July 26 marks the 16th anniversary of eviction of Pakistani soldiers who occupied the icy peaks across the Line of Control in Kashmir in the summer of 1999. The conflict claimed the lives of over 500 Indian soldiers. To commemorate the victory and honour the martyrs, Army is holding a series of events in the national capital as well in Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
The conflict was also the first between India and Pakistan after both countries had tested nuclear weapons. The main event to mark the anniversary is to be held at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass on July 25 and 26 and an exhibition was inaugurated at Select Citywalk mall in Saket, Delhi.
A series of reviews were undertaken by the government to revamp intelligence sharing, improve coordination among various organisations and accelerate military modernisation. The Kargil Review committee and later Naresh Chandra Committee in 2011 had identified intelligence failure as the reason for the conflict and called for a major overhaul of the defence management system.
The major recommendations include exploiting technology for intelligence gathering, an integrated manpower policy for the Armed Forces, para-military forces and Central Police Forces, having a younger army by lateral entry into paramilitary forces, appointing a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and setting up a National Intelligence Grid and National Counter Terrorism Cell (NCTC) among others.
“Kargil was largely a result of lapses and gaps in intelligence structure,” Ambassador (retd) G. Parthasarathy said and added it has “largely been addressed by series of measures…”
While progress has been made in intelligence gathering and coordination with satellites and Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV), reduction in promotion in the army, several crucial measures still remain on paper.
Mr. Parthasarathy, who was a member of the Naresh Chandra committee said: “I am disappointed that many of the recommendations made to the government for systemic change by Naresh Chandra committee have not been implemented though one is happy to learn that in recent days there is some movement forward.”
Communication gapGeneral V.P. Malik, Army Chief during the Kargil conflict observed that, “the communication gap between political leadership and armed forces community especially ex-servicemen has increased” which is not a good sign for the morale of the armed forces. He also observed that there was a need “to have military in the decision-making loop on strategic issues”.
Despite announcing long-term perspective plans and capability enhancement plans, defence modernisation remains stuck in procedural and bureaucratic delays. For instance Bofors artillery guns emerged the primary weapon during the conflict but the Army has failed to induct any new gun in three decades. “We spent over ten years but there is still much lacking,” General Malik added.
