Intelligence agencies now give written inputs to Army

Both before and during the conflict, several inputs about enemy build-up and intercepts were given to the Army at different brigade levels which the Army subsequently denied, sources in the IB say. What both IB and RAW officials found disturbing is that the Subrahmanyam committee chose to believe the Army. “Unfortunately for us at that time it became a did-say-did-not-say slanging match. But never again. Now it is all on paper,” said a senior official.

But what is still lacking is a two-way flow of intelligence. “The military intelligence has a high-handed attitude. They take information from us but seldom share their inputs. Also a major problem area remains the feedback system,” claims an official in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

“One year after the war, we are still to know whether the Army wants us to build further on certain inputs. Our sources across the border may give us several pieces of information and we pass them on to the Army. But then the Army has to come back to us and tell us which piece of information should we develop further. Then we can go back to our source and tell him to find out in depth,” the official said.

Sources in military intelligence, however, say they are yet to get “actionable intelligence” from the agencies. “Earlier this month we got inputs from them about a limited troop build-up on the other side of the Line of Control in the Batalik sector. Now just based on that we cannot commit a company (140 men) on the inhospitable peaks. We too have an observation post (OP) at 17,000 feet just to be able to monitor their road. Our OP did not report any build-up,” sources in the Nimu-based Mountain Division told The Indian Express.

But sources feel the Army wants “intelligence on a platter and needs to be told about its ramifications. Last year when they were told about the build-up and training of troops across the LoC, was it not their job to assess the intelligence?”

The military intelligence officials echo the Kargil review committee view that nothing that the intelligence agencies gave suggested the Kargil intrusions. “Even now the process of evolving a working relation is on. There is going to be a new chief in military intelligence (Lt Gen Krishan Pal). And a revamp is likely,” the source added.