cooperate and understand each other better. After all we all are working in the nation8217;s interest8230;.

Was Kargil a total surprise or has Pakistan indulged in some similar misadventures during these years of insurgency?
Their aim was always to move forward from their position on the LoC. They tried in small ways. In 1991 in Macchil sector north Kashmir they made a similar attempt, but they were pushed back. However, they had never attempted such a large-scale intrusion as they did in Kargil.

What were the indicators of Pakistan8217;s intentions this time?
8230;there was heavy shelling in Gurez and Tilel valleys last year. It is from here some important infiltration routes trail into Mushkoh and Drass, where the infiltrators have come in now8230;. Gurez should have alerted us. In fact, we should have thought about the other side doing whatever it could to gain supremacy on the LoC.

What isin Pakistan8217;s mind when it opens a front like Kargil?
Pakistan8217;s main aim8230;has always been to internationalise the Kashmir issue8230;. In the Kargil case, however, their specific aim was to throttle our LoC to Ladakh by domination of the national highway. In this game they Pakistanis have never cared how and through which means they do it. Pakistan is ready to use the most unethical means to see its dream realised8230;. But here we Indian soldiers always respected conventions and the LoC which runs right from Chamb Jourian in Jammu to NJ 9842 point beyond Tortork.

After Kargil, how do you think the situation has changed for us?
Things have ultimately happened in our favour. Internationally, we have scored over them. See the stand taken by the G-8 countries and the Americans. Sartaj Aziz just drew a blank in Beijing. All of this is a major gain for us, but we must know how to cash in on it and build on this further.

On the home front8230;
The Government must immediatelyexplain to the country how we have gained diplomatically through Kargil. Despondency must not be allowed to take the better of our spirits at this juncture. And more importantly we must look after our soldiers and their families8230;. The people of Kargil should be looked after in a befitting manner8230;. We must share information about our gains with them and not leave them to be fed by foreign radio broadcasts. We must highlight their plight to the world community and the human rights groups. It is how the modern battles are won. See what happened in Kosovo.

Many former generals have suggested that India should adopt an aggressive posture to teach Pakistan a lesson. Do you favour a hawkish Indian military response in Kargil?
What are the options open to the Government today? Both the countries today have nuclear devices. Militarily, taking a hawkish stand does not make much sense8230;especially when we have already gained diplomatic ascendancy. However, there are other areas where we must act toughagainst Pakistan. The most important is at the diplomatic level. If Pakistan gets isolated from the world community our purpose is served8230;. For example, we should work to block a loan of the IMF International Monetary Fund to Pakistan and see how long they can run their country on borrowed Stingers and Kalashnikovs.

As a soldier, do you feel it is only human for a jawan to lower his guard when India and Pakistan make friendly overtures like at the time of the Lahore Declaration and the bus diplomacy?
Not on the ground, but of course some sense of complacency comes in other areas. A soldier8217;s mind is always alert on the frontline.

Pakistan has been able to exploit Kashmir as a religious fight although it is actually exporting terrorism to another land. Why have we not been able to expose Pakistan even though the facts are so stark?
We must begin with the Islamic countries, most of which are friendly to India. Many of these Islamic countries have been victims of fundamentalism andterrorism themselves, like Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Morocco and Turkey. These and many other Islamic countries have seen how fundamentalism retards the progress of a nation8230;. India enjoys good relations with almost all the members of the OIC Organisation of Islamic Countries. It needs to continuously work to weaken the Islamic bloc8217;s support of Pakistan8230;. Another area where we must work day to day is to get Pakistan branded as a terrorist state. We have all the facts. All we need is to piece them together in a manner which Americans and Europeans understand.

Recently opinions have been voiced that India could have used unconventional ways to deal with a handful of infiltrators and avoided a full-scale military operation to oust Pakistan from Kargil.
I feel our boys are doing a fine job in Kargil8230;. They are capable of hounding out the last man from those heights. What is expected from the Government and the people of the country is to leave the Army alone and back them in letter and spirit.Don8217;t set deadlines for the Army to clear the heights8230; After all India is such a great country. We can absorb pin pricks like Kargil. Let us work hard to give a final knock-out punch to Pakistan and in the meantime concentrate on weakening it economically.

What will be the long-term impact of Kargil on the situation in Kashmir?
After a decade of insurgency, Kashmiris have become sick and tired of Pakistani designs8230;. So I don8217;t think there will be any change in the ground situation. However, we have to remain vigilant as never before. We have to provide a measure of good governance in Kashmir 8212; improve the ration supplies and rationalise the public distribution system.