The Hindu : Army takes command of first tier of defence

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 20, 2002

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Army takes command of first tier of defence

By Atul Aneja

An Army convoy moving towards the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir from Srinagar on Sunday. — AP

NEW DELHI MAY 19. Fine tuning its combat preparedness further, the Government has decided to place the paramilitary forces deployed along the border areas with Pakistan under the centralised command of the Army.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, that met for the second day in succession for more than two hours, also decided to post the Coast Guard directly under the Navy.

By centralisation of the command of the paramilitary forces, that include the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Army has taken over the command of the first tier of defence along the International Border (IB) with Pakistan.

The paramilitary forces, especially the BSF, are deployed along the IB, including parts of the Jammu sector, close to the Chenab river. The Army and not the paramilitary forces, in most cases, face Pakistani forces along the Line of Control (LOC) which stretches along most of the rest of Jammu and Kashmir.

By taking command of the Coast Guard, the Navy will not only defend the high seas but also safeguard the coastal areas that straddle high value industrial complexes, especially along the west coast.

The defence forces have laid special emphasis on protecting the Bombay High, nuclear and other industrial installations that are located along the west coast.

Apart from the Army and the Navy, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is also looking at the nuts and bolts of putting maximum number of planes for combat operations along the western borders by drawing aviation assets from other sectors.

While the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, who briefed the media after the CCS, indicated the Government's emphasis on enhancing military preparations, he nevertheless dismissed reports about the imminence of Army attacks on Pakistani Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

To a question, he said he did not wish to discuss the Army's operational plans, but added that reports suggesting attacks on PoK were "imaginative.'' Sources here said that Pakistani forces and key Jehadi groups had been holding joint exercises in PoK, close to the LoC recently.

The Minister, however, stressed that the Army would retaliate sufficiently with its heavy weapons, that included artillery guns, to any Pakistani shelling, especially on civilian areas along the IB in the Jammu sector or along the LoC.

"Retaliatory fire by the 15 corps (based in Srinagar) and the 16 corps (Headquarters near Jammu) shall be conducted in any case of firing across the LoC or the IB'', he said.

Mr. Singh took special note of the Pakistani firing on May 17 and 18 in which a village was targeted along the Jammu-Poonch alignment.

Mr. Singh acknowledged that India was considering additional diplomatic measures in case Pakistan did not retrain cross-border terrorism.

Any decision on the existing Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment to Pakistan can be taken only after the Commerce Minister, Murasoli Maran, who is now away from the capital, returns. He further dismissed reports that the upcoming meeting of Indian and Pakistani authorities on the Indus waters had been scrapped.

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