The Hindu : Army identifies unit for deployment in Iraq

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 21, 2003

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Army identifies unit for deployment in Iraq

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 20. Regardless of the direction in which the political dice will roll, the Army has projected the requirements for possible troops deployment in Iraq as part of a multinational stabilising force.

Although the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, had indicated on Thursday that a final decision over sending troops was yet to be taken, the Army had already projected, as part of its normal procedure, and even identified the unit best suited for `peace enforcing' operations in Iraq.

The Director-General of Military Operations and the Perspective Planning Division at the Army headquarters here identified a division attached to a strike corps near here as the best possible option. This division of around 17,000 troops, led by a two-star General, is dominated by the infantry but has armoured and artillery brigades as `organic components.' This mix is considered best suited for Iraq.

While the core of the unit has been finalised, components such as the aviation arm may be beefed up depending on the area where it could be asked to do duty. Other components, identified in the force projection, such as two field hospitals, etc. would also be kept on stand-by pending a decision by the Government.

According to initial plans, most of the heavy equipment, including about 50 armoured vehicles would be shipped to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr by four naval vessels. The Indian Air Force's `Gajraj', the gigantic IL-76 transporters, will airlift the men along with their personal effects directly to Iraq.

Though analysts feel the possibility of immediate deployment is remote, the Army had started planning for the task immediately after a political conference attended by several countries identified by the Anglo-American combine for contributing to troop duties in Iraq.

India was notified of the meeting but could not attend it because political consultations on the issue with the U.S. had not matured by then. However, the ball was set rolling immediately after the conference following consultations between American and Indian officials from the Ministries of Defence and External Affairs. As a result, the Army factored for an overseas mission in its operational plans in early May itself and since then it has been quietly fine-tuning the details and working out the arrangement of ensuring uninterrupted supply lines.

Army officials here are aware that their men will have to work in close coordination with soldiers of other countries who had attended the end-April political conference and agreed to act as replacements for U.S. troops. Among those who would not object to sending soldiers to Iraq are Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, the Philippines, Qatar, Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark and the Netherlands. Having served extensively in U.N.-led operations, the Indian Army is not unfamiliar with troops from some of these countries. In some cases, even the equipment and the quality of fuel used by troops are similar.

For the present, these things are of speculatory nature because the Indian political leadership is still engaged in consultations and sorting out issues of very basic nature. But the Army officials say they are prepared for any eventuality and will be looking forward to a posting in Iraq in case the Government manages to clear the political hurdles.

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