Author: Rahul Datta
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 16, 2004
The Army has expressed apprehension
over Pakistan's declarations to stop cross-border terrorism and informed
the top political leadership that even if ceasefire holds, infiltration
is expected to increase in the next few months.
Reviewing the security scenario
and actual ground position in strife-torn Jammu & Kashmir, the ongoing
Army Commanders' conference here also informed National Security Advisor
Brajesh Mishra that the terrorist training camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir
(PoK) were not dismantled. Moreover, the Pakistan Army was fortifying its
positions all along the Line of Control (LoC), sources said here on Thursday.
The five-day conclave of the top
Army commanders headed by the Army Chief took stock of the ongoing anti-insurgency
operations and the strategy to counter expected high infiltration during
the summer months. The political leadership was apprised of the Army's
assessment that the terrorist infrastructure was intact in PoK and new
structures were coming up across the LoC.
The Pakistan Army was fortifying
these bunkers to withstand retaliatory artillery fire by India. The Pakistanis
used to fire at the Indian positions from these bunkers thereby providing
cover for the terrorists to sneak into India. Many of these bunkers were
targeted by the Indian troops and taking advantage of the five-month old
ceasefire, the Pakistanis had turned them into concrete structures stocked
with heavy weapons and ammunition, sources said. Moreover, Pakistan was
likely to use infiltration as a tool and step the levels of violence in
the state to pressurise India to give some concessions during the next
round of talks between the two countries next month, the commanders felt.
Not willing to take any chances,
the Army was going full steam ahead with its operational plans in the state
and was in the process of equipping its troops with the latest gadgets
and weaponry. The commanders gave a green signal to the new inductions,
including 3,50,000 ultra light and effective bullet proof jackets, a large
number of ballistic helmets and night vision devices, Army officials told
reporters. The futuristic ballistic helmets, now in use in many armies
of the world, would be fitted with earphones and night vision devices to
enable the fighting soldiers operate with relative safety in close quarter
battle in insurgency areas like Kashmir and the North-East.
The operational commanders urged
the Army top brass to expedite the induction of night vision devices in
Kashmir to detect infiltration. At present, there was a deficiency of about
3,000 such devices and the public sector Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)
was urged to step the production, officials said. The BEL manufactures
about 600 night vision devices a year. Many Army units engaged in high-risk
missions were now being provided with high calibre automatic weapons, sniper
rifles and communication systems.
