Commend Musharraf for crossing LoC to be with troops: General VK Singh

[StormShadow]

Amid a controversy over whether Pakistani army chief General Pervez Musharraf crossed the Line of Control in 1999 and spent a night on Indian-controlled territory, the former chief of the Indian army General VK Singh has said, "As a military commander, I commend General Musharraf that he came 11 kms into enemy territory and spent the night with his troops. It is a testament to his internal courage... on the other hand, from our side, what was happening all of you know..Why did we let them in? There were some lapses on our part."

Col (retired) Ashfaq Hussain, who was a senior officer in the Pakistan Army's media arm , claims that in March 1999, ahead of the Kargil war, President Musharraf flew over the Line of Control in a helicopter and spent the night at a place called Zikria Mustaqar.

Colonel Hussain first revealed this version of events in 2008 in his book 'Witness to Blunder: Kargil Story Unfolds', and repeated it on a television talk show in Pakistan last night.

General VP Malik, who was the Indian army chief during the Kargil war, told NDTV: "The Indian Army had reports that the first Pakistani patrols had crossed over into Indian side of the LoC some time in February even as Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif were discussing the peace process and Vajpayee had taken the bus ride to Lahore. Gen Musharraf, who had already planned the incursions into Kargil thought it fit to visit the forward areas immediately thereafter to assure the troops that the operation was going ahead as planned. It is therefore possible that Musharraf went there in March 1999 but whether he crossed the LoC or not, I cannot say."

In his book, Colonel Husain says the Kargil 'misadventure' was masterminded by Major General Javed Hassan, General Mehmood and General Aziz. They made then President Musharraf agree to the plans, which later lead to a limited conflict between India and Pakistan.

However, General Musharraf, in an interview to Pakistan's Geo TV, said the Kargil conflict was a huge success militarily. He claimed that the Pakistani Army would have "conquered" 300 square miles of India, if then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had not visited the US and succumbed to pressure from then US President Bill Clinton to withdraw Pakistani troops from Indian territory

Commend Musharraf for crossing LoC to be with troops: General VK Singh | NDTV.com

 

[third eye]

likely to create another useless storm in a tea cup.

 

[BATMAN]

http://www.defence.pk/forums/strate...258-kargil-musharraf-s-disaster-gen-aziz.html

Spamming?

Hindus really love P.Musharraf, and so do I.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

http://www.defence.pk/forums/strate...258-kargil-musharraf-s-disaster-gen-aziz.html

Spamming?

Hindus really love P.Musharraf, and so do I.

So do I love Musharraff; and I am not Hindu. I love all Imbecile Generals. More so if he is an adversary.

 

[third eye]

Hindus really love P.Musharraf, and so do I.

Its not Hindus , its Indians.

Its like ' Keep your friends close to you, keep your enemies closer".

 

[Rank]

mujhe aaj tak samaj nahe ayee is jhotay shaks "Musharaf" ki khoopri may kya bhoosa bhara huwa hey... why the hell he cross 11 Kmh into Indian Territory and even stay over there.... extremely pathetic harkat + biggest failure of Indian Forces and Intel.

 

[Srinivas]

A grand day in General Musharraf personal diary where he took control of Indian territory, of area as small as a tent for One night

 

[karan.1970]

A grand day in General Musharraf personal diary where he took control of Indian territory, of area as small as a tent for One night

And riding on the back of the captured Pakistan for 8 years after that

 

[Srinivas]

And riding on the back of the captured Pakistan for 8 years after that

Very True

He may have done to improve the troops moral

Instead he should have accepted the soldiers who were left with out bullets, food and cut down from supply lines as his soldiers and have done some thing to rescue them.

 

[nair]

ISLAMABAD: Weeks before hostilities erupted between Indian and Pakistani troops in the Kargil sector in 1999, Gen Pervez Musharraf crossed the Line of Control in a helicopter and spent a night at a location 11 km inside Indian territory, a former aide to the military ruler has said.

Col (retired) Ashfaq Hussain, who was a senior officer in the Pakistan Army's media arm, said Musharraf flew across the LoC on March 28, 1999 and travelled 11 km into the Indian side.

Musharraf, who was accompanied by Brig Masood Aslam, then commander of 80 Brigade, spent the night at a spot called Zikria Mustaqar, where Pakistani troops commanded by Col Amjad Shabbir were present.

Musharraf, who was then army chief, returned the next day. Hussain first made the revelation in his book 'Witness to Blunder: Kargil Story Unfolds', which was published in late 2008.

