CHANDIGARH: Former Army Chief General (Retd) VP Malik today said the task given by Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan to DGMOs to come up with a clear plan to restore ceasefire will not resolve the issue of infiltration and will be more of a "red herring".
"What I feel is that there is no problem in meeting between the DGMOs, but the task they have been given I don't think they can resolve the problem of infiltration across the border. Because on the other side it is not only the military, but there are the ****** groups, Hafiz Saeed's men and people of the ****** Council in *** -- they work together. Therefore, I feel this is more of a political problem than a military problem," Malik told PTI over phone.
The DGMOs meeting is not going to resolve the issue of infiltration at all. "It is more of a red herring," he said.
After the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York, it was announced that the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries have been tasked to come up with a clear plan to restore ceasefire and the way forward to ensure that it remains in force and in place.
"...I think DGMOs will not be able to resolve the issue, this is more political and less military (problem) and DGMO can only talk of what happens on LoC, but when you have people on the other side who are being trained to infiltrate with the help of (Pak) military and with the help of Pakistani paramilitary forces, the source of infiltration, there is no talk at all and now you are only asking the military to stop infiltration along the LoC," General (Retd) Malik said.
"This is why I say that it is not only a military problem but also a politco-military problem... the people who are crossing the border, it's only the military who can stop them," he said.
General (Retd) Malik further said on one hand "you have people like Hafiz Saeed going round and round and if you have all the training camps on the other side, where all these people are being trained, if you do not put them down, how do you expect the DGMOs standing on the LoC to do anything... the DGMOs can investigate and come to a solution to one intrusions, two intrusions or three intrusions, but this is not only a military problem, this is a political-military problem".
There is strong resentment and anger among Indian public, which he feels has not been conveyed adequately during this meeting (of the two PMs), he said.
Malik also felt that expecting too much from Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would not be correct.
The General said that between May and now, there have been so many cross-border major infiltrations, and major attacks which have taken place.
"Apparently, one suspects whether he (Nawaz Sharif) is in control or not and I have said that he appears to be a puppet in the hands of Pakistan army and the jihadis," General (Retd) Malik said.
"If you have a person who appears to be a puppet and whose credibility is so suspect, how do you expect that his military and our military (DGMOs) will be able to resolve the issue," he said, adding "I am afraid, but I cant expect anything much from this meeting which has taken place."
Suggestions have been made that India and Pakistan should carry out joint patrolling along the LOC and even international border to stop infiltration, but it has never succeeded and it cannot succeed, because on the other side you have the training camps, which are still operating, he said.
General VP Malik feels DGMOs meetings cannot solve border issues - The Economic Times
