The Hindu : Stage set for troop withdrawal?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 16, 2002

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Stage set for troop withdrawal?

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI OCT. 15. Even as the Central Government is consulting its security advisers, the die appears to have been cast for reversing the prolonged forward deployment of troops.

"The troops are bound to be recalled but the modalities have to be worked out through wider consultations,'' said well-placed sources. How exactly will the withdrawal take place is to be decided after consulting all the players in the national security apparatus, including the Home Ministry and the Foreign Office.

"At this point we can't say whether the withdrawal will be full or partial, of only the heavy armour or the infantry as well or linked with a Pakistani pullback of its two strike formations or unilateral.'' However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the longest and heaviest-ever deployment of soldiers is coming to an end, two months short of completing one year.

In the armed forces too the mood is for an imminent recall of soldiers from the frontline positions. A partial indication to this effect is unmistakable from a recent Defence Headquarters letter to its forward units.

It stated that special field allowances would be stopped on December 18 (one year of ordering of forward deployment) or before that date if Operation Parakram (the name given to the forward deployment) came to an end. While some argue that this is how sanctions for financial allocations are worded, the soldiers see in this a clear sign of an impending termination of the battle-ready disposition.

Sources said that an unscheduled meeting of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) had already conveyed its views at an `informal' meeting convened earlier last week. Incidentally, some NSAB members, particularly those who have served in the armed forces, have consistently spoken of the pressure on the troops because of the unending forward deployment.

However, the top political leadership is yet to commit itself on troop withdrawal. The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, came the nearest to it while addressing the media on Sunday. A decision on the phased withdrawal of the troops posted on the border with Pakistan is to be taken tomorrow at the meeting of the NSAB and, later, of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), he had stated.

Mr. Advani's statement came at a time when the armed forces had started speaking of the futility of placing the troops along with heavy armour such as tanks and artillery on a permanent alert right on the inhospitable marshes of Kutch, across the sands of Rajasthan and Punjab's plains to the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir. The curtailment of leave, estrangement from families and, above all, no probability of the promised engagement with the enemy had started wearing down the soldiers and their officers.

With the completion of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir to the unanimous approbation by the international community, pressure had started mounting, especially from the United States and Japan, for initiating a dialogue with Pakistan. The withdrawal of troops, along with the resumption of full diplomatic relations, would become necessary precursors to meeting the international community's aspirations even halfway.

Analysts were wondering if the Government was willing to take such a major step without receiving the expected concessions from Pakistan in the form of end to cross-border terrorism, closure of training camps and repatriation of terrorists figuring in the by-now-forgotten `list of 20' most wanted. It now appears that the long term well-being of the armed forces and a change in Western disposition towards India's aggressive intent vis-a-vis Pakistan have weighed heavily.

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