He repeated the assertion last night on a television talk show on the Kargil episode in the wake of Lt Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz's assertion that the intrusions by Pakistani troops were planned by a group of four generals led by Musharraf.

He further said Pakistani troops first intruded into the Indian side of the LoC on December 18, 1998, when Captains Nadeem and Ali and Havaldar Lalik Jan were sent on a reconnaissance mission.

"They were never told about the aims and objectives of their mission. Even for a recce, they were not provided any briefing or objectives," he said.

Shortly after this, several units were told to cross the LoC and occupy positions on the Indian side. Several units competed with each other to go further into the Indian side.

The intrusions were spotted by a shepherd who informed Indian troops, he said.

Like the initial reconnaissance mission, there were no aims or objectives set out for the entire Kargil operation, which was masterminded by Maj Gen Javed Hassan, then chief of the Force Command Northern Areas, Hussain said.

Hassan drew up the plan to occupy Indian positions along the LoC and convinced then Rawalpindi Corps Commander Lt Gen Mahmud Ahmad, then Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Mohammad Aziz and Musharraf to back the venture, Hussain said.

Hostilities between Indian and Pakistani troops broke out in early May, over a month after Musharraf crossed the LoC and spent a night on the Indian side.

Besides troops from the Northern Light Infantry, soldiers from 31 Azad Kashmir Regiment, 24 Sindh Regiment, Frontier Force Regiment and artillery units participated in the Kargil operation, Hussain said.

Hussain, who based his book on interviews with officers who participated in the fighting in Kargil, dismissed Musharraf's claim that the operation was a success.

"It was a success only till Pakistani forces came face to face with the enemy. In winter, both sides abandoned their positions under a recognised procedure. Our troops crossed the LoC at a time when the enemy was not present. Our troops were not even informed why they were being sent across the LoC," he said.

"I asked commanding officers and brigade commanders about the aims and objectives of the operation but none of them had answer," he added.

The generals who planned the operation had believed that the Indian side would not detect the intrusions till late May or early June 1999 but their surmise proved to be wrong, Hussain said.

Hussain also dismissed Musharraf's recent assertion that Pakistan had lost only 270 soldiers during the Kargil conflict.

"According to my research, there were over 1,000 casualties on the Pakistani side. The official data (on casualties) was hidden and cannot be accessed," Hussain said.

Referring to the main opposition PML-N's demand for a judicial commission to probe the Kargil conflict in the wake of Lt Gen (retd.) Aziz's revelations, Hussain said any such inquiry panel should seek all reports on the fighting from the army's General Headquarters so that the true figures for casualties could be made public.

Though Aziz has said that information he had gathered suggested that then premier Nawaz Sharif was aware of the Kargil operation, Hussain contended that Sharif only learnt of the intrusions at an army briefing in Rawalpindi on May 17, 1999.

Weeks before Kargil conflict, Musharraf crossed LoC, spent night in India: Aide - The Times of India

 

[A.Rafay]

Musharaf did this bravely he is a patriotic Pakistani.

 

[karan.1970]

Very True

He may have done to improve the troops moral

Instead he should have accepted the soldiers who were left with out bullets, food and cut down from supply lines as his soldiers and have done some thing to rescue them.

He did it when IA did not even know that Pakistani army has sneaked in like a thief sneaking into an empty house.. Once the home owners came back, the poor NLI was left there for cannon fodder...

 

[Saleem]

ISLAMABAD: Weeks before hostilities erupted between Indian and Pakistani troops in the Kargil sector in 1999, Gen Pervez Musharraf crossed the Line of Control in a helicopter and spent a night at a location 11 km inside Indian territory, a former aide to the military ruler has said.

Col (retired) Ashfaq Hussain, who was a senior officer in the Pakistan Army's media arm, said Musharraf flew across the LoC on March 28, 1999 and travelled 11 km into the Indian side.

Musharraf, who was accompanied by Brig Masood Aslam, then commander of 80 Brigade, spent the night at a spot called Zikria Mustaqar, where Pakistani troops commanded by Col Amjad Shabbir were present.

Musharraf, who was then army chief, returned the next day. Hussain first made the revelation in his book 'Witness to Blunder: Kargil Story Unfolds', which was published in late 2008.

He repeated the assertion last night on a television talk show on the Kargil episode in the wake of Lt Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz's assertion that the intrusions by Pakistani troops were planned by a group of four generals led by Musharraf.

He further said Pakistani troops first intruded into the Indian side of the LoC on December 18, 1998, when Captains Nadeem and Ali and Havaldar Lalik Jan were sent on a reconnaissance mission.

