India, Pak soldiers display rare camaraderie in distant Africa

There are officers of 20 different countries in the observer mission and one of the teams is headed by Lt Col Param Vir Singh, an officer of the Indian Army. His Operations Officer is a Major of the Pakistan army and there is perfect coordination between the two. “In fact, all the Pakistani officers prefer to work with the Indian Army officers because they have no language barrier and can converse in Hindi,” says another Pakistani officer.

Recently, they went as a group to the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) area. “The military observers are unarmed and only monitor operations; therefore none of the sides target us. But on one occasion, the rebels were a little touchy seeing so many uniforms. The officers could not speak English for the rebels would have understood; they conversed in Hindi and discussed the situation before arriving at a solution. Only the Indian and Pakistani officers could converse and they got us out of trouble,” said an official.

During the Republic Day celebrations, the Pakistani officers stayed the longest. Initially, some did feel uncomfortable seeing the green and white Pakistani flag with a crescent moon and star along with the Indian tricolour and the two formation signs rubbing shoulders but now they have got used to it.

“Some of the Indian and Pakistani officers got here as early as July-August 1999. The Kargil war was still on and there was tremendous mistrust and anger in the two armies. But not here in Sierra Leone. It is simply because officers of both the countries were wearing a blue beret (United Nations) and had one mission,” said an Indian Army officer.

“We have a golden rule. We don’t discuss unpleasant subjects. We did not brag about the Kargil intrusions and when the Indian Army gained an upper hand and the withdrawal of our army began, they did not show off or try to put us down,” a Pakistan army officer told The Indian Express.

There are 10 Pakistani officers functioning as military observers, including one Lt Col, seven majors and two captains. The grapevine here has it that one of the captains did “extremely well” at the Kargil operations last year and was posted here as a reward for “bravery”. In fact, there is also said to be a post in the Kargil sector in his name.

“Actually both India and Pakistan are offshoots of one army. Despite 52 years of separation, both have retained their (British) culture,” says a Pakistan army officer, part of the military observer group.

But neither the Indians nor the Pakistanis have any doubts that once they return to their respective countries from the mission, the “hate culture” will take over. “Today we are friends and respect each other. We even know each other’s families. But when we return to our countries and are ordered to fire across the LoC, we will if we have to,” he added.

This despite the fact that the Indian battalion and the Pakistani logistics battalion (both totaling over 3,000 in Cambodia in 1992-93) have worked with perfect coordination earlier. Soldiers from both countries know the situation “back home” is far from normal. There is shelling and firing across the LoC daily. “India accuses us of fomenting trouble in Kashmir and we feel that the Indian counter-intelligence agencies are creating trouble in Sind province,” he adds.

Even though officers of India and Pakistan work in perfect harmony here in Sierra Leone, they are scared of their respective military intelligence apparatus in their countries. “For me it is okay. But these young officers from the Pakistan army might get into trouble with their ISI or military intelligence for warming up to the Indian Army. Avoid writing their names,” an officer of the military observer group cautions.

Fear still divides hearts and apprehension weakens the warm grip of friendship. After all, after the one-year stint, the officers have to get back and hold positions along the LoC.