Nothing much in Musharraf’s de-escalation statement — Gen Malik

Asked how the Indian Army would respond to the “de-escalation” announcement by Gen Musharraf, the Army Chief said, “We shall assess the situation and our deployment on the basis of overall security situation along the international border, as well as the Line of Control….. Overall we will assess the situation. We are not going by the international border alone.”

Asked if the Army had been put on high alert after the coup in Pakistan, he said the armed forces were “vigilant”.

“Movement of troops was sequal to Pakistan initiating war in Kargil. We were forced to take these necessary security measures and defeat Pakistani intrusion in Kargil. The real problem I believe in the way of Indo-pakistan Confidence Building Measures (CBMS) is Pakistan army-sponsored terrorism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. Kargil was linked to that.”

Maintaining that post-Kargil, the proxy war had been intensified, Gen Malik referred to today’s media reports quoting the so-called prime minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as having said, “Strenuous efforts are being made to promote the ideological integrity of Kashmir in PoK, making it the base camp for an independence movement in the real sense.”

Gen Musharraf’s statement does not address such problems, he said.

Stating that there had been no military level contact between Pakistan and India since the military takeover, he, however, said there was no change in the routine weekly telephonic contact between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) held on Tuesdays.

Asked if he foresaw any Pakistani military misadventure, he said, "I think we should wait and see."

On measures to prevent Pakistani infiltration keeping in view the approaching winter, Gen Malik said there had been re-deployment of troops in the Kargil sector and certain surveillance measures in addition to manning of certain posts during winter months.

He denied any additional movement of Indian troops after the military takeover in Pakistan.

Gen Malik said India moved its formations as a consequence of the Kargil conflict initiated by Pakistan. “So the question is that you must read the whole thing how it happened.”

He said Pakistan had violated a decision taken in principle by the DGMOs of the two countries for pulling back troops one km from the LoC in Kargil sector at a meeting held on July 10 to prevent firing at each other.

On the current situation in Kargil, Gen Malik said, “We are sitting eyeball to eyeball in many places on either side of the LoC.”