"They were never told about the aims and objectives of their mission. Even for a recce, they were not provided any briefing or objectives," he said.

Shortly after this, several units were told to cross the LoC and occupy positions on the Indian side. Several units competed with each other to go further into the Indian side.

The intrusions were spotted by a shepherd who informed Indian troops, he said.

Like the initial reconnaissance mission, there were no aims or objectives set out for the entire Kargil operation, which was masterminded by Maj Gen Javed Hassan, then chief of the Force Command Northern Areas, Hussain said.

Hassan drew up the plan to occupy Indian positions along the LoC and convinced then Rawalpindi Corps Commander Lt Gen Mahmud Ahmad, then Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Mohammad Aziz and Musharraf to back the venture, Hussain said.

Hostilities between Indian and Pakistani troops broke out in early May, over a month after Musharraf crossed the LoC and spent a night on the Indian side.

Besides troops from the Northern Light Infantry, soldiers from 31 Azad Kashmir Regiment, 24 Sindh Regiment, Frontier Force Regiment and artillery units participated in the Kargil operation, Hussain said.

Hussain, who based his book on interviews with officers who participated in the fighting in Kargil, dismissed Musharraf's claim that the operation was a success.

"It was a success only till Pakistani forces came face to face with the enemy. In winter, both sides abandoned their positions under a recognised procedure. Our troops crossed the LoC at a time when the enemy was not present. Our troops were not even informed why they were being sent across the LoC," he said.

"I asked commanding officers and brigade commanders about the aims and objectives of the operation but none of them had answer," he added.

The generals who planned the operation had believed that the Indian side would not detect the intrusions till late May or early June 1999 but their surmise proved to be wrong, Hussain said.

Hussain also dismissed Musharraf's recent assertion that Pakistan had lost only 270 soldiers during the Kargil conflict.

"According to my research, there were over 1,000 casualties on the Pakistani side. The official data (on casualties) was hidden and cannot be accessed," Hussain said.

Referring to the main opposition PML-N's demand for a judicial commission to probe the Kargil conflict in the wake of Lt Gen (retd.) Aziz's revelations, Hussain said any such inquiry panel should seek all reports on the fighting from the army's General Headquarters so that the true figures for casualties could be made public.

Though Aziz has said that information he had gathered suggested that then premier Nawaz Sharif was aware of the Kargil operation, Hussain contended that Sharif only learnt of the intrusions at an army briefing in Rawalpindi on May 17, 1999.

Weeks before Kargil conflict, Musharraf crossed LoC, spent night in India: Aide - The Times of India

there is no "Indian side" it isindian occupied land that needs to be freed; pakistan troops were just going into their own land illegally occupied by the indians; yes pervez may have been brave to go in there but he is also an incompetent who launched an operation without proper planning and then abandoned the men once the things got out of control.....as for the brilliant "tactical" operation --jsut shows pervez's incompetence -no operation is "tactical" all need to be part of an operational and strategic plan to be meaningful.....all those brave men were sacrificed for nothing....

 

[perplexed]

there is no "Indian side" it isindian occupied land that needs to be freed; pakistan troops were just going into their own land illegally occupied by the indians; yes pervez may have been brave to go in there but he is also an incompetent who launched an operation without proper planning and then abandoned the men once the things got out of control.....as for the brilliant "tactical" operation --jsut shows pervez's incompetence -no operation is "tactical" all need to be part of an operational and strategic plan to be meaningful.....all those brave men were sacrificed for nothing....

basically you accept that kargil was not IA failure right ?

 

[Capt.Popeye]

there is no "Indian side" it isindian occupied land that needs to be freed; pakistan troops were just going into their own land illegally occupied by the indians; yes pervez may have been brave to go in there but he is also an incompetent who launched an operation without proper planning and then abandoned the men once the things got out of control.....as for the brilliant "tactical" operation --jsut shows pervez's incompetence -no operation is "tactical" all need to be part of an operational and strategic plan to be meaningful.....all those brave men were sacrificed for nothing....

So then are we agreed on that "upwards of 1000 casualties" figure?

Apart from agreeing about Musharraff; (in your words) that "he is also an incompetent who launched an operation without proper planning and then abandoned the men once the things got out of control.....as for the brilliant "tactical" operation --jsut shows pervez's incompetence -no operation is "tactical" all need to be part of an operational and strategic plan to be meaningful"

And also are we agreed that "all those brave men were sacrificed for nothing...."

So what on earth was this operation intended to achieve and what did it finally achieve?

Apart from killing off all those brave and good men.....